wasted money. rant
- Thread starter Barry Theal
- Start date
imported_grease
New member
I use ZEP's Heavy Duty Citrus Degreaser all the time on engines, fenderwells, bug covered lower body panels, and any other grimy exterior surfaces. Mix a little car wash soap for good foaming action on body panels.Polished&Waxed said:
I couldnt do without wowa sealants (Opti-Seal, ClearSeal, Ultima Paint Guard). Theyre so easy to use and can be used on most exterior surfaces, windows, headlights, paint, plastic trim, etc... If you like a product thats very quick and easy to use that looks great, they work well.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Polished&Waxed said:
Griot's Rubber Prep has worked near-miracles for me on really oxidized, nasty rubber. And it's taken off stuff that seemed really tenacious too, like adhesive residue (many adhesive removers do a nasty number on rubber, drying it out).
Some people here will swear that they can't get the "Zymol Vintage look" with anything else and I'm not gonna say they're wrong. Ditto for Zaino.
citizen arcane said:
I do usually do LSPed wheels with a shampoo mix, but a stronger one than I use on for regular washing. I've used it on tires but it only cleans sufficiently when they're not very dirty. Some of my vehicles make such nasty brake dust that I have to really *scrub* the front tires with Rubber Cleaner at every wash.
imported_Jakerooni
New member
Polished&Waxed said:
Fact is none are nessecery. Most work well. But there are a few noted items I will address. The first being Zanio products. Zanio for what I can tell (because I have seem a few zaino'd cars) is a great finish. The problem is the time it takes to get that finish with that product is absoultly retarded. It's not meant for the professional detailer on any sort of time schedule. Your weekend warriors with nothing but time on their hands and the pro's that have the luxory of being able to keep the clinets vehicles for days on end are really the only people out there that can use thier sealants.
And then Zymol.... Do I really need to say why?
Probaly the best hyped product out there bar none. And yet none of it any better than 99% of the stuff everyone else uses on a daily basis. (seriosuly $30,000 for a tub of wax... Who is that stupid?)They all work and work well but I don't think any of them work better than other products out there for a fraction of the price. I do have a few higher end waxes myself but they were either bought as a sampler to test for myself or they were gifted to me by the manufacture or wholesaler of the sorts.
In fact as I sit here and try to ponder all the different products out there that are niched into something else I can't think of a single one that you should really have over another product. There are people out there sponsored by "Brand X" and will push that brand like the good salesmen they are. I don't think I've ever been utterly disapointed in anything I've tried. So I can't say by any means at all "No don't use this brand it just dosen't work!!" but more along the lines of "Well yea that works but it's pricey and you can just as easily use "X" and get the same results."
Thats Fresh
New member
IMO, the sames with the brushes. you can get some great haired brushes that dont fall apart and you can find some nice ones that fall apart or the hairs start to curl. although its only $12 bucks, i dont see how the SWISSVAX brush is any different than my other brushes. i own one and hardly use it. i love the soft bristles though.
Barry Theal
New member
i ahave to agree here with jake i have used alot of nice stuff that is top dollar, honestly i love the 3m ultrafina and there are a few great boutigue items i prefer but realisticlly there are a lot of chemicals that can be multitasked like glass cleaner and degreaser!
citizen arcane said:
Nope, assuming the wheel isn't very dirty, some car wash soap is all you need to clean them, especially if they are clear coated.
I think people always find it amazing at how easy wheels are to clean, if you clean them once intensively, and then apply some spray wax.
[quote name='Setec Astronomy']us remember the big rebottling scandal from a few years ago where one of the boutique products that was "painstakingly developed" turned out to be some bulk stuff with the "development" being the fragrance and the label art./QUOTE]
Which one was that?
Whats funny IMHO, is that the main functional ingredients (various silicone oils/emulsions/polymers) in car care products tend to come from the same manufacturers (e.g Dow, GE, and Wacker)
Which one was that?
Whats funny IMHO, is that the main functional ingredients (various silicone oils/emulsions/polymers) in car care products tend to come from the same manufacturers (e.g Dow, GE, and Wacker)
beaurogel81
New member
i second the ardex new wave. i freakin love that stuff!
salty
Active member
Setec Astronomy said:
Hey Setec, of course use what works for you.
It works for me, so I use it.
Most MF drying towels, I found leave lint. The basketball material MF (as Jake calls it) is also excellent.
salty
Active member
Accumulator said:
Not sure if this is pointed at my window cleaning advice, MF with just water.
I also added a very light spritz of APC or ONR on MF (personally I like 100% Rayon better, but MF works well.) With a Bounty paper towel dry.
It's worked for me for many years.
WaxManRonnie
New member
citizen arcane said:
I do the same thing.
Accumulator
Well-known member
salty said:
No, water (tap/distilled/DI...tried 'em all) on a cotton/MF/polypro window wipe didn't work worth anything for me; I seem to need some kind of surfactant/solvent/whatever. I don't like ONR nearly as well as my window cleaners either and (this is just me..) I keep APCs away from these areas of my vehicles; I'd have to rinse rinse rinse to make sure they didn't leave any APC residue that could migrate somewhere.
