What did you do today, in regards to detailing?

04lss said:
Decon washed, clayed and polished the atlas today. At least polished 95%. Either the car had way more swirls than I thought or my griots synthetic clay really did a lot of marring.
I used what was left of my gyeon bathe in a fresh bucket for lubrication for the clay. I also foamed the panels.
I used sonax perfect finish with a rupes yellow wool pad on my cordless rupes. I used a yellow foam on my Griots 3 inch. The rupes cordless stalled often but that’s where the 3 inch came in.

Tomorrow I am going to rinse less wash the car panel prep and then apply phobic. I also need to remove the dealer sticker.

I am excited to try phobic. I am a little upset that the ads beads I applied is still on the trim, so hopefully a panel prep will adequately prep the trim for phobic. I will post photos once it’s all done
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Those spray and rinse products aren't very durable, so you'll nuke it pretty easily. If it were me, I'd scrub with APC first, then go in with the prep spray, the APC will remove the product, the prep spray will remove the APC residue.
 
So there's a car meet in about 2 hrs and I decided to go, who cares if it's 38 degrees, LOL

I washed the EN yesterday, so it's clean, but because there's some people from the discord that have wanted to meet me I want the EN lookin' it's VERY best

I decided to wipe it down with Labocosmetica Perfecta 2.0 and I've gotta say, we're living in the golden age of sprays! This stuff is easy to use and also very slick but to be honest, my last 5 sprays applied have been OVER THE TOP️️

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The atlas is (mostly) coated! I started off by removing the dealer sticker. I then used KCX rapid rinseless, followed ADS prep to wipe it down. I applied the ADS phobic and it went on mostly fine. The atlass is a large vehicle so I used more than expected. I also coated the rear and front windshield with Phobic as well.

I have a theory about what happened to my GTI because I am certain the same thing happened here in a few small spots.
I think what I thought were high spots are actually smears left behind by the panel prep that were coated over. That is why going back nearly immediately (either with another pass of the coating, or microfiber) didn't remove it. It was much easier to spot on the atlas that the ADS panel prep left some smears in places. there were obvious high spots that I was able to go back and level even hours later. I did the work under my carport, and I definitely need a better lighting solution for coating.

I also vacuumed the atlas, tried ADS pilot for the first time and applied Gyeon Leather coat to the leather surfaces on the driver side. (passenger side will be next weekend)

I have to say, having a full set of ADS products, I .... dont love all of them. This (mostly) isn't about their effectiveness. I just really dont vibe with the scents that ADS chose. I especially dislike the scent of Pilot. The nice scents are a big part of what I enjoy about detailing.

ADS decon soap smells almost like an iron remover at times to me. T

Pilot smells antiseptic

Shampoo Plus smells "ok" but just seems to lack foaming in the cannon. (maybe thats the drift cannon I got, ill know more when I test with a different soap)

Their panel prep smells really good, and seems to work alright. Same with their iron remover.

I do still have high praise about their coatings. I cant say anything negative about Amplify except maybe that id like more durability. Beads was easy and worked really well, and we will see how phobic fairs.

That said, I dont think My detailing arsenal is ever going to be all ADS. I also tried Bathe recently, I was happy with it mechanically, happier than with ADS honestly, but there is no pleasant smell :(

The search for a new shampoo continues.
Also need a good drying aide to try.

Next step on the atlas is to finish coating the leather and apply Gtechniq matt dash to all the non leather surfaces. might apply phobic to the gloss black. O
 
04lss said:
I have to say, having a full set of ADS products, I .... dont love all of them. This (mostly) isn't about their effectiveness. I just really dont vibe with the scents that ADS chose. I especially dislike the scent of Pilot. The nice scents are a big part of what I enjoy about detailing.


That said, I dont think My detailing arsenal is ever going to be all ADS.
Click to expand...

I understand about the scents.

There’s another thing that personally kinda bugs me more than that and it’s dispenser bottles & sprayers. Recently I’ve been reusing an empty bottle of Blackfire product, the Black 32oz. bottles they come in for Megs APC because both of my Megs APC dispenser bottles cracked due to age.

I put some heavy use with that product whenever I use it and it wasn’t until now and having to spray alot out of those Blackfire bottles that I realized how bad they are.

