Armor All ?

Excessive plasticy shine and dries out plastics with no significant protection, just dressing for plastics.
 
Armor All makes a full line of products. I imagine some of them are probably okay. Some might even be great. But their reputation suffered or suffers from their early protectant formulas. I think too that the fact that they are completely an OTC product, and make no attempt at catering to the professional market, hurts their reputation among enthusiasts and pros. But seeing as how the majority of general public don't know or care about detailing, Armor All will remain a market leader.
 
trekkeruss said:
Armor All makes a full line of products. I imagine some of them are probably okay. Some might even be great. But their reputation suffered or suffers from their early protectant formulas. I think too that the fact that they are completely an OTC product, and make no attempt at catering to the professional market, hurts their reputation among enthusiasts and pros. But seeing as how the majority of general public don't know or care about detailing, Armor All will remain a market leader.
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Yea I'm sure some of their line is good but I just hear it is bad and I want to tell my customers and friends if they asked if its ok to use.
 
Turtle Wax runs their company the same way; they make no effort to try and win over the professional market. So detailers generally won't touch them and just say they're no good. But we have witnessed here that they do in fact make some decent products. Their tire coating and rinseless wash have been given positive reviews here on AGO. So saying "TW sux" is mostly a perception than an overall fact.
 
Both: ArmorAll/ZEP, and Turtle Wax...
have their Professional Products line.
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Including their own: FIRE & ICE® products!!"


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Bob
 
I thought about applying to be a rep for Zep. We get some of our chemicals for the car wash from them. I owned a car wash for six months (opened in dec, and the winter put me out of business..) and came across those Turtle Wax products. They're intended for drive through, tunnel car washes.

Their Premium Grade Rubbing and Polishing compounds are pretty good. Nowhere near as nice as the Ultimate line, but will give decent results. I've had decent luck with the Ice Paste in the past..

As far as the Armor All dressing. I was told a long time ago to avoid it because it dried out the vinyl. Well, I learned the hard way. My 88 Buick Regal's dash split down the middle! Since then I've stuck with Meguiar's #40.
 
FUNX725 said:
Both: ArmorAll/ZEP, and Turtle Wax...
have their Professional Products line.
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I did not know those lines existed. However, from what I gather, those product lines are not aimed at detailing professionals, but commercial automated car wash operations.
 
Zep is affiliated with armor all? Zep makes some great products that I use frequently.
 
none of those products are bad

people just don't like em from the bad rep they had years ago when they were using silicone based dressings

but I know several people who use em on the boards since it's so easy to buy
 
dlc95 said:
I thought about applying to be a rep for Zep. We get some of our chemicals for the car wash from them. I owned a car wash for six months (opened in dec, and the winter put me out of business..) and came across those Turtle Wax products. They're intended for drive through, tunnel car washes.

Their Premium Grade Rubbing and Polishing compounds are pretty good. Nowhere near as nice as the Ultimate line, but will give decent results. I've had decent luck with the Ice Paste in the past..
trekkeruss said:
I did not know those lines existed. However, from what I gather, those product lines are not aimed at detailing professionals, but commercial automated car wash operations.
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I would say that the owners/operators of commercial/production: Detail Centers...are Professionals, in their own right and accord.

Bob
 
FUNX725 said:
I would say that the owners/operators of commercial/production: Detail Centers...are Professionals, in their own right and accord.
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Of course, just as an owner/operator of a McDonald's is a professional restauranteur.

Let's put it this way: no one here wants to use a tunnel wash, not if they can help it. As such, no one here is interested in using the products aimed at professional automated car wash operations, even if those products were good. If we want to get deep, it's the same problem China has; the perception is that China makes inferior products. USA = superior, China = shoddy. But the truth is neither has quality locked up one way or the other. You can only judge things on a case-by-case basis.
 
trekkeruss said:
Of course, just as an owner/operator of a McDonald's is a professional restauranteur.

Let's put it this way: no one here wants to use a tunnel wash, not if they can help it. As such, no one here is interested in using the products aimed at professional automated car wash operations, even if those products were good. If we want to get deep, it's the same problem China has; the perception is that China makes inferior products. USA = superior, China = shoddy. But the truth is neither has quality locked up one way or the other. You can only judge things on a case-by-case basis.
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It's heartbreaking seeing people with Bentleys, Porches, Jaguars, etc come in and get brutalized by the wash. If I had a shop, I'd probably be able to get some correction work. I've had a dozen or so people inquire, but I always turn it down because I have no where to perform the job. I did take three jobs though. One was an Audi A7 last fall, and one guy had me do his Mercedes, and Corvette a couple years ago.
 
trekkeruss said:
If we want to get deep, it's the same problem China has; the perception is that China makes inferior products. USA = superior, China = shoddy.

But the truth is neither has quality locked up one way or the other. You can only judge things on a case-by-case basis.
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Thanks...That's my point/analogy:
There's more than one way to define a Professional Detailer.

trekkeruss said:
Of course, just as an owner/operator of a McDonald's is a professional restauranteur.

Let's put it this way: no one here wants to use a tunnel wash, not if they can help it.
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•Not all Detail Centers are tunnel washes.
•The self-serve Detail Centers...that so many AGO members use for whatever their vehicles' needs call for...also use the same, or similar, Professional products as being currently discussed.

trekkeruss said:
As such, no one here is interested in using the products aimed at professional automated car wash operations, even if those products were good.
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IMO (2ea.):
•That's just your opinion.
•You'd be very surprised at: From where many detailing products, "for all walks in-the-detailing-life", are derived.

Bob
 
FUNX725 said:
•That's just your opinion.
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Of course it is. Let me amend; from "no one" to "few here." At least that is my perception. ;-)

•You'd be very surprised at: From where many detailing products, "for all walks in-the-detailing-life", are derived.
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I'm not entirely sure what you are saying (but I have a suspicion). Care to expand?
 
Here's an easy solution to this i'm sure everyone has heard here....Use What You Like!

Personally I LOVE Armor All Wax-it-Dry (discontinued). Easy application, great beading and slickness, lasts for several weeks.
 
while i wouldn't use the AA on the interior (not saying it would do any damage) the original AA tire foam and tire shine gel work well for wheel wells and tires...
 
FUNX725 said:
I would say that the owners/operators of commercial/production: Detail Centers...are Professionals, in their own right and accord.

Bob
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:iagree: The definition of a professional is a person who gets paid for what they do.
 
lilsullivan04 said:
I don't use this stuff at all but I am curious to know why is Armor All bad?
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I don't use OTC stuff for the most part. I try to get stuff where the folks at the company are known accessible dudes, and the have sort of a passion / strong interest in the products.... I'm excluding Meg's & Mothers from "OTC" here - as they are the real deal. I'm talking about the Armor All & Turtle Wax stuff.

That way (I feel) I'm getting a very good product that someone has made their labor of love. Not something Fred from accounting said: "Err.. we could probably sell a lot of that..."

Some examples:

- PBMG (M Phillips / Max & the gang)

- Optimum (Dr G / Chris T)

- Poor Boys (Pockets & Steve)

- CarPro (Corey & Avi)

In the scheme of things, most detailing stuff is pretty cheap, so I just buy the good stuff. As my time is valuable to me, so if I'm going to spend my valuable time doing something to a car, I want products I know are top notch. I'm not worried about saving a few bucks here.
 
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