Black Wow: Review

C

Cleaning Fool

New member
One of the first things I judge a product on is, does it do what it claims it will do. Well, heres what I did. Scrubbed the multiple areas with a degreaser, came back and did a thorough 50/50 alcohol wipedown. Applied the product to front and rear bumpers, door handles, rear view mirror housings, came back later and wiped it down again ensuring thin coats and even coverage. Yes, this product does make your black trim look excellent, theres the good news. The bad news: The back of the bottle says and I quote "imparting a rich, dark matte finish that lasts for months." My tests show about 14-17 days. I did see 2 periods of rain in that time, this tells me the rain pretty much deteriorated the wow. Conclusion: Initial appearance A-, Durability D+, price D+. The product in my view does not live up to the claim of "months", not even close. If you have perfect weather, no rain, no morning dew, etc, you might get months, but thats a theoretical statement. A product, quite frankly, I would not buy again, considering you can do the same thing with much much cheaper products.
 
when this product first came around, the initial reviews made me feel as if I HAD to have this. I had in my 'cart' for a while but then reviews like yours started showing up and I guess I figured that my everyday trim detailer at $6 a bottle would remain. So, Black WOW got deleted from my cart.



Thanks for the review.
 
I am happy for the review. I currently use Black Again and had the same results. After a few washings it was gone. I was going to try Black Wow until your review. Thanks for the review.
 
Yeah......I was disappointed too after reading how so many liked it. I did my wife's Toyota Sienna that has plastic aroind the full bottom perimeter about 1/3 way up. Looked good for about 10 days. Then I used it for the wiper cowel on my car. It had a streaky, inconsistant look, even when I wiped it down with a cloth tring to even it out.



Howard
 
I've never used Black Wow, but guys, that black trim gets UV damaged. Black Wow and anything similar are just silicone oils, and there's got to be some limit to what they can do. If you have swirls or oxidation in your paint, and you put wax on it and it looks better for a while, it's kinda the same thing. Except with paint, you can abrasively remove the damaged layer down to fresh paint (within limits); you can't really do that on plastic trim.



I guess what I'm saying is that if you have 1 yo trim that looks a little faded, maybe BW will make it look good for 6 mos., but if you have 3 yo trim that's seriously faded, it might not last as long.



I agree BW is talked about like a miracle product, and much is said about making sure to use a small amount and buff it off so that you don't get a streaky appearance, could that be part of the problem? On too thick and it streaked?
 
A good friend and fellow detailer - Brandon1 - showed me what a product from a little local company - Majestic Solutions - could do for trim. It's an spray can QD, but man can it improve old faded trim. It's only 4 bucks a can too. Durability depends on the weather, washing etc - but 4-6 weeks ain't out of the question.
 
I also bought black wow and it also didn't last like how everyone was putting it. I try it on three different cars doing three different test and it still didn't last long on any three of them. It was a waste of money. B2B lasted long then black wow. I also remeber some people get flamed for talking about black wow in a negative comments.
 
I've previously used Meguir's Back to Black and wa snot impressed. It did not last AT ALL. The Black Wow, has lasted nicely about 2 rain storm worth. Months later, my trim does not retain it's nice shiney black look, but water is repelled off of it like my painted surfaces protected by an LSP......





One thing I don't like about it so far, how slippery it is. God forbid if you're not wearing latex or similar gloves during application. I will continue using it until it's gone, will I repurchase, 50/50
 
I tested black wow last year and posted it here somewhere as well. I promissed a follow up but that was right when I changed jobs and stopped posting here.



Well, here is the follow up:



Product held well until it rained 1 week later. After the rain the trim looked uneven everywhere. This was a 1994 Mustang Cobra. I'm not sure the age of the car made a diference.



I'm gonna test it on my new 2008 Accord. Will continue posting from my old review thread.



http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing-product-discussion/95205-black-wow-test-review.html



Well, if anything I think I got my black wow for $5 or something. Way before they jacked the price up... :)
 
David Fermani said:
Did you notice any oily trails down your vehicle's paint?
Click to expand...



No I did not, However, when the next morning came and dew was on the rear view mirror housings, the wow showed clear signs of bleeding.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I've never used Black Wow, but guys, that black trim gets UV damaged. Black Wow and anything similar are just silicone oils, and there's got to be some limit to what they can do. If you have swirls or oxidation in your paint, and you put wax on it and it looks better for a while, it's kinda the same thing. Except with paint, you can abrasively remove the damaged layer down to fresh paint (within limits); you can't really do that on plastic trim.



I guess what I'm saying is that if you have 1 yo trim that looks a little faded, maybe BW will make it look good for 6 mos., but if you have 3 yo trim that's seriously faded, it might not last as long.



I agree BW is talked about like a miracle product, and much is said about making sure to use a small amount and buff it off so that you don't get a streaky appearance, could that be part of the problem? On too thick and it streaked?
Click to expand...



I just don't buy into that argument Setec. To me its just a big excuse for the product not working as advertised. Paint and textured plastic are two different surfaces entirely. Wether the trim is 1 year old or 10 years old, if prepped properly, shouldn't make any difference on the durability. This is supposed to be the strength of the product in the first place.
 
Cleaning Fool said:
No I did not, However, when the next morning came and dew was on the rear view mirror housings, the wow showed clear signs of bleeding.
Click to expand...



Hey, I'm not standing up for Black Wow, I've never used the stuff, but when the "owner" was on here he said you have to buff it dry for the proper result, sounds like you didn't do that if dew took it off.



I have had the same thoughts about tire dressing, since if you leave it "wet" it seems more prone to respond poorly to rain/wash than if you use less or buff it dry.
 
Well Setec, I applied the product exactly according to the directions. Applied it real thin and came back and did a thorough wipe down with a microfiber towel. As far as this "buffing it dry" deal, uhh it doesn't state that on the bottle and the instructions on major detailing web sites that sell this product say nothing about this. News to me. You might think if "buffing it dry" was critical, it would end up on the back of the bottle.
 
Cleaning Fool said:
Well Setec, I applied the product exactly according to the directions. Applied it real thin and came back and did a thorough wipe down with a microfiber towel. As far as this "buffing it dry" deal, uhh it doesn't state that on the bottle and the instructions on major detailing web sites that sell this product say nothing about this. News to me. You might think if "buffing it dry" was critical, it would end up on the back of the bottle.
Click to expand...



Hey, like I said, I'm not standing up for they guy, I called him out for spamming once...I guess I would like to think that the stuff works if I ever feel the need to buy it. If you scroll down under one of the pictures he says "Although it goes on shiny, you should wipe it dry with a towel until it's matte looking." ShowCarDetailing.com Shopping Cart - Black Wow



It sounds pretty much like your "thorough wipedown" is the same thing as "wipe it dry", though. :nixweiss
 
YouTube - Black Wow Application Video The guy in this video sprays water on the bumper and wipes it down as the final step. I did not spray it down with water like this guy did. I was not aware I was supposed to. Im going to re-apply and add this step. Maybe it will help. We shall see. If in fact it does help, they need to add this step to the directions. Will report my findings.
 
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