1. They’re black so you can’t see when you’re filling them.

2. They have a tiny opening which requires even more concentration while filling them.

3. Black bottles get even hotter when working outside in direct sun and I can’t imagine that’s good for detailing chemicals + those bottles tend to warp due to the higher temperatures.

4. The sprayers on those bottles are terrible + they’re small in the hand. I ran out of wheel & tire cleaner so I had to use APC to clean some tires and I had to stop midway to change the spray head out for a generic White sprayer that came from Autogeek. It’s not as good as a Tolco but way better than the Blackfire sprayer.

Moral of the story: I miss not having a full set of the Megs spray bottles w/Tolco sprayers on each of them.

And in a way that’s a part of what I don’t like when it comes to some other products that are sold in bulk but don’t seem to have their own dedicated spray bottles to go with them, so it can wind up looking a bit random on the shelf, especially when you’re big on uniformity the way I am. [and I’m sure most of you are as well]

Meguiars has always done a great job as far as those bottles and there’s a bunch of them to fit every chemical they’ve ever sold in their detail line even some products such as “Safe Degreaser” and “Body Solvent” which as far as I know are chemicals they no longer sell, but you can find the bottles + there’s Iron Decon, Surface Prep, All Purpose Cleaner Plus, and several more oddball flavors with their own distinctive colored label on the bottle + Generic Label bottles that you can write the description on the bottles. I have almost all of them. [I just need to replace the D101 APC]

On the other hand, I just Googled to see if Koch Chemie offers anything in regards to spray bottles for their products since from what I understand they sell to the “professional” in bulk and this is what they have for sale… Are they friggin serious?lol.

And they really charge between $3.99-$7.99 for what looks like the cheapest 99 cent store quality bottle without sprayer with a label that looks like it was designed by my grandmother. Lol.

Seriously, how do they show up to SEMA, year after year with these bottles for their supposed high quality detailing products and nobody has gotten fired yet? You gotta be kidding me.lol.

bdb7024e529a03b7c002226e93976d36.jpg


*Excellence For Experts* … That’s like a slap in the face. Lol.

I’ll go out on a limb and predict that 1 day they’ll follow Meguiars lead and someone over there will finally think to maybe produce some quality dispenser bottles.
 
Eldorado2k said:
I understand about the scents.

There’s another thing that personally kinda bugs me more than that and it’s dispenser bottles & sprayers. Recently I’ve been reusing an empty bottle of Blackfire product, the Black 32oz. bottles they come in for Megs APC because both of my Megs APC dispenser bottles cracked due to age.

I put some heavy use with that product whenever I use it and it wasn’t until now and having to spray alot out of those Blackfire bottles that I realized how bad they are.

1. They’re black so you can’t see when you’re filling them.

2. They have a tiny opening which requires even more concentration while filling them.

3. Black bottles get even hotter when working outside in direct sun and I can’t imagine that’s good for detailing chemicals + those bottles tend to warp due to the higher temperatures.

4. The sprayers on those bottles are terrible + they’re small in the hand. I ran out of wheel & tire cleaner so I had to use APC to clean some tires and I had to stop midway to change the spray head out for a generic White sprayer that came from Autogeek. It’s not as good as a Tolco but way better than the Blackfire sprayer.

Moral of the story: I miss not having a full set of the Megs spray bottles w/Tolco sprayers on each of them.

And in a way that’s a part of what I don’t like when it comes to some other products that are sold in bulk but don’t seem to have their own dedicated spray bottles to go with them, so it can wind up looking a bit random on the shelf, especially when you’re big on uniformity the way I am. [and I’m sure most of you are as well]

Meguiars has always done a great job as far as those bottles and there’s a bunch of them to fit every chemical they’ve ever sold in their detail line even some products such as “Safe Degreaser” and “Body Solvent” which as far as I know are chemicals they no longer sell, but you can find the bottles + there’s Iron Decon, Surface Prep, All Purpose Cleaner Plus, and several more oddball flavors with their own distinctive colored label on the bottle + Generic Label bottles that you can write the description on the bottles. I have almost all of them. [I just need to replace the D101 APC]

On the other hand, I just Googled to see if Koch Chemie offers anything in regards to spray bottles for their products since from what I understand they sell to the “professional” in bulk and this is what they have for sale… Are they friggin serious?lol.

