Dollar store spray cleaner vs name brand for my detail jobs - no contest

I detail cars on weekends for extra cash. Last month a customer handed me their own bottle of that cheap spray cleaner from the dollar store and asked me to use it on their seats. I said sure, whatever. 20 minutes later I had to redo the whole interior because it left these weird sticky streaks everywhere. My go-to is a $12 bottle of chemical guys interior cleaner and it just works. No residue, no smell that lingers for days. The dollar stuff felt like I was just pushing dirt around. Has anyone else had a customer force you to use their own cheap products instead of your reliable gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

sam_thomas29d ago

Pushing dirt around" is a good way to put it, but I've actually had better luck with the cheap stuff on light cleaning jobs where I don't want strong chemicals.

carr.elliot27d ago

Did you catch that one test where they showed the cheap stuff has way more surfactants that just don't rinse off clean? I saw a video of a guy testing residue levels and the dollar store cleaner was like triple the name brand.