Orange Agent - the many uses of this great cleaner

Engine bays

Spray Orange Agent liberally around the engine bay, making sure everything is cool to the touch first. Work any high grime areas with a brush like our Soft Details Brush. Hose off, or pressure wash off the residue left behind, taking care on electrical and sensitive componentry inside the engine bay. Dry the engine bay with a Dirty Deeds cloth, then apply Vinyl Revival to any plastic or vinyl surfaces, and Fully Slick or After Glow to any painted areas.

Strip Snow

A very unique use for Orange Agent, is the removal of waxes, sealants and silicones on the paint. We do this to remove old products that may have been used in the past that you want to remove, or it can be used as the first step in your Snow Job mixture, to remove heavier grease and grime, or to remove old products on the paint, in preparation for a full detail - to start fresh so to speak.

The way we do this is by adding 100ml of Orange Agent into the Snow Job mixture. So we use 100ml Orange Agent, 100ml Snow Job and 800ml of water in the Snow Blow Cannon, then do your normal snow foam of the car. Leaving the product to dwell on the paint will break down waxes and other sealants, and leave a good base to start with for a fresh detail.

You wouldn't use this method every time you snow foam your car, as it will remove any protection on there. Always remember that if you do use this method, that you follow up with Lazy Wax, Fully Slick and/or After Glow, to protect the paint once again.

Undercarriage

For the wheel wells and other under car areas, you can use Orange Agent to help break down dirt, mud, grease and other contaminants. Spray liberally to all the areas you wish to clean, and then agitate heavier soiled areas with a brush like our Big Black One, Little Chubby or Soft Details brush. While the product is still wet, pressure wash off, or rinse thoroughly with your hose. For plastic wheel arches, you can dry them thoroughly with a cloth like our Dirty Deeds cloth, and then apply Vinyl Revival to protect them.

Wheel & Tyre Cleaning

You can use Orange Agent on all types of wheels as an alternative to Wheely Clean. The powerful cleaning agents in Orange Agent will loosen brake dust and allow the wheels to be cleaned easily and efficiently. Simply spray the Orange Agent liberally over the wheel surface, allow it to dwell for 30 seconds to a minute (DON'T LET IT DRY!), then pressure wash off, or rinse off thoroughly with your hose. For a deeper clean, use our designated wheel brushes that can be found in the "Detailing Tools" section of the website, under "Products". 

For the tyres, spray Orange Agent liberally onto the rubber surface, then agitate with a stiff bristled brush like our Little Chubby brush. While the solution is still wet, pressure wash off, or rinse off thoroughly with your hose. This is especially good for if you’ve had a cheap, silicone based tyre dressing applied to your tyres and it’s been flinging down the side of your car!

For added protection after these steps, apply Fully Slick or After Glow to the wheels with our Dirty Deeds cloth and apply Tyre Sheen with a Sacrificial Muffy to the tyres. Fully Slick or After Glow on your wheels is a nice little hack to add some gloss and protection so that they’re that little bit easier to clean next time around. Sacrificial Muffy is a great tool for applying Tyre Sheen as it allows the product to be worked into the rubber, getting into the tyre lettering and any other undulations with ease.

External Plastic Trim & Rubbers

If your external plastic trim is looking faded, dirty or is just in need of a good clean, Orange Agent is a perfect fit for this job. Any light cleaning of these external plastic trims can be taken care of with our SubLime Clean, but for the more heavily soiled and tougher jobs, Orange Agent is the go to product. Using a Square Bear applicator, or a soft bristled brush like our Plush Brush if the surface needs deeper cleaning, spray the product into your applicator or brush, then work the product into the plastic trim. While the solution is still wet, wipe it clean with a Dirty Deeds cloth. Once the surface is clean & dry, and free of contaminants, silicones etc, you can seal the surface with our Vinyl Revival trim rejuvenation and protection product. Orange Agent can also be used to remove polish and wax residue from rubber door trims and linings.

Door Jambs

To clean dirt, grease and other contaminants from your door jambs and door hinges, spray Orange Agent directly onto the surface, then agitate with a brush like our Soft Details Brush. Rinse thoroughly with clean water, then dry with a Dirty Deeds cloth and Boss Gloss, Fully Slick or After Glow.

Exterior Badges & Grilles

To clean external badges, make sure the car has already had a Snow Job and been washed. We do it this way, because if you use the brush on the badges when the Snow Job is on the car, the Snow Job is breaking down all the dirt and grime on the paint, and you run the risk of causing scratches in the paint with the brush with the dirt that the Snow Job has broken down. So do the Snow Job, rinse the car, then when you're washing, spray Orange Agent into a brush like our Soft Details Brush, and also spray a small amount onto the actual surface you're going to be cleaning, agitate over the badge or grille, then rinse thoroughly.

