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Muc-Off High-Performance Waterless Wash

7
£11.99

VERDICT:

7
10
A quick and easy, if pricey, solution to give a slightly grubby bike a showroom finish
Weight: 
828g
Contact: 

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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Muc-Off's High-Performance Waterless Wash does exactly what it says on the tin – well, bottle. It'll give your bike a quick spruce-up after a wet or dusty ride and takes very little effort to use. It's an expensive way to keep your pride and joy clean, mind, and won't replace your bucket and sponge long term.

  • Pros: Easy to use and does a good job of making your bike look like new
  • Cons: Pricey; doesn't work on grease

The Waterless Wash hasn't been developed by Muc-Off to replace its more robust bike cleaners, it's more of a stop gap for when your bike has picked up a bit of road spray or is covered in dust.

> Find your nearest dealer here

It's simple to use. You basically shake the bottle to mix up the water-based detergent and silicone-based polymers and spray away, giving the frame and components a good coating while enjoying the fruity aroma.

Leave it for a few minutes to do its work and then wipe off. Muc-Off recommends a microfibre cloth that'll lift contaminants like dust and small grit away from the paintwork to stop them scratching the finish.

Using it to clean a road bike that was covered in spray after being caught out in a heavy storm, it all wiped away leaving no watermarks or a powdery finish. All the dirt came away on the cloth and thanks to the silicone in the mix it left the paintwork with a shiny, smooth finish.

As well as water spray and dust, it will also work its way through those grey streaks running down your fork and seatstays that you get when using your rim brakes in the wet.

There is no degreaser element to it, though, so it won't work on your groupset or clean any oily spray off the chainstays.

It's best to drop your wheels out first to stop contamination of either your braking surface on rim-brake bikes or your rotors. To be honest, for speed I've just sprayed it all over and have had little issue with braking performance straight after.

I've certainly found it quite useful during the summer. Test bikes that need to go back to the office after covering 500 miles on dusty roads could just be given a quick once over, and if I'd been riding gravel bikes away from home I could give them a quick wipe down before putting them in the car.

It's an expensive way to clean your bike, mind. At £11.99 for a 750ml bottle, I reckon I'd get 12 to 15 washes out of it.

The Duck Smart Bike Ezee is a very similar product but only costs £6.99 for a 500ml bottle, so about £10.50 for 750ml, cheaper, but as you can see, convenience costs money.

Overall, it's never going to replace the bucket and sponge but for giving a slightly dirty bike a quick once over it does the trick.

Verdict

A quick and easy, if pricey, solution to give a slightly grubby bike a showroom finish

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Muc-Off High-Performance Waterless Wash

Size tested: 750ml

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Muc-Off says, "Muc-Off Waterless Wash is a highly advanced, easy to use spray which cleans and polishes in seconds without the need for water. It details your whole bike, motorcycle or car in seconds leaving behind a streak free shine. Its innovative formula is designed to encapsulate any surface dirt to prevent scratching.

"Use it to remove light contaminants in between major washes."

It may seem like an extravagance to some, but it delivers on its promise.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

From Muc-Off:

Cleans and polishes in one application

No need for water!

Long lasts lustre

No residual dust or streaks

Non-sticky

Powder free

Suitable to use on bicycles, motorcycles, cars & R.Vs

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
4/10

We haven't tested many of these products but the Muc-Off comes out a little pricey at around a quid per wash.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

It cleans the bike, with no leftover residue.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Ease of use.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

It is literally all about price as it works well.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

It's a pricey way to achieve a clean bike, but to keep your best ride looking spick and span it does deliver in terms of ease of use and overall shine.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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