Excessive Detail
12-04-2006, 09:54 PM
Hey guyz, first I want ot say I know this topic has been posted a million times, a few by myself, but this seems to be the area of car detailing were I'm lost, I'm talking about tire dressing. Everyone here knows that no tire shine has the same results from tire to tire. Some tires may be dried out and need a few applications, bigger tires require more dressing, and there is always the problem of spin off and lasting. Over the years of my detailing obsession, my take on this is that of course gels last the longest, spray's give the most shine, and foams work larger areas, but don't give off much shine. With this being said I've tried a lot of different products and found the ones that work for me on my car, great, but I still struggle with other peoples cars. So I buy and try, buy and try, you get the picture. Sorry this is kinda long buts its been bugging me, I have seemed to figure out all the other detailing products I want to use, so what did I do today, went out and bought a bunch of tire dressings and did some test. Here is a quick review before my question.
AA Tire Gel: I really like this stuff, last very long, shines pretty decently, and a little seems to go a long way, AA really did make a good turn around. This really wasn't the first time with this stuff, I just wanted some more. I have found that in some cases that this works good a base coat to prep the tire, then I layer a coat of spray to give a good shine and the AA seems to help hold that shine longer than by itself. It also works well on trim, hardly any spin off. This stuff is pretty bulletproof.
AA Aresole tire shine: Well I have to say I had high hopes for an aresole, cause I used to use some stuff from AZ, I think it was called jet something, it worked amazing, the best shine I had ever seen, just don't touch it or drive your car, it was extremely sticky and picked up anything, and you couldn't just wipe it, anyway back to AA. As soon as I started to spray I was disappointed, very similar to a foam, now it was a very easily controlled spray and it didn't go everywhere, which was a problem with that brand I used to use, it was a clear liquid spray. I sprayed passes, one on inner and outer area of the tire. Now it says wait five minutes, I waited about 1 hr, and all the runs are supposed to dry up, wel when I went back it was still wet and dripping with hardly any shine, I had to wipe the dripping, which took even more of the shine away and it spun off pretty bad too. I'll give it a try on another car, but my first impressions are that its not worth it.
Megs. Hot Shine spray: Again not the first time. I have always liked this stuff, extreme shine, last long, spray on or wipe on and it still about the same shine. I used to mix this with Megs. Endurance, like I mentioned above with layer the AA. Perfect for large tires, although it can overspray on wheels and paint. Still I really like this stuff. Works good on dried out tires, but you have to apply more. It doesn't seem to spinn off either. Well worth it. Works good under fenderwells too.
Megs. Endurance: Didn't buy any this time, but I figured I'd review it. Very similiar to AA gel, but with a little more shine, smells great, kinda tricky to apply, its very thick, and it lasts about as long as AA, although I think AA goes a little bit further. I have hear that this stuff can stain, never had that problem, but still in the back of my mind. Still worth it.
No Touch: Cheap foam with a matte finish, does have some cleaning to it, not much shine, works well for larger tires, not dried out tires, I also use this for fenderwells. The only reason I really use this is thee price, about 1 to 2 dollars at a dollar store. It is kinda messy and will overspray. I probably won't buy anymore of this. I would like to try the no touch wet tire faom, maybe its better.
Thats all I bought toady.
So here are my questions, yes some of the products I've listed work, but they are not very cost efficient to use a lot of. Has anybody tried any tire dressing form professional detailing sites or stores, like Prowax, they sell some dressing that can be diluted and come in larger quantities at a fairly decent price. I know ag has some in bulk, but to be honest its somewhat expensive. Also I remeber some saying they used something for furniture, I think that it, to shine tires, what was that. What are your guyz thoughts about this topic, thank you for listening and your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
AA Tire Gel: I really like this stuff, last very long, shines pretty decently, and a little seems to go a long way, AA really did make a good turn around. This really wasn't the first time with this stuff, I just wanted some more. I have found that in some cases that this works good a base coat to prep the tire, then I layer a coat of spray to give a good shine and the AA seems to help hold that shine longer than by itself. It also works well on trim, hardly any spin off. This stuff is pretty bulletproof.
AA Aresole tire shine: Well I have to say I had high hopes for an aresole, cause I used to use some stuff from AZ, I think it was called jet something, it worked amazing, the best shine I had ever seen, just don't touch it or drive your car, it was extremely sticky and picked up anything, and you couldn't just wipe it, anyway back to AA. As soon as I started to spray I was disappointed, very similar to a foam, now it was a very easily controlled spray and it didn't go everywhere, which was a problem with that brand I used to use, it was a clear liquid spray. I sprayed passes, one on inner and outer area of the tire. Now it says wait five minutes, I waited about 1 hr, and all the runs are supposed to dry up, wel when I went back it was still wet and dripping with hardly any shine, I had to wipe the dripping, which took even more of the shine away and it spun off pretty bad too. I'll give it a try on another car, but my first impressions are that its not worth it.
Megs. Hot Shine spray: Again not the first time. I have always liked this stuff, extreme shine, last long, spray on or wipe on and it still about the same shine. I used to mix this with Megs. Endurance, like I mentioned above with layer the AA. Perfect for large tires, although it can overspray on wheels and paint. Still I really like this stuff. Works good on dried out tires, but you have to apply more. It doesn't seem to spinn off either. Well worth it. Works good under fenderwells too.
Megs. Endurance: Didn't buy any this time, but I figured I'd review it. Very similiar to AA gel, but with a little more shine, smells great, kinda tricky to apply, its very thick, and it lasts about as long as AA, although I think AA goes a little bit further. I have hear that this stuff can stain, never had that problem, but still in the back of my mind. Still worth it.
No Touch: Cheap foam with a matte finish, does have some cleaning to it, not much shine, works well for larger tires, not dried out tires, I also use this for fenderwells. The only reason I really use this is thee price, about 1 to 2 dollars at a dollar store. It is kinda messy and will overspray. I probably won't buy anymore of this. I would like to try the no touch wet tire faom, maybe its better.
Thats all I bought toady.
So here are my questions, yes some of the products I've listed work, but they are not very cost efficient to use a lot of. Has anybody tried any tire dressing form professional detailing sites or stores, like Prowax, they sell some dressing that can be diluted and come in larger quantities at a fairly decent price. I know ag has some in bulk, but to be honest its somewhat expensive. Also I remeber some saying they used something for furniture, I think that it, to shine tires, what was that. What are your guyz thoughts about this topic, thank you for listening and your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.