The Alpha 3pH Wash Guide

Labocosmetica chemistry, in the order we run it at the studio: alkaline, then acid, then neutral. This is the web version of the brochure that goes out with every Alpha Details order. Same content, same dilutions.

Three washes. One clean car, before a mitt touches it.

Dirt on a car is two layers. On top sits the organic film: oils, road grime, rubber and exhaust residue, bugs. Beneath it, bonded to the paint, is the inorganic layer: limescale, water-spot minerals and industrial fallout. Alkaline chemistry breaks down oils and grease; acid dissolves mineral scale. Neither does the other's job, so we run both, then finish neutral. Every step is rinsed off before the next goes on.

Why alkaline goes first. The oily film is water-repellent and sits over the minerals. Put an acid on first and it spends itself on the grease without reaching the scale underneath, and much of the film stays put. Prìmus strips that film off, the rinse takes it away, and Purìfica lands on bare minerals it can actually dissolve. Then a neutral wash finishes without disturbing what is protecting the paint.

Step 1 · Alkaline · PRÌMUS 2.0 (pH 11)

Removes organic contaminants: traffic film, oil and grease, diesel soot, tyre and exhaust residue, bug remains, bird droppings, tree sap, pollen.

Alkalinity breaks fats and oils down and the surfactants carry them off in the rinse. Most alkaline foams get that power from sodium hydroxide, which also attacks bare aluminium, rubber and paint protection. Prìmus 2.0 carries no free caustic and does the job with alkaline surfactant chemistry. It was the first pre-wash to pass VDA certification, the German automotive industry's material-compatibility test.

How we apply it. Straight onto the dry car, no pre-rinse. Water on the panel dilutes the foam and keeps the surfactants away from the film. Bottom up, dwell a few minutes, rinse at high pressure. Shade and cool panels, never let it dry on.

Dilution. Foam gun 1:5 for heavy soiling, 1:10 for light. Sprayer on the lower body and bug splatter 1:20. Wheels and tyres 1:3 to 1:10. Safe on paint, alloys, trim, rubber, PPF and coatings.

Step 2 · Acid · PURÌFICA (pH below 3)

Removes inorganic contaminants: limescale, hard-water spotting, calcium and magnesium deposits, industrial fallout, cement and concrete dust, road-salt residue.

With the oily layer gone, the acid reaches the mineral film that builds up over months of washing and rain. It is invisible on its own and is the main reason a car looks dull, especially in black. Purìfica dissolves and sequesters those deposits and brings the gloss back. Cheap acid cleaners rely on hydrofluoric acid or ammonium bifluoride, which etch alloys and clear coat. Purìfica uses buffered noble acids, free of HF and ABF, and is VDA certified safe even undiluted.

How we apply it. Foam on, dwell a few minutes, rinse. On heavy mineral contamination we also run it in the wash bucket, because acid with agitation does more than acid foamed on alone.

Dilution. Foam gun 1:5 to 1:10. Wash bucket 1:100 to 1:400. Atomiser 1:100 to 1:200. It is still below pH 3 at 1:200 and sits around pH 5 at 1:400, a gentle maintenance wash for protected paint.

Step 3 · Neutral · NÈVE, then SÈMPER

Removes what is left: loose dust, light dirt and any residue from the first two steps, without touching wax, sealant, coating or PPF.

Nève gets its cleaning from the surfactant package rather than a high pH, so it lifts the last of the loosened dirt and leaves the protection as it was. Its chelating agents lock up hard-water minerals so it rinses clean rather than spotting. Sèmper is the contact-wash shampoo: hyper-concentrated, neutral, no waxes or gloss enhancers. Its job is lubrication, so the mitt glides instead of dragging grit across the clear coat.

How we apply it. Nève through the foam gun, bottom up, dwell, rinse. Then three buckets: wash, rinse and a separate wheels bucket, with Sèmper in the wash bucket. Fill four fifths with water, add Sèmper, then bring up the foam with the last fifth under pressure.

Dilution. Nève 1:25 to 1:50 in the foam gun. Sèmper 1:800 to 1:1200 in the bucket. Both coating safe.

Wheels and tyres. Same chemistry, its own bucket.

Presoak with Prìmus 2.0 at 1:3 to 1:10 from a sprayer, then pressure wash the loosened soil away before anything touches the wheel. The contact wash comes from a dedicated wheels bucket. A mitt that has been on a wheel never goes back to paint.

The rules that make it work

Shade and cool panels. Nothing is allowed to dry on the car. If it starts to, rinse it off and go again.

Bottom up, every time. Apply from the sills upward and rinse the same way, so dirty run-off never crosses clean paint.

Hold the dilutions. Stronger is not better. Over-dosed Nève makes a heavy foam that slides off instead of clinging.

Protection stays put. Prìmus and Purìfica are VDA certified. All four products are safe over wax, sealant, ceramic coating and PPF.

Learn it hands on

The 3pH Decontamination Wash class runs at the studio, 19/99 Northern Rd, Heidelberg West VIC 3081. Book through alphadetails.com.au. Shop the full range in the Labocosmetica collection.

Dilutions are Labocosmetica's own published ratios. Applying Step 1 to a dry car is the Alpha studio method.