So many products to choose from. I need some help.

[PaulMys]

Honestly, you can’t go wrong with anything sold on AG.

Perhaps this is bad advice, but sometimes it’s best to make the purchase and try it out anyway to cure the curiosity. The worst thing is that you will by then be educated to help someone else in your same shoes.

I have been in your position of asking for opinions. And while everyone is entitled to their opinions, there have been numerous times that their recommendation was not the sweet spot.

“Crash and burn and learn.”—Gary Vee

Agreed 100%

You can get a few glowing opinions on things from others, but not be overwhelmed with it.

Detailing is a "Read, ask, try, and judge for yourself" kind of deal.

At least until you find your own favorites.

 

[57Rambler]

Spreading Wolfgang WETS is almost like trying to spread Mazola Corn Oil. It is an oily product, but like a "silicone oily". And like I said, a little goes far.

Samo for McKee's37 Trim Restorer.

For small parts and areas, let's say the weatherstrip on a trunk lid, a door, under hood rubber gaskets, rubber "buggy baby" bumpers (LOL) Egg Crate Front Plastic Grills, then take a foam applicator pad, or even just a cut section of such. A couple drops, spread, and you'll always find over-application.

You might have to come back, smooth, even, remove over-application, or maybe missed a spot.

I've had similar experience. I usually find myself going back over some areas to "even" things out.

And the Bottle of WETS IMO has a crap snap-push open Bottle Top, messy, poor choice for this product. Because after you use it, you will be needing a wipe down on the bottle, it will be messy and slippery. What you wipe down off the bottle will almost be enough to coat a Pickup's Step Bumper! LOL

Same type of cap on the McKee's37 Trim Restorer. Gives yet more credence to Paul's point that WETS and McKee's37 Trim Restorer may be one and the same. Same manufacturer just different bottle logos. Kinda like propane tanks for grills ... a local company called Worthington Industries makes the cylinders and you can watch them go down the line and get up to 25 different logos put on the tanks. :laughing:


As for surface prep prior to applying WETS or McKee's37 Trim Restorer, Nick (McKee's) recommends using their Wax Remover for Plastic as a pre-cleaner. It's good stuff and will remove lots of things from plastic besides wax. Sort of double-duty stuff ... and it's always good to have a wax remover on hand !

Try the McKee's37 kit, gives you everything you need and you save some dollars over individual costs ...

McKee's 37 Plastic Clean & Restore Combo

 

[Tieguy77]

I am in the Seacoast Region of NH based out of Portsmouth, NH. I can’t imagine the salt you face. But we get it pretty decent here otherwise.

It’s a rabbit hole this industry. It gets expensive, but a joy when detailing. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with anything sold on AG.

Perhaps this is bad advice, but sometimes it’s best to make the purchase and try it out anyway to cure the curiosity. The worst thing is that you will by then be educated to help someone else in your same shoes.

I have been in your position of asking for opinions. And while everyone is entitled to their opinions, there have been numerous times that their recommendation was not the sweet spot.

“Crash and burn and learn.”—Gary Vee

All sound advice Gents and I appreciate it. Beadmaker peaked my interest, I see there was quite a bit of polarization surrounding it too. Would there be any reason to replace my duragloss with bead maker as a drying aid? Also, I now have to look into Opti-seal. Our little hamlet is also blessed with quite a few dirt roads (mud pits in the spring) So let me ask you guys this:

What would be the benefits of Opti-seal vs. Power lock plus topped with 845/476 etc...? I already have the collonite but am I missing out on some protection? OR is this just me waaaaay overthinking this whole thing?

 

[Dan Tran]

All sound advice Gents and I appreciate it. Beadmaker peaked my interest, I see there was quite a bit of polarization surrounding it too. Would there be any reason to replace my duragloss with bead maker as a drying aid? Also, I now have to look into Opti-seal. Our little hamlet is also blessed with quite a few dirt roads (mud pits in the spring) So let me ask you guys this:

What would be the benefits of Opti-seal vs. Power lock plus topped with 845/476 etc...? I already have the collonite but am I missing out on some protection? OR is this just me waaaaay overthinking this whole thing?

The major advantage of Opti-Seal is the ease of application. While I have never combined Power Lock and Collinite 845, each has a nice “warm glow” to them. I find that each product is special on its own. Power Lock and Collinite 845 will have a slight edge over Opti-Seal in terms of slickness. But it’s not too far off.

Again, overthinking...perhaps I’ll let others chime in here.

 

[Dan Tran]

I guess visual proof is best. I believe this is a detail I washed with ONR. And finished with my Optimum Car Wax & Opti-Seal combo. Granted I did a light polish, but you can see where the results went.

This combo of LSP on the other hand, the slickness is off the charts. Maybe a 2+ hours drive to the Seacoast is in store for the future. If you ever plan on coming out to rent a vacation home. Hit me up.

 

[PaulMys]

You are not missing out on protection with Collinite.

And, I wouldn't replace my DG Aquawax with Bead Maker, but BM is a really nice topper that I use in warmer weather for a great shine.

 

[Dan Tran]

You are not missing out on protection with Collinite.

And, I wouldn't replace my DG Aquawax with Bead Maker, but BM is a really nice topper that I use in warmer weather for a great shine.

Again, what he said. You are equipped to do produce better results than most detailers out their anyway. Trust us.

 

[Tieguy77]

Thanks Guys, I appreciate it. We do try to make it over to Petey's in Rye at least once a year when headed to Maine or Salisbury Beach so I might just drop you a line before heading over sometime! I appreciate everyone's time and advice. Sounds like I have a list of stuff to try out! Happy New Year Everyone!

