SCA Noodle And Mesh Detailing Mop 1.1m

SCA Noodle and Mesh Detailing Mop may not last but does a good job cleaning car roof – I am too short to clean the roof of my SUV. The poor roof has missed the last car wash and I was astonished how dirty it is up there. So I was shopping for a helping hand and found the noodle mop to be the most recommended tool for the job. Saw a few of them at Bunnings, only that they are all for floors and Bunnings doesn't stock car wash mops. I was tempted by the Decor Bamboo Damp and Dry Flat Mop and Mr Clean Microfibre Speedy Floor Mop, both are noodle type with removable pad but glad I didn't buy until I checked out Super Cheap Auto. They are good mops but not really suited for detailing automobiles.

At SCA, saw both the Turtle Wax Microfibre Noodle Car Wash Mop and the SCA mop but found the Turtle Wax mop pad smaller and heavier. This means it will require more strokes to get the same job done and it will take more effort. I don't want a brush type mop with water feed like the Turtle Wax Ultimate Flow Brush, they are much heavier and are more suited for trucks and caravans.

The good thing about the SCA mop is that it comes with a mesh sponge pad which is very effective for cleaning, it is bigger than the Turtle Wax mop pad but still small enough to completely fit into a bucket, very important for soaking up soapy water and thus applying soap. The system works very well indeed. Because it is a full size thick sponge, there is no chance the pole will hit the roof rails and it is tall enough to get around the shark fin antenna. Once rinsed off, replace the sponge pad with the noodle pad and it is sufficiently large for drying the roof in one go.

Here are a few of things I don't like about the mop.

Firstly, the base is a plastic plate with a thin layer of black sponge, larger than the plastic plate by about 10mm on each side. This does not inspire confidence. I reckon this black sponge will come off or break / disintegrate in the near future. Why is this black sponge even required? It should be part of the pad instead or made of different material like rubber.

Secondly, the pole is telescopic, extendable to 1.1m which isn't that long at all and I feel it is a little unnecessary. This is one of the reasons I contemplated getting the Decor Bamboo Noodle Mop because the pole doesn't detach from the head and the pole can't be extended. Sometimes, while trying to assert a little more force to remove stubborn dirt, it annoyingly ends up loosening either the base or the middle section.

Thirdly, unlike some other manufacturers, SCA doesn't sell replacement sponge or noodle pad or any other parts at all. This again is why I don't think it is necessary to be able to remove the base. Am I expected to remove it and throw it into the washing machine? With no replaceable parts, any breakage requires the whole mop to be replaced, so the TCoO is pretty high. I am tempted to give it 3 stars but decided to give 4 stars because it does do a good job. I might just have to improvise when the black sponge layer crumbles and somehow fix the base and middle section against coming apart.