John Ford put ENJO to the test on his dirt-caked Trakmaster and found this water-only system surprisingly powerful and perfect for travellers.
While travelling in Western Australia last year, I received an email offering to send me a product suitable for cleaning our van. In the response, I joked that it would need to be pretty good because we had been across many miles of dirt, and the exterior of our fibreglass Trakmaster was filthy.
So, I held off visiting a carwash for the long journey home, and we had many remarks on the state of the van. I had to assure anyone who commented that I was on a research project and that I wasn’t simply a grub.
John’s rig was pretty grubby after a trip to WA
Rear spoiler before and after using the ENJO cleaning products
I stand ignorant about most cleaning products, but there are a few different truck wash bottles in the garage. I had never heard of ENJO, and much to my surprise, when I opened the box of products there was no detergent, only a selection of pads and cloths. On checking, I was told that you only need water to complete the task.
My initial reaction was that there was no way that the system would work on such ingrained red dust. Heather told me the company had been around for years and that she had used it in the past, and it was OK.
From the selection of ENJO items I had to play with, the most likely was an extendable Multi Tool and a selection of pads to fit. After filling a bucket with fresh water, I started on the front of the van where red dirt had been hitching a ride for 12,000km since we ran the Gibb River Road. The first stroke of the pad was, well .... what’s a good word for ‘surprised’ in a situation like this? Shocked? Flabbergasted? Amazed? Taken aback? My reaction when I saw the results of the ENJO was a bucket full of Thesaurus suggestions, none of which adequately explained the fact that it was clean by wetting the brush and wiping the fibreglass.
The Multi Tool cleaning pad and head
The Multi Tool pad swivels for best angle
I cleaned about a metre of the van and then did what ENJO’s email suggested. I rang ENJO Ambassador, Amanda, who laughed when I told her how unprepared I was for the pads to actually work.
Amanda explained that an Austrian chemist developed ENJO 40 years ago as a non-polluting and chemical-free cleaning solution. The product uses specially developed minute fibres — 100 times thinner than a human hair — to lock in foreign particles from a surface. ENJO is still made in Austria and has been in Australia since 1995. It used to sell directly in homes like Tupperware, but the business is now online.
With information about the correct pads and items for the task, I set out to clean the rest of the van. Places with highly embedded dirt came clean almost immediately. Even red dust entrenched into the A-frame shone bright with a bit of extra effort. The red silicone turned white, and anyone who has tried to clean it knows how hard it is. Outback red dust remover works, but it still needs a good scrub. From what I’ve seen, ENJO is better. What would have taken me an hour with a sponge, detergent and a couple of hose-downs took half the time.
Red dust wipes easily off the silicone with the ENJO cloth
Dirt removed from the A-frame
Amanda pointed out that ENJO is also great for cleaning and dusting inside the van and is especially effective on glass. I experimented with these applications, and while not as dramatic as outside, I noted that smudges on glass and grease marks around the stove were gone with a quick wipe.
You buy ENJO online, and I should admit it’s not cheap. As they point out, the pads are reusable with a regular dunk in a washing machine and should last three years. You save on three years of detergent in that time. The ENJO Car Glove ($66) and Outdoor Miracle cloth ($49) for drying off are are a great way to test if ENJO works for you. We now have some specialist gloves, wipes and a floor bundle — includes two fibre heads and an extendable pole ($309) — which I used to clean the van. It will be coming with us because it will be simple to clean a van anywhere, including fussy caravan parks, without wasting water.
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