Soft99 Water Block Shampoo - Light & Metallic: pH Balanced Hydrophobic Shampoo

Add the recommended dose to a clean wash bucket, fill with water to generate lather, and wash panel by panel using a quality microfibre or lambswool wash mitt. Rinse each panel thoroughly with a strong stream of water and you will see the hydrophobic sheeting and beading take effect immediately. A two-bucket method with a grit guard is recommended to keep the lather lubricated and contaminant-free.

This variant is formulated specifically for light and metallic finishes - silvers, whites, pearls, champagnes and light-toned metallics. The optical brightening properties in the formula enhance the shimmer and depth of these colours without the colour-enhancing tints found in Soft99's dark paint variants. If you have black, dark blue or dark red paint, look for the Dark and Black variant instead.

Water Block Shampoo is designed to be coating-friendly. It is pH-neutral enough to be safe on waxed, sealed and lightly ceramic-coated surfaces under normal use. That said, no shampoo is completely strip-free with repeated heavy use, so if you are on a full ceramic coating, stick to a dedicated coating maintenance shampoo for long-term protection. For wax and sealant finishes this product is an excellent maintenance wash choice.

Soft99 recommends a small cap measure diluted into a standard wash bucket of water. Because the formula is concentrated, using too much does not improve the result and can make rinsing harder. Dial in the dose that produces a generous, stable lather in your bucket and stick with it. Coverage per bottle is generous - one bottle should last a large number of regular washes.

This shampoo is formulated for painted bodywork. While it will not damage alloy wheels, it lacks the targeted chemistry to cut through heavy brake dust and road tar that builds up on wheels. For wheels and wheel arches, use a dedicated wheel cleaner or fallout remover first, then rinse, before doing your main body wash. The shampoo can be used as a final gentle rinse step on already-cleaned wheels if needed.

The water-block layer is a wash-and-go top-up rather than a standalone protection system. Each wash deposits a fresh hydrophobic film, so beading and sheeting are strongest immediately after washing and gradually diminish until the next wash cycle. Think of it as maintaining and refreshing a base layer of protection rather than replacing a dedicated wax or coating. For lasting protection, apply a proper wax, sealant or ceramic over the paint and use this shampoo to maintain it.

Yes, Water Block Shampoo can be run through a foam lance or snow foam cannon. Adjust dilution to your lance's ratio to achieve a decent cling. Because it is a contact shampoo rather than a pre-wash snow foam, combine it with a proper alkaline or neutral pre-wash rinse first to remove heavy grit before contact washing. The lather and lubricity are well suited to the two-stage wash process.

Once rinsed and dried with a clean microfibre drying towel, the paint surface should feel slick to the touch and have a noticeably glossy, clean appearance. On metallic and pearl finishes the shimmer tends to look more vivid than after a standard shampoo wash. Water droplets will bead and sheet convincingly on a freshly washed and dried panel, confirming the hydrophobic layer has been deposited correctly.