And they really charge between $3.99-$7.99 for what looks like the cheapest 99 cent store quality bottle without sprayer with a label that looks like it was designed by my grandmother. Lol.

Seriously, how do they show up to SEMA, year after year with these bottles for their supposed high quality detailing products and nobody has gotten fired yet? You gotta be kidding me.lol.

bdb7024e529a03b7c002226e93976d36.jpg


*Excellence For Experts* … That’s like a slap in the face. Lol.

I’ll go out on a limb and predict that 1 day they’ll follow Meguiars lead and someone over there will finally think to maybe produce some quality dispenser bottles.
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I actually have 32 oz kcx branded bottles. I got them locally but they are excellent they have the nice sprayers, they have dilution markings and even an area to write the chemical names. I paid 4 bucks each. Not sure why they don’t show up but they do (or did) offer some high quality bottles.
 
04lss said:
I actually have 32 oz kcx branded bottles. I got them locally but they are excellent they have the nice sprayers, they have dilution markings and even an area to write the chemical names. I paid 4 bucks each. Not sure why they don’t show up but they do (or did) offer some high quality bottles.
Click to expand...

And just after posting I saw DFB’s post regarding his fancy Pressoll bottles.. But not everyone’s a baller like him with $600 worth of spray bottles on their shelf.lol.
 
I dont get the whole scent thing. Maybe my sense of smell isnt as keen as others.
So is the aroma something that you are smelling when the product is mixed in a bucket or foaming on a vehicle? Or is this scent enjoyed or disliked by putting the bottle up to ones nose?
If its the latter then im not in the habit of taking a big wiff of detailing products and dont see the attraction there. For those that are intentionally smelling the product in the bottle, do you also smell many other things?
Do you take the cap off the Ketchup bottle and smell that? I actually can see more reason for smelling Ketchup as that is something thats going into your body unlike detailing products.
Dont think id prefer my detailing products to have foul odors but i couldnt tell you what most of them smell like. Im suprised the scent thing is as big of a deal to some people.
 
Good weather today do i did a presoak/ foam contact wash/ dressed wheels and tires. Used TEC 582 as a drying aid.
TEC 582 is a fantastic product. Its very reasonably priced, it can be diluted, doesnt streak, simple to apply and offers descent protection.
I use it 1:1. Last gallon i picked up on sale for $25.00 but even at full price is still a good deal.

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Afternoon wash and detail. Tires got a good cleaning with Griots tire and mat cleaner. Dressed with TWHS graphene tire shine. Finished with WET WAX as the drying aid.
 
BLM said:
I dont get the whole scent thing. Maybe my sense of smell isnt as keen as others.
So is the aroma something that you are smelling when the product is mixed in a bucket or foaming on a vehicle? Or is this scent enjoyed or disliked by putting the bottle up to ones nose?
If its the latter then im not in the habit of taking a big wiff of detailing products and dont see the attraction there. For those that are intentionally smelling the product in the bottle, do you also smell many other things?
Do you take the cap off the Ketchup bottle and smell that? I actually can see more reason for smelling Ketchup as that is something thats going into your body unlike detailing products.
Dont think id prefer my detailing products to have foul odors but i couldnt tell you what most of them smell like. Im suprised the scent thing is as big of a deal to some people.
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I’ll give a few examples, Adams generally has excellent scents. If you use their car shampoo you smell artificial blueberry the entire wash. It shows up as you add it to the bucket, as you foam the car and using the wash mitts it makes the air smell like it. Their mega foam smells like juicy fruit. There is a Christmas version of gentle snow foam that makes the car was smell like apple pie. Again the wash itself not the bottle. Shampoo + from ads isn’t offensive but it’s not “good” Either. Some soaps like gyeon bathe have almost no scent.

Adams interior detailer has a light pineapple scent but it’s noticeable when using the product. Pilot is noticeable but in a bad way.

Quick retailers or drying aides are also noticeable if you have a good one. Amplify isn’t bad, but something like glassparency boost smells like baby powder. Adams slick And slide smells tropical.

