Molecular UK is a local company to us here in Suffolk that makes a range of car cleaning chemicals.
With a team that has quite literally produced millions of litres of high-quality cleaning products for various companies, they now make their own for the automotive world.
I recently had a conversation with Jordan Coulter, Director of Molecular UK, and this is how our conversation went:
Tell me about Molecular UK
Molecular UK is a trading brand name for our company, Powerclean Chemicals Limited. Powerclean has been manufacturing specialist white-label cleaning chemicals for companies across the whole of the UK since 1978.
We are a family-run business that was founded by our father, Stephen Coulter, with us 3 brothers, Daren, Graham and Jordan, now joint owners and directors of the company. In the 2020 lockdown, we thought it would be great to set up a website and online shop so people could buy our products without having to leave their homes. This was created under our new brand range, Molecular UK, targeting the car detailing and valeting industry as our main audience.
There are so many car cleaning products on the market now. What do you think actually makes a good product?
To be honest, there are some great brands and products out there, but 9 times out of 10, they are coming from brands that do not manufacture their own products. We would always recommend purchasing straight from the manufacturer, like us, because we know exactly what is going into our products, and if the customer has any questions or issues, we would be better placed to answer efficiently.
Alongside this, most products that are supplied by non-manufacturer brands are heavily watered down so they can make more profit. If you purchase straight from the source, you know the products haven’t been messed around with!
What’s the biggest mistake you see people making when looking after their cars?
One of the biggest mistakes we see is the (lack of) quality of some of the equipment or applicators people use. For example, so often we see people still using brushes to shampoo their cars. No matter how soft the bristles on the brush are, you are still going to be scratching your paintwork like nobody’s business! It is always better to use a high-quality wash mitt, typically a noodle microfibre mitt, as the go-to for shampooing. And in addition to this, it is vital to use 2 buckets for your shampoo stage: 1 bucket with water to rinse off as much dirt that might’ve attached itself to the wash mitt, and a separate bucket of shampoo to use on the vehicle.
Another mistake we see is people not drying their cars. Something so simple can really separate what makes a car look incredible or terrible. If you have spent 2-4 hours thoroughly cleaning your car, why not take the extra 10 minutes to dry the car properly?! If you don’t dry your car after it’s been washed, you will get heavy water spots and marks, which will look horrific, especially in the sun. If you dry your car properly with the correct drying towel, you are going to stop this, and your car will look amazing and be worth the time you spent cleaning it.
Another mistake is people taking their cars to a hand car wash, or as we call them, a scratch and go! The majority of the time, the wash mitts or towels that are used in these hand car washes haven’t been washed for weeks, sometimes even months! Meaning there is no end of dirt being swirled about, scratching your paintwork.
If they don’t use a wash mitt, then they would probably use a brush, which is even worse than a dirty mitt, no matter how soft they say the bristles are. Not only this, they will use some of the strongest and harshest products as they think it will speed up the process, but in reality, these products will just damage your clear coat and dull your paint.
We do appreciate that sometimes people prefer a hand car wash due to how quick, convenient and cheap they are, but if you care about your pride and joy, then using a proper professional detailer / valeter, or even cleaning it yourself with the right products, would be a million times better.
Which one of your products would you recommend to someone who just wants their car to look great without spending hours on it?
There are too many good products in our range to choose from, but if I had to choose just one, it would be Hydro Seal. Hydro Seal is a Si02 (ceramic coating) infused snow foam that gets put onto the car right at the end of the clean.
It is such a great and unique product that puts the icing on the cake. It gives the car great protection with a ceramic coating-like finish, with water beading like a high-end wax or coating. Not only that, it enhances the gloss so much that you would think it’s come straight out of the factory!
Have modern cars made detailing easier or harder compared to older classics?
Although some are easier than others, modern cars would generally be much easier to clean and detail than older classics. Although there are fewer plastic trims and other additional trim and lights, etc. to clean on a classic, the paintwork would be more forgiving on a modern-day car.
But some modern cars are easier than others. Most German cars, like Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, etc., are a lot easier to detail due to the hard paint and more robust clear coats, in comparison to Japanese cars like Nissan, Mazda, Honda, etc. This is because the paint on Japanese cars tends to be a lot softer and thinner.
How often should we be properly cleaning our cars?
Ideally, you should clean your car around every 4-6 weeks, especially if you live on the coast as we do here.
The UK roads and weather play a big factor in this, as the conditions can be much worse than other European countries, and if you are doing lots of miles and commuting every week, your car is going to be subject to all sorts of contaminants like salt, tar, traffic film and grime.
For those of us who live on the coast, we are exposed to the sea air, which contains a slight hint of sea salt that can cause rusting without us even knowing about it. A regular 4-6 week maintenance clean from a car detailer, or even yourself, is essential.
What goes into developing a new cleaning product?
There are many factors to consider when developing a new product, but more often than not, it is understanding what the demands from the market and customers are. As we have gotten more heavily involved in the car detailing market, we have learned there are so many opinions and techniques that people use that are different to others, so it’s finding the right product or solution for each person.
But the main things to consider are:
A) Is there a demand for the product?
B) Would the product be any better than what we currently have to offer?
C) Can we do this better than others?
If all 3 questions line up and are a solid “yes”, we are onto a winner!
What’s next for Molecular?
The next step for Molecular is that we want to be known alongside some of the leading names in the car detailing industry. We strongly believe that our products can go toe to toe with, or even better, some of the products out there from the big guns!
We have been in the industry for so long that we have seen some big and small names rise and fall, but we will always be here because we know what we stand for and are committed to the quality of our products. It’s now just a matter of getting people to try the products, as we guarantee they won’t be disappointed.
Enjoyed Talking Classics With Molecular UK?
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