A New Hampshire company has added three nontoxic car detailing products to its waterless car wash to create a full line of environmentally friendly car-cleaning products.

Eco Touch this week announced the national release of its Dash + Trim Protectant; Metal + Chrome Polish; and Carpet + Upholstery Cleaner in addition to its Waterless Car Wash + Polish.

The three detailing products replace toxic petroleum solvents with biodegradable cleaning agents and organic solvents. They compliment Eco Touch’s waterless car wash, which was developed based on similar products in parts of Australia where there has been a ban on home car washing for many years.

“The car wash uses natural surfactants (or wetting agents) like coconut oil and organic soy-based solvents to dissolve the dirt,” said Eco Touch spokesman Isaac Cronin, noting that green laundry soap uses similar bio-technology.

He said the product works well with basic dirt and grime, but not extreme dirt. “If the car has just come off the Bahia 1000, the exterior will need a rinse before applying the waterless car wash,” he said.

“The two things to know are that it’s not poisonous and it is effective,” he said. “Although if it is a filthy, filthy car, it won’t clean without some rinsing.”

He added that rinsing the car at a commercial car wash was much better for the environment than splashing it with a hose at home because a car wash uses less water and what water it does use is recycled.

Portsmouth, N.H.-based Eco Touch president James Dudra said he came across waterless car washes while spending six months studying in Australia, which has been suffering from a drought for years.

“Home car washing is banned there,” he said.

Apart from saving water — a car wash in the driveway typically uses about 100 gallons of water compared with about 70 gallons of recycled water at a car wash — home waterless washing helps the environment by preventing untreated carwash runoff, which can contain oils and detergents.

Dudra, 26, returned to the U.S. and took a year off after completing his degree in business administration and marketing at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

He said he then decided develop a waterless car wash for the American market and worked about four months with a chemist to develop the product, which went to market about a year ago. The wash, and his new detailing products, are sold through the company Web site and at select retail outlets.

He said the company then started looking at cleaning products for car interiors, “so people could clean the inside and outside of their cars.”

“We started looking at the market (for car cleaners) and found they were all made from petroleum distillates and had Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs),” Dudra said.

“People are in an enclosed space in a car, and they’re breathing in the fumes,” said Cronin.

“We stripped out the VOCs and do not use any fragrances or dyes,” said Dudra.

For more information, go to:

www.ecotouch.net

pelsworth@projo.com