Most regretted detailing product purchase

[VISITOR]

You know, I think I'm going to agree with you.

will use what's left in the wheel wells and tires...

[CleanIT]

Opti Coat Hyper-Seal. The weakest LSP I've ever used. Expensive too.

[Prange]

Mothers Back to Black. Looks were average at first, then it ran off when it rained. In the garbage can it went.

[DFB]

I actually have a dedicated thread elsewhere on this topic, with each post focused on a particular dud product. I'll post a couple here rather than create another thread.

P&S Dream Maker

This product was hyped beyond belief in the lead up to it’s launch, much of which came from The Rag Company. As such, I was keen to give it a try.




P&S Dream Maker is a pure gloss enhancer and offers no protection at all. It’s designed to provide an instant boost in gloss and can be used on all exterior surfaces, including paint, glass and trim. Dream Maker is also compatible with ceramic coatings, waxes and sealants. The distinctive pink colour and sweet watermelon scent add to the attraction.




Dream Maker was an addition to Paint Gloss and Bead Maker in the P&S range. Paint Gloss is a quick detailer, boosting gloss and offering lubrication for drying or when using a clay bar. Paint Gloss also has some minor cleaning ability. Bead Maker is a spray sealant with an element of Si02 in its formula, also offering gloss enhancement and can be used as a standalone sealant or as a topper to other coatings and waxes.

In theory, Dream Maker was the answer to the overuse of spray sealants as toppers and drying aids, which in turn can lead to streaky finishes and harder application. With Dream Maker having no protection, it can be used as often as you like without those potential issues. The big drawcard is the extreme gloss and slickness, along with an easy application process.

So, Dream Maker is a very compelling proposition, a product that ticked a lot of boxes for me. I even bought the specific pink towel The Rag Company designed especially for it. Except, something just didn’t gel………………..




My first use of Dream Maker was as a drying aid on the deep, dark burgundy paint on the Jaguar. Immediately, I enjoyed the scent. And immediately I began to hate it. The product was very streaky and extremely hard to level down. The final result was indeed very glossy, the difficult application I put down to user error.








Over subsequent uses, I experimented with different application methods. I tried using more. I tried using less. I tried applying directly to the paint. I tried applying directly to the towel. Nothing really improved the experience. This is baffling to me as the key selling point is the “easy application”.

I actually gave Dream Maker another try today, applying two or three sprays into the towel as I wiped over each panel. This improved the result, but it just felt like I was using nothing at all and lacked the lubrication I typically like when drying.

So where have I gone wrong? From what I can tell, less is more with Dream Maker. Apply minimally and directly to the towel and have a separate towel to level properly. This method doesn't really suit my drying style, where I prefer to have product on the paint for lubrication. Using so little of Dream Maker just doesn't feel right.




Overall, I’m so confused about this product, mainly because many seem to rave about it and are not having the application issues I have experienced. Combine that with the hype generated during the launch period, Dream Maker just doesn’t achieve what I was expecting. In fact, I think Bead Maker offers more gloss and slickness, and Paint Gloss offers an easier application while also creating a glossy finish.






Overall, a product I won't be reordering, and one that I never recommend.

[DFB]

Koch Chemie AS Auto Shampoo

A German company since 1968, Koch Chemie have been serving the aviation, automotive, agricultural, marine and commercial/residential cleaning industries. Over the last few years, the brand has expanded into more markets, becoming one of the industry leaders in the process. The key to the Koch Chemie brand is the mantra of “Excellence for Experts”, meaning the products are made to a very high standard and deliver a high-end user experience.

I really like how Koch Chemie present their brand, using colours to group the various products into different categories. This makes each products purpose and overall usage much simpler to understand. In other words, very German.






Products like GSF, Green Star, Pol Star, Motorplast and Plast Star PSS are the volume sellers in the range, and for good reason. That popularity meant that for much of last year, the brand was sold out across multiple lines at all local retailers, GSF soap in particular. That lead me to trying another of their soaps, AS Auto Shampoo, and considering how much I loved GSF, I was keen to try this out. In addition to the product actually being available, AS was about $15 cheaper for 1lt bottle than GSF. When GSF did return to stock, the price difference blew out to $20.




Koch Chemie AS Auto Shampoo is an alkaline leaning soap, registering a pH of 9.0. The higher pH offers added cleaning ability, despite that, Koch suggest that waxes and sealants won’t be removed. AS is recommended for bucket and foam cannons, has high lubrication and features a “fresh” lemon scent. All of that sounds great, but I can’t say much, if any of that, translated into real world.

Koch Chemie tout Auto Shampoo as being a high foaming ability. Now, I’m not sure if the formula has been tweaked since then, but I did not observe anything I would call a high level of foam. My initial use started with the usual 100ml of soap in the foam cannon. Instantly, I was presented with thin, watering “foam”. In reality, I would not call it foam, rather it was just coating the car in soapy water. I upped the amount of soap in the cannon a couple of times attempting to get it foam with no luck.

(Below, that is the "foam" it generated, extremely thin and watery.)

