New guy...new car, what products to keep and what to throw out.

J

johnle

New member
Well i'm new to true detailing but I always kept my old cars clean. This new car of mine is white which bothers me more then my other dark colored cars since I wash more often to keep it clean.



It's a 2007 VW GTI in candy white.



Right now I'm trying to decide on the products I should keep in my inventory and the stuff to give away or throw out.



Lets start from the inside out.



Interior stuff

- Armor-All Low Gloss

- Armor All Original

- Zymol Protectant (using this one the most)

- Simoniz Series 500 Protectant



Tire Shine

- NASCAR Eco-Lab tireshine (basically seems to be...Armor All, smells like it, looks like it and acts like it plus it was on sale for $1.68)

- Turtlewax Platinum Tire Gel

- Armor-All Extreme Shine



Polishes/Waxes (also a quick question, is Turtlewax Polish the same as a wax?)

- Turtlewax F21 Polish

- Turtlewax ICE Polish

- Prestone Synthetic Wax

- Liquid Glass

- Mother's California Gold Carnuaba Wax

- NASCAR Eco-Lab Spray wax (on sale $1.68)

- Long Haul Truck Gloss

- Rain-X Spray-and-Dry

- Armor All Wash-N-dry



Clay Bar

- Mother's Clay bar

- Clay Magic (blue bar)



Car Wash

- Turtlewax Wash

- Turtlewax ICE Car Wash

- Meguiars Gold Class Car Wash



Windows

- Volkswagen Window Solvent

- Rain-X Window Cleaner

- Meguiars Window Cleaner

- Stoner's Invisible Glass



_3261802_resize.JPG
 
Man , if you're getting the results you want with

the products you've got , I say keep 'em.

None of them are inherently bad.



Personally , I choose products based on a combination

of ease of use and durability.

In the end , it's less of WHAT products you use than

HOW you use them.



I assume these are all applied by hand ?
 
Detailing is a matter of personal preferance, so its hard to say what is the best of anything. Generally you can get better performance from the more expensive stuff you can't get OTC.



From what you have the only stuff I would use would be the Clay Magic bar (if you have the lube), the Meg's window cleaner (if its NXT line), Stoner's Invisable Glass (if its the areosal), and Meg's Gold Glass.



I don't really think the other stuff is that good.
 
Like has been mentioned, none of the stuff is total trash. For exterior care, the mothers wax and clay bar are a decent combo. The more you read here, and the more you practice, you will come to understand that is more prep than product. If you aren't happy with a particular item, post what you liked about it and what you didn't, some one will chime in that has used the product and offer suggestions or a product that works better.
 
You have some decent stuff.



The interior products and tire products that you have are good stuff. I really like the low shine Armorall. If you replace them with something better, you can always use them on your tires.



As far as waxes go, the Prestone wax is a good wax. It is very easy to use and has suprising durability. The Mothers California Gold is also a good wax (assuming its the non-cleaner version). It's not that durable, but it looks really good.
 
Welcome! I'll mention my personal thoughts on just a couple of your items.



AA original: Don't let it touch your interior, but it makes a great dressing for wheelwells. The other AA stuff may be fine, use your own judgement, but I've heard many times people feel the original AA is way too glossy for interiors.



Liquid Glass/F21/Prestone/Simonize/Nascar: The general thought here is that these products are below par. There are much better options for reasonable prices, even some OTC stuff. Keep in mind I haven't used any of this, I just going from what I've read from people who have used it. For example, I've read more than once that LG was decent in its day, but it's been surpassed in appearance by many other options.



Long Haul: I haven't heard all that much about them, but what I have heard was favorable. Hand ontp it. IIRC, even if you find something else you prefer for appearance (and you may like it just fine), it would probably still be a good, durable choice for areas like doorjambs and such.



I'll leave further comments to others. I'm already getting well outside of my personal knowledge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top