The Complete Yum Cars Guide
Every product, every dilution in millilitres, and the order to use them. Built around the printed guide in every Yum order.
Yum Cars is the easiest serious range to get right, as long as you get the dilution right. This guide covers the whole Yum Cars range we stock in Australia: the weekly wash, wheels, decontamination, protection and interior. Every dilution is in millilitres, taken from the printed Yum dilution guide we put in every Yum order.
Yum Cars is a British brand, made in the UK, with bold bottles, strong scents and a range built as one system. Before we listed any of it, we read the safety data sheet for every chemical, read Yum's own product pages and used every bottle on cars in our studio. The figures below are Yum's own published guidance; where a line is our practice rather than Yum's, we say so.
The Yum Dilution Guide
Our printed A4 guide covers every Yum chemical in millilitres first, with the ratio in brackets, plus the four rules that matter more than the ratio. It goes in the box with every Yum order. Yum's Australian distributor read it before it went to print.
Download the PDFWeekly wash: Yum Citrus on the lower panels, Yum Foam over the car, then Yum Wash in the bucket. Yum Detailer to dry. Or buy them together as the Wash Bundle 2.0.
Wheels: Yum Wheels neat, Wheel Foam through the cannon, Undress on the tyres, Dress V2 to finish.
Coated car gone flat: Yum Reset to take the mineral film off: start at 50 ml in a 10 L bucket, and add more for heavier water spotting.
No hose: Yum Rinse-Less, 4 ml per litre for a traditional rinseless wash.
Protection: Yum Ceramic to spray and wipe, Foam+ to top up, or a Paint Serum coating for years rather than months.
Four rules that matter more than the ratio
Nothing dries on the car. Shade and cool panels, every product. If a foam or pre-wash starts to dry, rinse it off and go again. Yum say it plainly for Citrus, Wheels and Wheel Foam; we apply it to all of them.
Citrus is not for wrapped vehicles. That is Yum's own instruction. Never use it in direct sun or let it dry. The lower panels and bug-hit areas are where it earns its place.
Neat means neat. Undress and Wheels are made to be used straight from the bottle. Yum say diluting Undress causes a drastic drop in performance, so we don't.
Decon runs in one order. Tar & Residue first, then Yum Wheels for iron, then the Clay Block, then a rewash with Yum Wash. That order is Yum's.
How to read the numbers
Every figure is millilitres of product, then water up to one litre. Product goes in the foam cannon bottle first, then you fill to the 1 litre line. The ratio in brackets is product to water, exactly as Yum publish it. Half the water, half the product: the ratio does not change.
Pre-wash, foam, contact wash. Wheels get their own bucket.
Yum's own sequence is simple. Rinse the car, hit the lower panels and bug-hit areas with Citrus, blanket the car in Foam, let it dwell, rinse, then contact wash with Yum Wash from a bucket. Wheels and tyres are done with their own products and their own bucket, with a mitt that never goes back on the paint.
Adding the acid step. Our Yum 3pH Wash System adds Yum Reset between Citrus and Foam: alkaline for organic dirt, acid for minerals, neutral for the foam and the wash. That four-step order is our method, not an official Yum instruction. There is no set Reset dose: 50 ml in a 10 L bucket is a good starting point, and you add more the worse the water spotting. Yum Australia put 50 ml at about pH 4–5. Our 3pH wash guide explains why each pH removes a different kind of dirt.
The whole range, in millilitres
This is the full table from the printed guide. Ratios in brackets are product to water.
Dwell 5–10 minutes, never let it dry. Rinse top to bottom. Yum give 100–150 ml; the split by dirt level is ours. Yum rate it pH 7, so wax, sealant and coating stay put.
Half-fill the bucket, add 100 ml, top up with the pressure washer. A 500 ml bottle is five buckets.
Not on wrapped vehicles. No direct sun, never let it dry.
No set amount: start here and add more for heavier water spotting or harder water. Yum Australia put 50 ml at about pH 4–5. Never let it dry.
Fill the pre-soak sprayer at the same strength as the bucket. Panel by panel, dry as you go.
Cool wheels, pre-rinse, apply, agitate, rinse. Never let it dry.
Shake well. Wheel face, barrel and arch after a pre-rinse. Never let it dry.
Yum say diluting causes a drastic drop in performance. Agitate until the foam runs from brown to white. That last part is our tell, not Yum's.
Left as applied, it dries to a clean satin. Buff only if you want it flatter. We don't use it inside the car.
Solvent-based, so water does not thin it.
Same figures in a spray bottle. Yum quote 8–12 weeks.
Decon first; polished paint is best. Yum quote 6+ months.
Glass: two towels, swap them often. Glass+: clean and clay first, let it haze, remove with Yum Glass. Yum Australia: 6+ months on side glass, 3+ on the windscreen, with regular washing.
Test a hidden spot on delicate leather first. Use several towels so nothing is carried between surfaces. No rinsing needed.
Deodoriser: fabric and carpet only, not plastic trim.
A dose per load, not a dilution. Extremely dirty: pre-soak in Wash MF and warm water first. Warm wash, dry on low heat or air dry.
