Latest Product Evaluation

Gentlemen :
Here are the results on a product I've been testing lately.

LA's Totally Awesome Carpet Spot And Stain Remover ( 32 ounce red bottle-found in dollar stores, paid $1 ): This stuff works ! I tried it on several stains and it got them out. The maker warns you not to use any other stain remover on the stain prior to the Awesome product. That is because some other stain removers are not compatible with this product and unsuccessful removal attempts may set the stain. So...Naturally, the toughest test involved three blood stains on a beige bedroom carpet, which the victim had tried to remove with Hydrogen Peroxide and diswashing liquid solution. After his unsuccessful removal efforts, the stains were permitted to sit for four days. Finally, I was called in to "work my magic". I sprayed the Awesome product liberally onto the stains and let it dwell about one minute. I then rubbed the stains in all directions with clean white cotton toweling, applying additional product during the rubbing. No blotting was attempted. The stains came out.
I'm sold on this product, but cannot properly evaluate its potential to damage any materials, etc. I have experianced no noticable damage. Rating: Recommended. Note : I prefer this product to Meguiar's Interior Cleaner, Resolve and Folex.
Doug

" Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies. "



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2006 11:47PM by Doug Delmont.

Gentlemen : Bug Free is carried by Dollar General stores ( 33 ounces for $2.50 in a clear spray bottle ). The product claims to remove bugs and road grime but the word "tar" is absent from the label. The product appears to be citrus-based and the label says it is not oil based.
I tested it on a 2001 Toyota Camry with original factory green paint and a severe coating of bugs and tar. First, I washed the car with AutoMagic yellow car wash soap. Then I sprayed all of the bug and tar encrusted areas with the product and let it dwell 2 to 3 minutes before agitating it with fabric softener dryer sheets. This product works about as well as Goo Gone and at a bargain price. There was no noticable surface damage or residue after rinsing and drying. The fabric softener sheets left a residue of their own, however.
Almost every bug and tar glob came off. Verdict: Recommended.

Doug
" If one's good, two's better and three's a gas. "

Gents :
Mother's FX Synthetic Wax ( I paid $16 ) has been making a splash on some enthusiast forums so I decided to try it out for myself. I tested it on a single-stage white paint in good condition. One side of the hood was given a coat of FX and the other side, Mother's Original California Gold Car Cleaner Wax. The FX cleaned more aggressively but the Cal. Gold, a carnauba-based product, outshined it.
The FX outlasted the California Gold. It was still holding up when the Cal. Gold pretty much let go at around two months. I terminated the test to try some other products. Verdict: I prefer the Cal. Gold because it is gentler and shines better. Note: Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax outshines the Mother's FX but doesn't last nearly as long. FX is or was available from Advance Auto Parts.
EDITOR'S NOTE : Since this post ran, Mother's FX has shown up at Wal-mart for about half of what I paid at Advance Auto Parts way back when.
Doug
" The early bird catches the worm but it is the early worm that get's caught."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2007 01:40AM by Doug Delmont.

Recently, I tried out Griot's Garage wheel cleaner and Meguiar's wheel cleaner in the pink translucent bottle. Both products left the wheels' clearcoat looking slightly hazy, evidence of slight damage to the coating. Polishing restored the luster. I found these relatively gentle wheel cleaners to be a bit harsh and am instead experimenting with Meguiar's All Purpose Plus as a wheel cleaner.
Doug

" Valuing knowlege doesn't necessarily mean keeping it to yourself. "

Gentlemen:
This product is hazardous to skin and eyes and is so labeled. That is not unusual for professional products but I still count health hazards as a drawback.
"APP", as it is called on the Internet, is used in various dilutions. I've used it to remove about six black stains from my living room carpet. The stains were probably some kind of grease I tracked in while detailing a car.
It cleaned interior vinyl well without apparent damage to any surfaces. It works on door jambs and greasy wheel wells. It does not seem to burn any streaks in paint. I tried APP in an extractor in place of carpet cleaning fluid but found it left a car's upholstery feeling stiff. When used as a carpet cleaner, it may require extra rinsing. I have not done any side-by-side tests against other all purpose cleaners such as Awesome or Simple Green. So far, I give APP a rating of " Good ".
Doug
" If 'pro' is the opposite of 'con', what is the opposite of 'progress' ? "



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2006 02:40AM by Doug Delmont.

Ive seen the Awesome spot remover at the dollar store, Ill have to try it. I did try the Awesome yellow cleaner on some dirty wheels , and they came out like new.

