Adam`s APC (All Purpose Cleaner) Review

[ihaveacamaro]

I was recently asked by Dylan if I would be willing to do a few reviews. He said "If I send you a couple of products would you be willing to do a quick review? Good, bad, or otherwise... I have a couple of things I think you`d enjoy." How can you say no to that?

With that said, this is my honest review of Adam`s All Purpose Cleaner.



Observations:

• Translucent Yellow Color (almost looks like it would glow in the dark)
• Citrus smell
• Upgraded sprayer has option for foam spray or spray normally (it’s a twist sprayer)
• 16 oz for $11 or Gallon for $30

Product Claims:

1. Tough On Dirt but Easy On Your Car
2. Clean Wheels, Tires, Engines and More
3. Great For Cleaning Up Your Detailing Accessories
4. Safely Cleans Your Foam Buffing & Polishing Pads

Additional Info Not Listed

1. Can be used safely on black plastic, like those in your engine bay
2. Can be used to strip car wax/sealant by adding into soap bucket
3. Can be used to remove wax from trim. Video here: http://youtu.be/3jK1w2TtGxQ

The Adam’s All Purpose Cleaner has the typical claims an All Purpose Cleaner (term herein referred to as APC) would have, with the exception of being safe on black plastic. Only a few APCs make this claim.

Why you ask? Because APCs are normally strong chemicals and black plastics normally react badly with strong chemicals. So being safe on these types of plastics is a big plus. AS ALWAYS, before you work on any type of sensitive material, do a little test spot in an inconspicuous spot with your cleaner to determine how well they play together.

The price for a gallon may seem high, but the price is actually in line with other “premium” APCs. So the price was neither a con, nor a pro for me. The price for 16 oz is outrageous though, especially in comparison to the gallon.

Normally, when you buy an APC for car detailing online, they are able to be diluted. This property of APCs is the best in terms of price because if you buy a gallon, you can normally make 5 to 10 gallons of ready-to-use solution with that, effectively reducing the price of the APC.

Nowhere on Adam’s official site does it say this for the Adam’s APC, so I asked Dylan what would happen if I dilute it. He said that it can be diluted down to 1 part APC to 10 parts Water. So with this knowledge, I did some testing. Here are my conclusions:

Straight:

Great at cleaning, dirt/grime on wheels, tires, fender wells are easily wiped away, foams up very well under agitation and will foam great on its own when you spray it out the foam sprayer.

1 Part APC : 1 Part Water:

No real noticeable big difference between this and straight. I would recommend this as my go-to dilution.

1 Part APC : 2 Parts Water:

Noticeable dropoff in performance. Foam is starting to become runny, I would use this as a maintenance wheel, tire, and engine cleaner. Notice I said maintenance, because I don’t think it would be able to tackle some of the hardest grime on unmaintained cars at this dilution.

1 Part APC: 4 Parts Water:

Bigger dropoff in performance. I would only recommend this is you only have a few ounces of APC left and you still have a lot of work to do. Foam is runny.

1 Part APC: 9 Parts Water:

The foam was being hardly made, even upon lots of agitation. What little foam was very runny. I doubt there is much cleaning power at this dilution. Maybe at this dilution, you could clean interior seats? I didn’t try that though. Dylan, no offense intended, but I disagree with you here and would not personally recommend this dilution.







So there you have it, the three dilutions I would stick to are straight, 1:1, and 1:2. At these dilutions, the APC works very well, and the 1:1 dilution would be my most used.

When you think that one of Adam’s biggest advantages over other products is ease of use, the results I got make sense. I’m sure Adam’s could’ve made their APC much stronger, but wanted their customers to be able to use it straight out of the bottle without fear. That is something I can’t do with my other APCs or if I do, I do so very carefully. Everything is compromise: with added ease of use comes less, but still very formidable, cleaning power.

In my opinion, the foaming aspect of the APC is its strongest selling point, as that lets it work very well on most things. I say most things, but not all. For example, this would not be the APC of choice to use on paint. I would rather use another safe APC that is low foaming like Optimum Power Clean or Meguiar’s D103.

