Review: Blackfire Interior Cleaner and Wolfgang Vinyl & Rubber Protectant

[Marc08EX]

Review: Blackfire Interior Cleaner and Wolfgang Vinyl & Rubber Protectant
BLACKFIRE Interior Cleaner
Wolfgang Vinyl & Rubber Protectant

Description:

Since I`m reviewing multiple products, I won`t copy the description anymore. Please go to the product page via the link above if you want to read the product description.


Price:

Blackfire Interior Cleaner:
$19.99 for 20oz
$59.99 for 128oz

Wolfgang Vinyl & Rubber Protectant:
$24.99 for 16oz
$89.99 for 128oz


Introduction:

Interior cleaning is really tough. There are a lot of situations where an interior detailer just isn`t enough to clean all dirt and grime. In addition, there are lots of different materials inside a car. Let`s not even talk about the different makes and models LOL! There`s leather, plastic, vinyl, cloth, fabric, carpet, etc you have to deal with. Enter the Blackfire Interior Cleaner
.


Review:

Here are the description and directions of the Blackfire Interior Cleaner just in case you`re interested. The Wolfgang Vinyl and Rubber Protectant was just a sample bottle so unfortunately, no descriptions and directions for that.

What I liked about this product is the fact that it`s water based, contains no petroleum distillates, and can be used on majority, if not all interior surfaces. This just tells me that this product is extremely safe to use. Now let`s see if it works effectively.

Here`s the interior I worked on. The inside hasn`t been cleaned for a few months and as you can see, it`s very dusty. I already removed the trash and clutter so it`s already relatively cleaner compared to how it really was.

Here are a few close-ups of how dirty and dusty the interior surfaces really are:

Instructions state that you can either spray the product directly onto the surface or on the microfiber towel. I personally like spraying interior products on the microfiber towel to avoid over-spray on adjacent surfaces.

Then start cleaning your interior. Here I`m concentrating on the dashboard surfaces:

Here`s how much dirt I pulled by just cleaning the entire dashboard. I was grossed out. I normally don`t pull any dirt at all when I use an interior quick detailer to clean my interior. I didn`t know there was this much embedded dirt on the surface. At least we know this product is effective and it does indeed CLEAN.

Steering wheels usually get very nasty because that`s what our hands touch the entire time we use our vehicles. So don`t forget to clean that!

Before cleaning the steering wheel, I flipped my mirofiber towel to a clean side and sprayed some interior cleaner on that side of the towel. This is how much dirt I pulled from the steering wheel. Just nasty!

Now time to clean your door panels. The arm rest in this specific vehicle is made out of fabric and has already turned from black to white because of all the dirt/grime/dead skin making contact. Here`s the before:

I wiped down the entire door panel including the fabric arm rest:

It`s amazing how clean it made the plastic surfaces especially the fabric arm rest! Now the fabric went back to its original color!

Now here are some after shots:

As you can see, the interior now looks better thanks to the Blackfire Interior Cleaner!

Fabric or cloth seats are victims of normal daily wear and tear. Not only that be we occasionally can`t avoid spilling stuff. The seats in this vehicle is no exception. There were some white, powder like stains on the seat and looks like something spilled on the seat as well:

In this situation, I sprayed the interior cleaner directly on the surface and allowed it to dwell for a few seconds. I didn`t mind spraying it directly because there were no adjacent surfaces for overspray to land.

Clean the fabric seat with a microfiber towel and agitate the surface when necessary:

Here are some after shots. Can`t believe the stains went away!

 

[Marc08EX]

The next item I wanted to clean isn`t really part of an interior but it`s made out of vinyl and this product says it will clean vinyl surfaces. I haven`t cleaned my Miata`s vinyl convertible top in a while and it`s looking dusty and tired. Here are some before shots:

Spray the product onto the surface and let it dwell for a few seconds:

Clean the surface using a microfiber towel:

This is how much dirt and grime came out from cleaning half of the vinly convertible top. Just plain gross:

And I thought it was clean but I did a 2nd application and I was still pulling some dirt from the vinyl top. Crazy!

Here are some 50/50 shots showing the before and after:

And here`s a picture after cleaning the entire vinyl top:

It looks clean but looks a little bit weathered and faded. I`m not surprised given how intense the sun is out here in the desert. It wrecks havoc on all automotive surfaces.

I want this vinyl convertible top to last as long as possible so I wanted to protect it and at the same time, make it look good! Enter the 2nd product in this review. The Wolfgang Vinyl & Rubber Protectant. I really didn`t use this in the interior of the previous car because I don`t like my interior surfaces shiny. So this vinyl convertible top is a perfect surface to test this product out.

Spray the product on your applicator pad or directly on the surface. I elected to spray it directly to the pad as shown:

The product color is white and has a medium thickness/consistency. It`s in between very thick viscous liquid and water.

Apply onto the surface you want to protect. I put a little elbow grease on my application because I want the product to be on there good.

Here are some 50/50 shots showing the before and after of the vinyl & rubber protectant:

As you can see, it definitely darkened the vinyl surface. It`s also nice that it didn`t produce a lot of shine. There`s a little shine but not overly excessive. I really like how it came out.

