Becciasm's Breakdown: NOVA Product Review

[Becciasm]

An Everyman's guide to detailing products.

Disclaimer: This is a quickfire first experience review of several detailing products and tools used at the NOVA team detail event hosted by JSou (Jake). I am not a professional car-care whatever, nor do I play one on TV. These reviews are quickfire, meaning without the same level of detail by Cee-Dog, roshan, or other successful reviews here on these boards.

I had the fortune to use several detailing tools that I've often read about and read praises about, but yet had not experienced for myself. Below is a brief breakdown of my experiences and feedback:

Nanoskin AutoScrub Medium Grade Wash Mitt

Thanks to Rob for providing this item. I had an opportunity both on the black mustang and silver charger to use the medium grade mitt.

At first, there was confusion as to how to properly use this towel... is it a wash mitt or just a clay bar replacement? the instructions mentioned that it is a "rugged microfiber mitt with one side finished in a high-tech rubber polymer coating that removes above surface contaminants like paint overspray, bugs, tar, rail dust and industrial fall out – as you wash your vehicle!"

This didn't sound 100% correct to any of us - why would you 'clay' your vehicle before washing? The consensus came down to using the non-rubberized side for washing, rinse the mitt, then come back to the same area with the rubberized side for decontamination. Then move onto the next area.

When we had gotten to use the mitt, the vehicles had been washed, so the mitt was used in the clay bar step.

As a direct clay bar replacement, this mitt is amazing. with a few passes of the hand, the panel is decontaminated - this was 'verified' by the controversial BAGGIE TEST!!! Not a scientific metric, no, but there was a definite reduction in the contaminates that one could 'feel' through the baggie after using the mitt.

It was a bit difficult, for me, to feel through the mitt any surface contaminates, but I would assume after repeated use of the tool that this 'feeling' will develop over time.

Nanoskin Autoscrub: :xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs:/5

Nanoskin Rain Prep Glass Activator & Cleaner
+
Nanoskin Rain Glass Sealant

We used the Nanoskin glass cleaner and rain sealant on 1/2 of the rear glass of the charger, just as a test - Jake is going to monitor the performance of the combo. I also applied this combo to the windshield of my Escape later on that night, so I can give feedback as the days go by.

Glass prep: "Nanoskin Rain Prep Glass Activator & Cleaner is highly concentrated. A dilution ratio of 1 part concentrate to 7 parts water makes Rain Prep one of the most cost-effective glass cleaners available. What’s more, Nanoskin Rain Prep doesn’t streak and it resists smearing"

It is called "Glass Activator and Cleaner", so the assumption is made that this may have some critical interaction with the Sealant to help bond better. Don't know about that so much, as the glass was very squeaky clean without hardly anything noticeable left behind, at all. Comparable 'squeaky cleanness' as noticed by a popular Meguiars product to be named later in this review.

When diluted to the proper ratio - 1 part product + 7 parts water, the cleaner is very effective - it was able to cut through eastern shore MD and VA bugs without issue on a hot sunny day after hours of driving. No smearing, no streaking - that claim is confirmed.

As far as one of the most cost effective? $7.99 for the 16 oz concentrate, makes a total of one gallon of cleaner when diluted.

So $7.99 a gallon. Not bad. But far from most cost effective, as D120 is $19.99 per gallon of concentrate, but makes 11 gal of product... so $1.82/gallon.

Glass Sealant: Ongoing review of this one. The application was straightforward enough, just spray it on glass, wipe around, buff off till dry. repeat for complete coverage.

BUT, how is that ANY different from the more common spray rain repellents out there? Stoners, Rain X, Rain Clear, etc.. ? Not much. At $12.99 for 16 oz, the performance better really outshine Stoner Invisible Glass Cleaner With Rain Repellent, auto glass cleaner, rain repellent, rain repel, glass sealer, windshield glass cleaner @ $5.99 for the same size.

I'll have to do a 50/50 of Nanoskin vs Rain X spray ($50 vs Thrifty Roshan? ) as a comparison.

