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Old 09-20-2008, 02:17 PM   #1
kwan_1104
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 127781
Join Date: Oct 2006
Chapter/Region: E. Canada
Default Mothers/Tutles/Meguiars VS the expensive stuffs

Hi
I am pretty much a newbie on detailing cars, and recently, I have been looking into car detailing.

For my whole life, I have been using mothers/ Meguiars products that I can find from local auto parts stores (canadian tires). As I read more posts in the forum, I realizes that a lot of ppl uses very expensive (at least to me) car washes, polishes, waxes etc (e.g. zymbol, P21S etc....)

So, I was wondering, what exactly the the differences between the conventional brands and the expensive stuffs?
Are the expensive stuffs gonna provide more protection? are the conventional/ cheaper stuffs gonna do more damges/ wears to my car compared to the expensive stuffs?
Or are the expensive stuffs just for that extra shine?

My routine:
Mothers Gold Class Car wash (2 bucket method) every week basically
Mothers Clay bar (once a year)
Mothers Pre-Wax Cleaner (twice a year)
Mothers Sealer and Glaze (once every month or two)
Mothers Pure Carnauba Wax (once every month or two)
Armor All for the interior (whenever necessary)
Simoniz Wheels Cleaner (every week)
Mothers Metal Polish for rims and exhaust tips (every week)
Simoniz Tire foam (every week)
RainX Glass Cleaner (every week)

A $40 Simoniz polisher is used to apply wax.

Is there anything wrong I am doing?
Also considering getting a foamgun.... do you guys think it worth it?

Educate me

Thanks
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Old 09-20-2008, 03:36 PM   #2
STi22B
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 86906
Join Date: May 2005
Chapter/Region: BAIC
Location: San Francisco and Davis, CA
Vehicle:
07 Scion tC
Pearl White

Default

The difference between the expensive stuff and the OTC stuff is that it's just better.

From my experience, this is what I've noticed.

Meguiar's and Mother's wax lasts up to a week
My Chemical Guys 50/50 wax lasts up to a month and a half.
My Liquid Souveran wax lasts up to 2-3 weeks.

The soaps are much better in that they foam better and are slicker.
The brushes/mitts available online are better in quality and last longer.

Mother's clay used to take me 2 hours to work with.
Sonus Green/Clay Magic/Swissvax/Zymol clay take me 30 minutes. This is attributed to my ability to do it faster and that the clay is more aggressive and works faster.

OTC polish is garbage! I used Scratch X by hand before and it barely did anything. I used it on my rotary before and it just did a lot of filling and only a bit of cut.
More expensive polish is the good stuff for sure. However, the more expensive ones are to be applied by machine only, and not the cheap 40 or 80 dollar polisher you find at Sear's or Target. You want a Porter Cable, Flex, or a rotary polisher.

Simple Green is a viable APC.

Mother's metal polish is decent.
P21S finish restorer blows it out of the water though.

There are rarely any OTC products professional detailers use.

This is just my opinion.
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Old 09-21-2008, 02:26 PM   #3
truenosan
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Member#: 78893
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region: VIC
Location: Vancouver, BC Canada
Vehicle:
2013 Scion
FRS

Default

I noticed the difference between Mothers/Meguair's and higher end brands is the way the product works and how messy it is.

Meguairs products mostly just fill in scratches, not polishing them out. So a couple of washes later, those swirls/scratches re-appear.

My biggest complaint, especially towards Meguair's polishes, is that they are very messy and literally stick to just about anything. They are next to impossible to clean up. Even when you wipe at it, pressure wash, etc.

Products like 3M, not the worlds best stuff, but pretty damn good IMO. Problem for me is, I need to use bodyshop safe polishes as the shop I run is rented out of a bodyshop. Not all of 3M products are silicone free, but they have a good line up that is.

Only thing I use from Meguairs is their NXT car wash soap for doing the higher end cars, because its a lot more gentle on the hands then some industrial soaps. Meguairs claybars are fine as I go through them pretty quick and they are easily obtainable since I can just run down to the local store instead of ordering it through a supplier and have to wait for it.
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Old 09-21-2008, 02:53 PM   #4
vecdran
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 162932
Join Date: Oct 2007
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Kenmore, WA
Vehicle:
2020 Tacoma TRD Bro
Super White

Default

Proper waxes go on easier, come off easier, and look better.

Proper tire shines aren't greasy messes. They leave a residue free finish while still providing either a nice satin finish or full on gloss if that is what you are after.

Honesly, after having switched to products by Griot's, there's no way in hell I am going back to auto store crap. And there's better than Griot's out there in many catergories.

There's a reason the professionals use what they use. You can get the exact same or almost the same quality without dropping too much money. (Ignoring the crazy stuff, like Swissvax Crystal Rock carnuba wax, which is $1,100 a container.)
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