Review: 1z Colourtec Wheel Cleaner

I've had this wheel cleaner for a few weeks and finally decided to put it to the test and see what how it worked out.

I have to start it off by saying this stuff is pungent, incredibly, bad enough where it's stored outside.  It also was incredibly strong while using it, you can see my findings below.

Product Link

I found this product to have quite a liberal sprayer which I liked for using on wheels.  The color change was also incredible apparent, much more so than Sonax Full Effect.  You can see below on a close up shot.

My other finding were that with even the slightest agitation caused quite a bit of foaming which was very clingy and great for cleaning the wheels.  My technique for using this was to lightly rinse the wheel, spray the product liberally, slightly agitate to add to the foaming, then following this up with rinsing/agitating with a Wheel Woolie heavily to clean the wheel.  I followed this up with a simple microfiber wipe down. 

But my overall thoughts were that it works fantastic, foams incredibly well, smells horrible (even more so than Sonax Full Effect, up there with IronX in my opinion), but is likely the most cost effective wheel cleaner out.  Definitely wear gloves as well when using this product.

Thanks for reading, post any comments or questions below.

Review: Optimum Power-Clean

Well it's review day.  Here are the stack of products I'm hoping to complete.  Unfortunately after foaming the car a storm started to move in so I have to pause while it moves through.

And the assortment of brushes

Here's the test wheel, the process was completed for all 4 wheels and tires.

So for Power Clean I heavily spray the tires and use the Tuff Shine tire brush to clean it out.

I was able to get this picture in action.

And it working on the tire

You can see all the grime that has built up over the past couple weeks since I last cleaned my tires.

Overall my experience with this product so far is that it does what I wanted it to.  I will need to continue to use this but for the most part APC is used to clean tires for me primarily and it did it fantastic.  Easy to use, does not smell pungent, and easy to work with.  If I had to change something I would put a foaming sprayer on it as I feel it allows the suds to stick and dwell much longer.

Product Link

Optimum Power Clean

Thanks for reading and post any comments or questions below!

Products List: Basic Washing and Drying (Foam Gun, Rinseless Wash, and more!)

Lately I've been responding to quite a few people on what I personally recommend or use to wash and dry my car to keep proper care of it.

I figured I'd consolidate a list (with links!) of what I use for maintenance washes and you can find my technique here.

For all but the most soiled of vehicles I've moved on to pre-soaking with a foam gun.

Foam Gun and Soap

Here is the Gilmour foam gun I use from Amazon (tip if you can find the same gun from Butcher's I paid $36 for it)

           This is definitely a technique and not necessary, this just allows the dirt settled on to be moved off before touching the paint and I have found it to soften the dirt and grime on there.  It significantly reduces the dirt I have picked up with wash media.

As for foam gun shampoo I have been experimenting with a few but my recommendation as of now is Chemical Guys Honeydew.

I follow the foam gun spray with a simple rinse off then move on to rinseless washing. 

Rinseless Wash and Towels

The staple for this of course Optimum No-Rinse (for my Wash & Wax Version review click here)

For the original version click here.

For wash media I use re-usable wash media, this allows different sides of the towel (4 in total) and different towels after each side is used every time I touch the paint.  This reduces the risk of inducing swirls and scratches.  Here is a great video link that explains this in detail.

As for towels, for washing I use these from MicrofiberTech they are paint-safe 360gsm weight.

Another recommendation many recommend are the 530gsm weight found here.

Note: Use the coupon code NEWS5 for an added discount.

For drying towels my absolute favorite is the Microfiber Madness Dry Me Crazy, one towel is absolutely more enough to dry a car.  I follow it up with a simple light buff with a 530gsm towel as found above just to eliminate any residual towel marks that may have been left.

Wheels and Tires

Check out my review page here for multiple links on wheel and tire products

Thanks for reading!

Review and Head-to-head: CarPro PERL and Wolf's Tire and Trim Gel

I've had CarPro PERL for a little while since I got a sample in but haven't posted up my thoughts on it since I've only used it a handful of times.  But I do find it very promising and versatile as a dressing product.  The tires needed dressing and I had just enough Wolf's "Blackout" Tire and Trim Gel to do roughly 2 tires, what better time to do a head-to-head long-term review!

You can find my thoughts on the Wolf's version here.

