CarPro Reset Intensive Car Shampoo

When you've invested time and money in protecting your paintwork with a ceramic coating, choosing the right shampoo becomes particularly important. You want something capable of removing everyday grime, but you don't necessarily want a product that leaves waxes, gloss enhancers or other additives behind every time you wash.

CARPRO Reset was developed with exactly that in mind. Rather than treating shampoo as another opportunity to add protection or enhance gloss, CARPRO focused on creating a cleaning product that works with the characteristics of modern ceramic coatings.

We've used plenty of car shampoos over the years, and Reset has always impressed us with its balance of cleaning power, foam and lubrication. It manages to feel like a proper, hardworking shampoo without relying on the kind of additional finishing ingredients that can gradually alter the behaviour of a protected surface.

The interesting part is its surfactant technology. CARPRO describes Reset as using intelligent pH surfactants, designed to provide cleaning characteristics associated with alkaline detergents while remaining pH-neutral in the prepared wash solution.

That's a useful distinction. The effectiveness of a shampoo isn't determined by pH alone. Surfactants play an important role in wetting the surface, loosening contamination and keeping dirt suspended in the wash solution so it can be rinsed away.

For a car that's regularly exposed to traffic film, rainwater contamination and everyday road grime, this balance matters. A shampoo needs sufficient cleaning ability to remove the build-up, but a maintenance wash shouldn't unnecessarily interfere with the protection already on the paintwork.

One of the biggest attractions of Reset is that it contains no added gloss enhancers. Some shampoos are designed to leave a layer of wax or polymer protection behind, which can be useful on an unprotected vehicle. However, on a ceramic-coated car, those additional ingredients can temporarily change the surface behaviour you're trying to maintain.

Reset takes the opposite approach. It cleans the surface and rinses away without deliberately depositing a new finishing layer. That allows the water beading, sheeting and appearance of the underlying coating to remain the focus.

It's also important to understand what people mean when they say Reset restores hydrophobicity. A ceramic coating can become covered in road film, grime and other contamination that masks its water-repellent behaviour. Removing that build-up may reveal the coating's original characteristics again. Reset doesn't repair a damaged coating or replace protection that has worn away.

For more stubborn contamination, particularly mineral deposits from hard water, a dedicated cleaner such as CARPRO Descale may be more appropriate. Reset is intended primarily for routine maintenance, while Descale provides a more specialised acidic cleaning option when ordinary washing isn't enough.

Another quality we particularly like is the amount of lubrication Reset provides. The shampoo creates a rich, dense lather that allows a good-quality wash mitt to move comfortably across the surface. Lubrication is an important part of safe contact washing, although it's still essential to remove loose grit beforehand and use clean wash media.

CARPRO's recommended dilution is also impressively economical. At 1:500, you only need 40ml of shampoo in 20 litres of water. That means a 500ml bottle can prepare approximately 250 litres of wash solution, while a one-litre bottle can prepare approximately 500 litres at the recommended concentration.

We'd use Reset following a thorough pre-wash, particularly during winter or whenever the vehicle is carrying heavier contamination. CARPRO Lift is the more intensive foaming pre-wash in the range, helping remove loose dirt and traffic film before the wash mitt comes into contact with the paint.

Once the pre-wash is complete, Reset provides the lubrication and cleaning action needed for the contact wash. Its rich foam makes it enjoyable to use, while the clean-rinsing formulation helps avoid unwanted residues on the finish.

Although it was specifically developed for CARPRO's CQUARTZ coatings and related protection products, Reset isn't restricted to ceramic-coated vehicles. It's also a very good choice for anyone looking for a concentrated, straightforward car shampoo that cleans without deliberately adding a new protective layer.

For us, that's what makes Reset such a strong product. It doesn't rely on complicated promises or flashy additives. It simply cleans exceptionally well, offers excellent lubrication, rinses freely and allows your existing protection to perform as intended. For regular maintenance of a ceramic-coated vehicle, it's difficult to ask much more from a shampoo.