automobiles led couple
to develop product
Love of classic
automobiles led couple
to develop product
BY JACQUELYN LANE
Correspondent
SPOTSWOOD — Bob and Jeri Wehrle are the innovators of an environmentally friendly vehicle cleaner that they say delivers better results.
No-Wet, which the borough couple manufactures, is a waterless cleaning product for all types of vehicles — from race cars in South Africa and police helicopters in New Zealand and Idaho, to fire trucks right here in Spotswood.
The product, made from all-natural ingredients and applied by a non-aerosol spray system, is designed to wash, wax, polish and seal in one step, all without using any water.
Using an ingredient called kaolin, a fine clay, No-Wet emulsifies dirt and impurities on the vehicle, allowing them to be wiped away without scratching. It leaves behind a carnauba wax layer that seals the surface and makes it smooth and shiny.
The Wehrles created the product 11 years ago, when they decided they needed a better way to clean their classic cars.
"We would take the cars to shows and they would have 2 inches of dust on them by the time we got there, and you can’t wipe [the dust] off with a cloth because it will scratch," Jeri said.
The Wehrles sat down with a chemist and told him what they were looking for.
"He said we were crazy," she said.
After some research, the Wehrles discovered carnauba wax, kaolin and 15 additional proprietary ingredients. These products had precisely the properties they wanted, and they developed their product with the chemist.
Then they started advertising internationally.
"People overseas understood the need for an alternative to water," Jeri said, "because they had already been restricted in water usage for a while."
Another reason people, such as emergency service squads that use helicopters, liked the product was because it helps to prevent carbon accumulation on the rotor blades.
Even though the product has been around for 10 years, it didn’t get popular in the United States until recently, because of severe droughts and a state law passed two months ago that requires all municipal vehicles to be washed either with recycled water or with a water-free system.
The Spotswood Fire Department now uses the product to clean many of its vehicles.
"Since the state pushed the law saying that we can’t use water [to clean municipal vehicles], we’ve been using it almost exclusively," said Andrew Landstrom, president of the borough’s fire company.
"If we’re going to a parade where we want the vehicles to look great, we use No-Wet," he added. "It doesn’t leave water spots and it takes half the time because it also waxes."
The Wehrles hope people will come to appreciate the environmentally friendly properties of their main product. They noted that regular soap and water can run off and contaminate groundwater, but all of the ingredients in No-Wet are Earth-friendly. Additionally, since No-Wet is a water-free system, one quart can save between 2,000 and 3,000 gallons of water, they said.
Because it does not contain any flammable materials such as kerosene, a petroleum distillate, No-Wet is safe to use on all types of vehicles, including cars, boats, RVs, motorcycles and planes, Jeri said. Kerosene, which is commonly used to make vehicles shiny, actually degrades the finish, she added.
Though No-Wet now has loyal followers all over the world, the Wehrles hope that one day no-water cleaning products will become the norm.
"People don’t realize that little by little our water sources are being depleted," Jeri said.
The company also manufactures a hand sanitizer/cleaner and a solution that cleans and protects CDs. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.nowet.com.