Silky Leisure offer a large range of products of interest to the caravanner – and indeed car owner - and recently sent me through items from their range to sample and blog, tweet, pin and generally waffle on about.
The recent run of decent weather has enabled us to at last get outdoors and try them out, so without further ado, here goes:
First up was the Silky Envirowash shampoo, supplied in a one litre bottle and in a colour which reminded me of the antibiotics I always seemed to be taking as a kid. The car was to be first – our recently acquired Honda CRV in red. I’ve washed the car once in the six weeks or so that I’ve had it – partly at least down to the rotten weather – so do not know what it’s history is, cleaning wise. For the record I normally use Zip Wax, wetting the car first and washing with a brush, before rinsing off, then drying with a chammy. two or three times a year, it will get a coat of polish too – normally Autoglym.
The car wasn’t that dirty, but – using a sponge rather than a brush as recommended the product cleaned the car pretty well, managing all but the toughest of tar spots and a particularly stubborn dollop of seagull poo. It didn’t feel as as soft or creamy as Zip Wax but that was probably due to the lack of wax in the liquid. Where it was impressive was on rinsing off. Little water was required – helpful, if like me you don’t have access to a hosepipe – and the finish was streak and spot free. I tried to leather the car dry but to be honest it was better without – and this was where the product trumped Zip Wax.
At the weekend we were able to try out the shampoo on the caravan too. Again it performed competently though the rinsed finish - on the metal side panels anyway - was not quite as good as the car, needing more leathering. However, as the caravan was also fairly new – to us anyway – I don’t know what products have been used prior and this may have had a bearing on the way the shampoo performed.
So, all in all I found it to be a good product - easy to use and it’s ph neutral too, so it’s environmental credentials are sound. Will I swap from my normal regime though? Well, probably not. Whilst I liked it, Zip Wax is a good product too and more competitively priced, particularly as it’s often on offer.
Next up, was something completely new to me – the Silky Glass Protection & Cleaning Kit. A two part glass only treatment – don’t use it on them plastic caravan windows – that is designed to ‘cause water to become dissociated to the glass’. In other words, help the water to run off quicker.
To get a comparison we decided to apply to a couple of individual glass panels on the car, and half the windscreen in the hope of demonstrating the product’s effectiveness.
As mentioned, the product comes in two parts. The first part is used to completely clear the glass of any contaminants, like stray wax or polish, the second part is the actual protective layer the does the ‘disassociating’. Clear instructions are provided along with a selection of cloths and wipes to help ensure the product is applied effectively.
Of course it would have helped if rain was imminent (how ironic when it’s been doing little else for the last three months) as this would have given a better example of how the product was working. A watering can with a rose attached was the nearest we could manage and to be honest the results were not that 
impressive – of course tap water differs somewhat from rain water, so it was not entirely a fair test. Water did run off the treated glass differently, and dry, there was a nice deep shine to the glass too. The product is still on the glass but there has been no rain in the week since it’s application, so to be fair to the product, we’ll say that the jury is still out on this one. I’ve never bought a specialist glass cleaner of this type before and am still unlikely to do so. One for the valeters and enthusiasts I would think.
Last, but certainly not least was Silky Cream Cleaner – a product which has been around for over forty years – and I can see why. It’s non-abrasive and is designed for removing dirt and grime without damaging plastic and PVC surfaces. It removed some tar spots from the front of the caravan easily, ditto the car and made light work of some bird 
muck too. I took the liberty of trying it out on a small area on a neighbouring caravan, looking sad and neglected and covered in green muck and it was effective here as well. It will keep those white plastic trims clean and remove the black streaks from window rubbers. I was really impressed with this stuff and would say it’s a must for any caravan owner – and at the keen price, keep a tub at home too. It really is worth it.
