Review: BLACKFIRE Iron Remover by Mike Phillips

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Review: BLACKFIRE Iron Remover by Mike Phillips


BLACKFIRE Iron Remover

The background story...

When it comes to visually showing people what an Iron Remover is for and what it does, (that's two things), you really need a neglected vehicle with white paint.

Why?

Because if the paint is in fact contaminated with some form of iron contamination, as a result of the chemical reaction between the iron remover and the iron is a dark red or purple color that simply appears in a very visual way on white paint.



Now follow me....

You'll get the same color changing effect with cars that are painted other colors, like red, black, blue, silver, yellow, etc., it's just white paint shows the effect best.


Good condition versus neglected condition
There's also a huge difference in the color changing effect when a car in good condition is treated compared to a car that is older and also very neglected on the maintenance side of the equation. So when I was asked to test and write a review for this new Iron Remover in the BLACKFIRE line, I walked around the parking lot here at Autogeek looking for the WORST condition white vehicle to both test the product but to also get pictures that make it easy for anyone new to an Iron Remover product to wrap their brain around.



AJ's Durango

AJ works in the warehouse, he's a great guy that would give you the shirt of his back if you needed but AJ is not much into car detailing. Here's AJ's white Durango that he calls his "Beater Truck".

I don't remember ever seeing a wiper arm this rusty?

I had him drive his Durango around to the front of Autogeek where we do all our car washing and took these pictures to give you an idea of just how long it's been since the wheels and tires were properly cleaned....


Passenger side

Driver's side

Driver's side headlight

The BIG PICTURE
The point of the above pictures showing how severely neglected these areas of the Durango are is because when I took a picture of the hood, because it's white and a little cloudy out the morning I tested this product, you can't really get a feel for how neglected the Durango is by the picture of the hood.

BUT - here's that picture anyway just to be thorough in my documentation.....

So yeah.... this Durango has seen better days and it's very apparent it's been years since it was properly washed and waxed...






Just to note, many of you remember the review I wrote for BLACKFIRE Glass Cleaner. For this review, I used AJ's MBW Z4 - here's the link to this review....

How to remove Smokers Film off inside of windshield - Review: BLACKFIRE Glass Cleaner

This car was neglected too. Here's the infamous shot I took showing the smoker's film on the inside of the glass.

Apologies that most of the pictures in the glass cleaner review are missing since the AutogeekOnline discussion forum software was moved to a new server. Still hoping our vB Mechanic will be able to fix the coding which will make the pictures from the glass cleaner review I wrote show up plush probably hundreds of other reviews and articles I've written that currently have missing pictures.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued....


Review
My review is less important as my how-to. Most reviews tell you how a product works or doesn't work. Because an iron remover is part of a multiple-step washing and decontaminating process, I'm going share what most people leave out and that's how to use the product....


The recommended approach and the Mike Phillips approach
I teach this in all my classes and most people completely understand when I explain why use the product the way I use it. I have always used and shown how to use these types of product by spraying them onto DRY paint. Most products recommend RINSING the car first and then spraying the product onto a wet car.


The problem with spraying an iron remover onto wet paint
When you spray an iron remover onto wet paint, the iron remover breaks the surface tension the water has on the paint and everything runs off and onto the car. I don't know about you, but I want my iron remover on the paint, not the concrete. So for the last 6-7 years, (every since this category of product was introduced to the market), I have shown and used these products myself by spraying onto dry paint.


The benefit to spraying onto dry paint
Besides not having water make the product run onto the ground, the DRY DIRT FILM that is normally on a car that needs to be washed helps to hold the iron remover onto the paint - again - where IT can go to WORK.

So I get this new BLACKFIRE Iron Remover and read the directions I was surprised to read this,

• BLACKFIRE Iron Remover can be applied to dirty paint before washing the car

So I'm going to take a guess that my personal practice has influenced the application directions for this product. Just a guess but this is the first iron remover for paint that I've ever seen or used that states it can be sprayed onto a dry, dirty car and I'm the only guy that I know of that shows this in an abundance of classes and shares this in an abundance of articles. rops:


Next the directions state,

• Spray directly onto the surface to be treated and allow to dwell for 3-5 minutes.
  
• As iron remover reacts to paint contaminants, the formula will turn from clear to red/purple.
  
• Rinse surface with water and then continue with your regular wash.
  

