What is your best inexpensive product? What is your worst premium product?

Quality Leather said:
I don't use a conditioner. Cleaning the leather and cleaning it good will do more for your leather than any conditioner ever will. Try this method - clean the leather with SB scuff pad and cleaner (woolite solution or the one I mentioned). Scrub the seat once quickly and move to another seat. Let the seats dry for about ten minutes or more and clean again. You don't want to have the cleaner on there to long or it can start to damage the coating. Finish with rubbing it down with a wet terry cloth towel.



Ok thanks, I'll try this out tomorrow :woot:
 
charlesaferg said:
XMT180? I received this for free, and I'm not really impressed with what I've read. What is your application for this product? Do you use it as an LSP or do you use it on wheels, odd parts of a car, helmets, etc?



i used it a couple of times on my g/f's black explorer. Ease of use was pretty nice, smells good, crisp reflections. I just thought it looked good.



I was using it a third time and dropped it on the ground as I was applying it to my pc pad, so it went in the trash.



Cant really comment on the durability, as I tried out another wax about a month later after a wash



Want to sell yours cheap?
 
I got the XMT 180 from autogeek free also

-and it was the highlight of my day.



I actually like it more than some of the wax I paid for in that order...
 
GS4_Fiend said:
Meg. NXT FTW!





I cosign this as well. I just used NXT 2.0 liquid for the first time and it rained...and i can't tell that it rained...that water was just sliding right off of the car and everything man...well worth the ~$15 i spent. And the DCS polish is nice too. Everything went on easy and came off easy by hand. I'm quite pleased with the results.
 
Inexpensive:

ArmorAll leather conditioning spray. I don't understand all the hate for ArmorAll on the forum... They have some really nice leather care products... And their dashboard protectant works pretty well, and doesn't shine so much.

ONR

TurtleWax
 
HydroMan said:
Inexpensive:

ArmorAll leather conditioning spray. I don't understand all the hate for ArmorAll on the forum... They have some really nice leather care products... And their dashboard protectant works pretty well, and doesn't shine so much.

ONR

TurtleWax



I believe Armorall got a bad rap because it will eventually dry out and cause premature wear? It use to be real popular for a tire shine but people started seeing premature weather cracking in there tires.

I agree it does look great going on but it is the prolonged use that causes the damage.......
 
Best Inexpensive

CG Citrus Wash (cheaper than most soaps)

ONR

Majestic Solutions Super Green Stuff APC

Majestic Solutions Extraction Plus (32 oz bottle is 9 bucks...dilutes at strongest 10:1)



Most Overhyped/Expensive

Zymol Carbon

JetSeal 109

DG 901 (overhyped for me)
 
Best Inexpensive:



P21 Pure Paste Wax

DP Pad Cleaner

303 Protectant

ONR

#1 Lifter Pro Glass Cleaner

Woolite

Duragloss AW

Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo





Worst Expensive:



Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax

Zaino Z2, Z5

Lexol Conditioner/Cleaner

Natty's Red Wax

Eimann Fabrik Carpet Shampoo
 
irv said:
I believe Armorall got a bad rap because it will eventually dry out and cause premature wear? It use to be real popular for a tire shine but people started seeing premature weather cracking in there tires.

I agree it does look great going on but it is the prolonged use that causes the damage.......



AFAIK, if (and that's a pretty big "if" IMO) Armor All ever caused problems it was way back in the day and the product has since been reformulated.



Scottwax uses it all the time with no problems at all.
 
I don't know if this counts as "expensive" but it's marketed as premium at least:



P21S Bodywork Shampoo, 16 oz is about $11-$12.



This stuff really disappointed me, while the their wheel cleaner, polish and wax are excellent the car wash simply doesn't deliver. Especially compared to how much you pay for like a gallon of other stuff, or just plain dawn. Right now I use turtle wax car wash that I had laying around for a while and I prefer it to the P21S.



As for good cheap stuff, I stand by Windex + newspaper. I get my windows and mirrors flawless with that stuff. Literally to the point that you forget your window is closed!
 
Accumulator said:
In my case, I like BF on satin/matte/flat black...the sort of stuff on undercarriages and under the hood. Both the polish and the sealant seem great for that.



But on silver the BF darkens the look a *LOT*. The two identical Audis, parked side-by-side, looked like they had completely different paint codes when one had BF on it!



And for a general-use LSP I just don't think it has much going for it. It does give a good imitation of a carnauba look, but it didn't stay slick and beading, or resist UV exposure as well, as Collinite wax (tested on the outside 24/7 Volvo).



I switched the S8 from BF to UPP and I like that a lot better..might be a different story if I had a darker color though :nixweiss



Accumulator- are you referring to Blackfire Wet Diamond?



I find this very interesting in that you like UPP "a lot better". Personally, I think that they are the same product (with the BWD having polycharger in it) and they have a very similar look. :nixweiss
 
On topic:



I'm on a big OCW kick right now, so I will highly recommend it as a very high value/high performance product.
 
Rob Tomlin said:
Accumulator- are you referring to Blackfire Wet Diamond?



No, at least I don't *think* so. I'm referring to the BF All Finish Paint Protection. I got this a few years ago, came in a kit along with a precleaner.



I find this very interesting in that you like UPP "a lot better". Personally, I think that they are the same product (with the BWD having polycharger in it) and they have a very similar look. :nixweiss



Nah, the BF in question is *very* different from the UPP, not even remotely comparable looks-wise. That side-by-side comparison that showed how different BF looked would *never* make such an impression with any of the other LSPs I've used on those two cars. The UPP feels different too, slicker by quite a bit.



One of the reasons I like the UPP a lot better is that it doesn't make the two identical-paint cars look different. It was downright weird having them parked side-by-side and looking like different paint codes. Now they just look like two identical cars in slightly different condition.



But since my BF is so old, could be that the stuff they're selling these days is completely different.
 
Accumulator said:


But since my BF is so old, could be that the stuff they're selling these days is completely different.



It is different. I have a bottle of the old stuff (probably 3 years old?) and the new stuff. The new stuff is thick, light blue, and just a hair sticky feeling when you apply it to the paint. It darkens some, but not much. The old stuff was darker blue, considerably thinner (not Klasse thin), and very oily and slick when applied. That old stuff darkened paint more than anything else I've seen. More than NXT2. I've also noticed the old stuff separates fairly quickly in the bottle but I haven't seen that at all with the new formula.
 
Best inexpensive product(s):

Woolite and water mix for leather

APC and Woolite and HOT water for carpets

ZEP High Traffic Carpet Cleaner - $8.00 at Homedepot

IW845 and 476S

Glanz Wax (this stuff could fill in a black hole it does so much filling)



Worst Product(s)

NXT2

p21s 100% (hype hype hype, didn't like it)
 
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