Koch-Chemie Acid Shampoo A "Aa" Acidic Car-Wash Shampoo 22kg

Acid Shampoo A neutralises the pre-wash and protects the wash brushes

What is Acid Shampoo A "Aa" from Koch-Chemie? A highly acidic concentrate for rollover and tunnel car washes running conventional process-water treatment. It binds hard limescale residue, neutralises the alkaline pre-wash sitting on the bodywork and extends the life of the wash brushes. Not suitable for biological process-water systems, raw aluminium, anodised parts, leather or hand-bucket washing.

Acid Shampoo A "Aa" is an acidic car-wash shampoo from Koch-Chemie in Unna, built on an acidic active blend with an acid-stable surfactant. The acid turns the calcium and magnesium carbonate from the process water into water-soluble salts — limescale leaves as a dissolved compound in the waste water instead of crystallising onto the brush, the paint and the bodywork. The surfactant stays stable in the acidic environment, foams reliably and lays a thin slip layer on the paint that sets up the drying stage that follows.

So the Aa is not a cleaner in the classic sense, but the second beat in the wash-bay workflow: after the alkaline pre-wash, before drying. It dissolves the mineral residue that foam and pre-wash leave behind and tips the pH on the bodywork from alkaline back into the neutral range. It's exactly this double role, cleaner plus neutraliser, that's the reason wash operators can't swap the Aa for a pH-neutral shampoo without visibly losing drying quality and brush life.

• 1,500 car washes per 22 kg keg. At 8 to 15 ml of shampoo per car, a wash runs just under three weeks on one keg. The 225 kg container is good for around 15,000 washes, so roughly three months of full operation in a mid-range rollover wash. Boutique detailing shampoos simply don't add up in this volume logic.
• Brush life from around 12 to 18 months. The acid binds the calcium from the alkaline process water before it crystallises as limescale on the polyethylene bristles. Without this step, brushes scale up in hard water within months, get sharp edges and tear into clear coat. With Aa they last about 50 percent longer in practice.
• Pump dosing, neat up to 1:10. 15 to 30 ml of foam or 8 to 15 ml of shampoo per car, dosed through the wash pump. Hand-bucket washing isn't on the table; mixing by hand regularly leads to overdosing and paint damage.

Day-to-day from Detailing1: We often get enquiries from wash operators who can't explain paint damage on the bonnet. What we see day-to-day is almost always the same pattern: the shampoo dries on in sections between application and rinse, because in summer the paint surface is far hotter than the air, well past 30 degrees outside.

The moment the water evaporates, the acid concentrates up towards 100 percent and etches visible marks into the clear coat — detailers call that clear-coat etching, micro-burns you can't polish back out.

The pro rule: check the paint surface with an infrared thermometer for under 25 degrees, split the car rigorously into small sections and time exactly one minute from application, then rinse off completely at a minimum of 120 bar before you start the next section. Wash sitting in the sun? Don't run the Aa.

Pump dosing 1:10, one minute, rinse straight off

Acid Shampoo A goes in exclusively through the wash's dosing pump — neat to a maximum dilution of 1:10, depending on how dirty the car is and how hard the water is. The wash puts out 15 to 30 ml as foam or 8 to 15 ml as shampoo per car.

Maximum contact time is one minute, measured from the moment it hits the paint. That limit isn't up for negotiation: with the high acid concentration in the concentrate, the Aa reacts within seconds the moment water evaporates and the acid concentrates on the surface.

Bottom line for you: no hand-bucket washing, no second section before the first one is rinsed, no pause between application and the high-pressure rinse. That's why the wash controller in most rollover systems stops automatically after 50 to 55 seconds of acid application and releases the rinse cycle right away.

The order in the wash workflow is fixed. First an alkaline pre-wash — with the Pre-Foam efficient, say — lifts insects, oil and organic road grime. Then the Aa as the main wash. It removes the mineral residue and tips the pH on the bodywork from alkaline back into the neutral range.

Only on that neutralised surface should the protectant go on. Flip the order and you get either wax on dirt or beading on residual alkali. Both visibly reduce drying quality.

Before every wash start-up, compatibility has to be checked on an inconspicuous spot. Manufacturer's requirement — and in an audit, the only safeguard against paint damage on OEM special finishes or on resprayed body panels that no longer carry the factory coating.

Phosphates, raw aluminium and leather stay off-limits

The Aa has clear limits that have to be checked before use — otherwise the economics are gone and the wash operator ends up out of pocket.

First limit: biological process-water treatment. The phosphates it contains are fertiliser for the micro-organism cultures that clarify the process water in modern bio-reactors — they drive eutrophication in the loop, tip the bacterial balance and have to be re-set with a lot of effort. With bio process water → a different phosphate-free pre-cleaner, such as the Pre-Wash B. With conventional treatment using flocculation and sedimentation → Acid Shampoo A plays to its strengths here.

