Why do you use the brands you do, & not others??

[72Malibu]

Different brands for wash. Different brands interior dressing. Different brands of wax. Different brands for.....oh, you get it

With all the various brands AG carries, I would venture to say, none of them are really a bad product.

Some of these products we choose due to the preferred finished result. Such as "clean" tire look vs satin vs high gloss tire shines. But, regardless of this, there are still multiple brands that meets that preference.

Of the products you use on a regular basis, what is your go to brand(s), and why do you prefer that brand over the others offered?

Or, to ask the question in another way, why do you not use the other product brands that are available?

To keep it simple, hopefully, brands used specifically for.....
Tire coating/dressing
Paint protection
Vinyl and/or leather products for interior

Tires I prefer Meguairs. I'm of the dreaded gloss tire shine crowd. Sorry.
Paint I use Wolfgang as well as the Jescar Collonite combo. Haven't had a reason to use a different brand.
interior is Mothers for the hard stuff, Leathique for leather. Smell, satin look of Mothers, and Leatherique just flatout works
The one brand you will not find in my garage is Armour All. I've tried their products and never have been happy with it.

If you wish to list brands of products used elsewhere, feel free to do so.

Looking forward to your comments. Thank you.

[Klasse Act]

Trial and error, brand rep and reviews by respected forum members[emoji6]

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[dwaleke]

It's not possible for one brand to have a winner in every category.

I use a lot of 3D products because most of them work well and are good value for the money. But I also use products from others as well.

[Klasse Act]

It's not possible for one brand to have a winner in every category.

I use a lot of 3D products because most of them work well and are good value for the money. But I also use products from others as well.This is SOOO spot on and makes me wonder how people could be exclusive to O N E brand for everything[emoji848]

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[dieselfan1]

I usually use what Klasse Act uses[emoji1787]

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[Klasse Act]

I usually use what Klasse Act uses[emoji1787]

Sent from my SM-G991U using TapatalkWow, I'm an indluencer[emoji5] Have you tried either of my screen names namesakes[emoji848]

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[Kamakaz1961]

Trial and error, brand rep and reviews by respected forum members[emoji6]

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This is why I have different brands for different parts of the detail. 100% Agree

[BlackCarBlues]

I haven't been part of the hobbyist detailing community for too long, but have been putting in a lot of research and have recently began detailing and using a PC 7424 on my car and friends' cars.

Use: As it stands right now, I really like Meguiars Ultimate products. I know that each product is designed to be followed with the next product in the line up and that they will compliment each other well. The Ultimate Compound/Polish/Wax/QuikWax line up is also nice and forgiving for a novice to machine polishing like me. They are also all available at the end of my street and for a decent price. From what I can tell, even a lot of the autogeek veterans don't really have many negatives to say about the Ultimate lineup and use them from time to time as well.

Use: Similar to my sentiments regarding Meg's Ultimate product line, I also like Griot's for many of the same reasons. Their products are readily available to me and I like how they differentiate their "Best of Show" line up from their core line up. I keep the BOS Spray Detailer in my trunk with a few mf towels for quick touch ups since that product in particular performs well in full sun and on a hot car (important for me with a Jet Black BMW). I also like to use Speed Shine as clay lube and general in-garage detailing where I'd rather have the detailer flash off quickly (BOS Spray Detailer doesn't flash quickly by design, allowing for the use in full sun).

Don't use: I recently had the opportunity to visit a Chemical Guys store that is only a few minutes drive from me in SE Michigan. Prior to visiting I had heard the notions that they are kind of a "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" kind of company. After my visit I left agreeing with that notion. Seems to be more of a marketing company that happens to create car detailing supplies. I did purchase a few "shop supplies" such as empty spray bottles, tire swipes, and a few 4" Hex Logic pads. In addition, I purchased Silk Shine (asked employee what he recommended for satin tire shine) which I'm not impressed with at all -- I have yet to try it as an interior detailer though which I hear is its main use. I also purchased their Max Coat Wheel Guard since it's about to be sloppy fall/winter months... too soon to say how I like this product, but I can say that application was easy. Last item I bought was interior vanilla scented mist. It lasted a whole 24 hours maybe and only smelled like vanilla for the first couple hours and then seemed to break down into a weird chemical scent. I think I will keep using this store if I just need a couple supplies, but will plan to buy my chemicals/liquids from other companies who take more pride in their R&D.