All in all, I am pretty happy with this APC. I will not only keep this APC, but just used my own advice and bought a whole gallon extra for a few things that I really enjoyed working on it with: Cleaning engine bays, cleaning wax out of trim, and cleaning tires.

Will this replace my other APCs? No, definitely not. But I do know that if I have higher end cars’ engine bays I’m working on, this will be my go to APC. If I have stubborn tire grease from people putting armor-all or something on their car, this will also be my go to APC.

So no, this will not replace my other APCs, but will still find itself a permanent spot in my arsenal for the specific tasks I think it excels at compared to other APCs.










Bottom Line:

Don’t half ass it and get 16 oz, just go ahead and get the gallon. It works very well for most situations, although it is not the most dilutable APC out there. I recommend it.

P.S. The sprayer with the foaming option is a must. That thing is awesome! Big fan of the Adam’s sprayers.



.

[Bunky]

Thanks for the review.

The more diluted versions would be appropriate for light interior cleaning.

How do you compare it again OPC, Meg`s APC, PB`s APC, etc? You must have liked it enough to get a gallon.

I always like OPC due to the surface friendly aspects.

[ihaveacamaro]

Thanks for the review.

The more diluted versions would be appropriate for light interior cleaning.

How do you compare it again OPC, Meg`s APC, PB`s APC, etc? You must have liked it enough to get a gallon.

I always like OPC due to the surface friendly aspects.

Al, I`ve never used PB`s APC.

OPC and Megs APC+ are great but low foaming. Both dilute more, but when diluted don`t clean as well as Adam`s APC straight... which makes sense of course.

Megs APC is foaming, but not always safe on black plastics.

Megs APC and APC+ are hard to beat on quality and price though.

[GearHead_1]

How do you compare it again OPC, Meg`s APC, PB`s APC, etc? You must have liked it enough to get a gallon.

I would be interested in hearing your opinion should you get the chance to try PB`s APC along side of Adams. These are a couple of products that I`ve personally used side by side. I`ll start by saying that I use APC`s for everything and this often takes me outside the scope of detailing vehicles. I clean tubs and showers, marble and granite, appliances and just about anything around the house with APC`s that I purchased to detail vehicles. It`s not that Adams product is a bad product but I just didn`t find that excelled anywhere. The one place that really comes to mind was removing soap scum in shop sinks. PoorBoys product just seemed to do a better job in my mind. Of course I use these on cars as well but Adams just didn`t give a good enough reason to go back. I`d be interested in hearing your thoughts should the occasion present itself.

[ihaveacamaro]

Absolutely, it seems pb apc will be the next one I try.

[dc52nv]

Thanks for your thorough review. Seems like Adam`s APC is very mild to begin with. I`m a big fan of PB APC as it can be diluted in so many different ways. I currently have a bottle diluted at 15:1 for interiors and works great.

[lscamaro]

I really like the Adam`s APC but I`m always on the lookout for the best and most cost effective out there

[ihaveacamaro]

I really like the Adam`s APC but I`m always on the lookout for the best and most cost effective out there

Best and most cost effective tend to not go hand in hand in my opinion.

But when it does happen, it`s like a pair made in heaven! Like collinite 845!

[lscamaro]

Best and most cost effective tend to not go hand in hand in my opinion.

But when it does happen, it`s like a pair made in heaven! Like collinite 845!

I still haven`t tried collinite 845. I`ve heard so much about it but have yet to try it. Is it really that good? I was expecting it to be so much more expensive from hearing what people say about it so when I saw the actual price, I was actually surprised. Just waiting on a discount deal to grab some stuff I want and save some more

[ihaveacamaro]

I still haven`t tried collinite 845. I`ve heard so much about it but have yet to try it. Is it really that good? I was expecting it to be so much more expensive from hearing what people say about it so when I saw the actual price, I was actually surprised. Just waiting on a discount deal to grab some stuff I want and save some more

I think so! Even if it doesn`t match up against some of the boutique waxes, it`s certainly worth double or triple the $15 or so that it costs

[Todd@RUPES]

Very nice review!