Review: The Gloss Shop Trifecta Concentrate

[roguegeek]

When I first heard about Trifecta from The Gloss Shop, I almost immediately dismissed it. A rinseless wash and wax and waterless wash and wax was something I could buy, as there are a couple on the market that I`ve used. Where I get skeptical was hearing it`s also a concentrated spray wax. Tall order and all of that functionality would make it a fairly unique product in the market... if it worked. When I brought up my concerns, Richard Wright, who developed Trifecta, graciously spent some time educating me more about the product and the company. The Gloss Shop is a family and veteran owned and operated small business. Richard, himself, is a real approachable, easy to talk to guy who is obviously very enthusiastic about car care. He`s also extremely accessible and actively engages the community in which he serves. Trifecta and all other products from The Gloss Shop are manufactured in the United States are are all VOC compliant. I love seeing companies like this and I`m a fan of trying new products, so I was quite excited to purchase and play with Trifecta for myself.

Let`s start with the bottle. Trifecta currently only comes in a 32 oz concentrate. It`s an off-white, non-transparant bottle with a single label. The front shows The Gloss Shop logo along with the Trifecta Concentrate name and the product`s three main functions; rinseless wash, waterless wash, spray wax. The back has the directions for all uses that are easy to read and follow as well as contact information if you had any questions or feedback. The design and brand is simple and effective. Compared to some other companies that rely on a lot of flashy labels to sell their products, you`ll find none of that here and I like that. Let`s see product speaks for itself.



Opening the bottle, I was immediately greeted by a beautiful pale yellow liquid and wonderful smell. These kinds of things may feel small, but they go a long way towards the overall quality of a product. I started with the rinseless wash and wax. Dilution ratio is 1:256 or 1 oz per 2 gallons. I used a two-bucket system with my wash bucket holding 2 oz of Trifecta and 4 gallons of water. There`s little to no suds. I used both a microfiber wash mitt and 530 gsm microfiber towel and went panel by panel on a large CUV that had not been washed for about three weeks. Immediately, I was able to tell this stuff had a pretty high lubricity to it. The mitt and towel were both able to glide over the surface effortlessly while picking up every last bit of surface contaminants. Drying was done with a detailing blower and 530 gsm microfiber towels. Name any rinseless wash and this did just as good of a job while additionally leaving some protection behind. Impressive.



Testing the waterless wash and wax was next. Let me just say that I`m not really a fan of waterless washes, in general. I think they`re often misused and have a higher risk of putting micro scratches and swirls onto a paint surface, but I do understand their value. Dilution ratio is 1:64 or 0.5 oz per 32 oz. I filled up a 16 oz bottle with a little over a quarter oz of Trifecta. The car was a small subcompact that hadn`t been washed for about a week and had a very light layer of dust and dirt on it. This is the only circumstance I`d ever use a waterless wash. The towel used was a 600 gsm microfiber with both high and low pile sides. I sprayed the waterless wash and wax solution on liberally and began to wipe it down with the high pile side. Then I turned to the low pile and buffed the rest out. Towel management is important on all detailing steps, but so much more crucial during a waterless wash and wax, so I change them out after almost every panel. Trifecta, again, was quickly able to loosen and remove all surface contaminants and buffed out beautifully.



The very last thing I tested was the spray wax, the part I was more skeptical about. I very rarely use spray waxes by themselves. For me, they`re always a booster to whatever protection that`s currently on a car and applied during a maintenance wash only. Sometimes it will go on after I`ve dried the vehicle. Sometimes I`ll use it as a drying aid. Because this is how I`m most familiar with using spray waxes, this is how I tested it. Dilution ration is 1:15 or 1 oz per 16 oz of mixed product. I used a vehicle I had detailed two weeks before and topped with Meguiar`s M21. I gave the car a standard two-bucket wash and rinsed it down entirely. Half of the car I dried with a detail blower and the other half I left wet. This was so I could test Trifecta as both a standard spray wax and drying aid. On the dry surfaces, I did a light mist of the spray wax and buffed it in and out with a 360 gsm microfiber towel. It was very easy to work with. There was some streaking present, but I expected it due to the car being in directly sunlight and the surface being very warm. On the wet surfaces, I, again, did a light mist of the spray wax and watched as the hydrophobic properties helped push some of the larger water beads away. I dried the surface the high pile side of a 530 gsm microfiber towel and buffed out the product with the low pile side. Again, some streaking was present, but expected because of the surface heat. When I tested it on cool panels, something that`s always recommended, the streaking was non-existant. What I was left with on both the dry and wet surfaces was an excellent shine with some decent protection. Very nice. As far as the protection goes, I don`t know if this is something you can spray on and expect 3-6 months of protection as I haven`t done long term testing with it, but I also don`t care too much as I only need my spray waxes to last 2-4 weeks in between maintenance washes, which Trifecta will clearly do. So this works well for me.



Comparison time. Optimum No Rinse Wash & Wax is a pretty direct competitor to Trifecta. Both are rinseless washes with some protection properties. I like ONRWW, but I have to say I enjoy Trifecta more so. I find Trifecta to have slightly more lubricity and, therefore, easier to work with. Protection seems stronger as well. Ultima Waterless Wash Plus+ is also comparable. Both it and Trifecta are waterless washes with some protection properties and, again, I prefer Trifecta here for the same reason above in that the lubricity is greater and, therefore, able to remove surface contaminants easier. I, again, found protection to be slightly better.