Nanoskin Sealant system: :xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs:/5, mostly for $$$

More to come... Stay tuned!

 

[Caleb@ImpeccableImage]

Nice review so far. Sorry I couldnt make it out this time but Id like to come to the next if there is ever one.

 

[ihaveacamaro]

Not sure I deserve to be clumped with Coreys reviews, those are the gold standard lol!

Sounds like you had fun! I've used the wash mitt once and found it to not have the same level of feedback the towel gives, so I would agree with you there.

A glass sealant thrifty vs fifty huh? It could happen!

I liked your Quickfire reviews, I'm sure you guys used more products, you should put up some more!

 

[Becciasm]

Not sure I deserve to be clumped with Coreys reviews, those are the gold standard lol!

Sounds like you had fun! I've used the wash mitt once and found it to not have the same level of feedback the towel gives, so I would agree with you there.

A glass sealant thrifty vs fifty huh? It could happen!

I liked your Quickfire reviews, I'm sure you guys used more products, you should put up some more!

Hey man, your reviews are in depth and to the point.

I've got more in store, just need time to get them from my head to the keys.

 

[Becciasm]

Continued..

Meguiars DA Microfiber Cutting Discs, cutting pads, compounding pads
We Are Car Care -- Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detailing Supplies, Car Buffers & Car Accessories Store

I got the opportunity to tryout the 3” Meg’s MF cutting pad on the rear surfaces of the challenger – bumper, light surrounds and rear trunk. I opted to use the GG 3” polisher in lieu of using a 3” BP on the GG 6” (of which we had 3 on hand as far as traditional DA’s go )

First, I have to state that compared to using the 3” GG DA with foam pads (LC, even GG Orange pads), the machine didn’t have the power, it seemed, even on speed 6, to overcome the ‘grabbyness’ (is that a word?) of the MF cutting pads.

These pads may be too much for the 3” DA to handle – I’m pretty confident that better correction of these areas would have been achieved with the smaller backing plate on the larger machine and would be a better machine to properly document the power of the Microfiber. We’ll save that note for the next detail session.

As far as using the MF pad itself – I can’t comment about its correction ability (see above), but I wanted to comment on pad cleaning. We did not have compressed air on hand, a great time-saving pad cleaning option, but I didn’t feel that we exactly needed it as we were not on a time crunch.

A pad brush, I believe the Meguiar’s pad brush was the one on hand, seemed up to the task of clearing out spent product and ‘refluffing’ the fibers of the pad. When finished, a few squirts of pad cleaner (1 scoop DP Pad rejuvenator powder and 32 oz water), brush, and blot dry worked to really get the pad back to nearly new condition.

Chemicals used: M105, D300, Fixer. I can’t properly comment on the effectiveness of these 3 vs each other due to the sub-par power of the GG 3”, above.

From watching others use the 6” pads on the full size Griots, I’m going to get a set of these in various sizes in the near future for sure. They are truth. rops:

 

[Becciasm]

Flex XC 3401, FLEX Orbital Polisher,flex XC 3401 VRG dual-action polisher,flex XC3401VRG,Dual Action polisher,FLEX buffer
Rupes LHR 21ES Big Foot Random Orbital Polisher, rupes car polisher
We Are Car Care -- Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detailing Supplies, Car Buffers & Car Accessories Store

First off, my only polisher experience up to this point has been with the PC 7424 and GG polishers.

Flex 3401: Wow. Absolutely Wow. :xyxthumbs: I was truly blown away at how effortless this tool is to use.

Rupes LHR 21ES: Wow. Absolutely Wow, again. :xyxthumbs: I was truly blown away at how effortless this tool is to use.

Makita 9227: Holy Crap!!! I posted a good breakdown of my Makita experience here: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...irginia-team-detail-anyone-23.html#post902391


As far as the Flex and Rupes go, I’d say they are on nearly a level playing field when talking about stepping up to a 'next level' machine from a traditional DA tool.

The most impressive thing about each was that neither produced as excessive a vibration or noise level as the GG produces, yet both were able to cut through 2000 grit sanding marks (LC orange, 105) without hesitation or issue.

