JWilliams.RadiantDetail
06-28-2015, 12:16 AM
I live in So Cal with crazy water restrictions + have a tiny roadster with next to no space. So I'm always looking for products I can use without needing a hose or a pressure washer. 2 things I don't have are a good trim cleaner and a wheel cleaner. A few weeks ago I saw Blackfire had released a tire and trim cleaner that doesn't need water. I read a few reviews and had to order it. It doesn't help me with with my wheels problem. And I already had a great tire cleaner. But this cleans + shines and works on trim too. It also gives me a chance to finally try a Blackfire product, for whatever reason I've never bought anything from them.
I did a ONR rinseless wash on a friends Ford FX4 today, while I did take a before and after pic of the tires, I forgot to do the same for the trim. It only has 30k miles and he takes decent care of it, so the trim really wasn't that bad. With that said, it did make a noticeable difference. The detail was a tough sale initially because his normal mobile detailing lady charges him $25, and only $22 (###?) last time. He has a HUGE FX4. I spent a few minutes explaining quality vs price and how for that price no way was she using quality products. Even still, give me the cheapest sh*t out there and I ain't washing a 4 door FX4 for $22. lol Kudos to her for that :D
I started out by hitting the tires with Tuff Shine cleaner. 30k miles and nothing outside of basics washes. I usually use Mother's Back To Black, but I had access to his hose. After scrubbing the tire 5 times, and rinsing the hell out of the brush and tire between each, the tire actually looked worse than before I started. It was stupid brown after. I was still getting a lot of brown to where it probably would have taken 4 more washes to get them clean to my liking. The OCD detailer in me wanted to go until I got white foam and a clean looking tire, but I only had a 16oz bottle and he had 4 monstrous tires. Didn't think I'd have enough TS, plus it would take too long. I know even how bad they looked, after scrubbing 5 times they had to be a lot cleaner. Saddened me because I've never seen TS do this :(
The BF product's an interesting blue color, it's very blue, and I mean VERY. reminds me of a liquid toothpaste. It smell pretty good, I can't place it, sweet something or other.
This is an idiot proof product application wise, spray it on a MF, wipe it on, then buff it off. No water needed. You can apply multiple coats to get more shine? One of the other reviews mentioned how to get it more glossy but I forgot the method. My neighbor doesn't like bling so I just did a single coating.
BEFORE SHOT:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/69136394/Polished2Perfection/IMG_1787.JPG
Like I said, this is after 5 rounds of Tuff Shine
AFTER SHOT:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/69136394/Polished2Perfection/IMG_1788.JPG
I didn't have my small brushes so I couldn't get in between the treads. I think it looks pretty tacky, but it shows a good contrast on how well the product works. I literally wiped it on then wiped it off. It's a very very blue color and would probably stain clothing if it got on it.
It's easy and fast to use, you only have to use a small amount, it gives instant results and it doesn't require being rinsed off. I don't see any down sides to this product. It's not "cheap" but really there's nothing else that does everything it does. I bought the 16oz bottle so I could have the actual bottle it comes in. I 100% will be ordering the gallon next time. If it was available in a 5 gallon keg I probably would buy that. This is going to be one of my go-to product in the future. With that said, I still might use Mother's Back To Black to clean the tires. I have no doubt the cleaning properties here are decent, maybe even good but I <3 the Mother's product. I guess time will tell if I actually need to keep Mother's in my arsenal. Part of me still questions how well I can clean a tire without cleaning it (if that makes sense lol) I could well be wrong, but when I use the Mother's or TS and I see the brown I feel it's clean. This product you wipe on and wipe off and there's no brown. So my mind still has to adjust to a new way of doing something. For the average person this product alone would be good enough. I'm in that 2% who want to detail a car, not simply wash it though.
I did all his trim and I was pretty impressed, next car I do I'll definitely remember to take more pics and update this thread. I also bought BLACKFIRE Midnight Sun Carnauba Spray Wax and as soon as I find a sutiable car to test it on I'll be posting another review.
