Today I tested three products from ClearKote on a friends black Acura RL sedan. The products tested were Moose Wax, Vanilla Moose and QuickShine. I hope this will finally settle some of the ongoing debates regarding these products, and give members some valuable information. 
First up, the Vanilla Moose. The first thing I noticed about this product is its very thin consistency. It’s very thin for a glaze. It has a somewhat nice smell, and it’s certainly not anything offensive. To apply I used a standard yellow foam applicator. I put a nice line of product across the pad and began to work it into the surface. Once you start working the product on the surface it got an almost tacky feeling and it became somewhat harder to spread. I continued to work the product until I was satisfied it was totally worked into the surface. I then buffed off the residue with a microfiber towel. The product removed easily and left no streaking or residue on the surface. However, I was disappointed in the depth. The product gives good reflections, but didn’t add a ton of depth to the surface of the black test car. It did and adequate job of filling swirls and surface imperfections, all but the deepest were filled. The product does not really leave a slick surface IMO, but more of a smooth surface. Overall, the product is OK. I was disappointed in the lack of depth for a glaze, I was expecting more and other available glazes certainly give more depth. I would say this product is pretty average for a glaze, nothing exceptional but not horrible either. I would give Vanilla moose the following
Pros: Nice Smell, Buffs off easily and evenly, leaves no streaks or residue, nice angle reflections
Cons: Can be somewhat hard to spread during application, thin consistency, and lack of depth for a glaze.
Next on the docket is Moose Wax. Moose Wax is a thick, liquid, purple/pinkish color cleaner wax. It does not have much of an odor; you can detect a slight solvent smell if you pay close attention but it won’t jump out at you. Again, I applied this product using a yellow foam applicator pad. It applied fairly easily and smoothly and I didn’t notice any real application problems. After working the product into the surface I noticed some small particles in the wax residue on the applicator. I’m not sure if it was abrasive, or just dried product, but something was certainly there. I removed the product with a clean, dry, Microfiber cloth and it removed with minimal effort. I didn’t notice any streaking or smearing and it buffed off evenly. However, and this is a big down side, it totally removed the glaze. How could I tell? Quite easily actually. The glaze did add a small bit of depth to the surface, after Moose Wax was applied that depth was clearly gone. Moose Wax seems pretty strong in the cleaner department in my opinion. After use of the Moose wax the surface didn’t have much depth at all. The reflection was nice, but the deep dark shimmering pool was just not there. In fact, the surface looked rather sterile. After feeling the surface I didn’t notice a slick feeling, but rather a smooth buttery feeling. As a baseline I also applied some Mothers Cleaner Wax next to the ClearKote. The application and removal was virtually the same, but the Mothers Cleaner Wax was superior to ClearKote in terms of depth. Overall for a cleaner wax I would rate Moose Wax as average too slightly below average. It certainly did not outperform the Mothers product; in fact I preferred the Mothers product because the depth was far superior. Here’s the sum up.
Pros: Easy application and removal, no streaking or smearing, nice reflections
Cons: Somewhat strong for a cleaner wax, adds very little depth, left rather sterile surface.
Finally, the QuickShine. The product is a milky liquid that ClearKote claims contains no Teflon, waxes or silicone. From the smell and feel of the product it seems that statement is correct, but I could be wrong. The smell of the product is quite light and pleasing to the nose. I sprayed a light mist over the trunk panel and wiped with a clean, dry, microfiber towel. When wiping the QuickShine off I noticed it seems to lubricate the surface rather well, and I noticed no un-necessary surface friction. It wiped off streak free, and didn’t require much wiping to remove. The surface looked very bright, clean, and did have that “just detailed� look. After running my hands across the surface the slickness was rather good. The surface was quite reflective. I also tried the product on a panel with very light dust and it removed it quite well and didn’t leave any noticeable marring on black. Overall, this was my favorite of the ClearKote products. It worked rather well, and left a very nice looking slick surface.
Pros: Easy removal, no streaking or smearing, leaves a nice “just detailed� look, slickness is very good.
Cons: Nothing really comes to mind.
To sum up my testing, overall I was not impressed with the Vanilla Moose or Moose Wax. Their performance was only average at best in my opinion. The one bright spot was the QuickShine; this was my favorite of the products tested. It seems to work quite well, and if it contains no silicones or waxes then it’s compatible with many product systems.
