Review: DoDo Juice Time To Dry

[heatgain]

Recently I won a giveaway of Dodo Juice products by Autogeek, so I thought I should give a review of said products. Although I really, really appreciate the free products, I will give a totally unbiased review of the products. After all, I do "neutral and detached" for a living!
First, let me explain what kind of detailer I am so you'll understand where I'm coming from.
I am primarily an enthusiast, although I have detailed a few cars for co-workers for $. I have also done a few headlight restorations for a couple of dollars. My personal cars are not up to Autopian standards but they do stand out in a crowd, and people comment when they see them. For instance, when I pulled up to an auto parts store the other day, a passerby commented, “Wow. Clean ride, man.” However, if one looks close with a trained eye, there are some swirls and faded water spots. Like I said, not up to Autopian standards, but the cleanest glossiest vehicles in the neighborhood.
I am a Frugal Detailer, that is to say I do not spend big bucks for an item when I can get by spending less. For instance, although $50.00 to $41,000 might buy me a very nice wax, I probably will never have the pleasure. I believe the most expensive wax I’ve splurged on is S100 wax. I’m a BOGO kind of buyer, and buy more products only when there’s a decent sale or at least free shipping. I’ll buy the $4.99 spoke brush from AutoZone instead of the $30.00 Speed Master brush, which I’m sure is better than the AZ brush. I’m not saying the big-buck products aren’t worth it, I’m saying I’ll probably never know. I’m The Frugal Detailer.

First review up is Dodo Juice Time to Dry Drying Detailer.
It’s a purple liquid in a plastic bottle, 250 ml (8.45 oz) with a pump spray cap. The liquid has a viscosity similar to skim milk and it bubbles a bit on top when shaken. The label is typical Dodo Juice and, to my 58 year old eyes, a bit hard to read the instructions, although, now that I know what it says, it’s a little easier to read.
On the back label:
Dodo Juice Time to Dry is a dedicated drying aid. Designed to reduce marring during the drying process by lubricating the wet surface. It also helps minimize water spots by reducing limescale deposits and water beads. This bead busting behavior also increases the surface area of sitting water, aiding evaporation and soak-up. Note that this product can be used as a general ‘non-beading’ high shine quick detail spray, too.
USE: Ensure the car has been washed thoroughly. Spray Time to Dry onto wet panels and then soak up water with a soft clean microfiber. Dabbing is preferable to wiping. Fold towel regularly and when dry, buff to a shine.

My car is a 2007 Techno Gray Saturn Aura. It sits with 3 coats of OptiSeal on it, applied over the last 2-3 weeks. It looks very clean and shiny although, like I said, an Autopian would spot some swirls, faded water spotting, etc. People always comment to me how nice clean and glossy it is.
I had just washed it with DG 901 from a Gilmour foam gun, a rinse bucket with a Grit Guard, and a “Grecian Wonder” sponge from Advance Auto. I was tired from polishing and LSP’ing my wife’s car, and all I was going to do was wash and dry my car because it had pollen on it.
The drying towel I’ve chosen today is a big yellow drying towel, purchased either from Target or K-Mart, I can’t recall. When I’ve used this towel in the past, I had to follow up with another towel to get all the water from the vehicle.
Just after washing, while the car was still wet, I remembered the DoDo Juice products I had, so I used the Time To Dry. I sprayed it onto the wet car, and the beaded water it contacted started running off the car. I’ve seen that action before when I’ve sprayed DG AW on a wet car. Of course, only the beads of water that were contacted by the Time To Dry flattened and ran. Although I received this bottle for free from the Geek, I’m still a Frugal Detailer and did not spray EVERY drop of water with the DoDo drying aid. After all, it’s $13.99 for the bottle……that’s about $1.65 per oz.
I wiped the now running water up with the towel although now that I have sat and read the instructions I see DoDo recommends dabbing instead of wiping. I used the Time To Dry rather sparingly (I think), for instance I use about 7-8 spritzes for the entire hood.
The towel soaked more water up than if I didn’t use the Time To Dry. I didn’t see the tiny drops of water that are usually left behind after one swipe with a drying towel. At one point, when I thought it was time to squeeze water from the towel in order to continue, hardly any water came out of the towel. I suppose a lot of water ran off the car instead of staying beaded to be soaked into the drying towel. I also presume that the towel, after having absorbed some Time To Dry, helped me in using less of the spray as I continued to dry.
The spray has a very pleasant smell, sort of fresh grape/fabric softener.
Amount used for my whole car? I’m guessing about ½ an ounce (14.8 ml). About .80 cents worth, plus shipping.
The car came out nice and dry only using the one drying towel, instead of the two I normally use. I was surprised and pleased how much I enjoyed using the DoDo Time To Dry and how the car came out looking. There were no beads of water left anywhere on the car to leave a water spot behind. The completed job looked like I had used my usual method; going back over the whole car with a 2nd towel, except I didn’t. I only needed the one drying towel for the whole car and no water was left behind. I believe, with practice, I’ll use even less per vehicle, because now I know the drying towel contains more Time To Dry as I proceed. Hope that makes sense to you.
Would I buy a bottle? Truthfully, probably not. Simply because I’m a Frugal Detailer. Although I really enjoyed using it, and it certainly did what it claimed, in my frugal mind, I’ll use 2 or 3 drying towels instead of spending the $13.99. That being said, IF I wasn’t the Frugal Detailer, I WOULD buy the product. Let me try and explain. It’s sort of like my car. IF I could, I’d certainly buy a Mercedes instead of my Saturn Aura. It’s certainly a better car, classier, smoother, pampering, more luxurious, etc. But I bought the Aura. Affordable (to me), nice looking (enough), smooth riding (enough), classy (enough), etc. for the money it cost.
But, IF I was a splurge kind of guy, and IF I had a mindset that any product that makes a detail faster, easier, more pleasant IS worth spending the extra money, then, yes, I would buy it. Also, if I was a professional detailer where time equals money, I would buy Time To Dry for the time/effort it saves by not having to go over the car again with a 2nd towel. I hope that makes sense to y’all.
To sum it up, this DoDo Juice Time To Dry surprised me by not only accomplishing what it purports to accomplish, but it made the drying phase more pleasant and complete.
I followed this up with DoDo Juice Red Mist Tropical Protection Detailer. I’ll review that soon.