Members,
I have found out the hard way that we should wear masks when spraying chemicals. Both the All Purpose Plus and Awesome Carpet products discussed in the above posts caused me a sore mouth after spraying them.
One of the rules outlined in the Toyota videos discussed in another thread is to wear eye protection, gloves and ( I recall ) a mask throughout the detailing routine.
Doug

" Avoid approaching horses and restaurants from the rear."

The way to evaluate the quality of a carpet shampoo is to dilute as per the manufacturer's instruction.

Then, take a small quanity of the liquid and put in the top of a coffee lid or saucer and set up on a shelf and let it evaporate.

When the evaporation occurs let me know via this forum what you have left in the lid or saucer and I will tell you the quality of your product.

Most all stain removers tell you to not use their remover after having used another stain remover. That is nothing new.

Also, general purpose stain removers are ok, but they are not as good as specific stain removers such as red dye remover; coffee/tea removers (tannin); rust removers; tar and grease removers; pet stain removers/neutralizers.

You can probably use our all purpose cleaner for most protein stain removers but they are not usually good on inorganic stains.

Keep in mind too, that what is sold in Dollar Stores, is what it is, "cheap."

If it works, of course, then go ahead and use it, if you know the make up of the chemical to insure it will not damage what you plan to use it on.

I bet I could buy a bottle of Joy or it's equivelent at the Dollar Store and I bet it would be cheaper than the expensive salon shampoos that my daughter makes me buy from her to wash my hair.

Bud Abraham
DETAIL PLUS SYSTEMS

Bud,

Don't you enjoy reading these "sort of *test*" by people who may or not know one surfactant from another.

As I read through the thread, and the discription of the "negatives" posted, I just shook my head in disbelief.

The "throat or mouth issue", etc, is usually the result of a high butyl content, which is not required to be placed on "consumer products" labels, for one thing.

Yet, the butyl cellosolve surfactant is just one of the chemical additives that were noted as "ground water contaminates" in the 1980's Clean Water Act, and are a know ground water toxin.

The "eye" concern noted, that is also an indicator of "high butyl cellosolve" content, usually observed as "watering of the eyes when being sprayed during use".

I could go on and on, as you are aware, just thought I would add a bit to the thread, as to why somethings are allowed, in consumer products" and not allowed "professional concentrates, marketed for "in work place usage", products.

OSHA, EPA, etc go after professional businesses, but allow the "consumer marketed" products companies to get away with not following the Federal Guidelines until there are many concerns registered with the proper Federal watch dog agency for consumers, and they may have the funds to fight the P&G's, the Colgate's, the Simple Green's, etc companies that market to the consumer market.

Ketch

Ketch

Bud,
Your daughter is right. A licensed cosmetologist I know, tried several knock-off shampoos in hopes that they'd turn out to be just as good as the name brands. They weren't and she went back to the name brand products. You can save on products such as Biolage by having a licensed person pick them up for you from a wholesaler in large bottles.
Appreciate the advice on single-purpose stain removers being better than multi-purpose. My experiance has been entirely with the multi-purpose products.
I wonder if Eagle One still makes their carpet spot remover. I remember it smelled like dry cleaning fluid and worked very well. Knights Spray Nine is another good multi-use product.
Doug
" Never wash a car, mow a yard or select a Christmas tree after dark. "-Life's Little Instruction Book



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2006 04:02PM by Doug Delmont.

Doug,

Back in the 60's when Yardley of London was one of the top three brands of cosmetic's, including hair care, I was Western Regional Manager.

As part of that posistion, I was required to go to the main lab in New Jersey, twice a year, to spend time with the development chemists.

It is amazing what I learned, that I was taught, about simple things like hair shampoo, conditioners, etc.

To this day, very little has changed, just some new additives, and the head chemist of our chemical lab, which has 4 college graduated chemist in total, and I get a laugh out of the "marketing" done by the "names".

We make so many "personal care products" in our 350,000 sq ft, two plants, for many companies that you would be amazed.

These are in addition to the several hundred car care products, we make for "marketing companies".

Then there are the "blow molding" of plastic bottles for other companies, etc.

I see you mentioned Knight, well you might very surprised where a couple of their more "sofisicated" products are actually formulated and produced.

Ketch

Ketch-
Well...I guess it makes sense to call a chemist who develops shampoo, your "head chemist" !

(in fun ) Doug

Yeah, anyone that has a PHd in chemistry is most likely to be at the "head of the class".