Second limit: acid-sensitive materials. Raw, unpainted aluminium on polished wheel barrels, anodised coatings and cracked chrome with micro-fissures react with the acid and go dull or blotchy. The Aa isn't meant for tyre detailing or deep wheel cleaning — for that the Koch-Chemie range has its own wheel cleaners, like the Felgenreiniger extrem with a surfactant blend tuned for the job.

Third limit: no interior, no leather, no unprotected polypropylene. Not even heavily diluted. The acidic action stays in the pH range that attacks leather coating and PP structures even at a 1:300 dilution. For convertible tops, interior cleaning or raw plastic bumpers, the specialist products from the COLOURLOCK line are the right call.

And the status that governs how it's sold: Acid Shampoo A is classified as a corrosive industrial product and isn't approved for private customers — buying it at Detailing1 requires verified proof of trade, i.e. a business licence, GISA extract or commercial register extract. Private customers after an acidic wash for hand-bucket washing in the 1 litre format are in the right place with the Reactivation Shampoo — same chemical DNA, child-safe packaging, usable by hand.

22 or 225 kilograms. Throughput decides the container.

The target group for Acid Shampoo A is narrow. The choice between the 22 kg keg and the 225 kg IBC container isn't a size question but a question of car throughput per month and the storage strategy of a wash operator or large valeter. Cost both factors honestly and you land on the right pack.

The 22 kg pack (SKU D1-KCX-311022) works out to around 1,500 standard washes at 15 ml shampoo consumption. That fits the smaller petrol-station rollover wash with 30 to 50 washes a day, the fixed valeting bay and the mobile valeter with a fixed container setup. The keg can still be moved with a forklift or pallet truck.

The 225 kg IBC (SKU D1-KCX-311225) is large-site economics: a direct connection to the permanently installed dosing system and around 15,000 car washes' range per container. That positions the Aa as an industrial solution that lasts just under three months in big tunnel washes doing 200 cars a day — and in this segment it's one of the cheapest components in the whole cost-per-wash.

If you're torn between the packs, cost the storage space and forklift access honestly. The 225 kg IBC needs a permanently plumbed dosing station and a suction-connection setup — if you have neither, you're better off with two or three 22 kg kegs a quarter, because there's no decanting. The other way round, the IBC is clearly the economic winner from a throughput of around 100 cars a day, because it slashes the logistics cost per wash.

Store both packs frost-free between 5 and 30 degrees, closed, kept apart from food and animal feed — and with the prescribed personal protective equipment when decanting: chemical-resistant nitrile gloves, EN 166 safety glasses, closed work clothing. Acidic industrial chemistry doesn't forgive disposable latex gloves.

The one insider figure that data sheets rarely spell out: Aa-run washes with conventional process-water treatment extend the life of polyethylene wash brushes from around 12 to 18 months in practice. With a brush set that quickly runs into four figures, running the Aa pays for itself on the saved spare parts alone. If that's the only thing you take from this text, it's the one that matters most economically.

Application of Acid Shampoo A "Aa"

Pump Dosing in the System Workflow

Acid Shampoo A is applied exclusively via the dosing pump of the gantry car wash or wash tunnel. Dilute from undiluted to a maximum of 1:10, depending on water hardness and degree of soiling. The target consumption per vehicle is 15 to 30 milliliters as foam and 8 to 15 milliliters as shampoo.

The sequence in the system cycle is fixed: first the alkaline pre-wash, for example Pre-Foam efficient, then the Aa as the acidic main wash. It dissolves mineral residues, neutralizes residual alkaline water on the bodywork, and prepares it for drying. The sealant may only be applied to this neutralized surface.

The maximum contact time is one minute, measured from the moment of application to the paint. With the high acid concentration in the concentrate, the Aa reacts within seconds as soon as water evaporates. Rinse off completely with at least 120 bar high pressure immediately after the minute has elapsed, before the next section is processed.

Notes: Acid Shampoo A is classified as a corrosive industrial product and is intended exclusively for commercial users. Before decanting, put on chemical-resistant nitrile gloves, not latex disposable gloves, plus EN 166 safety goggles and closed work clothing. Not for biological process water treatment due to phosphate content. Do not use on raw aluminum, anodized surfaces, cracked chrome, leather, or unprotected polypropylene. Check paint temperature with an infrared thermometer to ensure it is below 25 degrees; never work in direct sunlight. Store frost-free between 5 and 30 degrees, separate from food. Before each initial use, check compatibility on an inconspicuous area.