This formula is Step 1 in our Wash Kit and is ideal for cleaning every surface, from wheels and paint with a pressure washer, to removing tough grime and stains from your interior carpets. This is the strongest, most versatile cleaning formula on the market.
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Properties
Kick off your wash routine with thick, dirt-lifting suds that leave your paint gleaming. Hotlap powers through tough road grime to get you back on the street faster.
Dilution Guide
Foam Cannon:
5:1, dialed back on the foam cannon dilution for a wet foam application (this is ideal for cleaning). Follow with Step 2.
Heavy Duty/Bugs and Tires:
Dilute 10:1 in a spray bottle for tackling tough grime, pre-spraying bugs, and cleaning tire browning.
Interior/All-Purpose:
30:1 for carpets, mats, and general cleaning(1 TBSP in 16oz water).
Bucket Wash:
Dilute at 80:1+, just 2–3 squirts or 50ml in 1–2 gallons of water.
Glass:
A squirt in 16oz of FILTERED water, then wipe with a new towel for clarity.
Frequently Answered Questions
There is an incredible lack of scientific information on the internet about chemistry and detailing products. Regardless of what uneducated blogs about pH and car washing tell you, the science is more complicated. The way in which a lower or higher pH is achieved in water, matters. Certain chemicals you will find in high pH pre-rinses and cleaners for detailing are actually caustic, meaning they harm materials like plastic and bare metal. There are many popular wheel and tire formulas out there that we would never use on our vehicles. Those chemicals are not included in HotLap. This is a carefully curated and advanced formula that will not hurt your vehicle, especially when used properly. Follow our dilution guide and read the FAQ!
You may notice the incredible versatility of HotLap, this is because it started life as an alkaline APC. Then it was heavily modified to be able to tackle wheels and tires, without being caustic or harmful to other components or bare metals. As well as having elements that can remove stains without pulling colors from fabric. This is truly peak detailing chemistry here. There's really no need to tweak this and dilute it just to sell you a repackaged product with a different use case, like a lot of other brands do. You can dilute it and do that yourself at home.
HotLap is a non-caustic high pH cleaner that is buffered to prevent reactions with paint, coatings, films, or components on your car. With that said, you should never let any soap dry on your paint for too long, especially in the hot sun. So either wash in a cool shady or overcast location, or if you don't have that luxury on wash day, just move quickly. If you are seeing the soap dry, just re-spray it with soap and rinse immediately to avoid having to buff out dried soap stains. If you see soap residue, this is NOT PERMANENT. Just spray and wipe with more soap to remove, or in the case of wax damage, level out with Step 2.
The only use case we don't recommend for this cleaner is on traditional wax jobs and leather/alcantara. This cleaner is safe on all other surfaces, even your interior. It just needs to be diluted. As for with traditional wax jobs, it will break down wax. This will cause a 'streaking' effect sometimes, and the leftover wax needs to be re-leveled or removed with more soap and contact. Even Step 2 can help with this as it will help add back and level leftover wax.
Our goal was to get as close to having a touchless wash soap as possible while being safe on all surfaces, and this is as close as it gets. Our pressure washing soap is made to remove as much dirt and grime as possible in one formula. A perfect touchless soap is still a myth for now, and to get as close as possible you need caustic chemicals we would never use on our vehicles. Plus you can't remove every type of film with one stable chemical mixture (watch our videos). This is why we made Step 2, to finish the job with the lower pH cleaning power that dissolves minerals (and is still safe in every situation).
We highly recommend pressure washing. Watch our tutorials to see our process. But this soap will work as good as any for bucket washing, we just don't prefer that method. Please wear gloves when touching wash chemicals with your hands. You can also try a spray cannon for a regular hose. They don't foam well, and they use up soap much faster, but they still get the job done with HotLap.
The ideal pressure washer is one that has higher GPM (gallons per minute) flow. This means it pushes more water. And generally, you want to stay below 1500 or so PSI (which most budget pressure washers won't even reach even if they say they do). Full transparency, we've had similar results with testing lower GPM units and varying pressure. The difference is marginal. Most theories around detailing are just theories and rarely affect the actual outcomes, which is a clean car.