Car Interiors

Being a pH neutral cleaner, Orange Agent is perfect to use on car interiors, from plastics, to vinyl, to leather, to remove all sorts of marks, including cheap silicon products. Using this technique is especially good for removing sunscreen marks from your interior, including leather seats. Use Orange Agent on a Square Bear applicator pad and wipe over the dirty surfaces (if the stains are really bad, you can use a soft bristled brush like our Plush Brush). While the product is still wet, wipe off excess residue with a Dirty Deeds or Plush Daddy cloth – don’t let the product dry on the surface, as the dirt you’ve just lifted off will dry back onto the surface. Once the surface has been cleaned with Orange Agent, it’s imperative that you then protect the surface – Vinyl Care for all the vinyl and plastic surfaces and Leather Love / Leather Guard for any leather surfaces.

Shampoo Extraction Machines

Orange Agent makes a great cleaning solution for shampoo extraction machines as it’s a very low sudsing formula, has exceptional cleaning capability and won’t reactivate in the fabric if it gets wet again. For best results in the machine, use the Orange Agent at a 50:1 dilution ratio (50 parts water to 1 part Orange Agent - so literally 20ml of Orange Agent per 1L of water). Any tougher stains should be pre sprayed with our fabric cleaning product; - Fabra Cadabra - and scrubbed with a small brush like our Plush Brush, to loosen the stain prior to using the extraction machine. Once the area has been extracted and has dried, use our Pong-Go odour eliminator to finish the job off nicely.

Rubber Floor Mats

If you have rubber floor mats in your car that are constantly getting extremely dirty, like in a truck or 4WD, Orange Agent is going to make your life a whole lot easier. Simply spray Orange Agent directly onto the mats, agitate with a brush for super heavy stains, then pressure wash off - DO NOT ALLOW THE PRODUCT THE DRY. Allow the mats to dry thoroughly, then apply Vinyl Revival to really set the mats off and give them a nice, fresh look.

Bikes

Orange Agent has a multitude of uses on both motorbikes and pedal powered bikes. It’s important to remember a couple things when doing motorbikes: If you’re taking off the seat, be sure to cover the air filter and all the electrical bits before cleaning. Also, and this is a big one, do not spray Orange Agent onto raw powder coated parts, or any single stage, non clear coated painted areas. Other than that, spray Orange Agent onto the main areas you wish to clean – motor, rims and sprocket, agitate with a brush like our Soft Details brush to really help loosen the dirt, then rinse thoroughly with your hose. You can then dry the area with a cloth like our Dirty Deeds cloth.

Same principle for pedal powered bikes – spray Orange Agent over the major parts of the bike, agitate with a brush, then rise thoroughly and dry. For added protection, use Fully Slick or After Glow to seal all the painted areas of the bike so that it’s easier to clean next time!

Thanks to Nathanael House from Perfection Automotive Detailing in Adelaide for the pic.

Foam pad cleaner

If you're a professional detailer, or you use foam pads for polishing, you'll love Orange Agent. It's as simple as spraying Orange Agent directly into the pad, then massaging it around with your fingers to gently release the polish from the pad. Once the product has broken down the polish, rinse it under warm water to help release the remaining residue.

Clay Towel Cleaning

When you've finished using your Fine Clay Towel or Medium Clay Towel, simply spray Orange Agent onto the rubber compound surface of the towel and massage it in with your fingers. This will loosen some of the contamination on the surface and clean up the towel nicely. Rinse the Orange Agent off and store the Clay Towel safely for its next use.

Home Use

There are a multitude of uses for Orange Agent around the home. Orange Agent is not only pH balanced, but also 100% environmentally friendly and contains no nasty chemicals. It can be used to clean the shower, the floors and even the BBQ. For use in the shower, wet the area down first that you’re going to be cleaning. Spray Orange Agent directly onto the surface, clean with your sponge or scourer, and then completely rinse the area well. Likewise for the BBQ - take any bits off that will come off and spray Orange Agent directly onto the surfaces and let it dwell for a few minutes, then scrub, agitate and rinse thoroughly. Using a pressure washer for this job really helps to tackle the heavier grime sections.

Even more uses

Apart from all of the above ways we use it, here more uses for Orange Agent!

Removing embedded red dirt - Spray Orange Agent onto the affected areas, agitate really well with a soft bristle brush or similar, then rinse clean. Seal any plastics, rubber or vinyl surfaces with Vinyl Revival, painted areas with Fully Slick or After Glow. 

Light adhesive removal - For any light adhesive residue, simply spray Orange Agent onto a Dirty Deeds cloth or similar, and gently agitate until the residue is gone.

Tree sap removal - For fresh tree sap, spray Orange Agent into a Dirty Deeds cloth or similar, and gently wipe the affected area until the stain is gone. If the area is dirty, wash the car first before doing this. Remember to seal the paint afterwards with Fully Slick or After Glow.

Any questions?

As you can see, this product is by far the most versatile product in the Bowden’s Own catalogue. A fantastic, easy to use cleaning product that will have you looking like a pro with minimal effort. 

Orange Agent can be found in our stockists throughout Australia, and links to our more in depth articles on how to use this great cleaner can be found at the bottom of this page. For your local retailer, there is a link at the very bottom of the webpage to locate your closest store.

If you have any questions, please email me brett@bowdensown.com.au or call our office on 1800 351 308.

Happy detailing!

Brett Hobbs