Products: Turtle Wax Waterless Wash review

• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• RRP: £9.99 (500ml)
• Buy it at: Halfords.com

Do you iron creases in your jeans? Believe that everyone else in the house loads the dishwasher incorrectly? Only stir your tea to the right? Then you’ll love Turtle Wax Waterless Wash, which allows the anally-retentive… sorry, discerning car owner to keep their pride and joy speck free at all times.

Turtle Wax claims that the “unique formulation cleans, shines and protects paintwork, plastic and wheels in one step – without the need for water, hose or buckets”, which potentially adds those who live in flats those to the list of buyers. But does it live up to the promise?

In truth Waterless Wash is only really effective for those regular cleaning top-ups — try and give your pride and joy a top-to-tail deep clean once a decent layer of muck has covered it and you’ll find you don’t do much more than smear the grime around the paintwork.

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Read the back of the bottle and Turtle Wax is quite honest about this limitation, but it will no doubt prove to be a disappointing product for those who expect this to be the only cleaning solution they’ll need. It’s clear that if you are a flat-dweller, you’ll still need to visit your local jet wash or hand car wash (always avoid the dreaded automatic car washes).

On the plus side, Turtle Wax Waterless wash costs less than a tenner for 500ml, which the manufacturer says should be able to “up to wash five (average-size) cars”. The maker also claims that its formulation “encapsulates dirt and dust and creates a protective barrier, which allows dirt to be lifted away into the cloth without damaging or scratching paintwork”.

However, it is surely difficult to guarantee against abrasion of the surface without the usual soaking from a pressure washer, and bucket and sponge. For the record, following our test, close inspection didn’t reveal any scratches but the microfibre cloth quickly became sodden and we needed to make several trips to the sinks to wash it out, thereby eliminating any potential time-saving over a traditional clean.

Is it worth an investment? For perfectionists and professional drivers, such as cabbies and chauffeurs, who are required to keep their vehicle spotless, yes. For everyone else, it’s one to avoid.