The most frustrating thing about the Rupes was that the 6” bp was factory mounted so tightly that Rob (XTitan1) had to break out a socket set and breaker bar to get enough leverage to release the hex screw and change to the smaller bp.

The soft start of the Rupes is something to get used to but that didn’t take long.

As far as performance -it’s almost like comparing fast and loud American muscle cars to the precision tuned German and Italian automobiles (I know, I know, GG is made in China... shut up) - both can get you where you want to be very quickly, in totally different styles, but all will give you one hell of a ride! :dblthumb2:

The Flex 3401 was also extremely easy to use for me. I didn't experience the ‘walking’ that others have mentioned, due to the forced rotation of the pad, and it seemed that on the higher machine speeds, the pad ‘glided’ over the surface. I didn't feel that I had to exert any additional force to keep the machine from walking off on me (Do I even lift Bro?), just what was needed for the task at hand. Even on a horizontal roof panel I purposely let up the pressure on the machine and didn't experience any unwanted movement.

All three machines were comfortable to used and very comfortable in my hands -my hands didn't feel like they would fall off from vibration like with the Griot's – and I didn't feel like I had to grip the tool as hard as the GG (insert sexual euphemisms here).

These tools may be an answer for those that have pain or extreme discomfort when detailing. If you have discomfort, and haven't had a chance to try either the Flex 3401 or the Rupes, see about finding someone local to you to give them a go!

I hope Rob (Xtitan1) gets a review up here on the Flex, because he was in command of that machine for the Charger. I would love to hear his thoughts!

to be continued... Hopefully people are getting some enjoyment and knowledge from my experiences.

Please, if anyone can confirm my findings, or can share more experience on the products/tools used, please feel free! I'm just one man and these are my humble observations. thanks!

 

[Becciasm]

Nice review so far. Sorry I couldnt make it out this time but Id like to come to the next if there is ever one.

We'll look into doing one locally in Hampton Roads. It is good to put faces and personalities to the screen names!

 

[sn0w]

We'll look into doing one locally in Hampton Roads. It is good to put faces and personalities to the screen names!

Nice reviews so far, I don't mind a trip down south to the beach :xyxthumbs:

 

[Becciasm]

Post Count:

It was remarked off hand during the session that I have a lot of posts on this forum (not really, but that was the comment).

While that's all fine and good, all that it means that I've been on the forum for a minute and have posted a lot of dumb, newbie questions (and still do) as i've grown with the forum and the detailing community. I've also tried to give as much encouragement and praise to those that post their issues/reviews/write-ups, as that helps build the community.

It led to a small discussion on what post count truly means. Not all that have a lot of posts actually have a lot of meaningful or helpful information - a lot of that could be fluff like :nomore: or :iagree: or Feed back please oricture: or whathaveyou...

That's not a bad thing at all, and i'm as 'guilty' as the next person when it comes to posts like that.

A lot of a person's post count can come from encouragement or 'off-topic' posts or 'thank you' posts. All which are great for building up the community, but some folks with 'smaller' post counts can often be posting just photos and write-ups of their work, which can speak volumes over :welcome: and :goodpost:

The 'count' is not the important thing, it's the contents of the post - be it discussions (of which there are a lot of excellent discussions and debates), questions, reviews, write-ups, introductions and welcomes, sales , etc.



Advice to anybody - read everything. then figure out where the poster is coming from. then let what you read sink in. then try things out. Then determine for yourself what works and what doesn't work FOR YOU.

 

[Becciasm]

(flame suit on)

 

[Becciasm]

Meguiars Black Wax, black wax for cars

In the ongoing ever evolving one-step AIO battle, Meguiar’s introduced two contenders: Black Wax and White Wax. We were able to try out some Black Wax on sn0w’s mustang nearly as he was pulling out of the driveway to go and meet his family

(Sorry for holding you up – hopefully you didn’t catch too much flack for it!).

We were able to get a small test spot in though.

