What is your best inexpensive product? What is your worst premium product?

[Mr. Gloss]

Best inexpensive: LA`s Totally Awsome. It can be diluted for just about any surface and it does an amazing job
cleaning tires, wheels, wheel wells, etc.

Worst Premium: Fuzion Wax. Easy on, easy off, nice shine, but a very weak performer for the price. (ATME).

[WaxAddict]

Best Inexpensive:
Harbor Freight black 6" pad (Just the black!)
PB Professional Polish
Colli 845
DG Aquawax

Worst Premium that I`ve tried:
I`ve never used a premium product I didn`t like. I guess I`m lucky and I`m sure to read the reviews before spending the cash. There are, however, several that I will not buy again because they didn`t perform appreciably better than lower tier counterparts. Examples are Sonax wheel cleaners, DoDo Born Slippy, Lusso Oro, and Pinnacle Crystal Mist.

[tom p.]

My best inexpensive product is CQuartz UK. I cannot believe how many hours of effort that product has saved me while keeping my vehicles looking better than ever, by far. Nothing to date has yielded such value. It`s paying benefits week after week after week...


Good cheapskate products: Meg`s Ultimate Paste Wax, Meg`s Endurance Tire shine stuff and HD Polish.

unloved: anything with the Black Magic name.

[paul huryk]

Without a doubt it would be CG Fabric Clean, which is diluted 20:1 and makes about 3 gallons for less than $10.

And it works awesome - everyone I have sold it to (I`m a CG dealer) raves about how well it cleans and how it can eliminate minor odors.

[silver2kws6]

Worst : Meq white Wax. grainy and tough to remove.

[Scottwax]

I guess I can update this 5 years later...

Best inexpensive are still Woolite/water to clean leather, ONR in all its various forms, Armor All (tires/wheel wells only), and instead of BioKleen, I`ve been using 3D Carpet Shampoo at 16:1 since its easier to buy than BioKleen and works just as well. Have to include Opti-Seal, a little goes a long way.

Best expensive would be Mitchell and King Rannoch Wax. And yes, its expensive, around $400 for 8 ounces. But should be enough to do 40-50 cars and the look over properly prepped paint is stunning. Also, Optimum Gloss-Coat.

[Mr. Gloss]

I guess I can update this 5 years later...

Best inexpensive are still Woolite/water to clean leather, ONR in all its various forms, Armor All (tires/wheel wells only), and instead of BioKleen, I`ve been using 3D Carpet Shampoo at 16:1 since its easier to buy than BioKleen and works just as well. Have to include Opti-Seal, a little goes a long way.

Best expensive would be Mitchell and King Rannoch Wax. And yes, its expensive, around $400 for 8 ounces. But should be enough to do 40-50 cars and the look over properly prepped paint is stunning. Also, Optimum Gloss-Coat.

Thanks for your update.

So what is your worst premium product?

[Scottwax]

Thanks for your update.

So what is your worst premium product?

Offhand, I can`t really think of anything other than maybe Zaino Clear Seal if that`s considered "premium". No change in the look at all, side by side with Opti-Seal, the Opti-Seal side looked noticeably better. And that was the first version of OS. Been tweaked once and now apparently completely reformulated since the alcohol scent is gone.

[Lonnie]

my best inexspensive product would be a cue tip

+1 for Johnson & Johnson Q-tips (AKA Cotton-tipped swabs). I buy them at Sam`s club for about $8.00US for the 2,000 double-pack. I go through ALOT of them but it really separates a cleaned car from a properly detailed car, both inside and out. Yes, it takes (ALOT) more time , bit it really shows the level of attention to detail (no pun intended) in a truly detailed car.

Also got to give mention of round toothpicks. I use them to remove very old wax build-up on emblems left behind from novice or uncaring detailers or grime build-up in lettering on shift knobs or any corner, crevice, or seam that needs such care and attention. Not to mention that they serve as a good poker to remove or dislodge car-care product stuck in pop-up nozzle dispenser caps on bottles or jugs if they haven`t been used in a while.

[Accumulator]

..Also got to give mention of round toothpicks. I use them to remove very old wax build-up on emblems left behind from novice or uncaring detailers or grime build-up in lettering...

I usually "flag" the tips of the toothpicks with a razor blade and soak them in a QD (usually M34) to soften them up and make them behave like tiny brushes.

[House of Wax]

Off the top of my head my favorite inexpensive product has to be rinseless products (ONR, UWW+, etc....) due to their versatility and the quantities of clay lube, quick detailer, glass cleaner, etc...that they will make.

As far as worst expensive......I can`t really think of anything that I`ve bought that has been what I would consider "expensive" let alone one that has been disappointing. About the only thing that I can think of that I`ve bought that could be considered expensive to me would be some Chemical Guys 50/50 and P21s pure carnauba, but both of those were on sale, both looked good/were easy to use, and both are going to last me forever.