Here are some pictures after protecting the entire vinyl top:

Here`s one cool feature of this product! It dries to the touch and I didn`t even let it dry! I absolutely HATE protectant products that are greasy and wet after application. Not only does it look overly applied but they attract dust, which makes future cleaning a lot tougher.

Thoughts and Observations:

Blackfire Interior Cleaner:
This is a great interior cleaner and is very safe and effective. It`s water based and has no petroleum distillates so you know it`s safe on majority of the interior surfaces you`ll be working on. It has a soapy/APC/mild degreaser smell to it so it smells like a cleaner. But what`s nice is that the smell is on the mild side. Don`t you hate it when you get a whiff of a strong chemical like smell? Consistency is very thin like water and the color is transparent to white. It pulled some dirt on surfaces I thought was already clean.

Wolfgang Vinyl & Rubber Protectant:
This product has a medium consistency. The color is white. Little goes a long way - it spreads out easy and it covers a lot of area. It produces a mild shine, which is nice. Another great feature of this product is that it dries to the touch shortly after application! I absolutely HATE protectants that leave the surface wet and greasy so this feature is a WIN for this product.


Conclusion:

Both products found in this review worked extremely well and as advertised. The Blackfire Interior Cleaner safely and effectively cleaned all interior surfaces I used it on. It even pulled dirt I didn`t know was there. The Wolfgang Vinyl & Rubber Protectant is very easy to use and provided the ample amount shine. I`m extremely happy to use both products and you should consider these 2 products if you need them.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review. Comments are appreciated.

 

[kevincwelch]

Nice review, Marc!

Did you get any sense that the interior cleaner had to be followed-up by a protectant, or did if feel as though the cleaning was gentle enough? Did it streak at all on the plastic covering the instrument cluster or radio?

Looks like it really pulled a lot of dirt off your convertible top!

 

[Marc08EX]

Nice review, Marc!

Did you get any sense that the interior cleaner had to be followed-up by a protectant, or did if feel as though the cleaning was gentle enough? Did it streak at all on the plastic covering the instrument cluster or radio?

Looks like it really pulled a lot of dirt off your convertible top!

Thanks a bunch Kevin! I appreciate it.

I don`t think it had to be followed up by a protectant when used in the interior. I think it was gentle enough but I wish there was a scientific way I could test it lol! But I wouldn`t use it regularly - only when it needs it just to be safe. Mainly because of the APC like smell. I`d use a quick Interior Detailer for regular interior cleaning.

Also, I hate shiny interior surfaces and that`s why i never use a protectant on mine.

It didn`t streak on the plastic instrument cover or radio LCD display. I think this would be the case so long as the MF towel is not saturated.

 

[WaxAddict]

Nice review and photos. I`m putting the BF interior cleaner on my list! Mild yet effective is the order of the day inside the car, and this seems to fit the bill.

 

[Marc08EX]

Nice review and photos. I`m putting the BF interior cleaner on my list! Mild yet effective is the order of the day inside the car, and this seems to fit the bill.

Thanks a lot WaxAddict! Seems like a great product based on my experience.

 

[Paul@Autopia]

Nice Review Marc! Looked like the first car you were working on was a 08ish Civic? Love that generation of Civics, great daily drivers and pretty fun to drive for a fwd car

 

[Marc08EX]

Nice Review Marc! Looked like the first car you were working on was a 08ish Civic? Love that generation of Civics, great daily drivers and pretty fun to drive for a fwd car

Thanks a lot Paul!!! I appreciate your compliments!!!

The first vehicle was my wife`s CR-V.

 

[SGM2008]

Also, I hate shiny interior surfaces and that`s why i never use a protectant on mine.

Thanks Marc ..... as always, another great review. I just purchased an Outback with cloth interior as a utility vehicle so I`ll be adding this to my shopping list.

FWIW, I received the Blackfire Interior Protectant as the Autopia Free Gift. It sat on the shelf until I stumbled across this post from Todd a few years back. You can achieve a number of different finishes to suit your preference. I`m not a glossy interior fan either, but this seems to work pretty well.

http://www.autopia.org/forums/blackfirewax-com/38189-blackfire-interior-protectant-4-looks-suit.html

 

[Marc08EX]

Thanks Marc ..... as always, another great review. I just purchased an Outback with cloth interior as a utility vehicle so I`ll be adding this to my shopping list.

FWIW, I received the Blackfire Interior Protectant as the Autopia Free Gift. It sat on the shelf until I stumbled across this post from Todd a few years back. You can achieve a number of different finishes to suit your preference. I`m not a glossy interior fan either, but this seems to work pretty well.

http://www.autopia.org/forums/blackfirewax-com/38189-blackfire-interior-protectant-4-looks-suit.html

Thanks a lot Bob! I appreciate it! Glad you enjoyed the review and it helped you on your current car.

Thanks for linking that article created by Todd. Looks like I`ll be adding the BF Interior Protectant on my next order.