Let`s get critical and talk about where Trifecta fell short and how it could be better. As mentioned above, there was some streaking during the spray wax and drying aid portions. Nearly all dedicated spray waxes as well as the products I listed in the comparison are recommended to be used on cool surfaces, so I know I pushed Trifecta out of its comfort zone when I used it on a hot surface. All will streak on a surface that is hot and Trifecta was no different. Less is always more in those circumstances, but if the surface is hot, it`s practically unavoidable. The only spray wax I`ve ever used that doesn`t streak on a hot surface is Meguiar`s D156, which is why it`s been my goto drying aid during a maintenance wash for so long. I would not expect The Gloss Shop to cut down on something like this as it`s a normal trait with all spray waxes, but if they could, it would be a unique feature all other competitors wouldn`t be able to claim. There is also the issue of price in that Trifecta is a couple more bucks than its competitors with about the same dilution ratios. Now I don`t have an issue with this as I find Trifecta to be a more premium product from a small company that yields better results than its competitors, but some may have an issue with it. Availability is also a slight concern. You can currently buy it directly from their site or you can buy it from Autoality. Both are fine, but I`d like to see it get to a point where it`s maybe on Amazon with free Prime shipping or something like that. I suspect that as Trifecta grows in popularity, we`ll see it pop up in more retailers. In all, I think I`m having to nitpick quite a bit on what could be improved, which speaks highly of the product.

Overall, I`m extremely please with Trifecta. It`s a top tier rinseless wash and wax, top tier waterless wash and wax, and a very good spray wax. It`s very functional, very flexible, and delivers outstanding results in all of the things it sets out to achieve. I will gladly be switching to Trifecta for my rinseless and waterless needs and would highly recommend it to anyone else who`s looking for a premium rinseless or waterless wash and wax. The Gloss Shop has a winner here that they can be proud to stand behind and I`m excited to see what they have in store for us in the future.

You can find more information about Trifecta and The Gloss Shop as well as make a purchase at the following links:
https://www.theglossshop.com/product...ta-concentrate
https://www.facebook.com/theglossshop/
Gloss Shop Trifecta Concentrate, 32 oz.

[06vrss]

Nice thread. Trifecta is an excellent product, my go to for rinseless washing. The detail spray is top notch as well.

[mjlinane]

Excellent review.

Have used Trifecta twice as a rinseless wash thus far.

[JBM]

I really like it as well.

[Civicclutch]

do the sell anything else

[pheerix]

Would be interesting to compare it to Wolfgang Uber

[Migue]

Thanks for the review, i will now keep this on my radar as "must try" products.

[roguegeek]

Would be interesting to compare it to Wolfgang Uber

I really love Wolfgang Uber Rinseless Wash. So much so that I did a review for it on AG and also named it my single favorite product of 2015. Before Trifecta, it was my goto product for rinseless/waterless along with all the other good things it could do. I was going to put it in the comparison portion, but thought it was slightly unfair because it doesn`t have any protection vs Trifecta which does. If you`re looking for a rinseless/waterless wash without protection, I think Wolfgang Uber is as good as it gets. If you require some protection along with your rinseless/waterless washes, Trifecta is going to be your jam.

Hope this helps!

[roguegeek]

do the sell anything else

They have a detailing spray, but I haven`t tried it.

[JBM]

They have a detail spray that gets great feedback. The company owner is a detailer and a member here and other places. By all appearances he is a cool dude and I love supporting people and companies starting out.

do the sell anything else

[Pats300zx]

Great review. I have used Trifecta as a rinseless wash and was pretty impressed with it. I still need to test is as a,spray wax. The Gloss Shop QD is great and smells like "juicy fruit" Richard is a great guy and answered any questions I had.

[BadgerRivFan]

Thanks for an informative and very thorough review. I will gladly pick up a bottle and check it out.

Another "competitor" might be Garry Dean`s IUDJ and IUDJ + Juice Boost. Would love to see a comparison of those products to Trifecta!

[rwright]

I can`t thank you enough for this review. It was very well written and very honest. Most importantly, thank you for the support and giving Trifecta a shot. As a small company just getting started it is very tough to compete against larger brands, especially in a crowded market. The only way to grow is with the support of you all as customers who are taking a chance with us. I`m keeping notes from all reviews and feedback so that I can work to improve the areas pointed out. It`s one thing to relabel an existing product and make it near perfect upon release, but creating one from scratch takes a lot of time and a lot of trial and error.

Right now we only have two products of our own available for purchase, Trifecta Concentrate and the Detail Spray. These two products are not the same formula and should not be confused as such. We have more products ready to be released but it takes time and money. Please be patient with us.

Thanks,
Richard

[yg1829]

This is an excellent review! Thank you roguegeek! I`ve been using ONR quite a bit lately but I really need to try this. Trifecta looks amazing. Can`t wait to see some more products from The Gloss Shop. I`m a sucker for products made in the USA.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[rwright]

We are working as fast as possible to release our first coating. It will be made in the USA as well, plus it is VOC compliant, user friendly, and will be offered in 50 ml to start. This is the coating we developed Trifecta to safely clean and maintain.