I have a car and her name is Lola. Until recently I used to take Lola to the car wash every weekend for a brisk wash and wax but due to a change in circumstances I now can't justify spending the £4 on a wash every week and instead decided to buy a sponge, brush and some car shampoo and wash her by hand. A trip to a local discount store found me rather stupidly sniffing car shampoos to see which fragrance I preferred before realising it didn't really matter if Lola smelt of flowers or not as long as she was clean. So I bravely plumped for this Carpride Wash and Wax and paid a grand sum of £1 for the litre bottle.

I actually bought this shampoo months ago and then placed it out of sight and did nothing about my dirty car until recently. A few moments of embarrassment in car parks where I tried not to park near clean cars, a brush with a muddy verge and all the spiders in the neighbourhood collaborating to completely encase Lola in webs forced me to admit I needed to get the hosepipe out and make use of the shampoo I'd purchased.

The Carpride shampoo, or should I say wash and wax, boasts of being a "high concentrated shampoo that will quickly eliminate any dirt and grime from your car", and having "the benefit of additional wax and high formula cleaning agents, bringing a sparkling clean look to your car whilst protecting it". The one bottle has up to 40 washes and the instructions are to add 2 capfuls to 4 litres of warm water then just wash as normal. Rinse off and dry with a Carpride chamois leather.

Cautions are to keep away from children, avoid contact with skin and eyes, in case of contact with eyes rinse immediately with water and seek medical advice and if swallowed seek medical advice immediately showing the container.

Now I have to admit being a car washing novice I only scanned the instructions before I used it so I didn't wear gloves and I should have. Nothing drastic happened just very dry skin on my hands. I'm never going to be the kind of person who lovingly dries my car off with a chamois leather so forget that, sorry Lola. I just shook the bottle and poured a couple of haphazard capfuls into a bucket before diluting with water. The shampoo is a greeny blue for anyone wondering and smells kind of fruity.

After hosing Lola briefly I got to work with my sponge and brush, the shampoo stayed bubbly the whole time even though I rinsed very, very dirty sponges into it. It does indeed lift dirt very easily and I whizzed round the car which was very good news for my back! Afterwards I rinsed with the hose then left Lola to dry naturally for an hour before checking on my handiwork.

My handiwork wasn't bad but I'd missed a bit on one door but apart from my lack of car washing skill the Carpride Wash and Wax had done a brilliant job. Lola gleamed like I'd washed and waxed her separately. It easily compared to the job a car wash used to do if you forget about the bit I missed first time round. In fact I was so delighted with the results I kept going for another look at my Lola as she shone in the drive. I got a couple of occasions where I proudly parked her near other clean cars before the dust and spiders started their work again but I know a quick once over with this shampoo will do a great job and look like I've waxed too.

So a full 5 stars from me and this is a great time saver if, like me, you don't do waxing afterwards. I've seen this product online for £1.25 and as I said mine cost me £1 and it will definitely last ages if you only use 2 capfuls per wash as the cap isn't especially large. A real bargain that gives great results, I'm no longer embarrassed by my dirty car and Lola is no longer embarrassed to be owned by me!