My 6:1 Water:Woolite Review

B

BillNorth

New member
I decided to give the interior of my car a scrub on Sunday. It wasn't that dirty but enough to bother me.



Since I've heard so many good things about woolite and water (w/w), I decided to try it . I first wanted to test it out on one of my mats just in case. I actually used the no name brand woolite imitation. That's all I had in the house. But it shouldn't matter. Fine fabric washes should all be pretty much the same. Anyway, I started by vaccuming the mat to remove any/all dust and dirt. From there I sprayed the mat with woolite/water. I basically got the entire matt wet on the surface with w/w. From there I started scrubbing with my stiff brush to clean out the stains from my shoes. It was working pretty well. The stains were coming out. The w/w was foaming a bit. Next, I took my bissell little green machine and sprayed hot water onto the mat. I took my brush again and gave it a second scrub. This is where things got scary. The woolite really started to foam and get all sudsy. I took my little green after finishing the second scrub and extracted as much of the w/w until no more was being sucked into the tank. Even after extracting what I thought was all the w/w, the matt still had tonnes of foam in it. Just taking my finger and swiping it across the surface produced new suds. Up to that point I was not impressed with w/w. I ended up taking my matt and blasting it with water from my garden hose. I stood there for a good 2 minutes getting all the soap out. Unbelievable. Based on that, I did not feel comfortable spraying w/w onto my interior carpets and seats. After all, I can't blast them with the garden hose.



So after the w/w fiasco, I went back and got my bottle of 303. Ahhhh, this stuff is great. Cleans stains, and it does not foam like a mofo. I used it the exact same way as I used the woolite. I even blasted the 303'd mat with water to see if any suds got washed out. Nope, all clean water.



Some of you may be wondering why I spray my mats with hot water after scrubbing in the soltion. I do this because I find that I can extract the solution (and a whole lot of dirty water) from the sets and carpeting. When I try sucking out just solution nothing really comes out. I'd rather not leave the cleaning solution embedded in the fibres, as it will cause the upholstery to get dirtier, faster.



I'm sure glad I tested w/w out on my mat first. There is no way I would have been able to blast my interior carpet or seats with water from the garden hose.



Based on this experience I would not recommend w/w. Buy a dedicated automotive upholestery cleaner.
 
MattZ28 said:
Do you think diluting it more would help with the sudsing situation?
Click to expand...



I was going to ask the same questions, 1:10 perhaps? Bill: Can you make an educated guess based on the 1:6 mix?
 
Agreed, the main problem here is that you really didn't test out the Woolite and Water solution, you tested the generic and water solution. Generic doesnt always = name brand.



Woolite itself doesn't suds up much, my guess is because its partially designed for hand washing of delicates in the sink, sudsing wouldn't be a good thing. I too have never experienced that with the Woolite/Water.
 
BillNorth said:
........... I actually used the no name brand woolite imitation. That's all I had in the house. But it shouldn't matter. Fine fabric washes should all be pretty much the same. ........
Click to expand...



In all fairness to Woolite Bill, isn't that like your neighbor watching you detail a car, then picking up some Turtle Wax rubbing compound and Nu-Finish. After all, shouldn't all care car products be pretty much the same?



OK, that example is a bit extreme, but I think from all the positive respones members have posted about Woolite that you should try the real stuff before being so down on it.
 
Bill......we agree!!!



I love my 303 for interior carpeting too.



I would tend to think the same thing with woolite foaming up. It's only logical that it would do so. I use it for delicate shirts and my washing machine foams like mad despite a couple little cap fulls.



With floor mats, I always saturate with water from the hose and use APC+ 9:1, saturate with water again and extract with Craftsman wet vac.



I still like my #39 for cleaning vinyl.



However, I would like to try the woolite mixture to clean coated leather seats that are real grungy.
 
I've found Woolite 1:6 to be a little much, usually i use 1:10, sometimes 1:8. I don't saturate the carpets just use enough to cover the area.
 
Matt & Redondo, I'm sure diluting would help. But you run the risk of diluting too much, and then compromising cleaning power. I will try 10:1 next time (hopefully I will have time/a vehicle to test this summer/fall before the weather turns). I still think it will be too sudsy. Just a guess though.



Mike (Mr Clean WS6), are your personalities taking over again?? :D What's so bad??



GoodnClean, every other no name brand thing I've ever used has been the same as the real thing. Fine fabric washes are all designed to do the same thing. But alas, I shall test the real woolite. And yes, you are right, woolite does not suds up that much... when you pour a tiny cup into a huge washing machine or tub for handwashing. 6:1 is a helluva lot more concentrated than what the product is traditionally used for.



