Reining it in a bit on the products - it`s getting silly. You?

[Accumulator]

Heh heh, I wondered if Marie Kondo would get mentioned in this thread She`s almost enough for me to subscribe to Netflix. Eh, I suspect most of you are still young and immortal...but after ya deal with enough estates, and get old enough, you can start to think about such stuff. Last thing anybody needs is to deal with all my [crap] when I`m gone.

Also wondered about the opinions of spouses/significant others factoring in...gotta say that Accumulatorette has *never* said word one about such stuff, or rather..nothing negative. She`s bought me a lot of stuff that I was on the fence about spending for (e.g., polishers) and simply *LOVES* having her A8 well-detailed. Well, I bet she`d kinda like for me to go back to using Souveran on it, but she understands that`s not really practical.

finick- Heh heh, I still remember how people who know from PERsonal SECurity matters implored me to just stay off internet forums period! I suspect they never imagined just how ubiquitous such stuff would become. I still keep a very low cyber-profile, you just never know and *not* oversharing has never turned around and bitten me.

[kbmag1]

Went old school last weekend and used durogloss 601/105 combo on my old daily driver. Weather was nice and thinking about adding 601/111 tomorrow morning. Will see how long it last in Florida heat.

[WaxAddict]

Lots of interesting stories that parallel my own. I once was a "wax collector" with multiple varieties of Dodo Juice and the fringe stuff like Rubbish Boy, Mitchell & King, Waxaddict (no relation), and the like. They were all SO GOOD that it became just silly eye candy on the shelf because I had no idea what to use next. Just reach for something. Those kind of waxes have a decent resale value on eBay. Counting my waxes just now, I have 11, so not too scary.

Could you pick your top three (3) QD products that you like and then your top three (3) spray waxes ?
Just curious.

Thanks for the question Lonnie. I like QDs that flash quickly and look nice. This leaves a lot of "favorites" out - things like PB QD+ and FK425 are great, but don`t flash quickly. I have like 10 QDs I like but these come to mind:

Griots Best Of Show QD (a recent new fave)
Adams QD
ECH20 (cheating a bit there, but it is a stellar QD)

Spray waxes that have impressed are:
Pinnacle Souveran spray wax
PA Presto (I know they say it`s a QD but no, it`s a spray wax, and a phenomenal one)
OCW, for good value + performance

[Lonnie]

......
Coating: bought CQUK2, CP sent CQUK3 last summer but didn’t get around to coating. Getting deeper into the hole resisted buying kamikaze, GTwchnic and 22ple. Was gonna switch but The Guz and Loach seem to have good things and hoping with not to harsh winters will get 2 yrs outta 2 coats. Proud of myself in this one. Was tempted several times especially buy zipang.

Toppers: AAAANNND here’s where I got stupid. Get RELOAD cuz synergy. What’s this wonder spritz, HYDROSILEX? Well buy it and find out. Well reload sucks. SHINE SUPPLY CLUTCH is reviews well. Buy a gallon for $160 and be done.....Let’s join Autogeek since I do a lot of research there. What’s this, Gyeon cancoat you say.... gloss you say? Well need a can of that. Polish COSMIC SPRITZ $130 for 16 ozs. That’s stupid.... what’s these video about. .... well I do deserve to buy myself a Christmas present... Wait, buy PLASMACOAT at 25% off and you’ll throw in ADVANCEDCOAT GLOSS? Tac systems quartzmax.... aww I don’t need it, just bought a gallon of CLUTCH. What’s this MOONLIGHT stuff. Don’t need it, wait you’ll give 25% off? OK last one. All the while kamikaze is calling me.... must.... resist.... OVERCOAT.... Budget was the man and sent me some V1. Awesome stuff and I will not buy v2 till half this stuff is gone. Best thing is only have two cars to work on and only use the Hydrosilex (gave 40% bottle away), Using clutch to make Merlin’s so far. Tried overcoat on my hood.... I HAVENT APPLIED ANYTHING YET! What’s wrong with me? Also now I find out about this DRIVE hybrid ceramic/titanium nano coating lite! I don’t need it but has titanium and ceramic! It’s a nano coating! And for gosh sakes it’s a hybrid! I don’t have a hybrid......