My $.02
:wavey
First up, the Vanilla Moose. The first thing I noticed about this product is its very thin consistency. It’s very thin for a glaze. It has a somewhat nice smell, and it’s certainly not anything offensive. To apply I used a standard yellow foam applicator. I put a nice line of product across the pad and began to work it into the surface. Once you start working the product on the surface it got an almost tacky feeling and it became somewhat harder to spread. I continued to work the product until I was satisfied it was totally worked into the surface. I then buffed off the residue with a microfiber towel. The product removed easily and left no streaking or residue on the surface. However, I was disappointed in the depth. The product gives good reflections, but didn’t add a ton of depth to the surface of the black test car. It did and adequate job of filling swirls and surface imperfections, all but the deepest were filled. The product does not really leave a slick surface IMO, but more of a smooth surface. Overall, the product is OK. I was disappointed in the lack of depth for a glaze, I was expecting more and other available glazes certainly give more depth. I would say this product is pretty average for a glaze, nothing exceptional but not horrible either. I would give Vanilla moose the following
Pros: Nice Smell, Buffs off easily and evenly, leaves no streaks or residue, nice angle reflections
Cons: Can be somewhat hard to spread during application, thin consistency, and lack of depth for a glaze.
Next on the docket is Moose Wax. Moose Wax is a thick, liquid, purple/pinkish color cleaner wax. It does not have much of an odor; you can detect a slight solvent smell if you pay close attention but it won’t jump out at you. Again, I applied this product using a yellow foam applicator pad. It applied fairly easily and smoothly and I didn’t notice any real application problems. After working the product into the surface I noticed some small particles in the wax residue on the applicator. I’m not sure if it was abrasive, or just dried product, but something was certainly there. I removed the product with a clean, dry, Microfiber cloth and it removed with minimal effort. I didn’t notice any streaking or smearing and it buffed off evenly. However, and this is a big down side, it totally removed the glaze. How could I tell? Quite easily actually. The glaze did add a small bit of depth to the surface, after Moose Wax was applied that depth was clearly gone. Moose Wax seems pretty strong in the cleaner department in my opinion. After use of the Moose wax the surface didn’t have much depth at all. The reflection was nice, but the deep dark shimmering pool was just not there. In fact, the surface looked rather sterile. After feeling the surface I didn’t notice a slick feeling, but rather a smooth buttery feeling. As a baseline I also applied some Mothers Cleaner Wax next to the ClearKote. The application and removal was virtually the same, but the Mothers Cleaner Wax was superior to ClearKote in terms of depth. Overall for a cleaner wax I would rate Moose Wax as average too slightly below average. It certainly did not outperform the Mothers product; in fact I preferred the Mothers product because the depth was far superior. Here’s the sum up.
Pros: Easy application and removal, no streaking or smearing, nice reflections
Cons: Somewhat strong for a cleaner wax, adds very little depth, left rather sterile surface.
Finally, the QuickShine. The product is a milky liquid that ClearKote claims contains no Teflon, waxes or silicone. From the smell and feel of the product it seems that statement is correct, but I could be wrong. The smell of the product is quite light and pleasing to the nose. I sprayed a light mist over the trunk panel and wiped with a clean, dry, microfiber towel. When wiping the QuickShine off I noticed it seems to lubricate the surface rather well, and I noticed no un-necessary surface friction. It wiped off streak free, and didn’t require much wiping to remove. The surface looked very bright, clean, and did have that “just detailed� look. After running my hands across the surface the slickness was rather good. The surface was quite reflective. I also tried the product on a panel with very light dust and it removed it quite well and didn’t leave any noticeable marring on black. Overall, this was my favorite of the ClearKote products. It worked rather well, and left a very nice looking slick surface.
Pros: Easy removal, no streaking or smearing, leaves a nice “just detailed� look, slickness is very good.
Cons: Nothing really comes to mind.
To sum up my testing, overall I was not impressed with the Vanilla Moose or Moose Wax. Their performance was only average at best in my opinion. The one bright spot was the QuickShine; this was my favorite of the products tested. It seems to work quite well, and if it contains no silicones or waxes then it’s compatible with many product systems.
My $.02
:wavey
It's an issue that's been addressed very little really, and I'm not sure anyone has ever mentioned if they've been able to tell if any VM glaze remains beneath the MW. That's not the same thing as saying the surface has not been improved by the VM application first however.... :nixweiss
It was a friends car and I didn't have time to run home and get the camera.