It’s exactly as advertised. It simplifies the process and gets the cars really clean. I didn’t buy the kit, as I already have a bunch of products from before but got the hotlap and one wiper separately. I’m really impressed with one wiper. Smells great and works exactly as advertised. Hotlap cleans well. Just wish it foamed a little better/more concentrated.. It would be awesome if I can use it at 10:1 in a foam cannon like some of the other products out there. I always feel like I’m using too much product. 5:1 foams fine (not that great even at this dilution) Overall, I’m happy with the system/products. I will continue to do a traditional bucket wash from time to time as I really enjoy the process but it’s good to have this as an option. Hotlap is sold out by the gallon so I’ve been using my preferred prewash from before and using Onewiper afterwards. One wiper is what I’m truly impressed with
Store owner replied:
Hey Scott. Thanks for the review and the feedback! We are working on making HotLap more foam heavy and contact friendly at lower dilutions. But for now, we recommend a wet foam for pre-washing, not a thick airy foam, as that doesn't saturate and clean quite as well, plus it uses way more product. With a 5:1 and the dilution dialed a quarter turn back from full concentration, you will notice a wetter foam, and the product will last twice as long. Foam varies a lot by pressure washer and foam cannon though. On a high flow washer and our foam cannon, it doesn't get much thicker than other foams out there at that concentration, so it's always interesting to hear that it didnt foam well. But you are not wrong about the concentrations of those foam factors!
DriveLab products were exactly what I was looking for! I wanted a simple, straightforward 1,2,3 maybe 4-step process to keep my car clean without making detailing complicated. For apartment dwellers like me, DriveLab is the perfect solution. The products make car care feel manageable and convenient, even without a garage or dedicated space for detailing. If you live in an apartment and want an easy way to keep your car looking great, DriveLab is definitely worth checking out!
Honestly it’s a great kit. The towels are great and the chemicals/soaps are easy to mix and use. The foam sprayer is great and very handy. The YouTube instructions are very helpful, and all the tools were awesome. Definitely a worthwhile purchase. On a good day, I can see how this wash would only take 30-45 mins, and that’s nice to know. Great kit!
The kit okay. I wish the towels were of better quality. They’re pretty rough to the touch. Tire shine isn’t the greatest. Hot lap isn’t enough to remove dog drool or etched bird poop. Overall kit is solid and has made cleaning someone easier but with wheels that have a lot of brake dust, it’s not enough. Had to use bug and tar remover in certain sections and wheel cleaner for brake dust. One wiper is great. I wish the towels were labeled 1, 2,3 etc so I can keep track of which side is which to avoid using a side I already used. I did 5:1 ratio on a dirty truck and 1:10 on a ceramic coated coupe. I doubt I would get more than 3 washes out of the kit. Would’ve liked to go get at least 5. I’ll probably buy the gallon hot lap and one wiper and see how that goes. But not using a bucket has been huge for me and heading into the winter i would like avoid sticking my hands in a cold bucket. It also rains so much in the north east i eventually just want to contactless wash the car with a 20 minute foam on and dry off.
Store owner replied:
Thanks for the review Tushar. Not sure what happened with the towels you received but they should not be rough to the touch. The piles are made out of a 70/30 blend which is the softer side of microfiber. Let us know if something seemed off and maybe we can get some replacements sent out. For HotLap, etched bird poop is tough with just the foam, we recommend pre-spraying with a dilution of it in a bottle before foaming to help soften it up but the etch mark would not go away unless corrected. Also, 3 washes out of the kit would mean you are overspraying foam. We almost always get 8-10 cars out of HotLap minimum. I personally get 16-20 washes per bottle. Then 6-10 for OneWiper. As simple as we want to make it, theres a lot that goes into the process and detailing in general, so things can go wrong. Let us know how we can help.
I use hotLap on all of my cars along with the foam cannon and it works great! I use the OneWiper and NewShoes to finish them off. I do wish you would bring back your gallon sizes though.
Store owner replied:
Hey Tariq. What you’re showing in the photos is actually expected after Step 1. HotLap is designed to remove as much contamination as possible before contact, not leave the vehicle completely clean without touching it, as that would require harsher chemicals and a miseducating people. Step 2 is the contact-cleaning portion of the process and is specifically designed to safely remove that remaining film. If you stopped after the foam and pressure rinse, you only completed the first half of the wash. We’d recommend giving the full process a try before judging the results.
The kit worked great I am very happy with the process and results
Used DriveLab for the FIRST time today on my PPF’d Raptor R - absolutely love it - started with HotLap 10:1 followed by OneWiper (half in the sun) and it not only came out great, but I was done in under 30 mins!!!! Couldn’t believe it!
I really like the 3 products. So far it has been a very easy process. Here in FL it does take a little scrubbing on some car wash days because of the bugs we have on a constant basis. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with these products. Do you guys give a military discount when I need to reorder?
