[s-cars] What are your favorite auto detailing products?

[Taka Mizutani]

Good and bad detailing products? Okay, this will be a long list:

Bad products:
Armor-All- never liked how it leaves a greasy finish, attracts dirt and dust
like crazy and I still wonder
if the claims are true that it dissolves compounds in plastics that can make
the plastic more prone
to fading and cracking when the Armor-All is not used.

Cleaner waxes- maybe I've never found a good one, but I've never had
satisfactory results with a cleaner
wax- all of the ones I've tried (going back to Rain Dance, Turtle Wax,
Meguiar's red bottle, Meguiar's tan
bottle, cheapo Zymol and others I've already forgotten) have left swirl
marks and other finish defects.

Turtle Wax bug and tar remover- never worked well to remove bugs and tar in
my experience, messy to use
(thin consistency but thick enough that it's goopy and hard to clean up).

Mother's Back to Black- deceptively, it works well initially but never keeps
stuff black- fades to grey quickly.

Acid-based wheel cleaners- never liked them, caustic vapors and tend to make
clearcoated wheels cloudy
looking permanently, never worked as well as I'd want and require very quick
use and rinsing before you permanently
damage your wheels.


Good products:
P21S wheel cleaner- not the most efficient (I've often had to use a ton of
the stuff for heavily soiled wheels), but I've
never had finish issues caused by it and it works fairly well, although it's
very expensive.

3M Imperial Hand Glaze and Imperial Machine Glaze- this stuff works really
well to hide fine scratches and minor
finish imperfections, allows you to have a really nice finish after waxing.
Use this stuff prior to waxing and it will
make the surface noticeably smoother and I've noticed a big difference when
skipping this step and just waxing the
car.

P21S Gloss Enhancing Paint Cleanser- more abrasive than the 3M glaze (which
is more of a filler) but can help
get swirl marks out without resorting to stuff like the 3M fine cut polish.

Pinnacle and Pinnacle Souveran wax- nice paste wax, smells like pineapple or
coconut or some tropical fruits,
a little tricky to remove if you overdo it, does not leave any white residue
on rubber or plastic if you "miss" and get
some wax on there. Allows for a really nice deep shine on a black car, the
downside is that it doesn't last very long-
a few days to a couple weeks depending on the sun and the overall weather.
Perfect if you're going to a car show, though.

P21S wax- not as nice as the Pinnacle, but much more durable and a little
cheaper. Nice nice shine.

Vinylex- used on dashboards and door trim, I've liked the results- makes the
interior pieces look brand new if you put
some on sparingly and then let it sit and buff with a dry cloth. Not too
glossy of a finish and doesn't attract nearly
as much dust and dirt as Armor-All. I don't know the long-term implications
of using this stuff, though. Terrible for tires,
though- it does not last at all anywhere outside.

303 Protectant- this stuff lasts a bit longer for stuff like rubber door
seals and convertible tops, but I would not use it for
a convertible top- I like this stuff as an alternative to Vinylex.

Lexol- old standby for leather seats, a bit finicky to use and impossible to
use when it's cold (the leather really needs to be
warm for it to really get into the leather).

Meguiar's Tire Dressing- I don't know if this is still current product- it
lasts a long time- smells like grape, comes with a
foam applicator, works really well if you want a "traditional" bright shine
on your tires. I accidentally did my summer tires
before the winter season, the tires still look like they were just dressed
when I put them on a few weeks ago.

Porter Cable 7424 random orbital buffer- got mine from a local tool store
(one great thing about north Jersey) for a very
reasonable $120, works great for cutting down detailing time. I only use it
for the glaze stage normally and will use it if
I need to use a polish for some reason. I'll still hand-wax the car (since
I'm using a paste wax usually) but I've never been
able to duplicate the results by _not_ using the buffer for the glaze stage.
I've used the buffer for glaze on several different
cars and people have commented on the shine (two black cars, a silver car, a
pearl white car to start off with) being incredibly
deep and glossy.

I'll leave my list at that- I could expound for quite a long time about
detailing. I've forgotten about the clay bar, some of
the cleaning products for really nasty dirt, etc.

Taka