We applied Black Wax with the 3401 and a white LC flat pad. Rob has images and video of the test spot, but from what we could tell, even with a partial IPA wipe to attempt to remove the fillers, it seemed to have a decent amount of correction for an AIO, removing the majority of the spider web swirls that were present, but the 'stronger' swirls and RIDS still existed.

The sun shots show the true correction ability, but it was still dramatic and probably be satisfactory to the customers that just want ‘something’ done, but not a full correction.

Black Wax: :xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs:/5

My Escape is black, and has more swirls and paint defects than I would care to have. Stemming from this weekend, if I don’t have the time for a full correction, I’ll pit Black Wax vs Blacklight in the Ultimate AIO Showdown of the CENTURY! century! century! century! century!…..

haha.. no, but in all seriousness I will be able to 50/50 a panel and test the properties of both vs each other.

 

[ihaveacamaro]

I would be interested in seeing the blacklight vs black wax aio comparison I'm surprised more people haven't commented on this thread.

Some very good info in here especially for those starting out and trying to find out what to get!

 

[xtitan1]

Yeah I think the first AIO I will buy will be the Meguiars Black Wax AIO after seeing it in person.

As far as a Flex 3401 review, I don't really know what I'm talking about, so I guess I will do it from that perspective:

Just to refresh your memory, the Flex 3401 is a dual action direct drive polisher. The dual action means it rotates around its axis and at the same time its axis is rotating around in a circle. That cuts down on the likelihood of burning the paint from staying in one place too long, which is possible with a rotary. However, most dual action polishers rely on inertia to keep the pad spinning (imagine a car on a lift, and then spinning the tire with your hand), while direct drive means there are actually gears locking the motor to the rotation of the pad (imagine an old ship's wheel with all the pegs all around). Obviously the second type has more ability to keep the "wheel" (i.e. your polishing pad) turning in the face of increased resistance from pushing down on the polisher harder. That translates to more aggressive cutting power if you need it, which means it will take less time to get the job done in certain situations where that is needed.

The Flex comes stock with a 5.5" backing plate, which they claim is good for 6.5" LC pads, but I highly recommend that if you get a 3401 you also get LC's aftermarket backing plate system:
FLEX XC3401 Changeable Backing Plate System

The stock backing plate has gears built right into the back of it, so it's just like putting in a plate on a normal DA, really. The LC aftermarket plates are two pieces, one piece is kind of an intermediary and mates with the gears, and then the actual backing plate mates to that with a male and female slot configuration. I think this was necessary since the 4" plate would probably be too small to fit the gears correctly.

The two plates you get in the LC system are 4" and 6". The 6" would obviously do you a lot better for the 6.5" pads. However, many people including Mike Phillips highly recommend the 5" LC Hybrid pads for the 3401 on the 4" plate, saying they are a great match for each other.

This is what we used at the meet. We at one point tried to put a 5.5" pad on the polisher, but being the 4" was too small and the 5.5" plate was too large (the plate went right up to the edge of the pad, so it could work if you were super cautious, but I wouldn't recommend it).

My personal rule of thumb for the Flex seems to be 5-6 for compounding (making sure the pad is primed, and then product is spread over the section on 2), 4-5 for polishing (same priming and spreading technique as compounding), 3-4 for product application (I don't prime here, but maybe that's a mistake, I also don't bother going on 2 and just immediately start spreading on 3-4).

The interesting and perhaps counter-intuitive thing about the Flex is that it gets MORE controllable as you increase the speed. I've tried one-handing it, but it kind of needs to be controlled from the handle and the bell at the same time. The hand on the bell is what keeps the tool down on the surface and the hand on the handle is what guides the machine around as well as makes sure the pad is flat.

You can cause the machine to walk on you if the pad isn't flat, but it's not a very violent walk on any speed including 6.

Again, I've never used a polisher before in my life and just bought the Flex 3401 to jump in with. I used it by myself with no guidance for my first time and did an entire car with it no problem. Keeping the pad flat enough to not walk it was no problem, so I wouldn't worry about that aspect of the tool. If you somehow put such uneven pressure on the pad to walk it, you probably would want to know you were doing that anyway, so it's actually kind of a peace of mind thing that lets you know that your pressure is even as you work.