Spichy, we agree!!! Yeah!! :D Yes, I really do like 303. One product worthy of recognition IMHO.



Elliot, in fairness, I did not use the real woolite, as I stated. BUT, I' have read more than 1 thread saying that ANY fine fabric wash will do. Your example was way extreme. Besides, I don't happen to agree with it. Anything will look good as long as technique and prep are done well. It may not last very long, or as long as other products, but that's another story.



This goes out to everyone:



I tested 6:1 because everyone and his uncle on autopia uses 6:1 and loves it!



I never considered 10:1 based on all the raves that 6:1 got.



I dunno.
 
BillNorth said:
..........Elliot, in fairness, I did not use the real woolite, as I stated. BUT, I' have read more than 1 thread saying that ANY fine fabric wash will do. Your example was way extreme. Besides, I don't happen to agree with it. Anything will look good as long as technique and prep are done well. It may not last very long, or as long as other products, but that's another story........
Click to expand...



Yeah, it was an extreme example.... and you're right, thinking about it others have mentioned using the dollar store (or other) versions.



It was an excellent review, and also offered other cleaning insights as well.... thanks! Keep us posted if the real Woolite works better for you.



And thanks for the link to your official SG application/removal technique, I've saved it for future reference. Keep up the good work!
 
I find APC is the best on Mats and then I just pressure wash the mats out. I also use the little green machine with APC b/c then I can spray and clean the vinyl as I clean the carpets. APC is the wonder drug.



My favorite choice for interior cleaning is Stoner's foaming interior cleaning spray.



Woolite has been cool for me, no foaming issues just got away from it b/c w/w ain't cheap if used in quantity.
 
I've been using Woolite and water for about 9 years now as my main leather/vinyl cleaner and about 5-6 for my carpet/fabric cleaning (I was using Magnum Upholstry Shampoo but it just didn't make much sense to also buy that when W/water was seems to work just as well). I use 6:1 for heavy cleaning, 8:1 to 10:1 for light cleaning. Most cars and especially SUVs detail need 6:1. ;)



I haven't had any sudsing issues unless I soak something down real good with the solution. Other than that, spray, scub, wipe dry. If I do have to lay it on heavy, I use another spray bottle with straight water to rinse it out, then wet vac.



Bill, you may want to try the real Woolite, start off at 10:1 and strengthen the mixture as needed. You should also find you don't need to saturate what you are cleaning, just mist it enough to wet the surface....unless of course, what you are cleaning is filthy. :xyxthumbs
 
I can tell you it was the hot water that caused the w/w to foam. I used it on two of my cars as directed and it worked fine. (WOWO).



I wondered how it would work in my new front-loading washer (HE) The setting I used must have been warm/cold or cold/cold because it washed my rags just fine. Then I tried it again using the setting for "whitest whites." This setting used hot/cold. Boy! When that hot water hit it there was tons of foam in my washer.



I have heard, but haven't looked for any yet, that Woolite now has a version for the "he" washers. That's "low sudsing.



I'd try it again using the low sudsing version and see what you think.



After doing a search with google I found a pdf with this info in it.

Here: http://www.geappliances.com/harmony/37473_woolite_trifold.pdf



WOOLITE High Efficiency is

formulated to work with

high efficiency machines

that use less water, like the

GE Profile Harmony, without

creating unnecessary suds.
 
This is actually my first post after lurking for some time now. I have used the Woolite 6 to 1 quite a bit. I do like the way it cleans and the sheen it leaves for times that i'm not going to be dressing. However, sometimes it does need to be buffed over to remove a residue.



Recently, I bought a generic and mixed it 10 to 1. ( just experimenting ) The 10 to 1 " generic " is far more sudsy than the 6 to 1 Woolite. I'll be buying Woolite in the future and until then, i'll try to find a more suitable ratio for the cheap stuff. FWIW, I haven't tried either very much on carpet / fabric or mats.
 
~One mans opinion / observations~



I use Woolite / water solution to clean leather/fabric upholstery only (mats / carpets I use 303 Cleaner) :xyxthumbs



Bill- I’ve never had an excess foaming problem, but then I don’t saturate the materials I use it on first



Jason 70- :welcome to Autopia



~Hope this helps~



Knowledge unshared is experience wasted

justadumbarchitect / so I question everything/ Jon
 
All fair comments. Thank you. I will try the real woolite at 10:1 and see how that works. Actually, what we get here is not 'Woolite'. It's actually called 'Zero by Woolite'. I assume it's the same as Woolite in the USA.
 
I personally think what you did wrong was soak your carpets previous to applying the w/w.



I don't think it had to do with the dilution or generic brand.
 
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