I tried the wash, glaze and wax today.
The car wash soap is pink and has a bubble gum smell to it, so the odor is pleasant enough. Nice suds and they last for the entire wash (I was washing a Ford Expidition for some customers who pay me extra to use regular car wash soap and their water ionizer instead of Protect Alls wash-even though they admit it does just as good a job-they just like seeing a lot of water on their vehicles). I waxed it about 5 weeks ago and when drying it, the surface seemed to be pretty slick still. They claim there is some carnuba in the wash-the water beaded up nicely, but not really much more than when I washed it last week. When I took off the nozzle and trickled the water over the Expidition, most of the water sheeted off so it only took me 10 minutes or so to dry it.
Works just as well as most good car wash soaps do, again the only real disadvantage is having to order it when I can buy other products at any auto parts store or my local Meguiars distributer.
On to the glaze and wax:
I had a 1995 Ford Thunderbird to detail this afternoon. I guess the color is pewter or champagne-sort of a sliverish tan. No sense using Souveran on his paint-it won't make enough of a difference on a light color to justify spending more. The paint did need some work, no water was beading while I washed it and when it was clean, it needed to be clayed.
I used the glaze first. Like the wash, it is pink. It seems to have cleaning/polishing ability between Meguiars #9 and #7. Easy on (foam hand applicator) and off and the paint was looking much shinier and had more gloss. I then used the carnuba wax (green, just like Intel said) and applied it with a dampened (I used some QD) foam hand applicator (the directions say to use terry cloth applicators, but they waste a ton of product compared to foam). Like the glaze, it went on easy and wiped off just as easily. Very user friendly.
The shine and depth were noticably improved by using the glaze and wax. When the customer came out to look at his car, he said "Wow!" 3 times. Obviously he hadn't waxed it in a while and probably anything would have been an improvement, but the American Shine products made a huge difference in the look of the car. I didn't test them side by side with other products because it wasn't my car and I want both sides of the car to look the same. I have enough product left for another car-maybe do some comparisons using my brothers black Mazda 626 this weekend.
All in all, the stuff I got was first rate. Very easy to use and good results. As good as Pinnacle? No, but it is far less expensive. Is the glaze as good as Meguiars Swirl Free or Hand Polish-well, maybe 90% as good and much easier to use. The glaze and wax both wipe off with no effort so if ease of use is important and you don't want to hunt down Meguiars professional level paint prep products or pay the high price of Pinnacle, American Shine's glaze, wax and carpet cleaner all seem to be very good products based on my initial impression. The vinyl protectant and car wash are pretty good too, but similar to products you can purchase easily and at a lower price at your local auto parts store.
I may order the glaze, wax and carpet cleaner to give them a more extended and thorough testing. I like the fact you can use the polish and glaze in the direct sun if no shade is available, and the carpet cleaner works very well.
BTW, I took a pic of the Thunderbird, so once I shoot the roll in my camera, I will post it.