I was looking for something to maintain the new paint job on my S2000 without getting lost in all the products other big companies offer.
I finally washed my car with drivelab for the first time today and i am beyond impressed. It took me 35 minutes on my first ever go (using the wheel kit as well), and my paint is silky smooth. It also corrected some swirling from the buffer the painter used. It was so easy to use and the results are undeniable. Couldn’t be happier.
Completed my first wash and very happy with the result. All the products and tools are high quality and make the washing process quicker and easier. Found the new glass towels work very well also.
I’ve been in the automotive industry for my entire professional career and have always taken great personal pride in the proper care of all my cars, trucks, motorcycles and RV.
Finally a batch of thoughtful car detailing products that have mostly exceeded expectation (IE marketing jargon and questionable results via the internet).
Keep it clean!
Jim S
Great product. We live in AZ and most people use automatic car washes, but I hate the swirl marks they leave. I also don’t have a ton of time to wash both of my rides and my wife’s car, so finding a solution that performs great in the AZ heat, cuts down on time, and is super easy to use is crucial. Drivelab delivers on their promises and I don’t even have swirl marks. The other huge benefit, it’s pretty good at degreasing. I had my Jeep in the shop for a hydro steering upgrade and it’s naturally a dirty job, power steering fluid on the frame and undercarriage sucks. Most just let it off gas and deal with it. I used the foam cannon attachment, let it sit for about 5min and it’l surprisingly did a great job at reducing the power steering fluid. Overall really impressed and will continue to use and purchase Drivelab products.
I mean it’s fine still need to bucket and mitt to get dirt off after only a week without a wash, looks like I’m still on the hunt for something that can remove hard water spots from my ceramic coating
Store owner replied:
Thanks for giving it a try, Brian. Just to clarify, you definitely don't need to bucket and mitt after the pre-wash. The towel process is the contact-wash step and should handle what remains, especially after a week on a coated car. That said, if you prefer a mitt, there's nothing wrong with using one.
On the water spots, OneWiper can dissolve and remove the mineral deposits that cause water spots, but if the minerals have already etched or imprinted the surface underneath, no chemical cleaner can simply remove that damage. It has to be corrected or polished.
The wash kit, especially the foam cannon, has worked very well. The foam is thick when I want it to be and is easily adjusted. Hotlap is great at loosening the dirt and one wiper leaves a very good shine.
The DriveLab wash kit is genuinely excellent. I’ve purchased car care kits from other companies in the past, and I always felt like I had to mix and match or combine multiple products just to get a good finish. DriveLab completely simplifies the process into three easy steps—no guesswork required. The products themselves are super high quality, and the final results were top-tier. Highly recommend if you want an effortless, professional-looking shine!
The product was great! This Porsche hadn't been cleaning in 7 months
Took me about an 1:30hr to clean it. Mostly because I was learning my new power washer set up
Solid product all the way around. The quality of the foam cannon to towels are absolutely amazing. Excited to see how it does on our other vehicles. Time saved and an amazing shine after. Recommending to all of my friends and will be buying more products in the future!
I show my car and having a great quality product that allows me to decrease the amount of time it takes me to wash and dry helps me to be able to spend more time on interior detailing. The wash is great. I truly love the product.
I love the simplicity of the system. The foam cannon is the 4th foam cannon I've bought over the years, but I can honestly say it is the best built one I've bought and the adjustments actually work! The tire dressing is great as well. It's super easy to apply and lasts a long time. My only hang-up was my own fault. I went too heavy on the One-wiper. This ended up using way too much product on my first wash and leaving some visible smears. Again, that's a technique issue, not a product issue. I'm certain that once I get my usage dialed, I'm gonna actually love washing my car!
PS - the tire pics are from 2 weeks after being treated! They still look amazing!
Never washed a car before. On my second try I was able to detail the outside of my SUV in about 50 minutes and it looks spotless. Tutorials are very straightforward and the instructions are clear. Overall a great purchase if you want to take care of your car and don’t want to do all the research!
I was a little unsure of the product at first but decided to go all in and give it a try.
I literally cut the time in half with amazing results! Less products and less time is what I was wanting.
Will definitely keep buying these products.
Works great, better than expected. The initial foam wash and spray down removed almost everything and the spray wax left a shinier finish than I though while also cleaning up any remaining spots!
Hot lap is awesome sauce! removed all dirt from paint & diluted it cleaned wheels & tires perfectly ! the one wipe & new shoes are 🔥 also esp one wipe that’s very good!
