Best product line recommendation

C

chas1025

New member
I am new to the forums and I would like to find one product line that offers the best available products across the board. I have several different regular store bought items, and would like to find one good group of products for personal use.



Thanks
 
Welcome aboard!



What sort of stuff do you want to work on? Are you a commercial business doing 50 cars/week?



What products do you already own? Have you liked them?
 
The products I am looking for are for personal use. I end up taking care of our cars, and those of my mom and sisters. There are a few older cars that need some 3 step tlc, and then I want to start on the right foot with the new car.



I was looking in my garage and I think I have 10 different waxes and several different polishes. I could easily have spent some money on better products, but have really only become aware of these higher end lines as of recent.
 
I don't think there is one line that is the best. Meguiars certainly has the best range, Mothers is probably best bang for the buck for local stuff, Optimum is probably the most innovative.



I would certainly start with listing deficiencies with your current products and methods and then working from that approach as wholesale product line replacement is going to just end up costing you more money.



Lastly, I would hate to be forced into one brand.
 
there are just to many good products form different manufactures that i wouldn't limit yourself to just one line. most all manufactures will have all the products you need to do a car inside and outside from beginning to end.
 
Wow, thats hard to pick on line of products.. But if I had to I would choose Duragloss. They offer everything you need to detail a car or boat. Check them out. They are a no frills type of company. No fancy labeling, just down right good products.
 
MDRX8 said:
Wow, thats hard to pick on line of products.. But if I had to I would choose Duragloss. They offer everything you need to detail a car or boat. Check them out. They are a no frills type of company. No fancy labeling, just down right good products.
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i would've chose 3d or optimum. but i like ardex and duragloss as well.
 
Well, I have used Meguiar's (NXT, Gold Class, couple others) Mothers, Zymol cleaner/wax. Mostly the advance/auto zone/walmart brands. I can see webbing, just much less than perfect paint.



Ok then, I will accept some advice on swirl remover, sealer, waxes, detailer spray, clay from different mfgs. The whole paint/glass treatment. I am also looking at buying either a Griot's orbital, or Porter Cable.



Thanks
 
Agreed. A machine would be my first purchase too.



Like Dan, i would suggest Meguiars. It can be virtually OTC once you establish a relationship with your local body shop supply store and figure out which of the products you want to work with. Meg's can offer top quartile performance on virtually any product..from APC to sealants, polish, etc. They got some real winners.



Duragloss would be another choice, I don't recommend them often cuz my local store closed up and I have no idea, nor the inclination, to figure out if the stuff is still available. Considering the cost of gasoline and the related running around, it's gonna be about the same to do a $100 order somewhere and get free shipping.



Be certain you end up with a reasonable assortment of pads for the machine. Try to get good quality MF towels in bulk.
 
This is hard to name since everyone makes such good products...



IME I've found Optimum's line to go well above and beyond. They have the new SMAT compound II, Polish II and Finish. Than you have the amazing Opti Coat which is pretty much in a class of its own and nothing in my OPINION outshines it. Not Cquartz, not Aquartz, not System X, not anything else on the market! The only Coating that probably can give OC its run for its money is GTechniq C1.



Next you have Meguiar's which has everything you pretty much need off the counter. And I do mean pretty much anything from Clay, Compound, Polish, Pads, Wax, sealant, etc etc. The only thing missing on the US Shores is the a coating product called Nano Crystal Coating that's sold overseas only.
 
Clay Magic or any other clay is the first must have.



Klasse, Zaino, Menzerna, duragloass, are great they are not greasy or gummy. K,Z, or D are acrylic or polymer that acts like acrylic products that will give you better protection then oily products. Menzerna compounds are crazy good, I've taken paint that has been abused for near 20 years looking almost new in very few passes.



.
 
The cool thing is you don't have to stick with one product line. Very few do. There are always stand-out products that come from various lines. And your requirements, like and dislikes will likely draw you to different products that I may choose.



Think outside the box. Have fun!
 
I don't think there is any one line that would be great. When I started, I went with the Adam's kit. If I had to do it again and was looking for a kit, I'd go with chemical guys mostly just because I've found many of the Adam's products to be indistinguishable from their lesser expensive chemical guys counterparts. Out of all the Adam's stuff I started with, the only things I still use are their car wash (compare CG maxi-suds) and detail spray. But I prefer Duragloss shampoo and am on the hunt for a new detail spray. I've also tried a half dozen other car washes and detail sprays over the last few years. I also use CG VRT which is indistinguishable from Adam's VRT, and that is one product that I'm not looking to improve on.



The point is, I've ended up with many different brands because no one company makes everything to my personal preferences, and I like to try different things anyway.



I assume by higher end you mean higher price. I generally agree that spending more typically gets you a better product, but I'm not convinced the correlation exists for car care stuff. For example, ONR is absurdly cheap when diluted and it is great. Collinite 476 wax likewise is absurdly cheap for how thin you can apply it and how long it lasts, and it will stand up better than almost all $100+ waxes. Megs M105 is an entry-level compound price-wise, but highly regarded.



In my opinion, all five of the brands you listed fall into the slightly overpriced for what you are getting category. But some swear by pinnacle souveran or dodo juice waxes.



How about if you post what products you have and we can collectively tell you which you should toss and which are keepers. If you have 10+ waxes already, I bet you have some that are pretty decent.
 
To get the water filter that fits your needs, you should know the basics. That's why we have a section that will help pinpoint which water filter is right for the kind of use. We organize virtually all of the brands by the type and price that they fall into, whether they be under the counter, countertop, pitchers, fridge filters, faucet mount, ionizer or whole house hookup. We also organize the water filter price to help you find one that fits your budget.
 
I agree with what others have said - there's no reason to limit yourself to a single product line, as there are a range of good products across a spectrum of manufacturers.
 
Brad B. said:
The cool thing is you don't have to stick with one product line. Very few do. There are always stand-out products that come from various lines. And your requirements, like and dislikes will likely draw you to different products that I may choose.



Think outside the box. Have fun!
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I agree. I don't think I could get through details using just one product line. Keeping in mind, that one product line product may work great on a particular type of vehicles paint, while it may not be as effective or yield the same results on another type of vehicles paint; or it may take longer to achieve the same results. I would first outline your expectations based on the current condition of your vehicles, evaluate your ability or expertise, and then make a plan of attack with the type of tools you are going to use, and what products you are going to use to achieve your results based on the above information.



For example: I may use Menzerna To polish out a vehicle, but instead of using a Menz LSP, depending on the finish, I may top with BlackFire Wet Diamond or Autoglym EGP, or Collinite 845, etc, etc, etc....depending on the type and color of finish, as well as the look I am trying to achieve (such as high gloss, muted gloss, etc) which comes in handy on age specific vehicles.
 
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