So with the official directions now stated, below I'll show you how to incorporate an iron remover into your wash process.


First gather your car washing supplies. I can no longer count how many articles or detailing classes where I showcase what I use.

Let's take inventory,


Grit Guard Universal Detailing Cart

--> Why? BECAUSE it hold my 5-gallon wash bucket at waist level, not on the ground where I'm forced to bend over each time I want to dip my wash mitt into the bucket. It also HOLDS all my car washing and wheel washing tools and can be rolled around the vehicle being washed.

5-gallon bucket with a Grit Guard Insert
You can see both the bucket and the grit guard insert in the bucket.

Foam Gun with dedicated foam gun soap
I always use a foam gun. Yeah yeah I know, a foam CANNON makes more foam but I don't like to drag out our pressure washer because my cars don't get that dirty and the Foam GUN with the BLACKFIRE Foam Soap makes plenty of foam.

Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt
My favorite wash mitt for doing a "Prep Wash" before I machine buff out a car. Anytime you're going to machine buff a car it's VITALLY IMPORTANT to wash and rinse the vehicle THOROUGHLY so as to avoid any risk of any loosened (but not rinsed off), dirt or abrasive particles are removed. Why? Because the air current created by a spinning buffing pad can be drawn into the buffing action and be trapped between the paint and the pad and cause what the term I coined called, Arc Scratch or Arc Scratches. (don't ask me how I know about these). The version of this mitt we sell at Autogeek is heavy duty and can be run through both a washing machine and a dryer without falling apart like the cheapie versions of this wash mitt which can be found all over the place.

BLACKFIREW Clay Mitt
This is a replacement for normal detailing clay. One side of this mitt uses a polymerized rubber surface which in simple terms contains a pulverized form of abrasive, (like detailing clay), so that when this surface is rubbed over a clean, rinsed but lubricated surface it will act like detailing clay and remove above surface bonded contaminants.

Garden hose with brass water quick disconnects
These are a must-have for washing cars as they allow you to switch between your water tools without having to walk back to the spigot and turn the water off each time you want to change tools.

See below....

Here's the dry, neglected hood. In this picture it looks good. IN person, it's covered with a layer of dirt including the chunk of bird poop about a foot out from the passenger side of the windshield.

Here's the product, BLACKFIRE Iron Remover!

Let's begin....

Step 1: Spray product onto dry surface to be chemically decontaminated.

Step 3: Allow product to dwell for 3-5 minutes.

And this is why I chose AJ's Durango. This Durango is neglected, as in completely 100% neglected. And I KNEW it would bleed like a stuck pig and as these pictures show, the paint is incredibly contaminated.

Step 3: Rinse surface with water and continue with your regular wash.

As you can see, the paint on this Durango, (and actually the entire exterior), is severely iron contaminated.


If I would have chosen a red vehicle that was also severely neglected you would get the same chemical reaction you just wouldn't see the red color-changing effect.

Make sense?



What's removing iron all about?

The entire idea behind chemically decontaminated is to chemically dissolve iron contamination off the paint instead of mechanically removing it. It's an optional step that you don't have to do but ensures any and all iron contamination is removed before any of the other car wash step.



Is there a correct order?

Yes. You always chemically decontaminate first and the wash the vehicle followed by mechanical decontamination. This is the correct order.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued.....

Now that I have the hood chemically decontaminated, as a professional courtesy to AJ, I'm going to finish the hood and by doing so, show you the full process.


First Foam Application
Next I foam the hood and the windshield to wash these areas with the Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt.

NOTE: It is incredibly IMPORTANT to wash and then FULLY RINSE the vehicle panel by panel to remove ANY and ALL dirt before using any form of clay mitt or other mechanical decontamination tools.

If you don't loosen and remove all dirt you risk instilling scratches into the paint if any abrasive particles, (not removed), are trapped between the polymerized rubber surface and the paint. I can't stress this enough.


Thorough rinsing

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued....


After the normal washing and rinsing of body panels using the Chenille Wash Mitt to loose dirt next up is mechanical decontamination.


Second Foam Application
Next - I re-foam the hood and actually the windshield to because I have a brand new BLACKFIRE Clay Mitt and it's important to correctly break-in a clay mitt by starting it out by rubbing it over glass. This ensure any irregularities in the polymerized rubber surface are smoother over to reduce the risk of marring the paint when using the clay mitt to mechanically decontaminate the paint.

