Koch Chemie AS Car Shampoo is a concentrated shampoo for the regular wash. You dilute it heavily, wash with the two-bucket method from top to bottom and rinse off. AS is phosphate- and NTA-free, rinses clean without a film and meets VDA class A. You will find Koch Chemie AS Car Shampoo in the shop.
What AS Car Shampoo does
A good shampoo cleans the car, glides nicely over the paint so your wash mitt creates less friction, and leaves no streaks. Koch Chemie AS is built from a combination of surfactants that lift grease and road grime. The formula is phosphate- and NTA-free and rinses clean. It is a cleaning shampoo for the everyday job, not a gloss seal and not a coating: it cleans, and you do the protecting with a separate wax, sealant or coating.
pH 9: what AS is and is not for
Important to know: Koch Chemie's technical data sheet gives AS a pH of 9, so it is mildly alkaline, not pH-neutral. That makes it a fine cleaner for the regular wash. If you want to preserve a waxed or coated car as much as possible, a pH-neutral shampoo is the better choice, for example the Koch Chemie CES Ceramic Effect Shampoo. Which shampoo suits which situation, you read in the guide which car shampoo to choose.
How to use it
Pre-wash first. Rinse off the loose grit or lay down a pre-wash, so you drag less dirt across the paint during the hand wash.
Set up two buckets. Fill one bucket with shampoo solution and a second with clean rinse water, ideally with a grit guard at the bottom.
Top to bottom. Wash with a soft wash mitt from top to bottom, rinsing the mitt in the clean bucket in between.
Rinse and dry. Rinse the whole car thoroughly and dry with a plush drying towel so you avoid water spots.
Dilution
AS is a concentrate, so a small amount is enough. For the hand wash Koch Chemie names about 1:150, which comes down to a dash of shampoo in a full wash bucket. More is not better: too much product gives more foam but not more cleaning, and rinses off less easily. Not sure how to convert, then read dilution explained.
Tips for the best result
Do not wash in direct sun and do not let the shampoo dry on the paint; that leaves streaks.
Use a separate wash mitt for the wheels and the lower body, where most of the abrasive dirt sits.
Refresh your rinse water when it gets too dirty, otherwise you carry grit back onto the paint.
Do a pre-wash when the car is really dirty, then you have to rub less during the hand wash.