Coatings=crack:
While most Autopians will laugh at your above "product buying decision process", any serious hobbyist detailer will have thousands of dollars tied up in detailing car-care chemicals/products and supplies/equipment. While many will cringe at vehicle detailing and think of it as a waste of time and money, there are many who engage in "other" hobbies that have that much or more tied up in their hobby/recreation of choice. Hunters with their guns, clothes, and licenses; golfers with their clubs, clothes, and green fees; fisherpersons with their boats, tackle, and licenses; woodworkers with their power and hand tools and wood materials; even scrap-bookers with their myriad of ink block patterns/designs, paper cutters, and fancy papers. You get the picture....
For me detailing is a recreation but also a way of taking care of and preserving a major investment: automotive vehicles, along with boats, bicycles, and mowers/snow blowers/tractors. PLUS, some of those products and equipment can also be used for house and home furnishing cleaning and maintenance as a bonus (which cannot be said about guns, fishing tackle, or golf clubs!) So when someone disses ANY of you serious Autopians about how much you spend on car detailing products and equipment, ask them about how much time and money they spend on THEIR hobby/activity of choice. That new Remington deer rifle and Nikon scope setup they bought was the same price as the Vapor Systems VX 5000 steam cleaning system you bought. See, I just "justified" it for you to your significant other. (What, now you want me to steam-clean the bathroom after I`ve steamed out the van interior? One thing leads to another. Just sayin`!...)

[Bill D]

Don’t forget watch collecting: you could spend mega money on just the pieces alone not even factoring in servicing them.

[DaveT435]

A few weeks back I counted my QD`s and Spray Waxes. I had 20. Many of them are so good and overlap in performance that I just randomly reach for one when detailing. This got me thinking. Sh!t`s outa hand.

I can`t (couldn`t) resist a QD or spray wax or WW that I never heard of, so I`d instinctively buy. I`ve probably had 35 or more over the years.

It`s not really the money, it`s just the whole silliness of the whole thing. The redundant factor.

Anybody have similar feelings about their hoard?

I’ve been working my way towards this. I’ve got a few things to give away then I’ll start using up product I have and only order what I run out of. So chemicals are about there, still working on machines and pads.

I need a good go to pad for long throws, forced rotation/oscillation, and rotary, any suggestions for a good pad that works well on all three would be helpful. Foam pads are rarely used on the rotary, but once in a while they are.

I have about 7 polishers. Really need to sell a couple. Have a 21 Mark II with about 20 minutes on it going on eBay or the FB selling area so I can get the Mark III.

[Coatings=crack]

Coatings=crack:
While most Autopians will laugh at your above "product buying decision process", any serious hobbyist detailer will have thousands of dollars tied up in detailing car-care chemicals/products and supplies/equipment. While many will cringe at vehicle detailing and think of it as a waste of time and money, there are many who engage in "other" hobbies that have that much or more tied up in their hobby/recreation of choice. Hunters with their guns, clothes, and licenses; golfers with their clubs, clothes, and green fees; fisherpersons with their boats, tackle, and licenses; woodworkers with their power and hand tools and wood materials; even scrap-bookers with their myriad of ink block patterns/designs, paper cutters, and fancy papers. You get the picture....
For me detailing is a recreation but also a way of taking care of and preserving a major investment: automotive vehicles, along with boats, bicycles, and mowers/snow blowers/tractors. PLUS, some of those products and equipment can also be used for house and home furnishing cleaning and maintenance as a bonus (which cannot be said about guns, fishing tackle, or golf clubs!) So when someone disses ANY of you serious Autopians about how much you spend on car detailing products and equipment, ask them about how much time and money they spend on THEIR hobby/activity of choice. That new Remington deer rifle and Nikon scope setup they bought was the same price as the Vapor Systems VX 5000 steam cleaning system you bought. See, I just "justified" it for you to your significant other. (What, now you want me to steam-clean the bathroom after I`ve steamed out the van interior? One thing leads to another. Just sayin`!...)

Do you use any products to clean your guns (pistols). If so what do you use? Never thought about this


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dan]

Don’t forget watch collecting: you could spend mega money on just the pieces alone not even factoring in servicing them.

Or car collecting!

[Oneheadlite]

Lonnie - I feel the same way. Sure, I’m collecting a stash of supplies that I may not exercise nearly as much as I’d like, but it’s also pretty much my sole recreational expenditure. I’m not spending all my spare cash on movies, music, non-daily fun cars (anymore), etc; and I’m not hurting my financial state with the little bit of supplies I buy on sale.

My other justification for the detailing supplies is that other, um, (sane and reasonable? Uninformed?) folks will spend $8-$12 a pop 1-multiple times a month to drive their car through an automatic wash for sub par results. Instead, I invest that money into quality supplies for superior results and much more personal satisfaction.

Accumulator - If you’re curious to watch the Marie Kondo shows, you could always just subscribe for a month or two, watch them, and cancel your subscription. I know people do that with other tv services to catch the one or two shows they want to see. If you haven’t seen any of her stuff before, you’ll feel much better about the state of your home for sure, regardless of how much “extra stuff” you might have...

