Favorite Detailing Products

[droptop73]

What are your favorite detailing products? Just looking for some open discussion and education. It seems there are tons of "new" companies offering products. What's good and what's "snake oil"?

I've been using Maguires stuff forever. What works for you guys? I have a friend that swears by the Wizards stuff but it's not easy to find locally. 

How about any "ceramic" polishes? 

 

[Tnfastbk]

I have used Adams for several years. "Q" who used to be on here was a dealer and turned me on to it. We use most of the products on a regular basis  and have only been disappointed in one or two that we bought on a whim. We have actually been buying most of the products in the 5 gallon size.(Detailer, Car wash, and Waterless wash) We like it that much.

https://adamspolishes.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=5M-AdamsBrand-Exact&utm_adgroup=107744664196&utm_term=adam polishes&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-8zo79mx7AIVBa_ICh2OGAJ2EAAYASAAEgLWA_D_BwE

I also posted a link to another product we have been using for a few years now and really like that it can be applied in the direct sunlight with no issues. Its also 100% made in the USA.

https://www.ultimateshowglow.com/

 

[MKSpeedlab]

I have a little big of a mix of products in my detailing cabinet. I have the variety of Meguirs stuff and have been adding a bunch more to that. Here is a little list of what I have been using.

Meguirs - Used a few of their waxes and their quick detailer. Had good success with their 3 step polish. Used their leather cleaner/conditioner.

Carpro - I use their IronX and TarX and picked up their TriX and IronX soap but havent tried it yet. (Note, if you ever use IronX use it outside. It says Cherry scented, but I have never smelt cherries like that lol. Also used their FlyBy30 on glass and it did great and Eraser to just clean paint(works great removing emblem adhesives and anything sticky on paint)

Griots - I just picked up their G9 Polisher, and used their Correcting and Perfecting Creams.

Chemical Guys - I like their Citrus wash and gloss, have used their Allclean+, I use their VRP for tire shine, and used their clay bar and clay bar luber. Also have used their speed wipe and it worked well. 

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I do not wash my cars with running water ever. I do not use and soap so the wax stays on. I use clean water and micro fiber towels and just wipe the car down. Has never been buffed and has been waxed 2 times in 38 years. You do not need to if you do not use soap. I wipe the interior with light amount of lysol in water not much. I then wipe with dry towels and apply Lexol leather preserver. NEVER NEVER use Armorall. It will turn the material milky over time and you can never paint things like dash and console due to silicone in it. I have used the same paste wax for 60 years. Collinite Double Coat Wax, you can find at auto parts store or on Amazon. It is of course a paste Carnuba wax. I think all of the so called Ceramic coatings are Snake Oil for sure. This is how my car looks today. I also use a leather preserver and Kiwi shoe polish on my vinyl roof that is original. On carpet I use the Blue Coral upholstery cleaner. If you have fuzzy carpet you can take a propane torch and light and wave across and melt the fuzz off. The good tire cleaner is gone. Westalls Bleach White was bought and changed formula. I had a 1/2 gallon container of the original and something fell on it and lost it all last week. Some links.
https://www.collinite.com/product/no-476s-super-doublecoat/
http://www.lexol.com/
I think people wash their cars way too much, makes them feel like they are going something. I wears the paint out and feeds the rust in all the cracks and hidden places, THINK ABOUT IT.

 

[Spike Morelli]

Well, I do wash my car. Living here in Los Angeles, the mild weather allows me to park outside 365 days a year. I'd love to park in the garage, but I've got two drag boats in there, and there's no room. So, being outside, it gets dusty when it's windy , it gets wet when it rains, it's in the sun when it's 100 degrees out . It is my only car for the last 30 years now and gets driven every day, to and from work, as well as serving as my tow vehicle for the boats. It is not "baby-ed", but I maintain her better than most.

When I wash it, I use a bucket of Zip-Wax liquid car wash, after completely soaking the car's exterior with the hose. I dry it with any one of a huge lot of old bathtowels, kept for car and boat drying. Now and again, I'll dress the tires with any one of a half dozen products in the cabinet designed for tire dressing, including , if that's what I have, Armor-All. Except for those times right after driving in the rain, my car pretty much always looks as good as anyone's. I have used a number of different waxes over the years, and the car gets waxed a handfull of times each year. Even the drag boats get waxed, EVERY time they're taken to an event. Crazy? Like a fox....

Don't be afraid to go the extra mile, or put extra effort into your maintenance, but don't be afraid to use it or get it dirty either, just clean it after.

I'll park my Mach right next to any one's machine any day of the week and be just as proud of it's appearance.