Want to try: Down the line I would like to try out some of the more "boutique" brands that autogeek sells such as Wolfgang and Blackfire. For now, as someone who is just building his arsenal, they are a little too expensive for my tastes.

[evo77]

Often for me its VALUE. How much performance can I get out of the product for the money? And sometimes its just how the product ranks over others.

For 2021, I decided to experiment with the "synergy" theory of using products solely from 1 brand/company. So I splurged and went with everything GYEON. Towels, car shampoo, tire brush, wash mitt, tire dressing, wax, spray detailer, APC, etc. Mostly everything under their brand *except coatings*.

While most of their products do exactly what they were designed to do, and I enjoyed using them, some just weren't economical and others I would rather use something else instead.

Tire Cleaner worked great and I liked it but there are other more affordable tire cleaners/APCs that also do the job exactly the same way. I can buy a equally as efficient tire cleaner for HALF the cost of what a 1 gallon container of GYEON Tire Cleaner costs. Same goes for GYEON Iron Wheel Cleaner! I loved this product but its just too costly especially since I use it often.

GYEON Tire was one that I didn't like using. It actually performed really good. Tires were protected and beaded for weeks even after a few washes. But I just hate gels. Their messy and for some reason this gel didn't always soak into the rubber evenly and consistently (even on a fully cleaned tire). So I find myself choosing something else for the tires now. And this one sits on the shelf.

GYEON Ceramic Detailer performed good but I wasn't blown away. It left the paint feeling slick-ish and left a decent gloss. It just didn't give me the wow factor that other QDs do. Actually there is only one and that is Duragloss 931 in QD ratio. No other QD gives me the gloss and slickness that DG does. So my empty GYEON bottle is now filled with DG 931.


These are just a few examples to illustrate why I choose other brands over others. Hope this helped!

[BlackCarBlues]

GYEON Ceramic Detailer performed good but I wasn't blown away. It left the paint feeling slick-ish and left a decent gloss. It just didn't give me the wow factor that other QDs do. Actually there is only one and that is Duragloss 931 in QD ratio. No other QD gives me the gloss and slickness that DG does. So my empty GYEON bottle is now filled with DG 931.


I’m in the market for picking up my first rinseless wash to be used during the winter months. Would you recommend DG-931 over ONR or N914?

[Klasse Act]

I’m in the market for picking up my first rinseless wash to be used during the winter months. Would you recommend DG-931 over ONR or N914?Check out Griot's Garage Brillant Shine rinseless wash [emoji6]

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[Klasse Act]

Check out Griot's Garage Brillant Shine rinseless wash [emoji6]

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk...or Feynlab WW, can be used as a RW too[emoji6]

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[BlackCarBlues]

Check out Griot's Garage Brillant Shine rinseless wash [emoji6]

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You already know I like Griot’s haha! Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll check it out.

Any spray waxes you recommend that work okay in low temps? Currently I use Meg’s Ultimate Spray Wax on top of my Ultimate Liquid Wax, but not sure how the spray would perform in cold weather. Mostly concerned with getting a streak free wipe off.

Apologies for thread-jacking!

[Klasse Act]

You already know I like Griot’s haha! Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll check it out.

Any spray waxes you recommend that work okay in low temps? Currently I use Meg’s Ultimate Spray Wax on top of my Ultimate Liquid Wax, but not sure how the spray would perform in cold weather. Mostly concerned with getting a streak free wipe off.

Apologies for thread-jacking!Not sure about low temps because 60 degrees is the base temp.

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[PaulMys]

Trial and error, brand rep and reviews by respected forum members[emoji6]

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You nailed this one, Rog.

When I was a newbie, I would read TONS of descriptions, reviews etc. Even then, It was mostly trial & error. (I mean what product description doesn't say it's the best??) I would say my success rate was around 50-60% finding products that truly worked well.

After I gained a bit more experience, and made some contacts here on the forum, it was mostly recommendations I went by. I would say my success rate shot up to about 75-85% then.

Today, I have a pretty well-stocked arsenal of products that are my favorites/mainstays, and I am less prone to try new things mostly because of the many (hundreds??) of products I have now. But I will always listen to the respected members' experience/opinions with new products before I would even think of pulling the trigger.