Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel

Dubbin1

Dubbin1

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Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel

From all the great things I have read about this product I may be the only one that is not pleased with it.

Hard to apply, bottle should have a squeeze type cap, does not leave a "high gloss shine" like advertised, takes a lot of product and leaves the tires splotchy looking. Oh and I followed the directions to a T (what does that mean anyway, to a T?).

I bought it for tires only but I guess its will now be trim dressing until it runs out.

For $15.99 I really expected more.
 
One coat gives a matte finish, two coats gives it a glossy finish, and so on. I don't understand your comment about it being difficult to use though. Does the cap appear to be broken or something?

If you are not happy with it, I will gladly trade you a 3/4 bottle of Meguiar's Hot Shine tire gel for your Opti-Bond.
 
rwright said:
One coat gives a matte finish, two coats gives it a glossy finish, and so on. I don't understand your comment about it being difficult to use though. Does the cap appear to be broken or something?
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I have 2 coats on it and I'm not going to try a 3rd as I don't feel we should have to go over each tire that many times and use that much more product just to do one car. Too time consuming.

The cap IMHO should be like the cap on most paste waxes or polish bottles. As it is now it just globs out with no real control on how much you want on the sponge.
 
That's very odd to me. I just used mine again last night and depending on how hard I squeeze the bottle determines the amount of product that comes out onto my applicator pad. Did you dilute the gel by chance? I could see that causing a problem with flow control. :dunno: It's not as durable as I would like. I'm going to pick up a bottle of Ultima Tire & Trim Guard Plus after seeing it in use at Detail Fest. That stuff was pretty amazing!
 
Nope I didn't dilute at all.
 
Sorry man, I'm not sure now. I wish I had the Ultima Tire & Trim guard so that I could send you a sample. I believe it was Sam at Detail Fest who introduced me to this stuff. It's expensive though. He applied it to Max's Corvette, wow! Dry to the touch yet it looked like it was straight out of the bottle. A little bit of sand stuck to the tires and he just used a rag to lightly wipe it off, still shiny with no residue. Pretty amazing actually.
 
I put my Opti-bond in a small pump spray bottle and diluted a little less than 1:1. It doesn't mist, but you can control how much you use, 1 pump, 2 pumps etc. Maybe try cleaning your tires a little more, Megs APC+ ~6:1 and a stiff tire brush works for me. Wipe the tire dry before you apply. I don't go for the super glossy tire look so I haven't tried to get more than the new tire look. I love Opti-bond though, the next couple washes after applying water beads on the tire and it rinses to look clean and new with out even touching it, or just light agitation with a soft wheel brush and car soap. I think you'll like it after getting it right, I applied it on a friends car and he too was disappointed, he's a glossy tire guy. After a wash and reapply, it looked good to him. My $0.02 :xyxthumbs:
 
A4 1.8tqm said:
I put my Opti-bond in a small pump spray bottle and diluted a little less than 1:1. It doesn't mist, but you can control how much you use, 1 pump, 2 pumps etc. Maybe try cleaning your tires a little more, Megs APC+ ~6:1 and a stiff tire brush works for me. Wipe the tire dry before you apply. I don't go for the super glossy tire look so I haven't tried to get more than the new tire look. I love Opti-bond though, the next couple washes after applying water beads on the tire and it rinses to look clean and new with out even touching it, or just light agitation with a soft wheel brush and car soap. I think you'll like it after getting it right, I applied it on a friends car and he too was disappointed, he's a glossy tire guy. After a wash and reapply, it looked good to him. My $0.02 :xyxthumbs:
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Already scrubbed them with APC+ at 4:1 ;)
 
Dubbin1 said:
Already scrubbed them with APC+ at 4:1 ;)
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Figures, don't give up on it yet though. Try again after your next wash, maybe your tires are absorbing a lot of the Opti-bond causing the splotchy look. A few initial applications my be in order, it should give an even, new tire look. If you still don't like it I know it won't be too hard to get rid of. :xyxthumbs:
 
It is a thick lotion and I find it best to apply with a foam wax applicator. You need to shake it very well at first and its hard to regulate not using too much at first. It doesnt have a high gloss look to me, but more of a high matte look. Its rather durable and lasts till next washing which is nice for a water based dressing. If you find it too thick, try their spray version but also more matte.