So considering I have no other experience with polishers, all I can say is this thing does exactly what it's supposed to and was easy for someone who has never used a polisher before to use without instruction.

One last note, if you are purchasing this tool, Mike Phillips recommends using Air Tool Lubricant (probably any brand will do) and just lightly lubing up the felt ring on the tool where the backing plate rides.

I hope this's what you meant Beccia lol

 

[Becciasm]

rops: Indeed it is Rob. It's an honest 'first-time' user view of the tool.

As much as I value the write-ups and insight of the pros and experienced reviewers out there, for me it is good perspective from the other side of the community, which we don't always get:

How will joe-below-average (me) find the tools/products for the first time?

I can then gauge my new experiences more directly with other 'new' users than say against a person with 20 years behind a polisher, and don't have to feel too embarrassed, if you will, from asking the dumb questions, knowing that others of my level are experiencing the same things.

Pros: please keep posting as your write-ups and reviews help guide the inexperienced such as myself towards using these products for the first time!

 

[Becciasm]

Bump for the late crowd

Sent from my VS840 4G using AG Online

 

[SON1C]

Alliteration
Awesome break down, will post more tomorrow

 

[JSou]

Nanoskin AutoScrub Medium Grade Wash Mitt

It definitely cut down time but it was really hard for me to feel a difference without going over it with the baggie test again. After a couple passes I would dunk it back in the wash bucket and go over the area again.

I'm so used to traditional clay and folding it, so it was hard for me to tell when to rinse off the mitt back in the bucket.

I will be adding it to my arsenal but will not completely weed out clay.

Nanoskin Rain Prep Glass Activator & Cleaner
+
Nanoskin Rain Glass Sealant

We did a 50/50 as Steve posted. The glass cleaner, easy to use, easy to dilute, and was up there in performance compared to my all time favorite Meg's D120. I will say that nothing has beat a steamer for cleaning glass for me though.

The glass sealant was easy to apply, easy to wipe off. I will post pics the next time it rains to show beading action and a video of how it sheets off water with a water bottle.

Meguiars DA Microfiber Cutting Discs, cutting pads, compounding pads
We Are Car Care -- Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detailing Supplies, Car Buffers & Car Accessories Store

Meguiars Microfiber Correction Compound, polishing compound, paint correction

Can't be without these! I enjoyed using this with D300 while polishing out the Charger.
Easy to clean the pads and brush up the fingers to continue working time.

The D300 was awesome at keeping the dusting levels down.


Flex XC 3401, FLEX Orbital Polisher,flex XC 3401 VRG dual-action polisher,flex XC3401VRG,Dual Action polisher,FLEX buffer

Rupes LHR 21ES Big Foot Random Orbital Polisher, rupes car polisher
We Are Car Care -- Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detailing Supplies, Car Buffers & Car Accessories Store

The forced rotation is a very nice feature on the 3401. Never experienced the "walking" as some refer to. Slow arm speed and let the machine do it's thing and those key marks were gone! I will be adding this to my arsenal as well in the next few weeks.

Rupes 21! Big stroke. So smooth. lol. Showed the guys how smooth it was by letting it run on the Charger with no hands. Just a fine tuned machine, you barely have to put much pressure on it. Again, let the machine do the work while you are guiding it.

As of right now, I am partial to the Flex only because if it's power. I love the MF pads, so I will not be letting the Rupes leave my hands. I also hear from very experienced members here that the Flex does not work well with the MF pads.

I would be torn if I could only buy one polisher.

Meguiars Black Wax, black wax for cars

Nice product that did what suggested. Would love other comparisons but we did not get a chance to compare to other AIO's right away. I had BF TPnS on deck but even using both...I can't really give a fair comparison.

