kero and water

well Peter.... I noticed your question a few days ago.... and now I notice that no-one has answered. So I will. I have never heard of using kero and water. Sound like a joke. I reckon you would end up with a bit of a slimey mess! What's wrong with proprietory car wash, or any old detergent, or even just water? Where did you hear this one from? Cheers Royce

Ah well, I belive that the use of kero, water and detergent is an old mechanics trick. My father, who was a mechanic back in the 50s swore by this washing method (they used to call it "wash and polish in a bucket"). I've tried it myself many times and it works quite well. I normally only use about 1/2 cup of kero in the bucket. Also works better if you use hot water.

I know of a number of vintage car freaks who ONLY wash with kero and water.

Not sure whether it's a wife's tale, so I've asked Dr Karl Kruszelnicki (ABC Self Service Science) at http://abc.net.au/science/k2/default.htm

FYI... If anyone is interested Dr Karl also has some interesting insights into road corregation and other 4WD related topics - see http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/trek/default.htm

FYI... One response on the Dr Karl forum was: It would take off pretty much any polish that was on the car, and may eve "cut" the paint back a bit. Cutting of the paint is where you remove a fine layer of the oxidised surface, exposinging a brighter layer beneath.Looks great, but there are a limited number of times you can do this, obviously, as eventually there would be no paint left to "cut".

And another: Kero is nothing amazing. Its not compatible with vehicles that have a wax treatment (it might take a lot of work to get the wax off to avoid a patchy look ).The kero doesnt prevent rust, because kero and water do mix. Kero will take off the tar spots, where car wash wont. This was more important "in the old days" where the road tar was liable to melt in the summer heat , and road repairs left liquid tar everywhere.

Peter,

With regards to kero and water. Being a Petroleum Engineer I can imagine that the benefit of using the kero would be to remove all oily residues (wax, bitumen, grease, fuel stains) from your paintwork.

However, I can see a few drawbacks from using kero:

1. washing with kero will remove any wax that you have previously applied to the car and hence have a cutting effect. Wax helps to protect against sunlight, oily residues, acids, alkalines, corrosion and dirt.
2. the kero will probably eventually attack any rubber bits on the outside of the car - not good.
3. Kero itself isn't that friendly for paintwork and would probably eventually help to oxidise.
4. Use rubber gloves and avoid any prolonged exposure to any hydrocarbons - even relatively pure kero has some nasty components in the liquid.
5. Probably not to good for the environment to have kero falling onto the ground as you wash the car or poured down a drain when you have finished washing - not that you do this of course.

I'll continue to use detergent followed by waxing or a detergent/wax formula in one.

Hope this helps.

yes kero does work - my grandfather and a friends grandfather swear by it and i've seent the results, he doesn't have a 4wd but a 60 something kingswood that he has had since new and the duco is still as good as new - he does also use a car wax every 6 months, can't use a polish cream though - i've strated to use it on my old 4wd to see if it will help maintain the paint work longer, only just started, but so far so good