Pre-wash. Do you bother? I must admit I regularly don’t. Unless one of the cars is particularly mucky, ie I’ve not washed it in a while. A pre-wash helps to loosen stuck-on dust, dirt, bug bums, etc.
And now Autoglym have a handy little sprayer to apply pre-wash solution and wheel cleaner, the Easy Sprayer.
It sits alongside their Polar Foam Sprayer, but it’s slightly diddier in size at 1 litre rather than 2.5. Again, Autoglym sent this over for me to test along with their All Purpose Cleaner.
What is it?
Simply put, the Autoglym Easy Sprayer is a high-quality, pump-action sprayer designed to work with a range of their cleaning products – interestingly enough, the product page says the sprayer is meant for use with their alloy wheel cleaner, but it can obvs be used with whatever product you like.
You fill the 1-litre tank with your chosen Autoglym product (following its specific dilution on the product label if it needs diluting), pump the handle to pressurise it, and then press the trigger. But what sets this apart from the Polar Foam Sprayer is the two interchangeable nozzles – a fan nozzle for wide application and a cone nozzle for more focused cleaning, like wheels, which, in their own words, allows for ‘maximum coverage with minimum effort’.
You also can’t use the Easy Sprayer as a snow foam sprayer, as it doesn’t have the little foamy felty pads that help create the foam in the nozzle.
What’s the Autoglym Easy Sprayer like to use?
Once again, the little BMW i3 was the test subject. This time, though, with it being summery, bug bums were the offending item looking for easy removal. Same as last time, no, I’m not usually this lazy, I tend to wipe them off before they get to this stage, but alas, product testing.
The instructions state to use All Purpose Cleaner neat, so no messing around with dilution rates. You fill the tank up to the 1-litre maximum (or less, depending on how much you need), and pump until you feel some resistance. Simple. No endless checking of the manual or pinching measuring jugs from the kitchen this time!
Once you’re all filled up and pumped up, it’s time to pick your nozzle. As already mentioned, the Easy Sprayer comes with two – a fan nozzle for broad coverage, which is perfect for sides and bonnets, and a cone nozzle for a more focused spray, which is ideal for wheels.
I started with the fan nozzle to coat the front bumper nicely. The key here is the ‘continuous spray’; once you press the trigger, it just goes – no constant pumping mid-spray, just a smooth, even application.
Switching to the cone nozzle, I gave the tyres and wheels a blast. The spray pattern is much closer and would mean you can clean your wheels without getting product on the rest of your car – compared to the fan nozzle.
If you’re switching nozzle part way through a sesh, depressurise it via the little pull up stopped on the top of the bottle, but keep that pulled up when unscrewing the nozzle, or you’ll waste precious product.
I then let it sit for a few minutes, and the alkaline solution just…melted the bug remnants in a grim oozy mess. Even just hosing the car down it was remarkably clean, see below. I then washed the car down with a mitt and some nice Meguiars Gold Class shampoo; the dirt simply wiped off. There was no hard scrubbing, no need for a second wash. Perfect. And that’s exactly why you sometimes need a pre-wash.
Autoglym Easy Sprayer Conclusion
Overall, the Autoglym Easy Sprayer is a worthwhile addition to the cleaning armoury. It helps make pre-washing easy, which ultimately means you’re more likely to do it. The continuous spray and choice of nozzles mean you get great coverage for both alloys and bodywork. And one final touch: when you’re done, you don’t have to wait around for it to depressurise slowly. Just pull the safety valve, and it’s ready to store instantly – wash it out, of course.
Maximum coverage, minimum effort and easy to pack away.
Where can I buy the Autoglym Easy Sprayer?
It’s currently available for £25.00 on the Autoglym website, and you can also purchase it from Amazon with free delivery.
