Mantis Waterless Car Cleaners

A couple of weeks back I received some samples of a new car cleaning products from the guys at JML.

The unique feature about these car cleaning products is that it's water free - yes, that's right. This was ideal for me as I do not have a driveway and I am not really keen on washing the car on the pavement carrying bucket loads of water and soap.

They sent me the Mantis Instant Shine, the Mantis Scratch Remover and the twin pack microfibre towels - one for application and another for buffing.



The Mantis Instant Shine combines a wash, polish and wax and has a fabulous fruity fragrance. It retails at £9.99 from is available on the Mantis site, in ASDA and few other places as well.

I had a slight problem when I roughly pulled the paper cover and some parts of the spray mechanism came off (see pic). However, I was able to  put it back and works all fine.



I followed the instructions and sprayed the liquid over the bonnet of my car (which had been unwashed for a few weeks) and left it on for a few minutes. I then wiped it clean with the supplied application towels and polished the cleaned surface using the buffing towel.

Check out my car bonnet - the left side (top in picture) has not been cleaned while the right (bottom in picture) has been cleaned and buffed. Though not very clear from the photograph, there was a clear visible difference.



I also tried out the Mantis Scratch Remover on some of the scratches on my car. Key scratches on door locks and shoe scuffs can seriously dent your car’s resale value. As directed, I applied the paste to the affected area and rubbed it in a circular motion until my arms ached.



However, it did not do much for the deeper scratches on my car bonnet. I found that it works best with the light scratches  (as shown below). The light scratches are barely visible afterwards.





The scratch remover also retails at £9.99 on  the Mantis site and is also available in a few other stores including ASDA.

This water free cleaning kit is ideal for guys like me who hate hauling buckets of water and soap to clean their cars on the pavements (sidewalk in the US).

Over 500,000 units of Mantis Instant Shine has been sold in the UK and I am not surprised.

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The compact graphite iron monolithic block

There have been trials to improve the strength of gray cast iron without losing its superior properties. Petrol engines have cylinder pressures ranging from 7 to 12 MPa, while heavy-duty diesels operate in excess of 20 MPa.

This high pressure generates much higher mechanical and thermal stresses on the cylinder block. The use of a cast iron block is widespread because of the high strength needed. However, a much stronger material is required to enable a lightweight design with decreased thickness. For these requirements, a block made of compact graphite iron has been proposed.

The graphite shape greatly influences the material characteristics of cast iron. Figure 2.17 gives a schematic representation of graphite morphology.

In the conventional casting procedure, cast iron generates a flaky shape (a)

in the iron matrix. However, when a special modification treatment is implemented on the molten iron just before pouring, graphite becomes round (b). Cast iron having this shape is called spheroidal graphite cast iron or nodular cast iron. The additive for spheroidizing is called a nodularizer. Compared to the flaky shape, this geometrical shape can avoid microstructural stress concentration to give higher mechanical strength and ductility. This is also referred to as ductile iron. However, the thermal conductivity and resistance to scuffing are not so high.

The third microstructure (c) is compact graphite iron (CGI) containing graphite of a vermicular (worm-like) form (c). This is a relatively new alloy that has improved mechanical strength without diminishing the favorable

properties of flaky graphite iron. As may be inferred from the shape, the properties of this iron are positioned between flaky and spheroidal iron. It has a higher tensile strength being 1.5 to 2 times as strong as flaky iron,

higher stiffness and approximately double the fatigue strength of flaky iron.

The thermal conductivity lies between flaky and spheroidal iron. This makes it possible to produce a cylinder block that is both thinner and stronger. The nodularizer inoculated in the molten iron gives perfect spheroidal

graphite. An imperfect spheroidizing treatment before pouring generates CGI. The nodularizer contains Mg. After the inoculation of the nodularizer, the graphite shape gradually changes to a flaky shape via a vermicular shape as shown in Fig. 2.18.6 The residual Mg content in the molten iron decreases with time due to the evaporative nature of Mg. This causes degradation of the spheroidal graphite to give CGI. An additional explanation is given in Chapter 4 and Appendix D.

The number of cast iron blocks used for petrol engines has decreased, while CGI is seen as a new cast iron for diesel engines. To meet Euro IV (2005) emission regulations, cylinder pressures of 18 MPa and higher are

being planned for car diesels. Even more stringent requirements under Euro V will come in from 2007 and 2008. Higher strength blocks with good thermal discharge properties will be required.

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The science and technology of materials in automotive engines

Hiroshi Yamagata

Woodhead Publishing and Maney Publishing

on behalf of

The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining

CRC Press

Boca Raton Boston New York Washington, DC

WOODHEAD PUBLISHING LIMITED

Cambridge England

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