So, yeah, you are correct.

ketch

Ketch :
You may have missed my pun and thought my last post insulting. It was supposed to be funny, not malicious. I did say IN FUN.
Doug

Paint Prep by Griot's Garage sells for about $16 for a 33 Ounce bottle. It is a powerful cleaner that is used to de-wax vehicles. Griot's says it will remove all wax and sealant, leaving the finish ready for paint work etc. , without harming the paint. I tried it on my truck's single-stage paint. I'd last waxed with Mother's California Gold and it was no longer beading water.
Paint Prep removed what was left of the wax and any residue of sealant that may have been under it. Because I didn't follow instructions and wipe with towels, patches of wax and streaks where the product had dripped down the sides of the truck remained.
The big surprise was the chaulky, oxidized appearance of the bare paint. It is amazing what wax can hide.
There's more than one way to skin a cat ; Prepsol, Acrilikleen and Meguiar's All Purpose Plus are supposed to do the job. ( APP is non-butlyl by the way ). All that can be said here is that Paint Prep works. As a bonus, Griot's says you can use it for floors and other heavy-duty cleaning. www.griotsgarage.com
Doug

Doug:

Have you read the MSDS? What is the main ingredient in this product?

Bud Abraham

Good question Bud bet he does not know what an MSDS is without a Google search



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2006 11:09PM by Custom Detail.

Bud :
I don't know what is in the product and admit I don't have the MSDS. Note that I only gave information I had.
I had a laugh at a certain person's lecture on Butyl being the likely cause of my discomfort, when All Purpose Plus is advertised as a " Non-butyl " product. Of course it is tempting to knock what you don't sell...
Randy: You lose your bet.
Note-If you two wish to improve this forum feature, I invite you to track down an MSDS and enlighten us all.

Doug

Doug:

How can you use, let alone, recommend a product that you really don't what is all about.

As a professional you need to know what the products you use have in them; if they are dangerous to your person; what they may have in them that might be dangerous to materials in the car they could be used on.

It is not enough for a professional to simply say, "they work." That is what is wrong with the detail business. Too many detailers have not got a clue about the chemicals they use other than they work.

JOY would work as a hair shampoo too.

An all purpose cleaner without glycol ether? Hard to believe, just about every cleaner on the market uses glycol ether (Butyl Celusolve is a brand name of glycol ether). I would like to see the MSDS on that product.

Regards
Bud Abraham

You still did not tell us if you know what an MSDS is, so how did I lose. and it is not up to me to find the MSDS on grocery store product YOU recommend. further more a Professional detailer is proud of their business and will tell where their from and the name of their business, neither of which you have done!
Your E-mail is even hidden! what's the deal are you a REAL Pro or a want to be know it all!!!

Bud-
It may require a trip to Meguiar's web site but you can confirm the abscence of Butyl in APP simply by reading the description of the product.
If Griot's is risking damaging the Ferraris and other show cars their customers use the products on, they'd have been found out by now. They have a powerful product liability incentive to sell safe stuff. I'm satisfied with that and if you aren't, investigate further. I used the product for its intended purpose and it worked. Anyone can read my reports and judge whether the information is sufficient.
I wonder how you'd like it if I cautioned everyone that" we really don't know what evil substances Bud might be putting into Diamond Plus and had better find out before trusting Bud enough to try his product ". In other words, Griot's, like you, deserves the benefit of the doubt.
I did not, by the way, "recommend" the product. I said there are alternatives
and left it at that.
This reminds me of a salesman who was hawking a gun cleaning solvent. I told him I used a competitor's product and he proceeded to tell me that if it worked as well as I said, it would worry him as to how it might damage the guns I cleaned. ( Sly way to knock a good product ).
Doug



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2006 04:06AM by Doug Delmont.

Randy- I was indicating that I know what an MSDS is. If you think Griot's is purchased at grocery stores, you are in no position to attack my expertise.
Actually, I'm sort of a 'wanna be' right now but if you stop inventing excuses to take issue, you might benefit from my efforts.
I invite you to point out any factual errors I make. This forum was pretty quiet until I dove back in so be glad we can help others and have the intellectual challenge of answering the questions.
Doug

obvisously you don't get it, the term grocery store product is what we us for something that is not a professional product which Griot's is, not saying it a bad product it is for the weekend enthusiast! and the enthusiast are aways welcome to ask questions, this forum is titled ASK the Experts and you are not one of them! nor do I claim to be one! But some of the answers you have given ARE SCARY to say the least! but now I'm goin to take the advice of my fellow Professionals and ignore you like a barking dog chasing cars, not knowing what to but whizz on the tires if they catch them LOL
Oh by the way your advice on the black mark on the boat upholstery could have ruined the seats

Bud-
Here's an invitation to you. Feel free to have forum members, who have tried out your products, report their findings on this thread. This is your chance to put your products in front of potential customers and to make this thread better. In other words, I'm offering you fairness, equal time or whatever you wish to call it.
Randy-
Surely, there is at least one product that you could evaluate to enrich this thread. Have at it. I never intended to hold a monopoly on this thread ( in case I gave that impression ).
Doug

Doug

My comments to you have nothing to do with DETAIL PLUS products, or any attempt to sell them, My comments are totally directed at the uninformed things that you say. I simply challenge the content of what you are saying and you throw it back at me to look for MSDS on products you are using.

