The ash stage nobody else talks about
Burn diesel long enough and the oil's additive package becomes mineral ash: calcium sulphate, zinc phosphate, magnesium oxides — packed exactly where flow matters, in DPF cells and exhaust galleries. Alkaline carbon chemistry does not touch it, because ash is not carbon. It is rock.
RegeniK is the acid-side second stage that dissolves it. After the decarboniser has taken the organics, RegeniK converts the remaining ash to soluble salts that rinse away — restoring DPF back-pressure and exhaust-component geometry that carbon-only cleaning leaves choked.
This is why serious DPF work is a two-bath process, and why single-bath operators plateau at 'better' instead of reaching 'restored'. Flow-test before and after tells the story better than any brochure: the carbon stage improves the numbers, the ash stage finishes them.
Where it earns its keep
DPF ash-stage cleaning; post-decarbonise ash on engine and exhaust components.
Dose: 10–20%. The trial sets your exact process values; the TDS governs.
The working process
A freshly cleaned ferrous part is chemically active — protective films gone, surface warm and wet, rinse ions acting as electrolyte. Rust bloom can start within the hour. DI water rinsing slows it; protection stops it.
Inhibitor in the final rinse before hot-air drying, an Anti-Rust dip between processes, or a water-displacing film for storage — matched to the next process. Tell us what happens next and the protection specifies itself.
Anti-RustStops flash rust on cleaned steelView & buy →
Rinse AidSpot-free final rinseView & buy →
| Mild & carbon steel | Safe in prescribed use |
| Stainless steel | Safe in prescribed use |
| Cast iron | Safe in prescribed use |
| Aluminium & titanium | Test first |
| Magnesium & soft alloys | Test first |
| Zinc & galvanised | Test first |
| Copper & brass | Brightening possible — test first |
| Plated finishes (Cd·Cr·Ni) | Confirm plating type first |
| Plastics & rubbers | Safe in prescribed use |
| Painted / coated surfaces | May dull coatings — test first |
| Transport | Not classified as Dangerous Goods for road and rail |