Here is where it sits, in the driveway. Looks like the tires could use some "tire shine" come to think of it....

 

[Cleveland Crush]

I do not wash my cars with running water ever. I do not use and soap so the wax stays on. I use clean water and micro fiber towels and just wipe the car down. Has never been buffed and has been waxed 2 times in 38 years. You do not need to if you do not use soap. I wipe the interior with light amount of lysol in water not much. I then wipe with dry towels and apply Lexol leather preserver. NEVER NEVER use Armorall. It will turn the material milky over time and you can never paint things like dash and console due to silicone in it. I have used the same paste wax for 60 years. Collinite Double Coat Wax, you can find at auto parts store or on Amazon. It is of course a paste Carnuba wax. I think all of the so called Ceramic coatings are Snake Oil for sure. This is how my car looks today. I also use a leather preserver and Kiwi shoe polish on my vinyl roof that is original. On carpet I use the Blue Coral upholstery cleaner. If you have fuzzy carpet you can take a propane torch and light and wave across and melt the fuzz off. The good tire cleaner is gone. Westalls Bleach White was bought and changed formula. I had a 1/2 gallon container of the original and something fell on it and lost it all last week. Some links.
https://www.collinite.com/product/no-476s-super-doublecoat/
http://www.lexol.com/
I think people wash their cars way too much, makes them feel like they are going something. I wears the paint out and feeds the rust in all the cracks and hidden places, THINK ABOUT IT.

View attachment 46357

I like that 3/4 vinyl top

 

[Big Red Mach 1]

Maguire's Quick Detailer and microfiber towels mostly. I also keep the car covered in the garage when not driving it to help keep dust off of it. I only drive mine once or twice a month though at most.

 

[MAD IRISHMAN]

I've used a plethora of washes, waxes and polishes over the years. Maguire's has always had decent products. I used to love Classic Car Wax. But I've been impressed with some of Wizard's products in recent years. Their Mystic Nano Wax is awesome in keeping a shine for a long period of time. It's just about as good as the Wizard's Supreme Seal that got the heave-ho from the E.P.A. some years ago. Don't need much to do a vehicle, easy to apply and if removed with an orbital DA polisher leaves a slick tenacious surface. Their Supreme Seal is great when applying to recently painted surfaces and leaves a nice finish as well.

 

[73 Mach 1 4 me]

I do not wash my cars with running water ever. I do not use and soap so the wax stays on. I use clean water and micro fiber towels and just wipe the car down. Has never been buffed and has been waxed 2 times in 38 years. You do not need to if you do not use soap. I wipe the interior with light amount of lysol in water not much. I then wipe with dry towels and apply Lexol leather preserver. NEVER NEVER use Armorall. It will turn the material milky over time and you can never paint things like dash and console due to silicone in it. I have used the same paste wax for 60 years. Collinite Double Coat Wax, you can find at auto parts store or on Amazon. It is of course a paste Carnuba wax. I think all of the so called Ceramic coatings are Snake Oil for sure. This is how my car looks today. I also use a leather preserver and Kiwi shoe polish on my vinyl roof that is original. On carpet I use the Blue Coral upholstery cleaner. If you have fuzzy carpet you can take a propane torch and light and wave across and melt the fuzz off. The good tire cleaner is gone. Westalls Bleach White was bought and changed formula. I had a 1/2 gallon container of the original and something fell on it and lost it all last week. Some links.
https://www.collinite.com/product/no-476s-super-doublecoat/
http://www.lexol.com/
I think people wash their cars way too much, makes them feel like they are going something. I wears the paint out and feeds the rust in all the cracks and hidden places, THINK ABOUT IT.

View attachment 46357

I like that vinyl top I had one one my first Mach 1.

 

[73inNH]

Leather Honey for leather. Apply on a hot day. Let the car bake in the sun for a little bit with Leather Honey on the leather. Wipe off. Soft leather . . .

 

[Idaho Chris]

After reading a paste wax comparison test last year I gave the winner a try:

Turtle Wax Graphene Paste Wax. I'm impressed. Expensive, but what isn't these days?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X1SX52...6GJY&amp&sprefix=ceramic+++graphene+paste+wax
I also like that Turtle Wax is a family owned USA business.

 

[Cleveland Crush]

After reading a paste wax comparison test last year I gave the winner a try:

Turtle Wax Graphene Paste Wax. I'm impressed. Expensive, but what isn't these days?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X1SX52...6GJY&amp&sprefix=ceramic+++graphene+paste+wax
I also like that Turtle Wax is a family owned USA business.

Try the TW "spray graphine" also. Excellent product.