That is not how it works. If you are going to recommend products, do not make assumptions about anything, know.

When I taught in Junior College what I challenged my Political Science and Sociology students to do was always ask, "WHY!!!" That is what I am doing to you, ask Why, don't simply say something or recommend something when you do not have all the facts.

Certainly others on this forum should be challenging what you say.

Regards
Bud Abraham

Randy,


Interesting that some such as him, who loudly professes to be so knowledgable, throw about advice, most unsolicted, doesn't know that one simple fact, is it not?

This alone should cast doubt upon anything he may post here.

Just hope that those who do visit and read this site, are aware that they are reading advice, which appears to be, just a mental excercise.

Or someone attempting to get some attention.,

Ketch

Bud-
As I already told you, statements that a product works do not constitute a "recommendation". They are merely a report of what happened when I tested something. Do not accuse me of something I did not do. I did not recommend that anyone buy Griot's Paint Prep. Futhermore, an MSDS does not give " all the facts " about a product's chemical make-up anyway. I suspect you are irked by seeing a competitor's product discussed. Now that you have debunked my methods, consider the readers forewarned and stop worrying for their safety. They can now judge for themselves. Give it a rest.
Randy- I did not, as you claim, give advice on what to use on that boat seat.
I warned at the outset that I have no boat experiance and was reporting things that work on car vinyl. When Frank posted that the boat vinyl has a special coating that could be damaged, I answered "Oops !" . In the end the guy used Soft Scrub and if that abrasive grocery store stuff didn't ruin the vinyl, I doubt my car-based methods would either. ( I wasn't the one who suggested Soft Scrub either ). It is easy to stand back and take pot shots but harder to do something constructive and informative. Many forum members have enjoyed my product test hobby, partly because they can duplicate the tests and see if I'm right. I don't ask anyone to believe me based on my credentials. I am surprised at the hostile tone of your posts and the name-calling. I bear no ill feelings toward anyone on the forum. The forum was moribund and I offer no apology for reviving it.
Doug
" Observe good faith and justice toward all nations ."-George Washington-

Grumpy-
Is there a double standard at work here ? I remember your extraordinary claim of making a three-year sealant and your subsequent failure to answer Gina's request for information on it. Yet I'm supposed to give the chemical makeup of products ?! I wonder if you are still resentful that I didn't like one of your products...
While Bud has promoted his wax test, done without even possession of the application instructions for some of the waxes, you ridicule me ? You discredit yourself.
Doug

Man I hate to pile on Doug but I two Question on what expertise do you rely on to evaluate products for a bunch of professionals, some of who have been in this business for years. I mean what professional detailer who has even minimal volume uses meguires tech or mothers? I consider these products to be "boutique" products for the most part (Exept for their professional line). I use the rule given to me buy a pro on this forum... "If you can buy it at Wal Mart then it probably is in most cases no good! Can you even get these products by the gallon or five gallon? I asked members of this forum to evaluate my web site. I received a reply from you indicating that I should add tips for car owners such as, They should periodicly "beat" their floor mats and another tip that I should put on my site was that people should not park next to poles because they might open the door and damage their paint! If that was a joke then I apologize.And by the way if it was'nt a joke I would lie and say it was.They are good tips if your web site is frequented by 5 year olds. Now being the nice guy I am, I quickly posted a reply thanking you for your post. But since we seem to be critiquing your post I had to add this. Now I aint mad at ya but, dollar store? Sore mouth? WHAT? Now if you produce a bunch of credintials that prove you are a professinal with talents unknown then i'll be more inclined to listen, but it sounds to me like you are very young (I hope) and enjoy detailing and posting on detailing sites very much, which is great! But you have to remember on this forum you're talking to a bunch of Michael Jordans about basketball. Thats why youre getting blowback on post such as the ones on this thread. But as always thats just my opinion and you know what they say about those!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2006 02:48AM by st. legal.

What makes a product a professional line? Is it performance or good marketing calling this that and that this understand

I have used Megs: Colorx & NXT that gave gave me OUTSTANDING result oh and got them from Wal-mart!

But the customer was so happy, statement "my vehicle look NEW AGAIN"