Rapid rinseless wash smells like tea.

Short answer yes you smell them
As you use them. For me it enhanced the experience, I won’t buy something I use regularly if it doesn’t smell good
 
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we have some nasty weather coming. I decided to use the gyeon quick detailer I got recently to put a sacrificial layer on the atlas for the rain. It also leveled any remaining high spots.
I have to say the phobic seems to be really tolerant for high spots,

I also finished using gyeon leather coat on the front leather. I scrubbed the interior glass in the front as well. Slowly getting it up to my standards. I still need to apply matte dash to the plastics in the front and top star In the rear
 
Had a repeat customer this weekend. This time it was Judy, his wife’s 2013 Crosstour. Judy’s seen 13 years of tunnel washes and it showed. Deep scratches covering almost every inch and a light case of oxidation. The clearcoat was on the thinner side so I wasn’t chasing any scratches. It was all about restoring gloss and removing the oxidation. I coated with Pearl Nano X v2 which is a hidden gem in the coating space. Quite possibly the easiest coating I’ve worked with and it’s extremely glossy and slick as they come. Based on the previous vehicle I coated with Pearl, it has much better chemical resistance than other coatings I’ve used so I’m adding this one to my arsenal.


 
04lss said:
I have a theory about what happened to my GTI because I am certain the same thing happened here in a few small spots.
I think what I thought were high spots are actually smears left behind by the panel prep that were coated over. That is why going back nearly immediately (either with another pass of the coating, or microfiber) didn't remove it. It was much easier to spot on the atlas that the ADS panel prep left some smears in places. there were obvious high spots that I was able to go back and level even hours later. I did the work under my carport, and I definitely need a better lighting solution for coating.
Click to expand...

Another thought on the smears and high spots. One thing I've found with coatings with long flash times is the potential to get a smear during removal. I always got them when trying to remove the coating either because it wasn't fully flashed or I over used my removal towel, or both. These smears often don't look like a textbook high spot and may not show up under some lighting conditions, but will under others - like a foggy haze.

Better lighting, more frequent removal towel changes, and more patience all made applications more successful.
 
Desertnate said:
Another thought on the smears and high spots. One thing I've found with coatings with long flash times is the potential to get a smear during removal. I always got them when trying to remove the coating either because it wasn't fully flashed or I over used my removal towel, or both. These smears often don't look like a textbook high spot and may not show up under some lighting conditions, but will under others - like a foggy haze.

Better lighting, more frequent removal towel changes, and more patience all made applications more successful.
Click to expand...
lighting was absolutely a challenge for me. I definitely need a better setup for my next application.
 
Desertnate said:
Another thought on the smears and high spots. One thing I've found with coatings with long flash times is the potential to get a smear during removal. I always got them when trying to remove the coating either because it wasn't fully flashed or I over used my removal towel, or both. These smears often don't look like a textbook high spot and may not show up under some lighting conditions, but will under others - like a foggy haze.

Better lighting, more frequent removal towel changes, and more patience all made applications more successful.
Click to expand...
Wether it's a full coating, a spray sealant, or even a quick detail, those high spots, smears, and hazy areas have us all doing some kind of special interpretive dances in our garages and driveways.

There you are, just walking past your car, and a side glance catches something, next thing your standing there with your head bobbing around trying to see something that may not even exist.
 
Well now that the heart of winter is behind, we now get the pockets of 'tease' weather in between miserable days. I try and get a wash in just to take a layer of salt and filth off even it is short lived. And nice feeling to get it clean. Nice deep wash with Harbor Freight coupon to cheap purchase of Megs Hyper Wash. It just stays so sudsy. After rinsing but before blowing the cars off, sprayed each panel with Megs Hybrid Ceramic Wax just for some kind of quick protection. I am impressed at how .... impressive Megs is. Spray on, hit with a strong jet of water and rinse panel off. The beading is bonkers, water rolling down the sides of the car. I was gonna follow with a wipedown with Megs Ceramic Detailer after I blew the cars dry, but, while warm for winter, still seemed damp in the air. I hit the windshields with a wipe of Carpro Ph2obic to boost up the beading there. Rain then snow now arriving. Go away winter.
 
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