Paper towels always leave paper lint (and cotton towels usually do too).
This is something that simply leaves me :think: I *know* other people love these approaches but they never work nearly as well for me as my Griot's Window Cleaner and Zep #40 :nixweiss For that matter, a few highly regarded glass polishes didn't work for me either.
I've never found anything that works as well as polypropylene window wipes either. Every single MF for glass has eventually left lint except for *one* old Cobra one that I use for fine optics instead of the cars. The surgical huck towels (that a member here generously sent me) were horrible too. Sheesh...it must be my situation or something but I have to use those pricey plypro wipes to get my glass 100% (and man do they work great...used with those window cleaners it's no chore at all).
Please don't take any of the above as an :argue or anything like that...these cases where I need to use some goofy-specific (and often costly) approach are something I could gladly do without if only I could find an effective solution. But for now I'm just sticking with what works for me.
Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
Accumulator, being that I was just cleaning windshields with a towel that I *thought* didn't lint I went looking for those PP glass towels--are these them? Microfiber Glass Towel (12"x16") - 10 pack
I thought Griot's and AG used to sell towels like this but I don't see any now. Oh, wait, here's the Griot's ones...I found them in the print catalog but not in the online search :think: Micro Fiber Cloth Set - Cleaning Tools - Car Washing - Car Care - Griot's Garage Silly me, I was searching on glass and towel.
Gotta love that you can buy 10 at MFT for the same price you get 4 at Griot's. I might just have to get some of these OTC...if I can resist the urge to try some of that Griot's rubber cleaner.
I thought Griot's and AG used to sell towels like this but I don't see any now. Oh, wait, here's the Griot's ones...I found them in the print catalog but not in the online search :think: Micro Fiber Cloth Set - Cleaning Tools - Car Washing - Car Care - Griot's Garage Silly me, I was searching on glass and towel.
Gotta love that you can buy 10 at MFT for the same price you get 4 at Griot's. I might just have to get some of these OTC...if I can resist the urge to try some of that Griot's rubber cleaner.
imported_Jakerooni
New member
Yea those looks exactly like the towels I use for windows there Setec. Great results from them with almost any Glass cleaner I've used.. Even the dreaded Windex.
Pats300zx
Super Moderator
Setec...I bought those same towels from a diff vendor. I hate them 
My go to glass towel are the white Eurow WW towels from Walmart. They are like $2.65 for a two pack.
My go to glass towel are the white Eurow WW towels from Walmart. They are like $2.65 for a two pack.
salty
Active member
Accumulator no problem. I too have tried many different approaches to glass cleaning and always go back to this simple method. As far as no lint, Bounty seems the best. Adds about 10 cents to the detail cost.
As far as APC residue, when the cloth is misted the dilution ratio is probably 1000:1, just enough to break up the surface tension of the water.
Neatly fold damp cloth and paper towel. Scrub and wipe until dry. Refold or use a clean side, and do next window.
3m sells something similar to those MF. They should be available in any cleaning aisle.
As far as APC residue, when the cloth is misted the dilution ratio is probably 1000:1, just enough to break up the surface tension of the water.
Neatly fold damp cloth and paper towel. Scrub and wipe until dry. Refold or use a clean side, and do next window.
3m sells something similar to those MF. They should be available in any cleaning aisle.
Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
Jakerooni said:
Pats300zx said:Setec...I bought those same towels from a diff vendor. I hate them
My go to glass towel are the white Eurow WW towels from Walmart. They are like $2.65 for a two pack.
Ha, there's two sides of a coin. I have tons of those W-M towels, I'll give them a go next time, thanks Pat.
Woob
New member
What's funny is after you start trying to make a profit and stop buying so many products you realize just how commercialized Detailing can be. That being sad, you have to lose some money to realize that having 100 different products can be substituted for some simple equipment and few chemicals.
SuperBee364
New member
Pats300zx said:Setec...I bought those same towels from a diff vendor. I hate them
My go to glass towel are the white Eurow WW towels from Walmart. They are like $2.65 for a two pack.
Guess I'll be going to Walmart today. IME, WW MF's are the best for glass cleaning. They're the only ones that don't eventually start to lint. $2.65 for a two pack is the best price I've seen on WW MF's.
I never have tried the surgical huck towels that some guys swear by, but they're supposed to be a good, cheap glass media, too.
Since we're talking about cheap glass media, how about cheap glass chemicals? I thought Stoner Invisible Glass and Sprayway Glass Cleaner were cheap ways to clean glass. I guess they are, really, but they can be beat on cost by..... ONR. Yup, ONR makes a *great* glass cleaner. Diluted at "Car Wash" strength with distilled water, it cleans "vinyl fog" off of windows with ease, as well as most other stuff. Anything left behind is quickly removed with a quick shot of Stoner, but ONR does most all the work. If you mix it too strong (anything more than car wash strength, IME) it can leave some mild streaking, but at proper dilution, it is extremely easy to use with no streaking. Even if you don't totally dry your glass, as long as it's clean, it'll dry with no marks.
Off topic: My car is getting so dirty it's driving me crazy. I'm about ready to pay someone to come detail it for me. Too bad the only detailer I trust my car to is clear up in Logan.