Dupray Tosca Steamer

Worth the money? Maybe. Does it put in work? Hell yes. I would love to have one for interior work as well as household cleaning. Jeremy brought this over and it was a pleasure to work with. You can see in the video when he did the floormats. He wasn't even working on it that long and it came out great. Compared to my Wagner steamer...this machine blows it out of the water but it's also 10x the cost.

Son1c's Homebrewed Carnauba Wax Prototype 36.

Drew brought it over and we had the chance to apply it to the Charger and GTI. It has a buttery smooth texture and a nice citrus smell to it. Very easy application as a little goes along way. Cure time was about 15 minutes Drew said.

We wiped it off with no effort. The cars were already looking great after the paint correction and IPA wipe but nubas always seem to have that nice glowy and deep effect.

We applied it to glass, wheels, even trim!

Currently monitoring and testing it's durability. I want to see how it'll be if I left it to cure for maybe...oh let's say 45 minutes. I received a test pot from Son1c wednesday. Update to come on my own daily driver.

Dodo Juice Basics of Bling Wax-Safe Shampoo, Dodo Juice Auto Shampoo, car wash, Dodo Juice Shampoo

The soap was very slick and sudsy. It claims that it will not strip wax or sealants. We did not get a chance to try this as both cars we worked on were being corrected.

The price is kind've up there if you calculate the dilution ratios. The cleaning ability, the lubricity reminds me of a rinseless mixed in the wash bucket. Once my gallon of BFWD shampoo is gone I may venture out to DoDo's soaps for maintenance washing.

Lake Country Hydrotech 5" CYAN pad

Will never buy one again, I used two NEW pads. Primed them correctly, applied sufficient product and I started to notice "sponge like particles" on the paint. Not even 2 minutes of polishing the side of the charger on the Rupes 21 on speed 4..it started falling apart.

I then thought...maybe it doesn't work well with the Rupes let's try the Griot's 6. Turned it down to speed 3 on the GG6 and moved to another panel...same result.

The guys were dumbfounded when I was cussing up a storm and expressing my inner hatefulness to the pad. They are witnesses to what happened. I wish I would've got a pic of it or video before cutting them up and using them for metal cleaning and tire dressers.

Very disappointed. However, I have no beef with the tangerine or crimson. They are my go to after MF pad cutting.

Griot's Garage Wheel Cleaner, Griots Garage Wheel Cleaner, wheel cleaning

First product we broke out and used from the meet. Steve brought this out to try on the Mustang.

First, I love their foaming head sprayers. It is a safe wheel cleaner that foams up quite a bit. I love the cleaning power of Meguiar's hot wheels or Mother's foaming wheel cleaner, but this is not a bad buy either for a local pickup.

SONAX Wheel Cleaner, all wheel cleaner, chrome wheel cleaner, aluminum wheel cleaner, full effect wheel cleaner

Pricy stuff. I could probably use less product and agitate more with the Griot's wheel cleaner than buying this and agitating less. (not sure if this makes sense). The Griot's had more product in the bottle.

I know Sonax FE does great at exposing and fighting brake dust but I don't care for the bleeding effect. Not bashing it by any means but there are cheaper alternatives and if you keep your wheels clean...I don't see a need for this product unless you want to fork the money and see the reaction. I haven't found a wheel cleaner that didn't agitating to help boost it's effects.

I'm sure there's more I left out, I will be back in this thread to update. I have to dig in and remember, lol.

 

[Becciasm]

Lake Country Hydrotech 5" CYAN pad

Will never buy one again, I used two NEW pads. Primed them correctly, applied sufficient product and I started to notice "sponge like particles" on the paint. Not even 2 minutes of polishing the side of the charger on the Rupes 21 on speed 4..it started falling apart.

But, those pads came into use again as hand application pads for Fixer under the spoiler to take care of the light correction/water spotting!

 

[JSou]

But, those pads came into use again as hand application pads for Fixer under the spoiler to take care of the light correction/water spotting!

They sure did. Still frustrated, I'll give them a try again tonight and modify my technique. If it could be fixed within my control, I will try all options...after all, I hate wasting money.

From now on, I will use MF for correction and foam for finishing. Seems to work best for me.