тест мыши онлайн


With the higher pH, cleaning ability was decent and lubrication fair. The lemon scent was mildly pleasant. After that first use, I ended up finishing off the bottle by using it in my wheel bucket.






From what I can gather, AS Auto Shampoo was probably designed for use in gantry washing systems, ie at a car wash. When you consider the way AS “foams”, it sort of aligns with the sort of soap dispensed from the spray lance at a car wash. I guess putting the product into a retail bottle was an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the rest of the range. But then, they do make a point of highlighting the “high foaming” aspect of the product, which led me to believe it could have been a good alternative to GSF.

I would definitely label Koch Chemie AS Auto Shampoo as a disappointment. I'm sure it has its applications where it does well, but attempting to live up to the overall brilliance of GSF was always going to be a challenge. Sadly, it fell well short.

If nothing else, AS proves that no single brand produces a full line of winners. And this is why I try so many different products, weeding out the duds from the gems.

[DFB]

Chemical Guys Mat Renew

This is a case of “I should have known better” type of disappointment.

Back in late 2020, I decided to have a look at the selection of Chemical Guys products available in Australia. Compared to their home market, the Australian Chemical Guys range is considerably smaller, and that’s probably a good thing. At the time, the brand was offered at a couple of online stores only, compared to now where they are carried by a large automotive chain store (Supercheap Auto). So, the 49,753 product range was whittled down to the basics and their more marketable items.

Chemical Guys VRP, Barebones and Mat Renew represented products that I wanted to try (VRP) or were product categories that were missing from my arsenal. Except for the yellow brush, all of these products were given away. VRP was actually very good, but not a product that I liked enough to justify taking up space in my cabinet. Barebones was absolutely terrible, like spraying engine oil inside your wheel arches, and all the side effects from doing so. Mat Renew was the most disappointing though.








Cleaning rubber floor mats can be a pain, especially if they are older or have a lot of ingrained dirt. Compared to using an APC, what drew my attention with Mat Renew were the claims of breaking down and releasing that ingrained dirt, while also reconditioning the rubber to a “deep-black like-new appearance”. It also contains UV blockers to prevent any further fading. However, NONE of that transferred from written words to the real world.

Following Chemical Guys recommend application, the mats are rinsed prior to cleaning, the product is then sprayed on agitated with a brush. Rinse clean, dry and reinstall into the vehicle.






Under agitation, Mat Renew foams up very well, giving the impression that it’s actually doing something. But when dried, the mats looked the same as before cleaning. In other words, I had wasted the time and money to nil effect. Despite the claims, what annoyed most was the product did absolutely nothing to “revive”, “enhance”, “renew”, “restore” or deliver a “like new appearance”.

Other than it being a Chemical Guys product, I think where this product goes wrong is it’s trying to do too much in one step, as in clean and protect. As a cleaner, it’s compromised by the protectant, and as a protectant, it’s compromised by the cleaning element.

Of course, a lack of real performance is not unheard from Chemical Guys. The company is more focused on selling as many differently named and brightly colored products as possible at the expense of developing their products to be high achievers. It’s then up to the marketing department to convince consumers why they need every one of their 16 different soaps or 17 different tire dressings (those numbers are real by the way!). And in Australia, they really don’t have a price advantage, a 473 ml bottle of VRP costs $17 more than a 500ml bottle of Carpro Perl. And considering Perl is dilutable, the high end Carpro product is even better value.

Chemical Guys Mat Renew is firmly at the top of my list of dud products. I don’t know who I’m more annoyed at though, Chemical Guys for the crap product, or me for falling for it.

In terms of a better product, I have been using McKee’s 37 Floor Mat and Cargo Liner Rejuvenator to great success. I then combine that with Koch Chemie Guf, which enhances and protects without adding a slippery surface.

[DFB]

Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner

Today, we are going to “Step Back in Time”………………..



Sorry, I got distracted there!

Today, I’m thinking back to early 2008 and a 21-year-old DFB. I had a brand-new FG XR6 on order and I was researching products to help maintain this milestone moment in my car buying history.

At the time, I had been using a variety of Mothers, Meguiar’s and Armor All products. Don’t flame me here, I didn’t know any better, like any 21-year-old to be honest. Buying my first brand-new car, I wanted to step up my game, this mindset eventually landed me in the Autoglym ecosystem. Back then, Autoglym were actually a higher-level brand in comparison to how commercialized the brand is today and how they have lagged behind the industry innovators.

I decided to use their Super Resin Polish in tandem with Extra Gloss Protection. When the car arrived, these worked extremely well on the Sensation Blue Paint. While today, both are way off the pace, at the time they certainly had a place.






I had also bought their Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner, and this is where this post is headed.




Being pH balanced and apparently highly concentrated, this soap was designed to deep clean while still being safe to use on waxes and sealants.........ceramic coatings and spray products were not a thing then. It also left behind a conditioning agent to improve water sheeting, and therefore improving the rinse process and gloss levels. At the time, this soap held a premium over what I had been using beforehand.

