Detailing Music!

[rmccall6]

As a detailer I want to keep the cutomer happy. Unfortunatelly the customer`s view doesn`t always agree with mine. For instance, I prefer Vinylex`s look...deep black with a medium shine (enough to get noticed but not to fake looking. There are some customers though who prefer the "ghetto" shine. I knoiw you can apply two coats of Vinylex but it stll doesnt have that wet look which I hate but some love. The other day I had a real nice classic car, a turquoise Chevrolet truck. Here we agreed that the tires shouldn`t have a shine to them, more of a satin sheen with a deep black color. Unfortunatelly the Vinylex was a tad too shiny. I`ve tried to vary the shine to some degree by the amount of time the dressing sits ion the tire prior to buffing but couldn`t get it just right for some jobs. What do you guys recomend. Is there a good way to vary the shine from a single dressing, or should I have to buy three separate dressings (303, Vinlyx, EF BO). I don`t want to do that if it`s not needed but... Also, does EF BO leave a greasy film on the tire because I absolutely hate that. -Brad

[Ron Ketcham]

This is a concern. First, the problem is that the customer is not aware of what various dressings will do to a tire and it`s sidewall. How the "greasy kid stuff" petroleum distillate/dimethal silicone types will sling off onto flex agent painted moldings/cladding/ground effects and permantly stain them. Also, may stain the clear on the wheel.

How they attack and weaken the side wall etc.

Memembers of the Trusted Professional Detailers (TPD) use a magazine article that was written for American Clear Car back in 1996 regarding dressings and the care of various components of a vehicle.

This article is printable and most have some copies that they hand out to customers so they may read and understand the concern. It is on http://www.autoint.com (`http://www.autoint.com`) under the Magazine Articles section.

As far as reducing the shine of a PDMS dressing, just add water to the product, water is the carrier of the resin, and just like when you thin out paint, you are applying less solid content to the wall, putting on a thinner coat, less hiding or coverage. By adding water to the dressing, you are doing the same.

The PDMS resin dressings are waterborne,and will have a resin content of a low for the less expensive ones of about 18% and for the more expensive up to 30% resin.

That is about the maximum percentage that can be emulsified into the product without going over the edge.

[ALM]

Ron-What if you applied it with a tires swipe and spread it out? Would that work? When using Meguiars High Endurance I can vary the amount of sine by the amount of product I apply and how thinly I spread it. Would that work for Brad?

[Ron Ketcham]

Don`t really know, since it is a gel product.



Have played with making a similar product, but when we took samples out to detailers, most did not care for the application or the results or the cost of what it would have to be sold at. The product was exactly the same as the Endurance, easy to duplicate.



You could try this, put it on and then come back with a damp towel and see if it will remove some of the gel/resin and lower the gloss factor.



I would think that since you are a fan of Mequiar`s you would use their regular liquid PDMS dressing, that way you can adjust the gloss factor.(plus much more cost effective)

I own all three products, and I`d say on the "gloss-o-meter" they would be:



303 low shine

vinylex med shine

black opal ghetto shine



to get the full-bore ghetto-stylee shine from Black Opal you have to spray it directly on the tire. For a more subdued shine, apply with a tire swipe.

[Ron Ketcham]

The last product you mentioned I am not familar with on a regular basis.



Some manufacturers add glycerin to the PDMS dressing to increase the gloss factor, but have found that it is very short term in the life of the shine as glycerin is very evaporative.

[Bobby G]

I have about 15 tire dressing products. I`ve tried them all, and I hate most of them. The wet look is kid stuff. Tires should be dark black with a nice matte finish. Otherwise, the tire makers would make them shine out of the mold.

One product that I have not seen mentioned on the forum is Eagle One`s Concours Tire Dressing. It`s cheap and creates a near perfect matte finish.

When I took the following picture I used Eagle One because everything else had too much shine and took away from what I was trying to show (the polished wheel).

http://autopia-carcare.com/lib/autopia/WheelAfter.jpg

[ALM]

Isnt Eagle One Concourse water based, therefore better for your tires in the long run?

Would it be fair to say that the tire dressings that produce a high gloss shine are somewhat detrimental to your tires due to the silicone content, as compared to thoes that are water based?



Im 19 so anything that is glossy and screams attention usually finds its way into my arsenal of detailing supplies! :)

[scottybob1]

I really like the Zaino Z-16 tire / trim product. Its not as glossy as EF Opal Black and seems to last a very long time. I use it on my 300M and it looks great. EF on truck and honda. Endurance was just to sticky,,like fly paper on the tires it picked up alot of dirt and dust.

[rstype]

However, I found out a high-gloss shine really helps a WHITE car`s appearance. The contrast really stands out.

[PassatPunk]

Just started to begin an ongoing detail of my buddys Galant VR4, black everything; leather, paint, wheels...



I used just some black magic tire wet (loaded with the bad stuff (didnt wanna use my little remaining Eagle One) and it was .. just wasnt right. The glossy look didnt work wheel well. (hah get it!)



Wonder what would look good for a black car.. w/ black wheels!



I prefer the look of Eagle One, swiped. EF BO is way to friggin glossy for me. My tires are nice and all.. but. they dont need that kinda attention.



PassatPunk.

[Don2000g]

Wow! Another awesome Eagle One product. Now here`s my updated list of Eagle One products that I really like: Leather cleaner, leather conditioner, tire swipes, scratch remover, Wipe and Shine and now the Concours Tire Dressing. Thanks for the tip David. I believe the Eagle one Concours Tire Dressing looks very similar to the Zaino tire polish. Real nice look. Now that`s the way I like for the tires to look, maybe just a tad bit darker but near perfect. Laters.

[imported_Brad]

I agree with DavidB that Eagle One Concours dressing is very nice. That and Zaino are my current favorites.

[carljr1989]

I like my dressings glossy and non-oily. The only one I found it did that was Griot`s Garage tire dressing. Used by Concours winners according to Griot`s.



If you like to vary the shine of the dressing and you are also on a budget, use boot polish. The more you buff the more it shines. Another dealer secret disclosed.

[Don2000g]

Not sure if boot polish is a real desirable product to be using on tires. Not regularly anyway. I`m sure the Griots dressing is good. However, never believe any misleading or false claims such as, "This is what Concours winners use on their cars" or my favorite, "in an independent test, it was found that so and so performed the best" Yeah, right! All marketing.



[Edited by Don2000g on 06-30-2001 at 10:59 PM]