 

[TheDude]

This product is fairly new to me, but living in So Cal, we are currently not allowed to wash our cars in our driveways. That's a new one as we've always been able to in past droughts as long as we didn't let the water run.

Seeing as there's no way I'm going to drive my car through a car wash, tried some no rinse wash - Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine. I've seen this stuff used for years by detailers but even still I've been a real skeptic and never thought I'd try it.

With the washing restrictions not going anywhere, thought I'd give it a try. The paint on my car is bad enough that I could use steel wool on it and it's probably going to make it better. But used this stuff on several other cars now as well and I'm impressed. If the car isn't terribly dirty and you follow the directions, it does indeed seem to clean very well and seems safe on the finish. Sort of amazing / weird to wash a whole car with like 2 gallons of water.

If the car is really dirty or has a lot of stuck on crud, it's more than this stuff can handle. It's seems to be more about lifting the dirt, and lubricating the surface so it's not soap.

Now I'm also finding this to be pretty handy for a number of different things. Like I used it to rinse off my car cover. Did part with just a hose and part with this stuff in a sprayer and it actually was getting more dirt off then blasting it with a hose.

I've also used it to rinse off the engine compartment. It's not a degreaser or even soap as I mentioned so it won't get rid of grease and oil, but really quickly cleaned up the engine bay in just a few seconds without soaking everything and I think better than water alone.

I can see now that I'll be using this for cleaning stuff around the shop and house and not just on the car. I also see that people use it as a clay bar lubricant and a bunch of other uses for detailing. A little goes a long way as well.

Anyway, not a miracle product that's going to change you're lives, but seems like something worth trying even if you aren't under a drought restriction.

 

[DAverkamp]

I’m looking for the best product to whiten up my WRL on the brand new Radial TA’s that are turning brown (it is not brake dust) and also the best product to get the chunks of rubber off my lower rear quarters…

 

[tpj71mach]

I only use Meguiar's products I have been using them since I worked my way through college detailing cars. I have recently switched from #34 Final Inspection to the ceramic detailer and am happy with that and a Microfiber for cleaning. Like a lot of the guys who have responded I don't wash my cars they never get dirty enough for soap and water. I like to avoid pouring water over them unless necessary. As far as raised white letters I have always used Bleche-Wite tire cleaner and a collar brush on the raise white letters to bring the white up and then a longer softer bristle scrub brush for the rest of the sidewall. The best way to whiten a raised white letter is to soak the tire with Bleche-Wite and then pressure wash at a close distance this saves a lot of scrubbing and does a better job than you can with a brush. My Rubicon has raised BFG white letter tires and that's is how I keep them white. Meguiars #205 polish is the best I have found for light scratches and general cleaning of paint before wax.

 

[Idaho Chris]

I’m looking for the best product to whiten up my WRL on the brand new Radial TA’s that are turning brown (it is not brake dust) and also the best product to get the chunks of rubber off my lower rear quarters…

I've tried scrubbing with every product under the sun. I've used all kinds of brushes including wire grill brushes. They clean up a bit, and you can get the road grime off them, but getting them to look as good a new was impossible.

In the old days I had good luck with Bleche-Wite, but the formula was changed some years ago to make it more environmentally friendly (thus less effective) and it just doesn't give the same result.

What I have found that works well it to soak a rag in Lacquer thinner and scrub each letter. Yeah, a little tedious but it does work.

 

[DAverkamp]

I’ve researched issues with these tires as they “are a staple” in quality minus the oils seeping through into the lettering. I did bleach wite them last week with descent results but I’m not into having to rinse and repeat every other week as I enjoy driving her instead of looking at her so I may either attempt to seal the letters with something…. (Researching) and hand paint them, or just turn them inside out.

 

[72MustangSprint]

I’m looking for the best product to whiten up my WRL on the brand new Radial TA’s that are turning brown (it is not brake dust) and also the best product to get the chunks of rubber off my lower rear quarters…

I use Wesley’s bleach white for raised white letter tires. Works great

 

[DAverkamp]

I use Wesley’s bleach white for raised white letter tires. Works great

I will give it a whirl. TY

 

[dees71mach1]

I recently washed my car and discovered after I have water spots on the matte black hood. I have never had water spots as I rinse quickly but this is the first time I washed at my house and evidently the water from the outside faucet is very hard. When washing at the car wash, I bucket/hand wash and use a sponge (no car wash brush). I have used McKee's 37 Matte Black Cleaner & Protector which does a good job of cleaning/dust removal, etc., but it did not remove these water spots. I appreciate any feedback, remedies, products you have used to remove these spots. Thanks!