Adam`s Polishes clay mitt

Drove up to the Adam`s Polishes retail store today and picked up some stuff (got one of their mystery buckets full of a variety of things - spray wax, rinseless wash, interior detailer, and more) and also picked up a clay mitt.

I`d heard from several people that this was kind of the new, quicker way to go with the clay/decontamination process nowadays, so I figured I`d give it a shot on my wife`s Fiat 500X. We`d run it through an auto car wash yesterday, and it knocked off the loose dirt (we live in an apartment, and they don`t let us wash our cars in the carport). However, when it was done, the car still felt nasty/gritty. I had some clay bars, but I knew that process meant several hours worth of work because of how bad the car felt - about 150 grit sandpaper bad.

So, when I was at Adam`s, I picked up the clay mitt to scrub the car.

WOW. I`m sold. it was SO much easier to use, and the car felt so much better after I was done making a pass around it. it`s not perfect; I felt like I had to use a lot more detailer to get it to lift stuff up, and I couldn`t get into some of the tighter spots, but man oh man, I was done in about 20 min. HUGE timesaver for me, and the mitt is ready go to again for the next time. Had I been using a clay bar, it would`ve been toast from the way the car felt.

I don`t know if all clay mitts are the same like this, but I`m REALLY happy with this. I figured I`d test it on my wife`s car - it`s got some good dings and chips in it from parents at her childcare - they own SUVs and park next to her car, swing the doors open into hers all the time, or slide up against it. If it marred the paint, I wasn`t going to be upset because the paint`s not perfect and it`s never going to be perfect. But it did a great job, and the car feels SO much better!

I finished up with a basic spray wax that came in the mystery bucket, just to get some sort of protection on it. I`m going to wash it again next weekend at one of the "do it yourself" car washes and try the Meguiar`s Ceramic Spray Wax on it, see how well that stuff works; again, if it doesn`t work like I want, I`m not out much, and the paint isn`t in perfect condition anyway. It`s an ideal car to test stuff out on, because it`s 1) not my car, 2) my wife just wants it "so it doesn`t have water spots or dirt on it", and 3) it`s not a high value, highly desirable car - the Fiat dealerships are shutting down around San Diego County, and it`s getting harder to find someone who will work on it.

At any rate, I`m happy with the Adam`s clay mitt - and if it needs replacement, I`ll be spending money again to buy another. :)

At first I thought about the comment that "Fiat dealers are shutting down in San Diego County" was something to do with the current pandemic, but no, that apparently is the narrative on ALL Fiat and Alfa Romeo dealers in the USA. They just do not have the volume of sales numbers of vehicles to justify staying open. I feel sorry for the owners of such makes and what that will do to re-sale value of such makes, let alone trying to get repairs done under warranty.

Thanks for the review on the Adams clay mitt. You are fortunate to live near enough to buy car-care products at their retail store. Would I buy Adam`s products if they went "national" over-the-counter at ,say Advanced Auto or Auto Zone or O`Reilly`s?? Ya, but that ain`t gonna happen. Their factory-direct sales program works for them and their products are apparently bought and used by a number of professional detailers who list them in their posts.

The quality on the Fiat just isn`t there. It`s already had problems with the wiper fluid hoses becoming clogged, the traction control has had issues with going on and off, and literally 4 days after the warranty on the car expired, the battery had to be replaced. Only, it doesn`t warn you that the battery charge is low, it comes up with a "Check Engine" light. There`s no indicator to show it. I`m not happy with it, but it`s my wife`s car, so I just go with it. At the very least, I can use it for "detailing therapy" and relax. :)

As for the mitt, it`s worth the buy. I would`ve paid $22 for a clay bar kit at the local Wally World or Pep Boys/AutoZone/O`Reilly`s, and this lasts longer than that and cleans much more effectively. I`m planning to pick up some iron remover and test it out on the car, just so I can see how well it works (that`s kind of a new thing for me in the detailing world, along with ceramic waxes/sealants), and see how well that works out. I live close enough to Adam`s to drive (it`s about an hour drive from where I live, and Meguiar`s offices are actually even closer than that; I used to literally work down the street from them nearly 20 years ago), and I wanted to try out their products.

It`s all decent quality stuff; I don`t know if I can justify some of the costs they charge (at least, not for a hobbyist detailer like myself), but I can see where there`s quality in their products and would buy much of it again. :)

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Originally Posted by Lonnie

... Would I buy Adam`s products if they went "national" over-the-counter at ,say Advanced Auto or Auto Zone or O`Reilly`s?? Ya, but that ain`t gonna happen. Their factory-direct sales program works for them and their products are apparently bought and used by a number of professional detailers who list them in their posts.

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Adam`s has a `kinda of` "national" over-the-counter pipeline. They are sold at many GM dealerships since they are the "official Car Care Product of Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro".

Nice review, and glad you like it!

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Originally Posted by mc2hill

Adam`s has a `kinda of` "national" over-the-counter pipeline. They are sold at many GM dealerships since they are the "official Car Care Product of Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro".

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I did not know that! Thank you, mc2hill. Now would I go to a GM Delalership Parts Department and buy these "official" car-care products? NO, just because of the dealer markup.

Like I said, Adam`s car-care products are used by many Autopians, both professional and hobbyist, but they just do not seem to get a lot of reviews of their products or comparisons to other products, other than their Swirl Killer buffers to Griots Garage G9 and now G8 new buffers. Also, I have read here how expensive their polishes and compounds are compared to other such products available from competing car-care product manufacturers, so I am not sure how "value-oriented" they are (IE product performance considering the price of the product) to their competitors as well. The fact that they have teamed up with GM as an "official car-care product for GM (Chevy) Camaro and Corvette" is a good marketing program and does give them some credibility as a viable and respected car-care product manufacturer. I would just like to see more reviews of those products in this forum. This thread is a good start.

C Magic is the product used by the Corvette Museum for all it’s delivery.

At the risk of sounding cynical, I always wonder whether the products "approved"/etc. by the automakers are deemed OK because of their actual performance, or because of, uhm...other considerations. In the past, the latter explanation seemed obvious as the "recommended" products were [crap] in IME. Not flaming anything, just sayin`....