Interior Dressing- The great debate?

Barry Theal

Barry Theal

New member
What are your thoughts? Do you do it? Do you like it? Why do you do it? Whats your favorite brand? Tell me what drives you to dress an interior? This is all out of curiousity? Me personally I never ever dress an interior. I hate dressing. Why do others do this?
 
I use 303 Aerospace Protectant on the dash regularly but unless I'm booked for a thorough interior detail that's all the dressing it gets. In my climate it's probably not even necessary as cars will see at most 2 months of strong sun, but figure better safe than sorry.
 
Depends on what you consider a dressing. I like products like Megs QID- no shine, no slickness, no greasy feeling. I personally hate 303 Protectant, one of the most overrated products IMO.
 
I always have to make the detail "feel more complete". In FL, I may have more reason-to guard against UV, if what little doing so actually does. It's mainly for enjoyment for me.
 
D&D Auto Detail said:
Depends on what you consider a dressing. I like products like Megs Quik Interior Detailer- no shine, no slickness, no greasy feeling. I personally hate 303 Protectant, one of the most overrated products IMO.
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Care to elaborate on the 303 AP? And in what way do you prefer Meg's QID over 303? I use both so I'm curious to hear other opinions.
 
For me personally, Megs is much easier and quicker to use. It will clean and leave some protection behind without altering the look or feel of the interior. It leaves behind a factory new look which is important for me and my customers. 303 darkens the interior so it'll take a bit more to get complete and even coverage. I also dont see the need for a heavy UV protectant in the interior. Windows already filter out 99% of UV rays, and many cars have factory tint or added window tint. If its a convertible then I could see wanting a UV protectant, but Optimum is my go to product in that case. OPT smells a lot better and doesn't leave nearly as much of a shine as 303.



Whats your opinion of Megs vs 303?
 
I have to agree. Dressing for interior is overkill to me. If I had to use it, would dilute it 4 to 1 so the shine is gone. Just darkens the interior a bit.
 
I use Meguiar's QID for interiors mostly; provides marginal protective qualities while not altering the look in any way whatsoever.
 
I rarely dress an interior and 99% of the time I will just go over it with 1Z premium cockpit Cleaner or Meguiars QID.



If I have a vehicle trashed interior and dark plastics, I may use 303 as it helps hide scuffs, but I still go back over it with a dry MF towel to knock down the sheen.





On that note...I can't believe some people actually use 303 on leather seats!
 
D&D Auto Detail said:
For me personally, Megs is much easier and quicker to use. It will clean and leave some protection behind without altering the look or feel of the interior. It leaves behind a factory new look which is important for me and my customers. 303 darkens the interior so it'll take a bit more to get complete and even coverage. I also dont see the need for a heavy UV protectant in the interior. Windows already filter out 99% of UV rays, and many cars have factory tint or added window tint. If its a convertible then I could see wanting a UV protectant, but Optimum is my go to product in that case. OPT smells a lot better and doesn't leave nearly as much of a shine as 303.



Whats your opinion of Megs vs 303?
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I really haven't seen the shine that you guys are talking about from 303, and trust me I'm against shine and grease as much as the next guy. I typically use QID as more of a cleaner for door panels, seats and around shifter areas when I'm not using ONR. 303 AP is used as I said above, as dash dressing and sometimes on door panels, etc. One of the main reasons I actually use and like 303 is the fact that it has absolutely no shine/sheen to it, rather might darken some work trim slightly but leaves a great finish. That's why I'm so surprised that you guys say you don't like the "shine" of 303 AP. I do agree that sometimes it can be a small challenge to get it on evenly, but that happens very rarely to me.



RaskyR1 said:
I rarely dress an interior and 99% of the time I will just go over it with 1Z premium cockpit Cleaner or Meguiars QID.



If I have a vehicle trashed interior and dark plastics, I may use 303 as it helps hide scuffs, but I still go back over it with a dry MF towel to knock down the sheen.





On that note...I can't believe some people actually use 303 on leather seats!
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What's wrong with 303 AP on leather seats? I don't know if I ever have done that and I don't do it currently but I'm curious to know your thought behind that.
 
99.9% of my customers hate it. I use Meg's Quik Interior Detailer. Protection without any dust attracting mess.
 
Ivan Rajic said:
What's wrong with 303 AP on leather seats? I don't know if I ever have done that and I don't do it currently but I'm curious to know your thought behind that.
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It goes against my beliefs on leather cleaning/care (it attracts dust & dirt) and it does leave behind a faint gloss and oily feel. Todd had some pictures a while back which showed 303 compared to a few other products on a black door panel, which showed the gloss it leaves behind. Some materials will have different results though.



I've seen a lot of members on the Corvette forum that love 303 on their leather. Don't get me wrong, I like 303, but only for certain things. ;)
 
303 has good UV inhibitors that obviously are good when the vehicle is subject to direct sunlight during the hot months. Something like 40 SPF? Im not much for "dressing" interiors, but Im all for "protecting" them against the potential crazy UV damage that the sun causes, especially here in FL.
 
Since we are on the subject of 303, How waterproof is it. I see people putting it on exterior trim and stuff? I actually read an article once where a pro recomended it for headlight protection? :think: This just doesn;'t make any sense to me at all. Am I the only one lost on this? Do manufactuers actually recomend this?
 
They recomended it after they sanded the uvcoating off and just polished it out? Then later mentioned that to ad extra UV protection put it on your headlights?
 
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