BLACKFIRE CLAY MITT

Break in a new clay mitt by rubbing it over clean glass.

You can use the BLACKFIRE Clay Mitt to mechanically decontaminate any surface that's smooth including glass, chrome, plastic and paint.

Tactical Feel to the Clay Mitt Process
What's nice about the clay mitt is by putting your hand inside the mitt you can physically feel the bonded contaminants on the surface and then as you rub the clay mitt over the surface you can feel when they have been removed so you know it's time to rinse your mitt and move onto a new section.

After using the clay mitt on the windshield and then the hood, next thoroughly rinse.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued....

And here's the results....



Paint that feels clean and smooth, ready for the next steps of a proper detail job.

And look how vibrant the paint now looks!

Review
The BLACKFIRE Iron Remover performed exactly as advertised. It chemically dissolved the iron contamination on the white Durango removing the iron from the paint and leaving the paint ready for the next step. What's unique to my knowledge about this particular product is it's the only iron remover I know of that states rignt on the label that it can be applied to dry, dirty paint.

If you have never used an iron remover on your vehicles, this would be a great first experience. It's completely safe for your car's paint and other exterior surfaces so you can't make a mistake. Be sure to read my article below, it's the only one like it in the blogosphere.




On Autogeek.com


BLACKFIRE Iron Remover - 32 ounce

BLACKFIRE Iron Remover - 1 gallon

BLACKFIRE Foam Soap

BLACKFIRE Clay Mitt

BLACKFIRE Half Gallon Foamaster Foam Gun

The Grit Guard Insert

Professional 5 Gallon Wash Bucket- CLEAR

Grit Guard Universal Detailing Cart

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued....


For any first time users of an iron remover. This article tends to go deep, so put your thinking cap on...



The Car Insurance Analogy for using an Iron Remover by Mike Phillips

An iron remover is one of those products you want to use but you don't actually want it to work - Mike Phillips


Using an iron remover is like buying car insurance, you want to have it but you don't really want to use it because that means you were in an accident and this is never any fun. That said, it's important to have car insurance for financial, physical and emotional peace of mind just in case you are involved in an accident.

When you use an iron remover, you don't actually want to see iron contamination via the very visual bleeding-effect as this means your car's exterior is contaminated. Contamination means deterioration has been taking place. That's never a good thing and especially considering how thin clearcoat layer of paint is from the factory.

Like having car insurance, it's a good idea to use an iron remover on your car's exterior, but like car insurance, you really don't have to use it or in the case of an iron remover you don't actually want to see any color changing or bleed-effect take place as this would mean your car's exterior is not contaminated.

It would be better to see nothing and have peace of mind. The price of the iron remover is a minimal compared to knowing your paint was not contaminated.

If you do see the color changing or bleeding effect, then you have peace of mind knowing the contamination has been removed and the deterioration has been stopped.


The only way to really know if your car is contaminated is to use some insurance i.e. use an iron remover...

Make sense?


:dblthumb2:

 

[Halon]

Apologize for bringing this one back from the dead. Any chance the pictures from this article can be revived? I'm looking for a new Iron Remover to go with and was strongly considering this one, and was excited to see a review, but then was a bit bummed that none of the pics are coming through!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Apologize for bringing this one back from the dead. Any chance the pictures from this article can be revived?

First - Sorry about the missing pictures. I didn't know they were missing until you bumped this thread. A year or so ago our vB Mechanic did a lot of upgrades to the forum and the fallout is sometimes some pictures go missing due to incorrect URL address.

I have the pictures, give me a minutes and I'll add them.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here you go, this is just the pictures, it will take me some TIME to edit the first post and insert them where they do simply because I have to modify a LOT of text code.

Not that it matters, but there's probably only a handful of "detailers" in the world that know how to do what I just did as fast as I did it.

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

Just tried this today and it worked just as well as IronX at a lower price. Great stuff! Has a more gel like consistency and actually clung to paint better than iron X.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JustJesus]

Just tried this today and it worked just as well as IronX at a lower price. Great stuff! Has a more gel like consistency and actually clung to paint better than iron X.

Thank you!

Been eying it. Good price point and BF products have been good to me. Once I'm running low on my other gallon, I'll give it a shot.

