Products for cheapskates?

P

phatrs

New member
I’m looking for the most economical way to maintain my car and I’d like to hear some brutally honest feedback from you fine folk.

My local store sells an environmentally friendly window cleaner that is actually cheaper than the brand name stuff. I tried a little on some water marks and it got them straight off but I’m wondering if it’s a terrible idea. ie would it remove wax or even be bad for paint? If it makes any difference the vehicles are recent VW Polo and Golf.

I also have a few cans of cheap engine degreaser. Is it safe to use on tyres and painted wheels? I assume not so I’m asking first.

Ben



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To brutally honest, detailing is not cheap and is a expensive hobby. I would suggest hitting up your big box discount stores. You can usually find some decent products on sale. On the flip side, if you watch the forum store here, there are sometime sales of 25% off. I usually take advantage of one of them, and get everything I need for the spring/summer in one big order.
 
6`ish years ago I fell into the detailing trap. I have a storage cabinet I bought just for detailing stuff. It`s packed full of Polish Angel, Gyeon, Letherique, Sonax and whatever other uber boutique brands. What I`ve learned, spending money doesn`t always mean the best products. And, brick and mortar doesn`t always = crap. The wheel cleaner everyone`s talking about is Eagle One Wheel & Tire. It`s like $5 for a 24oz bottle and appears to work 95% as good, if not exactly the same as the Sonax Fallout I bought for like $119 for 5 liters. I`m pretty bad at math but 6x5 is like 4 times cheaper. One of the most popular sealant`s right now is Meguiar`s Fast Finish. Which costs $15`ish, and works close to as well as the Polish Angel stuff I use which was 5x as expensive. Don`t get caught up on brands, and don`t listen to people who poo all over stuff you can buy at a Walmart. While Walmart`s full of junk, they have some stuff that`s great. With all the products I currently own, my next trip will be to AutoZone to get some Eagle 1 wheel cleaner. No more Sonax Fallout for me.

Turtle Wax Ice Seal n Shine for example, works better than some of the $40-70 a bottle stuff I have. I`d say go to Walmart or Autozone and pick up some Eagle 1 Tire & Wheel and the Turtle Wax. If you`re going to buy the Eagle 1, the bottle says something about Plasti-Dip & Black on it. They have 2 products that look almost identical, but aren`t. I`d use this on your wheels over a degreaser, but that`s just me. And at $5 a bottle it`s priced good even for a frugal person like yourself. If you want to be a bit more spendy, Mothers CMX is getting a lot of praise. It`s a SIO2/TIO2 spray sealant that`s $15-20 for a 24oz bottle. Saw some YT videos where it performed awesome in torture tests. One of my all time favorite soap`s is Meguiar`s Gold Class. $8 for half a gallon at Target or Walmart. And honestly it probably works as good as the Gyeon Bathe I use. Which cost like $25 for a liter. So uh, more math.... yeah it`s a lot lot lot cheaper to buy the Meg`s. Even if Bathe is better, it`s not 6x the price better.

To Echo what PA DETAILER said, detailing can be an expensive hobby, but you said yourself you`re a cheapskate. So you won`t fall into the same patterns I did of wanting to buy and try everything. I wish I could figure out how to be cheap, because I sure don`t have money for Polish Angel & Gyeon lol.

You said you had cans of degreaser, I personally wouldn`t use a degreaser that`s not diluted on wheels or tires. Perhaps someone here with more experience can chime in. I know at full strength you can do some damage with them very quickly.
 
Ben,
Don`t believe we have met, so welcome to the forum !

The window cleaner you mention sounds like it will not be dangerous to use but it is always good to read what the ingredients are..

Anything labeled as a "degreaser" is usually very strong (to be able to remove baked on from heat, oil, grease, etc..) and I would never consider using this product on rubber tires for sure..

On painted wheels, do you really need to use a degreaser on them? Are they that dirty, greasy, etc.. ??

Usually, just the same car wash soap used for the vehicle works good on wheels, unless they are really, really, dirty and car wash soap is ineffective.. Which is it ?
Dan F
 
You aen`t buyin` no cheap stuff @ auto zone or walmart that is on the same planet as PA Cosmic V2 and that just a fact
 
re-tired said:
You aen`t buyin` no cheap stuff @ auto zone or walmart that is on the same planet as PA Cosmic V2 and that just a fact
Click to expand...