For others who are wondering Marie who? She’s a Japanese woman that has this 5 step approach for going through your stuff and simplifying down to keeping the things that “give you joy”. She’s also got a pretty dang efficient way of folding clothes that takes advantage of your space.

Before having seen her show, I’d heard of the “brown bag approach”; if you have stuff you’re debating getting rid of, you put it in a brown bag (or whatever) in a closet or out of the way space- if you don’t open that bag for 6 months, then you probably don’t need what’s in there. Had a big eye opener when my wife and I got married. I emptied my house to prep it for sale, putting the majority of it in a storage unit as we lived in her smaller townhouse until we got our current house. I’d go to the unit, slide the door open, and realize: Wow, I don’t miss virtually any of this stuff...
To me, there are genres of stuff that don’t fit for that approach though. Cleaning/detailing supplies are one. Just because you haven’t needed a carpet cleaner for 8 months doesn’t mean there won’t be a time you might. Again the luxury of not being super pressed for space helps here.

[Accumulator]

Oneheadlite- Yeah, I have considered a brief Netflix membership. I`d like to see a few things on there and just might do it some time.

I`m quite familiar with M. Kondo`s approach and do like her enough to not be put off by the stuff that makes me and/but I`d still like to watch it (assuming I can deal with the interpreter factor). The whole "does it spark joy?" and the "respect your stuff" aspect of mottainai do really resonate with me. Heh heh, with all the [stuff] I`ve, uhm...accumulated...I gotta keep everything organized or I`d go nuts, and the Responsibility of Ownership has always been a big deal to me.

BUT, I hesitate to pitch things; I have lots of stuff (like in your Extractor example) that doesn`t get used/worn for years, but then it`s *exactly* what`s called for and I`m sure glad I have it.

We did the "label box, if not open in X years just pitch it", but I`m a lot more ruthless about enforcing that than my wife is. And I simply hate throwing away stuff that somebody might use. "How to dispose of things that still have utility" can be a real challenge for me.

Pressed for space...having now spent 18 years in The House we just *had* to have built well..watch what you wish for. [Stuff] really does seem to multiply to fill the available space.

[WaxAddict]

Don’t forget watch collecting: you could spend mega money on just the pieces alone not even factoring in servicing them.

Or Hi-Fi

[pgp]

There is or was a forum called freecycle.org which might be good way to get rid of stuff. It`s for giving away things you don`t need or want to keep it out of the landfill.

A few years ago I bought my first new car, then of course I needed new/better waxes etc. I took advantage of sales. So now I was too much stuff to use up.

[Lonnie]

Do you use any products to clean your guns (pistols). If so what do you use? Never thought about this

NOPE! Do not have firearms. My mentioning that some car-care chemicals and equipment can be used for household cleaning and maintenance is to imply they have a dual purpose that is not limited to just vehicles, hence, they add to the Return On Investment (ROI) and offer some "additional" justification for the money you have spent on that product or piece of equipment.
That said, I think even a pedestrian or average detailing enthusiast or hobbyist has car-care products that end up on the back shelf, never to be used again, because they have been supplanted or replaced by "better, newer, improved" products OR a lot of "different" products for specific car-cleaning/detailing tasks. Much like the proverb "the right tool for every job", so too are car-care products, and in my opinion and experience, they do make a difference in the final outcome and appearance in detailing a vehicle. That is one of the reasons I belong to this forum: to learn from other detailing enthusiasts on what product work for them and what do not. I simply cannot afford to buy a myriad of products to try for myself because I have chosen to live within my means. But those older, obsoleted products that, because of my frugality (your ARE cheap, Captain Obvious! Just sayin`!...), end up getting "repurposed" for "other" cleaning/maintenance tasks just to get some use out of them (See my above post on carnauba waxes), OR the mentality that "I might need them sometime", but in all probability will NEVER use them again, OR you keep them for sentimental reasons (My Mom bought that for me for waxing my `77 Datsun 280Z), OR with the hope that someday they will be a valuable collector`s item (Hey, did you see what they wanted for that box set of Turtle Wax Poly Shell in an Antique Store?!).

This particular thread topic brings to mind the mentality of any collection of things: "It is a fine line between what is considered collecting and what is considered hoarding" and "What is one person`s junk is another person`s treasure."

[Bill D]

I’m watching Hoarders on A&E right now! LOL!

[Lonnie]

Or Hi-Fi

Only if you know what Krill, McIntosh, Carver (the brand I have), B&O, Klipsch, Paradigm, Altec-Lansing, TEAC, TASCOM, Nakamichi, or Ballfinger Reel-to-Reel (Google it!) are.
(Marantz, 3M-Wollensak, Epicure, Onkyo, Bose 901 Series I thru V, Panasonic, Sony, Yamaha, JBL Professional, and Pioneer Signature Series, do not count)