Which Yum products for your car
Daily driver, washed every week or two
The Wash Bundle 2.0 is Yum's own starter line-up: Citrus, Wheels, Wash and Detailer. Add Yum Foam if you have a foam cannon. Protect with Yum Ceramic, which Yum quote at 6+ months, and top up with Foam+ every few washes.
Ceramic-coated car
Keep to Yum Foam and Yum Wash, both pH 7 on Yum's rating, so they leave the coating alone. When the water stops beading, a Yum Reset wash takes off the mineral film that buries it. Our acid shampoo comparison puts Reset beside three other acid shampoos.
Paint protection film and wraps
No Citrus on wrapped vehicles; that is Yum's rule. Wash with Foam and Wash. PPF Serum is Yum's coating made for film and wraps: Yum state two layers, 60 minutes apart, give upwards of 2 years of flexible protection. Our PPF care guide has the full routine.
No hose, apartment or water restrictions
Yum Rinse-Less at 4 ml per litre is a traditional rinseless wash: about 60 ml in a 15 L bucket. Go to 7 ml per litre for a full waterless wash, and down to 2.5 ml for wiping the interior and glass.
A car you want to coat
Decontaminate in Yum's order: Tar & Residue, Yum Wheels on the paint for iron, the Clay Block, then a rewash. Polish if the paint needs it, wipe every panel with Panel Wipe, then coat. Yum rate Paint Serum II at 2 years, Paint Serum IV at 4 and Paint Serum VI at 6, each from a single application. Those are Yum's figures; real durability depends on the prep and the maintenance. The Ceramic Coating Starter Kit puts Serum II, Panel Wipe and towels together. Trim Serum coats the plastic trim, rated by Yum at up to 2 years.
Interior
Yum Interior neat cleans the whole cabin: plastics, leather, fabric and Alcantara, with no dressing left behind. Equal parts with water on delicate leather. The Exfoliator lifts grime out of textured plastics, Yum Glass does the windows, and Deodoriser goes on fabric and carpet. The Interior Starter Kit has all of it.
Towels and toolsThe microfibre matters as much as the chemistry
Each Yum towel has one job, and the drying and paint towels are Korean microfibre. The Drying Towel is 70 × 90 cm twist loop, the Paint Towel is the short-nap towel for polish, coatings and Glass+, the Interior Towel is for glass and cabin, and the Wheel & Tyre Towel never touches paint. Wash them with Yum Wash MF, no fabric softener. For wheels, the Wheel Woolies and the merino Wheel Mitt; for decanting, the Pressol V2 sprayer and its labels, so a diluted bottle is never a mystery.
Try it firstWalk in and test it on our panels
Walk-ins are welcome at our Heidelberg West studio. We keep test panels set up so you can see how Yum Foam clings, feel Yum Wash under a mitt or watch Yum Wheels change colour as it reacts with iron. We also run hands-on training with the same products, from the wash chemistry masterclass to ceramic coating application. More on that in why every Yum order ships with our guide.
Which Yum products to buy first
Wash Bundle 2.0. Citrus, Wheels, Wash and Detailer: Yum's own starter set, 10% less than buying the four separately.
Yum Foam, if you have a foam cannon. 100 ml per litre.
Yum Undress and Dress V2 for tyres that stay black.
Yum Ceramic for protection, or the Protection Bundle with Foam+ and Detailer.
Yum Reset once the beading starts to fade, or go straight to the 3pH Wash System.
Genuine Yum Cars, guide in the box
The full Yum Cars range, with the printed dilution guide in every order. Online, or walk in to our studio in Heidelberg West, Melbourne.
What is Yum Cars?
Yum Cars is a British car care brand, made in the UK, with bold bottles, strong scents and a range built as one system: wash, wheels, decontamination, protection, coatings and interior.
Where can I buy Yum Cars in Australia?
Alpha Details stocks genuine Yum Cars, supplied through Yum's Australian distributor. We carry the range online and at our Heidelberg West studio in Melbourne, and ship Australia-wide.
Do Yum Cars orders come with a dilution guide?
Yes. Every Yum order from Alpha Details includes our printed Yum dilution guide, free. Every product is listed in millilitres first, with the ratio in brackets, and you can download the PDF from this page.
How much Yum Foam goes in a foam cannon?
100 ml made up to 1 litre with water (1:10) for normal dirt, and up to 150 ml for a heavily soiled car. Let it dwell 5–10 minutes, never let it dry, and rinse top to bottom.
Can I dilute Yum Wheels or Yum Undress?
No. Both are used neat, straight from the bottle. Yum say diluting Undress causes a drastic drop in performance.
Can I use Yum Citrus on a wrapped car?
No. Yum's own instruction is that Citrus is not for wrapped vehicles. Use Yum Foam and Yum Wash on wraps and PPF instead.
How long does Yum Ceramic last?
Yum quote 6+ months for Yum Ceramic on a decontaminated, ideally polished car. For longer protection, Yum rate the Paint Serum coatings at 2, 4 and 6 years.
Dilutions and durability figures are Yum Cars' own published guidance, read from their product pages and collected in our printed Yum dilution guide. Figures marked "Yum Australia" came from Yum's Australian distributor. Safety data sheets for every Yum chemical are linked from each product page and our data sheet library.