Not a fair comparison, Cosmic V2`s a coating that will give you 2 applications for $70. Mother`s CMX is made up of SIO2/TIO2, probably much lower quantities. But for $20 you get a bottle that could do like a dozen cars. A more fair VS would be PA Cosmic Spritz. (which I own) Price difference taken into account it can`t be that much better than CMX. You`re compairing a spray sealant to a coating. Coatings will always win.

PA`s a great brand, but they don`t make magical products, SIO2/TIO2 based, like plenty of other brands. You`re paying for the label and the fact it`s hand made, oh and it comes from Germany. I`m probably $700 invested in PA products, I even bought their brushes. I love the brand, but I understand all but 1-2 of the products I bought from them I overpaid for lol.
 
quebert said:
...spending money doesn`t always mean the best products.
Click to expand...

But sometimes the bottles are *really* cool

Every time I buy something non-essential (about 75% of the stuff i buy) I come a little closer to understanding why wife has/buys sooo many shoes that pretty much all look the same to me. She insists they`re all different in small ways that require the variety. It sounds very familiar when she says that.

Also makes me realize I should just keep my mouth shut and nod my head agreeably.
 
Personally, I wouldn`t use an engine degreaser near brakes due to the fact that there may be petroleum distillates in the can & make braking distances change, in a bad way. If the brake pads absorb the distillates, it may be difficult to remove.
Secondly, if you search the threads, plenty of OTC products are mentioned & two were mentioned here already.
Thirdly, as mentioned before, PoorBoy`s makes excellent performing products at a reasonable price, and wait for a sale.
Lastly, welcome to Autopia.
 
I will say that I was a bit surprised when I went into AutoZone last week( for the first time in ages) and they actually had a fantastic selection of quality products , they even had a Griots 6" DA for $149.

Still- if you folks knew how the Cosmic has performed on my wifes car- you would all stand amazed in silence and just shake your head-- I am still amazed myself.
 
Thanks for all the thoughts guys. Sadly here in Australia the Eagle 1 stuff is US$25/bottle and even the cheap stuff is $15. Any of the more respected name brands are $40+ and we don’t have any Walmarts or Targets selling generic stuff cheap. Economies of scale I guess.


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BudgetPlan1 said:
But sometimes the bottles are *really* cool

Every time I buy something non-essential (about 75% of the stuff i buy) I come a little closer to understanding why wife has/buys sooo many shoes that pretty much all look the same to me. She insists they`re all different in small ways that require the variety. It sounds very familiar when she says that.

Also makes me realize I should just keep my mouth shut and nod my head agreeably.
Click to expand...

Don`t get me started on bottles and labels, that`s why I`m embarrassed to admit I`ve never used a poorboys product, they purposely made them look so cheap lol. I`ve bought Gyeon products I`ll never use simply because the bottle looks so good lol. I wish I could be one of those guys that is fine with random 16oz bottles that have hand written scotch tape labels. But for me, when I have a decent amount of a product line, and they redesign the bottle or logo, and I order something new. I feel the need to re-buy the rest of what I have just so all my bottles can be the new label and match. Adam`s did this to to me 3 years ago. Matching labels make the products work better, or something. I even went thru a faze where I was obsessed with those tiny PA bottles with the full sized sprayers on them.

Phatrs.... teach me how to be a cheapskate, please? I saw your last post, AUS huh? Yikes I know stuff`s eeeeeexpensive over there! All my suggestions are out the window hummmm. Well, at least you guys have Tim Tams, I`ve heard those are delicious


BudgetPlan1 - Just peaked at the Overcoat bottle you sent me right now *shudder* so pretty!
 
CMX is nice but doesn’t shed the water no where near as cosmic and cosmic looks a tad better.

If I was ballin on a budget:

Soap: optimum car wash.
Rims: Meguiars ultimate wheel cleaner.
Iron removal: Meguiars ultimate wheel cleaner.
Tires rubber and trim: CP Perl, not the cheapest but not expensive and can use everywhere even dress engine.
Protection Turtle wax seal and shine. CMX close second due to price difference.

Glass: Stoner foaming glass.



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Don`t know if it`s a cheaper brand but hear a lot of it that want it tested against other brands. It`s Bowdens Own I think that it`s called. Could be worth to check out.

Since the detailing products is expensive in Australia like here in Sweden. I would look for products that you dilute. That way if a glass cleaner for an example is recommended to dilute to 1:20 or something like that. You will save a lot of money vs a RTU glass cleaner. The same for wheel cleaners and dressings and APC and many other products.

Then it`s comes down to the personal preferences as always. Would you use a good product or a great product. The cost can make you settle on the good product. While in some cases you find you want the great product. Then it`s not so much if it`s 6× better just that it`s better for you. And then a great product don`t necessary need to be expensive either.