 

[crg001]

It's interesting to me that Mike used the Blackfire Iron Remover before the washing phase. Is that a property unique to this iron remover, or is that just another way to use all these types of products? I've used IronX and Meguiar's but only ever after the wash on clean and wet paint. Anyone else use products like these before washing too?

 

[dgage]

It's interesting to me that Mike used the Blackfire Iron Remover before the washing phase. Is that a property unique to this iron remover, or is that just another way to use all these types of products? I've used IronX and Meguiar's but only ever after the wash on clean and wet paint. Anyone else use products like these before washing too?

Most use an iron remover as part of a decontaminate wash or polishing preparation step. Since you’d have to wash the car after the iron remover anyway, why waste time by washing twice? Also, this is how some use stronger ph soaps with pressure washers such as Bilt Hamber or Carpro Lift; foam on, let dwell, and pressure rinse. The dwell soap would come before the iron remover to get most of the decontaminates off and then the iron remover would get most of the remaining iron contaminates. Then you could wash or clay the vehicle. Realize that if you clay the vehicle there is a good chance of marring so you’d usually only want to use that before compounding or polishing.

 

[crg001]

Most use an iron remover as part of a decontaminate wash or polishing preparation step. Since you’d have to wash the car after the iron remover anyway, why waste time by washing twice? Also, this is how some use stronger ph soaps with pressure washers such as Bilt Hamber or Carpro Lift; foam on, let dwell, and pressure rinse. The dwell soap would come before the iron remover to get most of the decontaminates off and then the iron remover would get most of the remaining iron contaminates. Then you could wash or clay the vehicle. Realize that if you clay the vehicle there is a good chance of marring so you’d usually only want to use that before compounding or polishing.

Can't say I've really washed after using iron remover, maybe agitated the surface a bit with a soapy mitt while it's still on there, and then just pressure rinsed it off afterwards. 99% of the time I'm claying and polishing after I use it. I guess I've just gone by the IronX directions when I use the stuff. This is from Carpro's website:

Directions:
1. Shake bottle.
2. Wash vehicle, rinse vehicle, and remove the majority of the water with a quick towel "once-over".
3. Spray IronX across the contaminated area.
4. After 2 ~ 5 minutes rinse off or wash off if dried (depending on environment and temperatures).
5. Verify all IronX is completely removed and then dry vehicle.

:dunno:

Next vehicle I do a decon on maybe I'll get some Blackfire and give it a try pre-wash and see what happens.

 

[dgage]

Can't say I've really washed after using iron remover, maybe agitated the surface a bit with a soapy mitt while it's still on there, and then just pressure rinsed it off afterwards. 99% of the time I'm claying and polishing after I use it. I guess I've just gone by the IronX directions when I use the stuff. This is from Carpro's website:

Directions:
1. Shake bottle.
2. Wash vehicle, rinse vehicle, and remove the majority of the water with a quick towel "once-over".
3. Spray IronX across the contaminated area.
4. After 2 ~ 5 minutes rinse off or wash off if dried (depending on environment and temperatures).
5. Verify all IronX is completely removed and then dry vehicle.

:dunno:

Next vehicle I do a decon on maybe I'll get some Blackfire and give it a try pre-wash and see what happens.

Thanks for the directions. You wash before, I wash after.

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

Thank you!

Been eying it. Good price point and BF products have been good to me. Once I'm running low on my other gallon, I'll give it a shot.

Got it on the 40% off sale. Glad i got the gallon


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

It's interesting to me that Mike used the Blackfire Iron Remover before the washing phase. Is that a property unique to this iron remover, or is that just another way to use all these types of products? I've used IronX and Meguiar's but only ever after the wash on clean and wet paint. Anyone else use products like these before washing too?

Yeah directions say to use on dry dirty car. My results were after wash... no dry and sprayed car.

Read directions afterwards


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jayfro]

I typically use it prior to washing as long as the car isn’t filthy, this allows it to sit on the car and do it’s magic and not rinse/fall of the car when it’s wet.

Jay


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline

 

[JustJesus]

Thanks for the directions. You wash before, I wash after.

There are two camps on this. Both have decent arguments.

I used to do the double wash, but now I just iron decon before any wash to save time

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

There are two camps on this. Both have decent arguments.

I used to do the double wash, but now I just iron decon before any wash to save time

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Ditto

One thing I stopped doing though is spraying ANY brand of iron remover on anodized aluminum trim, both the black and the silver colors of anodized trim.