For gloss try Poorboys Bright/Bold.
 
killrwheels@autogeek said:
It is a thick lotion and I find it best to apply with a foam wax applicator. You need to shake it very well at first and its hard to regulate not using too much at first. It doesnt have a high gloss look to me, but more of a high matte look. Its rather durable and lasts till next washing which is nice for a water based dressing. If you find it too thick, try their spray version but also more matte.

For gloss try Poorboys Bright/Bold.
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Maybe the description of "high gloss shine" needs to be changed as that's what I was going off of.
 
Okay so I gave it a try on a car that I just finished detailing and it seemed to work much better.
 
For high gloss and pretty reasonable durability, my favourite for a few years has been the DP gloss tire gel. I got some on a BOGO sale and am waiting for it to go on sale again!
 
If you were looking for a glossy finish, you got the wrong Optimum product. Optimum Tire Shine is their glossy dressing where as Opti-bond leaves more of a matte finish although I still find it to be pretty satin on most tires. I do agree with you on the point about dispensing out of the 32oz bottle as it can glob out if you aren't careful but I have never had an issue with ease of use or the finish it leaves after using it on so many different cars.
 
christian900se said:
If you were looking for a glossy finish, you got the wrong Optimum product. Optimum Tire Shine is their glossy dressing where as Opti-bond leaves more of a matte finish although I still find it to be pretty satin on most tires. I do agree with you on the point about dispensing out of the 32oz bottle as it can glob out if you aren't careful but I have never had an issue with ease of use or the finish it leaves after using it on so many different cars.
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If that's the case then they shouldn't say that it has a high gloss shine. I'm really not happy with this product. IMHO it is hard to apply and does not have the high gloss shine that they advertise. For a $16 tire gel I would expect much better results.
 
Hmmm, that is strange you have difficulty applying it. What applicator are you using? If it is a foam tire applicator, that could very well be your problem because I found that it does not play as well with a foam tire dressing applicator. Try a microfiber or terry cloth applicator if you have one or want to try and give Opti-bond a shot, I find it works much better with those types of applicators.
 
Update

I forgot all about this review and wanted to update everyone that tried to help me with the product. I have found that the Pinnacle Foam Wax Applicator works great for applying a tire gel and have turned me around on this product. I'm still not crazy about the gloss but I can deal with it now.
 
killrwheels@autogeek said:
It is a thick lotion and I find it best to apply with a foam wax applicator. You need to shake it very well at first and its hard to regulate not using too much at first. It doesnt have a high gloss look to me, but more of a high matte look. Its rather durable and lasts till next washing which is nice for a water based dressing. If you find it too thick, try their spray version but also more matte.

For gloss try Poorboys Bright/Bold.
Click to expand...

Scott's pretty much nailed this one!

I felt exactly like you after buying and trying Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel. I didn't like the way it went on. I didn't like the dull look. I didn't like the blotchy-ness look so yes, I was disappointed. Determined not to have waisted $16.00 I applied a second coat and it looked allot nicer. A much deeper more even richer look but not glossy, more of a matte finish.

Shake well before using is important.

I think one factor that comes into play is its a water-based product and they take some getting used to. I do like it after a second coat and it does last a few weeks, even through washings so there is hope for it!

High Gloss is not the way to describe this product............in my opinion of course.
 
christian900se said:
If you were looking for a glossy finish, you got the wrong Optimum product. Optimum Tire Shine is their glossy dressing where as Opti-bond leaves more of a matte finish although I still find it to be pretty satin on most tires.
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That's funny, because I understood it to be exactly the opposite--that the Opti-Bond is supposed to be the more glossy while Tire Shine is supposed to be more deep matte. The descriptions overlap pretty much but I did find aforementioned clarification elsewhere. I got a sample bottle and so far have only used the Opti-Bond once, but I did find it to be pretty glossy, and it's surprising how it's dry to the touch (it even feels non-greasy if you get it on your hands when applying, unlike any other white/PDMS dressing I've used).

PS As always, tire dressing results are hard to match up due to different tire brands, models, age, precleaning, weather, etc. YMMV.
 
i mixed 1:1 with water in a spray bottle. spray on my tires, leave it set a while, wipe it off. i think the stuff is amazing. you are right about it not being high gloss though. hope you figure it out or find the right dressing for you. Good luck.
 
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