Soft99 Meta-Clean: Initial Impressions
A few of my many flaws are that I am skeptical, critical and very stubborn. So when certain friends and detailers tell me about Soft99 Meta Clean, I just scoffed and thought to myself “Cheap things no good, good things no cheap”. Only when I tried it I realized why it has such a good reputation.
I bought a tin of Meta Clean recently and had the chance to use it today. Boy, was I in for a surprise. It cleaned of the embedded dirt with ease, and I was using it by hand. Certain areas which are particularly dirty (e.g. roof) required going over twice.
In areas where I was lazy and didn’t really work it into the paint, it was thicker than supposed to be, and yet it was removed easily with a few swipes of Hyperkleen’s microfibre cloth, buffed off to a slick clean finish.
One of it’s cons is that the tin is not the easiest to use, no matter how careful I try it will spill out of the spout.
Here you could see the parts where I missed, the embedded dirt is on the right side and the Meta-Cleaned side is on the left.
If however, you are diligent and thorough with working it into the paint, you will be awarded with clean paint.
It also doesn’t seem to have any ill-effects when used by hand via foam applicator pad (e.g. introducing it’s own light marring). This makes it suitable to be used by hand.
Best of all, is it’s price. I bought it for RM22 from a petrol station, but it could be purchased for RM16 from Mydin (Thanks Puden!).
And that is RM16 for 530ml
Autoglym Super Resin Polish costs RM55 for 325ml.
These however are just my initial impressions, I will be conducting a pre-wax cleaner test soon ( Soft99 Meta Clean, Dodo Juice Lime Prime, Autoglym Super Resin Polish ), specifically on how it affects the wax sitting on top of it (durability wise). That is when I find time to wash my poor filthy car that is parked under a mango tree.
To those who are wondering what light source did I use in the pictures above to show the paintwork.
It’s a pair of cheap China flashlight, taped together. They cost 26 Yuan each.
My homemade “brinkman” =D
Thanks for looking, and thanks to those who still visit this site and I apologise for the rare updates. Thanks again!
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hi dudei have a question,what brand of sand paper do you use?meguiars or generic brand?
Hi Jun,I have GatorGrit paper for 1500 grit, from ACE Hardware and generic paper for 2000 grit.I haven’t tried any Meguiar’s paper.🙂
thanks!
hi ken, is ur service return?i have try to clay my bonnet as it kena tree sap but still unable to clay all of it. maybe i have take too long to do it since is already 1 week as i was in taiping. and i did borrow the the same soft 99 from cousin but unable to polish off completely.any advice thanksD18
Ken,Any update on this Soft99?? I have solid paint on my MPV. Thinking of purchasing solid paint version of this Soft99.
Hi D18,I’m sorry, my services haven’t been resumed, no plans for it at the moment. Thanks for asking 🙂Regarding the tree sap, most likely it has etched into the paint and you need to relevel that area of the clearcoat. Which means to use and abrasive polish. The clay would not do anything to it nor would Soft99 Meta Clean since it isn’t abrasive(or very little).You could use something like Meguiar’s ScratchX, however if the tree sap etching has gone too deep, then a machine polish will be required.Hope that helps.Anonymous,My only updates are it is easy to use and quite compatible with any waxes you put on it. However I’m not sure about the solid paint version that you are talking about. Whichever it is, do not purchase the one in the blue tin (Luster Wax), that one is really too abrasive.Hope that helps.
Ken,I asked about the Soft99 update up there.I went to look for Soft99 that you use but found out that that is for metallic, pearl, etc but solid paint was not mentioned. I assume it is not for solid paint.I found another version, also a paintcleaner but stated that it is not for dark colored car.I’m confused which one to get.And, it’s not a wax, right? It’s a polish?
Mobile Blogger,Hi,by solid paint do you mean without clearcoat?Or without any metallic flakes?If your car is clearcoated but the paint does not contain any metallics or pearls, the Meta-Clean that I posted can be used.It’s like a cleaner wax, cleans and protects at the same time, however the durability of the protection would not be as long as a proper standalone wax. Hope that helps :), if there are further questions, feel free to ask.
For the Flashlight if you want a better source of light you can use SureFire, it's expensive but it's definitely dependable, seeing how it is military-grade =D The light source is strong and focused, will make the camera picture taking easier since I doubt you 250W lights hanging from your ceiling
tey,
thanks for the tip. Actually these China flashlight were pretty much useless, one of them couldnt work after a week, and they were not as bright enough as the branded ones. I've compared it to my several of my friends' Fenix and Eagletac flashlights, and the ones I posted are basically rubbish compared to them.
The Surefire really are expensive, made my eyes pop when I saw their price tags at Ace Hardware.
excellent report.
i also use this soft 99 on my two motorcycles
Hello, this article is very informative. I recently used soft 99 on my newly painted car. Too bad i came to know latter that it is not suggested to wax the car after a paint-job at least for three months. My requested query, is soft 99 a pure wax and it will seal the new paint. If so what should be my line of action(s) to remove the wax from the new paint-job without harming the paint. Thankyou.
Hi Atif, which soft99 product did you use? Use a polish that does not contain any waxes in it, such as Meguiar’s SwirlX. If that product is not available to you, use a strong mix of shampoo to wash the car and add some dishwashing detergent also (or automotive all purpose cleaner), this is to help strip the wax away.
Hi there, i just wanna ask if Meta Clean soft99 can be used for my Black Mika colored car?thx in advance
Hi Bro,
Need your opinion.. I apply opticoat 2 on my car. No problem for the first 2 months. However, once, my white car get so dirty, so i ‘wipe’ with soft99 metaclean as per your blog. Yes, superclean. So every month after that, I will use metaclean to clean certain part of my car ie; front bonnet, doors etc. Eventhough I use opticoat, i still topup with wax or reload. however, i noticed, after 5 months, it seems like the opticoat disappeared. Beading and sheeting almost gone. wax or carpro reload works better. Did sheeting test on side door, sheeting slower than it should be. almost 5-10 second for all water to slide from the door.
During opticoat prep, I did 1 round of dishwasher wash, then ipa 25% then 2 round of carpro eraser. No beading, no sheeting (nearly the same as now) then make sure no water. Then apply the opticoat. No problem for 2 months.
So my question. Is it possible that soft99 metaclean may contain abrasive thingy? I use it by hand, but I will wipe it with cutting hand applicator pad (sonus) few minutes on each place. Then, i notice, opticoat beads and sheets like 1st day on area where I didnt apply soft99.
Need you advice please. Thanks
Hey man,
Thanks for your comment. Here’s what I think:
1) It may be possible that metaclean contains some very mild abrasives, and repeated use could have abraded the coat away.
2) Another cause could be that the strong solvents have cleaned of the hydrophobic layer of the coat. The hardened opticoat might still be on the paint, just that it is not repelling water.
If you have coated your car, the opti coat should be able to keep the dirt from sticking to the paint. You mentioned that the coating started to get dirty after 2 months, that is quite fast for a coating. How often were you washing the car?