Green Earth car cleaner, and the Bumper Badger - ridiculous?

This post-Christmas morning brings two automotive products to our inbox, both wrought with utility and possible pitfalls. The first product promises to keep your car clean without the environmental impact of 40 gallons of water being used to wash the car, and the second promises to keep your bumpers scratch free at the cost of a more than slightly goofy look. Click through the jump for the full details on both new products.

First up Lifehacker points us at the Green Earth waterless car wash. The product promises to help save the environment by removing the need for water to wash your car - just spray liberally on your car and wipe off for a sparkling clean finish.

While the product seems like a great deal on the surface, saving 20-40 gallons of water and being cheaper than a car wash it does make one wonder how well it works as a long term solution. The product may shine your car and give an initial appearance of being clean, we suspect that it may actually harm your finish with repeated use. By wiping dirt off rather than washing it off with plenty of water for rinsing some dirt that has been embedded in your paint job may actually be pushed deeper into the paint causing long term corrosion, or worse yet be dragged along the paint surface causing scratches and other permanent damage.

Next up is another product that promises to avoid scratches: The Bumper Badger. The Bumper promises to avoid parallel parking woes by protecting your rear bumper from incompetent parallel parkers. When not parked in a situation where you fear dings the Bumper Badger slips into your trunk and lays flat so as not to occupy cargo space.

The downside of the Bumper Badger? Aside from the hassle of flipping it in and out of your trunk every time you park the Bumper Badger makes your car look as if it is owned by a total dork. It may indeed protect your bumper and make your car look better while it’s nestled away in your trunk, but when deployed the thing seems to scream to the world “A PARANOID DOUCHEBAG OWNS THIS CAR”.

—Sparky