why do so many dislike armorall

danieledwards12

danieledwards12

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i have read every single thread on here that has the word ArmorAll in it and i see that the vast majority of people on this forum have a strong dislike for ArmorAll. i personaly love it. i have used it since i tuned 16 years old and got my first vehicle (11 years ago). i am now a detail technician for a fleet service and i use it on vehicles every day.

people say it leaves to much of a glossy/shinny finish. but i have found that if you use it in moderation this eliminates this issue. i use the original spray and the tire foam. i really like the tire foam because it gives a flat dull finish for the tires.

i am in the process of starting my own mobile detailing buisness and wanted to use more "professional" grade produts for my buisness so i have been trying out new products but i cant find anything else that i like as much as the ArmorAll for my interior cleaning. i guess its because i have used it for the past 11 years and found the technique i use works for me.

my concern is, will people look down on me and my buisness because i use a product on their vehicle that can be bought at any and every big box store? even though i am able to get the same exact results as someone else using the "professional" product?
 
i personally don't care to use AA for the interiors, but it works well for the tires and wheel wells. the two products that i like are the AA original tire foam and tire shine gel...
 
Mainly I don't use it because it's very greasy here better products out there like dp interior cleaner and protectant leaves a natural look and protects the interior


Sent from space through a satellite
 
The problem with AA is that it does the opposite of what its designed to do.

Protect:
I wont go deep into the plastic breaking down process, but "professional" products replace the particles that break down in the plastic/rubber/vinyl. AA "adds" to the particles that never broke down to begin with. Its like saying you have a vit A deficiency so lets give you more vit C since vit C is good for you.

Sunlight:
AA is shiny/greasy because it leaves an oily insulation film behind. "professional" products protect the interior from UV and thats about it. AA, because of the grease/coating, traps the heat into the plastic when the sun hits it.

Im sure AA is working for you and looks great. But its not protecting or increasing the life span of your cars interior, its destroying it more quickly that if you just left it alone.
 
slippery, greasy and shiney to the point of tacky. Yeah it's cheap but it's loaded with silicone. It will never dry it just gets sticky in the heat so your basically cooking your interior and exterior vinyl. Exterior vinyl and tires after one rain it's running down your paint from the trim and your tires are brown.
Better alternatives are my go to: Chemical Guys VRP. It's cream based but can be thinned with distilled water 50/50 and used as a spray. One wipe down let sit 5 minutes buff lightly to a nice satin shine that is dry to the touch, waterproof, lasts months exterior, a year interior if applied right. No shine, no odor, no greasy residue on your hands.
The other is Opti-Bond it's a little pricey for me but with both products a little goes a long way. I jut prefer VRP. It's more cost effective for me and most clients are not counting how many days the dressing stays on the tires.
 
nightanole said:
The problem with AA is that it does the opposite of what its designed to do.

Protect:
I wont go deep into the plastic breaking down process, but "professional" products replace the particles that break down in the plastic/rubber/vinyl. AA "adds" to the particles that never broke down to begin with. Its like saying you have a vit A deficiency so lets give you more vit C since vit C is good for you.

Sunlight:
AA is shiny/greasy because it leaves an oily insulation film behind. "professional" products protect the interior from UV and thats about it. AA, because of the grease/coating, traps the heat into the plastic when the sun hits it.

Im sure AA is working for you and looks great. But its not protecting or increasing the life span of your cars interior, its destroying it more quickly that if you just left it alone.
Click to expand...
:iagree:
 
Well I don't care for AA as its very greasy and I'm not a huge fan of a greasy look and it seem to attrack a lot of dust.

When I'm doing a customers car I will as if they want dressing most will say no. For the ones that do I use Meg's hyper dressing. It's a water based that is dilutable to different ratios for different looks. I use 4:1 for interiors if that's what some one wants.

I use hyper dressing on tires and trim as well at different ratios for whatever meets my customers needs.

For a gallon is 38 bucks
For AA a gallon is 40

There are better options for you money than AA.
 
Back in the 70"s Chrysler sent out a memo stating " do not use Armor All on any vinyl or plastic as it has been found to dry out those products and cause premature failure". Armor All new that at the time and still sold the product under the impression you were doing something good for vinyl and plastic. Didn't trust them after that and still don't.

Dave
 
from the research i have done on it they have since changed their formula.
 
danieledwards12 said:
from the research i have done on it they have since changed their formula.
Click to expand...

They still jerked us around knowing what was going to happen to make a buck. I have no mercy and will not support the product. To much of a Weiner product to me.

Dave
 
AA is a solvent based product iirc. So while it may be shiny it makes rubber and plastic dry/brittle.

Water based products may need to be applied more often but you typically don't get the greasy coating AA leaves. Plus on tires the sling is ridiculous. Personally I hate shiny rubber, plastics and vinyl.
 
Cracked dashboards back in the day! I use AA in the wheelwell, its good for that;-)

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online
 
There are degrees of evil on this earth. Cigarettes, booze, politicians, smack, crack, etc. Choose your poison. AA is really in its own category of evil, apart from the others, as it should be.
 
I used to love AA for the oversize tires on my GMC PU. That was until I had two major failures on sidewall cracking on some BFG 33 x 12.50s. The tire dealer said that AA was a major contributor to the failures due to excessive silicone. They replaced the tires, but I never went back to AA. Still don't know if their explanation was a "way out" or if there was truly a tire defect.
 
Armor All is water based. Check out the MSDS if you don't believe me.


Not a bad product for what it is. I personally only use it every once in a while on tires or wheel wells. It's far too greasy feeling for me to ever want to spray it on my interiors. Applied to tires via foam applicators, it gives a very nice look that isn't overly shiny as I apply very little. Actually lasts relatively long on my garage kept cars.



As for that tire issue, I highly doubt it was related to ANY tire dressing. More than likely you had a set of tires that were a lot older than you realized(would have been interesting to see the manufacture dates on them). Either that or they were just faulty.
 
Legumes said:
Armor All is water based. Check out the MSDS if you don't believe me.


Not a bad product for what it is. I personally only use it every once in a while on tires or wheel wells. It's far too greasy feeling for me to ever want to spray it on my interiors. Applied to tires via foam applicators, it gives a very nice look that isn't overly shiny as I apply very little. Actually lasts relatively long on my garage kept cars.



As for that tire issue, I highly doubt it was related to ANY tire dressing. More than likely you had a set of tires that were a lot older than you realized(would have been interesting to see the manufacture dates on them). Either that or they were just faulty.
Click to expand...

Relax man- I did say if I recalled correctly. So it's water based- Great, I was wrong on that one point. It's still garbage in my opinion for the reasons I listed previously. If you like it knock yourself out:xyxthumbs:
 
I'll just say, I don't like 'the look' of AA for interior work. Just too shiny (for my taste) and that can give some serious reflections on/off the windshield.

I didn't know about the matt finish on the tires...that I'm interested in...gonna have to grab a can to see. Thanx for that tip.

Bill
 
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