Keep in mind that back in 2008, foam cannons were not a widely used detailing tool. Washing your car was purely focused on buckets and sponges. Adding the one capful of Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner to a 10 liter bucket, the soap was extremely flat and just felt like something was missing.




Now, I can here you saying “but DFB, the product listing clearly states this is a low-foaming soap”, well again, back then there was really no need for a soap to be high foaming. This line in the product listing was clearly added later on when Autoglym started to cater to the foam cannon market with other soaps.

What I hated most about this product was the complete lack of suds. And while it was certainly slick, it felt all wrong to me coming from a suds crazy Meguiars soap. Adding more soap to the bucket and agitating it with the hose certainly helped, but those suds were gone by mid wash. And from memory, the scent was unremarkable.




But that was then and this is now, and I can’t help but see this soap as completely irrelevant. It doesn’t foam, leading Autoglym to introduce more suitable soaps. The glossing and conditioning agents make the soap undesirable for ceramic coated vehicles. So you are now dealing with a soap that has a very narrow window of users. These days, NV Snow commands a $10 premium over the same size bottle of Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner, a premium that is worth every additional cent! For a readily available option, a few more dollars buys the excellent Gyeon Bathe at an automotive chain store.

It’s lack of performance, combined with the price premium it commanded at the time, makes this the most disappointing detailing product I have experienced. It just did not live up to my expectations that I had set in my mind for my brand new XR6. I would eventually go back to Meguiar’s soaps until I discovered NV Snow many years later.

From what I can gather, the Autoglym brand is not big in the USA. Apart from their glass cleaner and water-based tire dressing, you're not missing much.

[Coatingsarecrack]

Chemical Guys Mat Renew

This is a case of “I should have known better” type of disappointment.

Back in late 2020, I decided to have a look at the selection of Chemical Guys products available in Australia. Compared to their home market, the Australian Chemical Guys range is considerably smaller, and that’s probably a good thing. At the time, the brand was offered at a couple of online stores only, compared to now where they are carried by a large automotive chain store (Supercheap Auto). So, the 49,753 product range was whittled down to the basics and their more marketable items.

Chemical Guys VRP, Barebones and Mat Renew represented products that I wanted to try (VRP) or were product categories that were missing from my arsenal. Except for the yellow brush, all of these products were given away. VRP was actually very good, but not a product that I liked enough to justify taking up space in my cabinet. Barebones was absolutely terrible, like spraying engine oil inside your wheel arches, and all the side effects from doing so. Mat Renew was the most disappointing though.








Cleaning rubber floor mats can be a pain, especially if they are older or have a lot of ingrained dirt. Compared to using an APC, what drew my attention with Mat Renew were the claims of breaking down and releasing that ingrained dirt, while also reconditioning the rubber to a “deep-black like-new appearance”. It also contains UV blockers to prevent any further fading. However, NONE of that transferred from written words to the real world.

Following Chemical Guys recommend application, the mats are rinsed prior to cleaning, the product is then sprayed on agitated with a brush. Rinse clean, dry and reinstall into the vehicle.






Under agitation, Mat Renew foams up very well, giving the impression that it’s actually doing something. But when dried, the mats looked the same as before cleaning. In other words, I had wasted the time and money to nil effect. Despite the claims, what annoyed most was the product did absolutely nothing to “revive”, “enhance”, “renew”, “restore” or deliver a “like new appearance”.

Other than it being a Chemical Guys product, I think where this product goes wrong is it’s trying to do too much in one step, as in clean and protect. As a cleaner, it’s compromised by the protectant, and as a protectant, it’s compromised by the cleaning element.

Of course, a lack of real performance is not unheard from Chemical Guys. The company is more focused on selling as many differently named and brightly colored products as possible at the expense of developing their products to be high achievers. It’s then up to the marketing department to convince consumers why they need every one of their 16 different soaps or 17 different tire dressings (those numbers are real by the way!). And in Australia, they really don’t have a price advantage, a 473 ml bottle of VRP costs $17 more than a 500ml bottle of Carpro Perl. And considering Perl is dilutable, the high end Carpro product is even better value.

Chemical Guys Mat Renew is firmly at the top of my list of dud products. I don’t know who I’m more annoyed at though, Chemical Guys for the crap product, or me for falling for it.

In terms of a better product, I have been using McKee’s 37 Floor Mat and Cargo Liner Rejuvenator to great success. I then combine that with Koch Chemie Guf, which enhances and protects without adding a slippery surface.

I found Matt renew to clean my Husky’s well but did not add protection or affect appearance. Just now know that gonna have to be two step process.

If you can get your hands on Adams Graphene advanced spray coating it is great to get a fresh appearance with now slickness.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Silly Rabbit]

I have Husky liners for winter and bought Mckee's, liked how it cleaned but the appearance didn't change much in making them look brand new again. I then bought Koch Guf and used over as DFB has and got the brand new appearance look. Having the 2 products now, so use the 2 step on all mats and liners now also.

[Optimus Grime]

This mess. Let me preface this by saying that it works but the removal process leaves a lot to be desired. It’s such a thick goo and I can equate it to waiting too long to remove a quick flashing coating. There are much better, and easier to use, option out there.