I have a question, he has aftermarket black rims (Method) which have never been cleaned outside of the basic washing. I sprayed them with Meg's DUB Wheel Cleaner and even after a 5 minute dwell period the product was still totally green (stock color) On all 4 rims I had zero visible color change after scrubbing with my Wheel Woolies. They just didn't look that good to me. I've never decontaminated rims and not saw a color change happen. I'm wondering what it could have been? I hyped up the decontaminated and of course used the "it turns dark red" as my upsell. He watched totally unimpressed as the green product stayed green lol. I felt bad that I couldn't explain it to him.
I did a ONR rinseless wash on a friends Ford FX4 today, while I did take a before and after pic of the tires, I forgot to do the same for the trim. It only has 30k miles and he takes decent care of it, so the trim really wasn't that bad. With that said, it did make a noticeable difference. The detail was a tough sale initially because his normal mobile detailing lady charges him $25, and only $22 (###?) last time. He has a HUGE FX4. I spent a few minutes explaining quality vs price and how for that price no way was she using quality products. Even still, give me the cheapest sh*t out there and I ain't washing a 4 door FX4 for $22. lol Kudos to her for that :D
I started out by hitting the tires with Tuff Shine cleaner. 30k miles and nothing outside of basics washes. I usually use Mother's Back To Black, but I had access to his hose. After scrubbing the tire 5 times, and rinsing the hell out of the brush and tire between each, the tire actually looked worse than before I started. It was stupid brown after. I was still getting a lot of brown to where it probably would have taken 4 more washes to get them clean to my liking. The OCD detailer in me wanted to go until I got white foam and a clean looking tire, but I only had a 16oz bottle and he had 4 monstrous tires. Didn't think I'd have enough TS, plus it would take too long. I know even how bad they looked, after scrubbing 5 times they had to be a lot cleaner. Saddened me because I've never seen TS do this :(
The BF product's an interesting blue color, it's very blue, and I mean VERY. reminds me of a liquid toothpaste. It smell pretty good, I can't place it, sweet something or other.
This is an idiot proof product application wise, spray it on a MF, wipe it on, then buff it off. No water needed. You can apply multiple coats to get more shine? One of the other reviews mentioned how to get it more glossy but I forgot the method. My neighbor doesn't like bling so I just did a single coating.
BEFORE SHOT:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/69136394/Polished2Perfection/IMG_1787.JPG
Like I said, this is after 5 rounds of Tuff Shine
AFTER SHOT:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/69136394/Polished2Perfection/IMG_1788.JPG
I didn't have my small brushes so I couldn't get in between the treads. I think it looks pretty tacky, but it shows a good contrast on how well the product works. I literally wiped it on then wiped it off. It's a very very blue color and would probably stain clothing if it got on it.
It's easy and fast to use, you only have to use a small amount, it gives instant results and it doesn't require being rinsed off. I don't see any down sides to this product. It's not "cheap" but really there's nothing else that does everything it does. I bought the 16oz bottle so I could have the actual bottle it comes in. I 100% will be ordering the gallon next time. If it was available in a 5 gallon keg I probably would buy that. This is going to be one of my go-to product in the future. With that said, I still might use Mother's Back To Black to clean the tires. I have no doubt the cleaning properties here are decent, maybe even good but I <3 the Mother's product. I guess time will tell if I actually need to keep Mother's in my arsenal. Part of me still questions how well I can clean a tire without cleaning it (if that makes sense lol) I could well be wrong, but when I use the Mother's or TS and I see the brown I feel it's clean. This product you wipe on and wipe off and there's no brown. So my mind still has to adjust to a new way of doing something. For the average person this product alone would be good enough. I'm in that 2% who want to detail a car, not simply wash it though.
I did all his trim and I was pretty impressed, next car I do I'll definitely remember to take more pics and update this thread. I also bought BLACKFIRE Midnight Sun Carnauba Spray Wax and as soon as I find a sutiable car to test it on I'll be posting another review.
I have a question, he has aftermarket black rims (Method) which have never been cleaned outside of the basic washing. I sprayed them with Meg's DUB Wheel Cleaner and even after a 5 minute dwell period the product was still totally green (stock color) On all 4 rims I had zero visible color change after scrubbing with my Wheel Woolies. They just didn't look that good to me. I've never decontaminated rims and not saw a color change happen. I'm wondering what it could have been? I hyped up the decontaminated and of course used the "it turns dark red" as my upsell. He watched totally unimpressed as the green product stayed green lol. I felt bad that I couldn't explain it to him.