 

[Dan Tran]

Thanks Guys, I appreciate it. We do try to make it over to Petey's in Rye at least once a year when headed to Maine or Salisbury Beach so I might just drop you a line before heading over sometime! I appreciate everyone's time and advice. Sounds like I have a list of stuff to try out! Happy New Year Everyone!

Mic Drop! Have a good night.

 

[Tieguy77]

I guess visual proof is best. I believe this is a detail I washed with ONR. And finished with my Optimum Car Wax & Opti-Seal combo. Granted I did a light polish, but you can see where the results went.

This combo of LSP on the other hand, the slickness is off the charts. Maybe a 2+ hours drive to the Seacoast is in store for the future. If you ever plan on coming out to rent a vacation home. Hit me up.

I have to laugh, I was thinking to myself how could I describe the shine and durability I want? You guys remember Raiders of the Lost Ark? I want faces to melt like the Nazi soldiers faces did if they look directly at my paint. If that doesn't work, I'll be happy with some good protection and a nice wet look.
View attachment 68624

 

[MarkD51]

As mentioned, Opti-Seal is a very easy to use product, a optically clear liquid. Very hard to foul up an application. One might have a tendency to over-apply, most likely because you want to insure full coverage. When over-applying, what you might see is a little hazing where the product hasn't fully flashed and dried.

Simple to come back with another towel and finish. Such a final wipe goes very fast. The thing I love about this product, and another that's similar called Ultima Paint Guard Plus, (UPGP) is that there's no worry of ugly-messy wax residues stuck in cracks-crevices, near trim that you'll have to dig out.

Can be used on Glass, and no problem if gotten on Trim either, works there too.

This is a real plus for hard to protect areas like Door Jambs, Trunk, and under Hood areas. I'd say about 2 to 2-1/2 months protection with either product on a daily driver. Not bad considering how easy they are to use.

 

[MarkD51]

As Mike Phillips mentioned in his video short I linked to, a product like Wolfgang WETS penetrates into trim.

Versus a product like PERL, it's a product that doesn't easily wash, or wear off. After application trim pieces bead water just like a wax.

 

[SWETM]

If you are able to just slapp on a coat or 2 with 476s and you will reach beyond the winter months with ease. No need to be useing 845 or something over it. If you like to use a drying aid then use your Aquawax. Here's something else that just makes us different in how we see on some methods and such and no wrong way as long as your paint looks great in the longrun. I don't use drying aid LOL. And actually I find it to be more of a risk to scratch your paint when you do use a drying aid. Not saying that you will scratch the paint but since it's needed more buffing to get off then a plain good mf drying towel is safe enough and much faster. The products that you use as a drying aid have the ability to break the water tension and the capillary holding ability to get the mf drying towel to hold on to the water rather than push it around and off. So in my mind it gets you to work backwards. If you want to ad to the gloss I do that after the drying. The safest drying is with a blowdryer of some kind. But if you have a mf drying towel that would be scratching and marring the paint. I would put it in the trash directly as I would never use such of a mf drying towel on anything. If you have a great mf drying towel you lay it out on the paint and pull it against you. And if it's good you will have a bone dry paint after 1 pull. The problem is to find a mf drying towel that holds enough water until it leaves streaks of water behind. A Griots Garage PFM Terry Weave Mf Drying Towel is a really great one and others with that kind of nap style of the weave also called twisted loop weave. Gyeon Silk Dryer Towel is another one. As these gets saturated and you don't use drying aid they are very hard to wring them out when they gets saturated with water. So I use 2-3 instead of even trying to wring them out. The GG PFM the larger ones holds a lot of water though and many uses it without needed to be wringing them out. On the vertical panels I either fold them and just enough pressure so I don't drop the towel or just lay it against and padding it and drying it that way. But usually it gets to that holding the larger part of the mf drying towel in 1 hand and then a part that fits my hand in the other hand and wipe it with so I have control so it don't touches the ground when drying the lower parts. Hardly noticeble wash and dry marring after 2 1/2 years before I last polished the car. This under a Scangrip Sunmatch light and no so called spiderwebbing swirls. And just from takeing off snow and ice and the usually DD light scratches and swirls and some deeper defects that they who did the polishing didn't get off. But again if you like useing a drying aid then by all means do it. I'm just against that it will scratch the paint if you don't. That's with a bad quality mf drying towel and improper drying technique or if you are not thoroughly washed the vehical and get leftover dirt in the drying towels.

If you want to try something new and fast and have access to a PW. It's just to thoroughly wash your car and before you drying it. You spray on Gyeon Wet Coat or Carpro Hydro2 lite or Sonax Spray and Seal on 1 panel at the time and rinse it off very thoroughly prefered with a PW. And dry as usually after that. This will get you by 3 months and protects your paint and trim and rubber and glass. For saveing product I spray these kind of products on with 2 sprays per panel and the larger size panels 4 sprays. And spread it out evenly with a mf towel or mf applicator sponge that's damp and then rinse it off thoroughly. Cool products that works instantly bonding to the paint. To make it even easier Mike Phillips likes the Wolfgang über SiO2 Wash. That you get maybe just over a month or 2 of protection from just washing as you normally does. It's a higher cost but just mix up the wash solution you are useing during a wash and you can do a wash with 2-3 gallons of water. Just some extra tips when it's freezing cold outside. I have not been able to wash my car in 7 weeks now I think it's. Even if we have not getting any snow yet here in southern of Sweden it's around the freezing point. So they doze the roads with road salt. Haveing a 2 tone paint now with white and silver metallic paint be cause of the drying road salt LOL.

 

[Tieguy77]

Thank you SWETM, excellent info and suggestions! Road salt is the bane of many a car enthusiasts existence!