[nitro78]

good stuff and a great review . my only question is if you think there is a noticeable difference between time to dry and using a qd when drying?

[heatgain]

good stuff and a great review . my only question is if you think there is a noticeable difference between time to dry and using a qd when drying?

That's a difficult question to answer on a few levels. There are QD's with Carnauba, QD's with sealant, QD's with silicone, QD's with alcohol, plain QD's, and QD's with who-knows-what in them or not in them.
That being said, I've never used a QD for a drying aid. I never even considered a drying aid, it's a new concept for me. So my answer is, I have no idea.
However, I have sprayed DG AW on a wet car and then dried it. The Time To Dry has no wax/sealant that I'm aware of.
So my choice: if I want to add a wax/sealant protection while drying, I'll use AW. If I didn't want to add an LSP, I'd use the Time To Dry. Both have their place.

[ScottB]

have you washed since ?? Product offers that it sheets and removes beading but not protection and wondered your thoughts. Keep us updated and I know you can use the qd'er Tropical Red to add back in the beading as desired.

[Craig]

OMG, you sound like me. How ever, maybe I'm tight, I would walk to the vehicle and get another towel before spending 13.99. How much time can that take?

[Waxmax]

I too think it is a little pricey. I have the Red Mist QD and although it is good, it's too pricey. All the references in the OP to "Autopian" made me think of the other forum. Maybe we should be termed "Autogeekians"??

[nitro78]

I too think it is a little pricey. I have the Red Mist QD and although it is good, it's too pricey. All the references in the OP to "Autopian" made me think of the other forum. Maybe we should be termed "Autogeekians"??

i kept thinking the same thing. lol i like it "autogeekians"

[heatgain]

Ha! I posted on another forum and someone there also mentioned the "Autopian" reference too.
Geekian standards? I dunno. We are Geekites though.
I just rinsed the vehicle tonight with hose only to remove the slight fuzzy coat of pollen before I go to work. I used the Spray pattern on the hose nozzle. I watched the water's reaction on the paint and it strangely seemed liked a mixture of sheeting and beading while I was spraying. I had used the Red Mist yesterday after drying.
If I would have thought of it sooner, I might have gone out there earlier to rinse it and use the Time To Dry again, but I leave for work any minute.
There are now many beads on the car; most tiny, with some huge beads.
I'll try and watch how the water flies off on my way to work and also see how the car looks parked in the lot at work tonight.

[SPiN]

Thank you for the review, i greatly appreciate it when a member takes the time to write reviews like this! :thumbsup:

[Emile]

Nice review. I also feel that the new QD's from Dodo Juice are far too expensive, even just to try it out. I would consider purchasing if a 64oz refill was available.