The best car wash soaps to keep your Porsche clean (2025)

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I always find it interesting to read online discussions about car wash soaps. For many car owners, all car wash soaps are the same, and the one they use doesn’t matter. For others, they’ll stick to a few reputable choices and maybe even just one. Generally, once you get “good enough” results from your car wash soap, you have little reason to try another product. After all, your car looks clean after the wash, right?

Some car shampoos advertise that they protect your vehicle after a wash. But if you can’t see it or even feel it, how do you know if that’s true? It’s admittedly pretty difficult to rank car wash soaps; on the surface, any product from a quality manufacturer will leave behind a clean car. Still, we decided to put many of the most popular car wash soaps to the test, so we can deliver hands-on evaluations to our readers.

Before we dive into our recommendations, methodology, and reviews for each soap, there’s one thing I want to emphasize. You do not want to use your household dishwashing soap to wash your car. Doing so can strip away your car’s wax and dull its finish. When it comes to washing your car, use a car wash soap that is pH balanced or neutral and designed specifically to protect your car’s surface.

Below, you’ll find our top recommendations for the best car wash soaps based on our testing, followed by our evaluation methodology and detailed reviews of each soap.

1. Top pick: Chemical Guys Hydro Suds Ceramic Car Wash Soap

For years, I preferred Chemical Guys’ Mr. Pink Foaming Car Wash Soap as my car shampoo of choice, but the brand has won me over once again with Hydro Suds Ceramic Car Wash Soap. By now, numerous brands offer ceramic car wash soaps, but I still find Chemical Guys’ product to be the best overall for performance and price. As expected, you’ll get plenty of foamy suds when using this with a foam cannon, and the SiO2-infused formula claims to leave behind ceramic protection. Unfortunately, I’m not a chemist, so I’ll have to take these claims at face value, but from my experience, this product leaves behind a nice shine and smooth finish.

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Check Price on Chemical Guys
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2. Runner-up: Meguiar’s Professional Watermelon Blast Hyper Wash

For decades, Meguiar’s has been serving the car community with top-notch products at an affordable price. This year, the brand asked me to give its Watermelon Blast Hyper Wash a test, which is part of the Meguiar’s Professional line. It’s a hyper-concentrated formula, meaning this bottle will go a very long way. It’s actually the soap I prefer to use on my Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which has a matte finish. It might not produce as thick a foam as some of its competitors, but it makes quick work of thick grime and dirt.

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3. Thickest foam: AutoManiacs Carpuccino

AutoManiacs may be new to the market, but it won’t take long before enthusiasts take note. I’ve been testing the brand’s lineup for several months now, and each time I’m impressed with just how thick a layer of foam the Carpuccino Foam Shampoo sprays out of a foam cannon. The neutral pH formula breaks down all the dirt on your car’s surface, and the thick foam makes it effortless to wipe it all away. It’s also another highly concentrated formula, so you’ll want to dilute this before using it. Best of all, AutoManiacs includes a nice car wash mitt with the soap.

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Methodology: How we tested

For our evaluation process, we decided to test car wash soaps that are popular online, as well as products that I’ve been using over the past few months. Since ultimately any quality car wash soap will leave your car looking clean, we evaluated how sudsy or foamy each soap gets when used with a foam cannon. To keep things fair, we used the same amount of soap (two ounces) for our testing, because ultimately one major factor in choosing the best car wash soap is the amount of product you need for an effective wash.

The amount of suds produced by a car wash soap is important because you don’t want to use a watered-down solution when swiping your mitt across the car. The more effective the soap, the easier your mitt glides across the surface while removing all that dirt and grime. Those foaming bubbles help ensure your car doesn’t accidentally get scratches or swirl marks while you’re washing.

The effectiveness of each soap is more obvious when using a foam cannon. We used the same mixture for all the soaps to ensure a fair evaluation. This means we didn’t follow manufacturers’ recommended instructions, which you should follow to get the best wash. But we wanted to compare the amount of soap you’d have to use per wash, and this was the fairest way to achieve that.

Why trust us

I’ve loved the automotive industry since before I could legally drive. My early years were spent in the sport compact aftermarket, working for companies such as Titan Motorsports and Enjuku Racing in Florida. Over the years, I have competed in numerous car shows and built two SEMA project cars: one used in the Charge Speed booth, and another for H&R. I am the former West Coast Editor for Modified Magazine and have been published in nearly a dozen publications worldwide, as well as in two books for CarTech. Car detailing is one of my passions, since a clean car is extremely important when competing at shows.

Hands-on testing

1. Chemical Guys Hydro Suds Ceramic Car Wash Soap

The Chemical Guys’ Hydro Suds Ceramic Car Wash Soap strikes a balance between performance and cost. It lays down a nice, thick layer of foam and wipes away easily, leaving a slick and smooth surface.

You can see just how foamy and sudsy this product gets, and depending on your mixture, it can get even thicker. But there’s no real benefit in doing so; your main priority is safely getting all that dirt and grime off your car. The ceramic protection may not last long, but it’s reassuring to know something is protecting your paint between washes.

2. Meguiar’s Professional Watermelon Blast Hyper Wash

We always know what to expect from a Meguiar’s product, because it is one of the most reliable car care brands in the world. Meguiar’s Watermelon Blast Hyper Wash is no different; it gives everyday consumers professional-strength car wash soap for home use.

Since I have matte paint on my personal car, I prefer to use Meguiar’s Watermelon Blast Hyper Wash most of the time. It leaves behind a very clean surface, and while it doesn’t get as thick and foamy as other products, the hyper-concentrated formula means a little goes a long way.

3. Thickest foam: AutoManiacs Carpuccino

As I mentioned earlier, AutoManiacs may be relatively new to the market, but I’ve been thoroughly impressed with its entire product lineup. Its car wash soap produces the thickest foam of all the products we tested and leaves a very clean finish.

I also recommend this product if you’re just starting out in car cleaning or detailing. AutoManiacs’ lineup includes accessories with each item, like a wash mitt with its soap or a wheel brush with its wheel and tire cleaner. Some products even include microfiber towels for application, so it’s a convenient solution if you just want a bundle.

Recent Updates:

Updated (2:39 p.m. EDT, 07/04/2025): Updated this entire article for 2025 after thoroughly testing a wide range of new products.

Updated (11:14 p.m. EST, 02/08/2023): Added eBay shopping links. Our recommendations remain unchanged.

Updated (4:00 p.m. EDT, 10/12/2022): Overhauled the content by adding hands-on reviews and photos from our testing and evaluation of the best car wash soaps. Added information on how we tested and why you should trust us.