Meguiars is up with the higher range of prices here in Sweden and also Australia and other countries. And say as compared to Carpro and Gyeon it can even be more expensive. So many times it`s not worth it as there are other products that is cheaper and better or cheaper and as good as Meguiars products. Meguiars Fast Finish for an example is around $32-$33 here in Sweden and very rarely on any sale. Ultimate Compound and also Polish each at $24 and Gold Class car soap the half gallon is $25 and Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner 24oz is $19 and a gallon of Hyper Dressing $143 and most M abrasives is $63 32oz. Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus 24oz I get for around $12(I get it around $8) and Menzerna HC400 33oz is $45 and SF3800 is $38. Just some comparisons LOL. And if imported from the US the taxes and the customs cost and shipping will eat up the cheaper price sadly. Look at the prices of Angelwax in the UK vs the US prices. And you will see they have most of their products for half the price you get it at. It`s just the name of the game.
 
Detailing products are similar to wine. The most inexpensive are the absolute worst junk as a rule. The super expensive usually fail to deliver proportionally to their price. There are always exceptions if you do your homework.

I think you should find an Aussie specific forum as products are region specific. That said there are very few products over $20 that deliver IMO.
 
PA DETAILER said:
To brutally honest, detailing is not cheap and is a expensive hobby.
Click to expand...

While it`s not as expensive as some I can think of, it does cost a bit. And if not doing it for pay it`s good to remember that it *is* a HOBBY. While maintaining the cosmetics of a vehicle can indeed help maintain its value (if only to a minimal extent, and that`s often all it amounts to), it`s primarily a discretionary expense that people indulge because they think it`s fun or it scratches some psych itch; it`s only as important as you let it be and it should never be an actual financial burden.

phatrs- I`d expect any good Glass Cleaner to be hard on wax, so IMO *any* Glass Cleaner oughta be kept on the glass and off other stuff. It`s pretty rare for limited contact to damage healthy autopaint, but I`d still just keep it off anything other than glass and chrome.

As Stokdgs and EXPDetailing implied, many of us only use Degreasers to remove....grease; for those jobs where emulsifying greasy stuff is the primary challenge. And it`s best to keep all harsh stuff off tires. Most wheels are powdercoated these days, and that`s pretty tough stuff, but if in doubt, just stick to Wheel Cleaners if a sorta-strong shampoo mix won`t do the job (it probably will if the wheels are waxed, probably won`t if they`re not).

I have zero knowledge about what is(n`t) available in Australia, so I can`t help with specific product recommendations. But I`d check out Autobody/Paint Supply Stores as some of `em have decent stuff at reasonable prices.
 
BudgetPlan1 said:
But sometimes the bottles are *really* cool

Every time I buy something non-essential (about 75% of the stuff i buy) I come a little closer to understanding why wife has/buys sooo many shoes that pretty much all look the same to me. She insists they`re all different in small ways that require the variety. It sounds very familiar when she says that.

Also makes me realize I should just keep my mouth shut and nod my head agreeably.
Click to expand...

The secret to a long happy marriage--IMHO and she said I could quote her!
Jay
 
Coatings=crack said:
CMX is nice but doesn’t shed the water no where near as cosmic and cosmic looks a tad better.

If I was ballin on a budget:

Soap: optimum car wash.
Rims: Meguiars ultimate wheel cleaner.
Iron removal: Meguiars ultimate wheel cleaner.
Tires rubber and trim: CP Perl, not the cheapest but not expensive and can use everywhere even dress engine.
Protection Turtle wax seal and shine. CMX close second due to price difference.

Glass: Stoner foaming glass.



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Click to expand...

He said he lives in Australia, over there Meguiar`s stuff is priced about what Gyeon sells for in the states. Since Meg`s has always been my go to reasonably priced brand. It just blows my mind to think about how different my product line up would be if I lived in Australia or somewhere that everything was imported. If Meguiars is that expensive over there, I can`t even imagine what Gyeon would cost.
 
quebert said:
He said he lives in Australia, over there Meguiar`s stuff is priced about what Gyeon sells for in the states. Since Meg`s has always been my go to reasonably priced brand. It just blows my mind to think about how different my product line up would be if I lived in Australia or somewhere that everything was imported. If Meguiars is that expensive over there, I can`t even imagine what Gyeon would cost.
Click to expand...

Yeah didn’t state in his opening post but the vw Polo shoulda gave it away. Not gonna get much help here. Maybe try detail world?


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