Microfiber wash sponges

C

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
First off, let me state that right now I am using a *Cobra Bone for rinseless washing and am happy with the results. :bigups
*As well as sea sponges, grout sponges and various cotton chenille mitts and pads.

Now, being a cheapskate, reading about a MF sponge available at Big Lots for $2, I had to check it out. This is an item being used by a professional detailer with good results and he recommends it highly. He also has a very good reputation for knowing what he is talking about. He probably has more experience with rinseless washing than anyone else in the country. :bow
The fact that it seemed to rinse clean so easily was also appealing.
The Big Lots I went to had a total of 6 of these hanging on a pegboard display. Hey, I'm in luck. :yay
Well.... Not exactly. :wall
Two of the 6 had stitching that was already tearing out at the seams. The overall quality really looked like a $2 product. Since the failure rate seemed rather high, I left all 6 of them at the store. :D
 
jaybs02 said:
Does that mean you actually will get what you pay for? :lol2:
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That could be debated since 1/3 of the items were falling apart while on display, I wouldn't want to bet on how long the others would stand up in use.
My personal feeling is that they were just what I would expect from a Big Lots branded item.
I think in all the years we have had a Big Lots store, I have bought a total of 2 different items.
A discontinued Meguiar's Body Brush. Works great on wheels.
A bunch of foam applicator pads. They were a knockoff of the Meg's 3" foam pads for 40 cents each. Seemed to work OK and I still have some.

Since most of their merchandise is something that another company couldn't sell, do you suppose there might be a reason people didn't buy it? :dunno:
 
In some cases you can get a good buy at BL when Meguiars stopped selling brushes I bought several of them at BL for a fraction of what they would have cost from Megs.
These were not a cheap knock off they were in the original plastic package with the Meguiars name on them.
A smart shopper can make some good buys their.

I look for major brand items and while I don't shop their often I have got some bargains at BL
 
The Meg's brushes were first class products and a bargain at Big Lots. I got a the nice carpet brush. I am sure they were dropped since their distribution chain did not want them. At OTC, most places have their own house stuff so not many places would stock it. With all the competition, it is hard to get shelf space at OTC parts places (AZ,AA, etc) these days.

I also picked up some Carund? tire applicators (made the people that make many of detailing accessories) that I used to apply tire dressings.
 
CharlesW said:
A discontinued Meguiar's Body Brush. Works great on wheels.
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black bart said:
In some cases you can get a good buy at BL when Meguiars stopped selling brushes I bought several of them at BL for a fraction of what they would have cost from Megs.
These were not a cheap knock off they were in the original plastic package with the Meguiars name on them.
A smart shopper can make some good buys their.
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Bunky said:
The Meg's brushes were first class products and a bargain at Big Lots. I got a the nice carpet brush. I am sure they were dropped since their distribution chain did not want them. At OTC, most places have their own house stuff so not many places would stock it. With all the competition, it is hard to get shelf space at OTC parts places (AZ,AA, etc) these days.

I also picked up some Carund? tire applicators (made the people that make many of detailing accessories) that I used to apply tire dressings.
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Well, we seem to agree that the Meg's brushes were a pretty good deal. Great? I'm not too sure about that since one of the handles broke on one of my body brushes, and the plastic protective tip came off a spoke brush. The spoke brush was purchased at Auto Zone at full price. Given the quality of those two products it might be possible that less than great quality was the reason Meguiar's dropped the brush line. Maybe they didn't want their name on them. :dunno:

Since I have only looked in the auto and the tool departments, I can't comment of any of their other stuff. The auto and tool departments didn't impress me at all.
 
This summer I picked up 5 bottles of Meguiars Quik Wheel Detailer regular price $5.99 I got them for $3.50 per bottle.

I found some yellow foam pads at 4 for a dollar.
I have used them many times and they still look like new after a good washing.
Insulator wax 845 was half price this summer are they going out of business
 
You can some deals at BL, but it's one of those things where you have to catch it.
So what you have to do is to check there regularly. They always have plenty of cheap stuff, we just have to find the good stuff that is cheap :D
 
I go almost every Sunday to BL and Harbor Freight. BL hasn't had any new stock in the detailing aisle for awhile. I got so desperate I ended up buying 1 bottle (16 oz) of Simoniz Series 500 liguid 'Wax' (sealant) ($1.70) and 1 bottle of Simoniz Series 500 Protectant ($1.75, I think).
Hey, $1.70 for sealant, I figure I can use it for door shuts and around the interior hood/trunk lid.
The protectant, I haven't found the courage to try yet.
 
Big Lots, Dollar General, Harbor Freight, all probably have something worth buying, but all three are a waste of time in my area.
The Big Lots auto products aisle is mostly junk that even Walmart couldn't sell so it ended up at BL. Harbor Freight is not exactly top of the line stuff, either.
Hey, I'm glad some of you have had good luck buying their stuff, but it has never really been worth the 25 to 35 mile round trip to either one of them for me.
 
Im lucky enough to have 2 BL's within 6 miles from my home, but even that sometimes feels like a bother when you find nothing. :(
 
CharlesW said:
Big Lots, Dollar General, Harbor Freight, all probably have something worth buying, but all three are a waste of time in my area.
The Big Lots auto products aisle is mostly junk that even Walmart couldn't sell so it ended up at BL. Harbor Freight is not exactly top of the line stuff, either.
Hey, I'm glad some of you have had good luck buying their stuff, but it has never really been worth the 25 to 35 mile round trip to either one of them for me.
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35 mile MAN you really live in the Bonnie's don't you.
I have never went to town with the express purpose of going to Big Lots but sometimes while in town and driving right by I will stop and check them out.

Most of the time they don't have anything of interest but you never know when you will find a bargain.

Example 3 years ago in the fall they were having a sale on fans.

I got one just like I had bought at Wal Mart for 29.95 and BL was selling them for 6 bucks.

I'm still using both of them :bigups
 
black bart said:
35 mile MAN you really live in the Bonnie's don't you.
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Actually, that's just the driving distance across town and back. :)
black bart said:
I have never went to town with the express purpose of going to Big Lots but sometimes while in town and driving right by I will stop and check them out.
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As a general rule I no longer even bother to stop when I do drive by.
black bart said:
Most of the time they don't have anything of interest
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black bart said:
but you never know when you will find a bargain.
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If it cost me 58.5 cents a mile like the IRS allows, I need to save close to $18 every trip just to pay for the vehicle cost.
Even your $30 fan for $6 would only result in a savings of about $6 by the time I drove there and back.

We don't have Big Lots or Harbor Freight handy, but I don't personally think we are missing much. :D
We do have:
Super WalMart - A store I wouldn't miss if it left town.
Super Target - Much better quality of the cheap merchandise and comparable prices on good stuff.
Ace Hardware - Does a surprisingly good job. I ordered my sea sponge through them.
Menards Home Supply - IMO, the WalMart of home supply stores.
Home Depot - Pretty close to a real lumber yard. No one wants to pay the price for good lumber so they all are forced to sell some pretty crappy stuff. When they came to town, they set a new standard in customer service that most other stores in town followed. WalMart retained their old level of not very good service. :)
O'Reilly Auto Parts
Car Quest Auto Parts
NAPA Auto Parts
All the above have good customer service with the exception of WalMart.
We also have another auto parts store that I try to avoid.

All in all, I think I am much happier with the choices I do have rather than having the BL and HF.
Most of my car care products are purchased on-line. The shipping is very little if any more and I don't have to go to several stores to find everything.
 
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