CarPro PERL according to CarPro is:

"PERL Coat by CarPro is a concentrated versatile water-based, protective coating for plastics, rubber, and leather that offers tremendous UV protection.  PERL Coat is a water based dilute to suit product, covering a large array of tasking within car care.  It can be used to restores the like-new appearance of hard exterior plastic surfaces and keeps them looking good with strong UV and hydrophobic protection.  The sun can be damaging on flexible materials, like rubber, plastic, and leather. Gradually & over the course of time they fade & become brittle and cracked.  PERL Coat is changing the rules. PERL Coat provides excellent protection and lasts up to three months on interior and engine surfaces.  Durability on Exterior Surfaces varies based on the type of plastic and the exposure in your environment.  It can protect for up to 3 months on exterior surfaced as well however if you see constant rainy conditions the darkness will fade from some plastics and tires sooner.  For a dedicated extremely long lasting Exterior Trim Coating please take a look at our "CarPro DLux" product."

Here you can see the sample size I have.

And Meguiar's Hyper Dressing behind it which I am a fan of for an economic water-based dressing.

I applied it like any other tires dressing and found it to be quite glossy, but this can easily be remedied by diluting it at a 1:1 ratio or even more depending on how far you want to stretch a bottle.  Here are the tires beforehand.  Very dry and blooming due to rubber's natural tendencies.

And here they are after being dressed by Wolf's Tire Gel.

And CarPro PERL

I will update this accordingly as the gel dries and sets in.  It leaves a much more satin type look as compared to a glossy look.  And I will keep you all updated on how long each respective products lasts in normal usage on a daily driver vehicle.

Product Links

CarPro PERL
Wolf's Trim Gel

Thanks for reading and post up any comments or questions you have below!

Review: Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner

I recently wanted to try out Sonax Full Effect in comparison to my previous review of Poorboy's Spray and Rinse and Wolf's Clean and Coat which you can find by clicking here.

Sonax Full Effect has been around quite a while and can be found at many detail outlets and runs around $16.99 for 16oz of product, I tested this product at full concentration which is recommended.  I did not get it in the bottle but transferred it to another bottle I had.  You can see it here in it's lime green glory.

Product Link found here.

This product works good on even the dirtiest of wheels and is tailored for German vehicles which are prone to excessive brake dusting turning bright wheels dark and dusty looking.  If you don't know what I'm talking about next time you go the grocery store check out BMW's and Mercedes.  My wheels weren't too dirty overall.

Quick before as I said not too dirty.

Here it is in action, I let it dwell for roughly 1 minute, slightly spray it it to wet it and then agitate with a Wheel Woolie.  After I scrub in between spokes I rinse it down again.

If you look closely at the rotor you can see the color change from green to purple as it reacts to brake dust and other pieces of dirt. 

And after cleaning

Overall my thoughts on the product are that it works good, the smell is something to get used to but I found it much less caustic than Poorboy's Spray and Rinse.  It does not have as much as an acidic smell to it as well but I would definitely recommend wearing gloves still while using this product.   As for cleaning it did clean less than the Poorboy's counterpart.

Thanks for reading and post up any comments you may have!

How-to: Maintenance Washing/Wheels & Tires/Glass Care

After seeing many people have questions on exactly how to wash and dry a car, take care of wheels and tires, and glass cleaning I decided to make this step-by-step process with pictures which I find to be the most effective.

So you're paint is all corrected and in great shape, but how do you maintain it? How do you prevent swirls and scratches from returning or at least minimizing them.

Note: This is my process and is technique only.  If you find another way that yields great results by all means stick with it.  And post it up so we all can learn.

First off I begin by filling a bucket with roughly 1-2 gallons of water with 1-2 oz of ONR depending on how soiled the vehicle is.  ONR recommends 1 oz per 2 gallons of water.  But in this case, better safe than sorry.

I use reusable wash media, so instead of a wash pad or mitt, I use multiple wash towels, usually 6-8 for a medium sized vehicle.

These towels are 360g/m and can be found at microfibertech for 10 for $23.

Next I soak them and let them sit in the solution for the time being.

Next I move on to wheels and tires while these soak.

For heavily soiled wheels a dedicated cleaner like Sonax Full Effect or Poorboy's Spray and Rinse works great.  Mine weren't too covered in brake dust so I went with Meguiar's D101 All Purpose Cleaner at full solution.  Before trying any product it is important to do a test spot in an inconspicuous place to check for any discoloration or damage to your wheels.

Here is the D101 in action

You can see the dirt being lifted off.  Then using a variety of brushes such as Wheel Whoolies, Raceglaze brushes for the lugs, and different wheel brushes.  For the tires using a foaming sprayer works great then brushing it off with a Tuff Shine tire brush.

Here's the type of gunk, tar, and various other things that your tires pick up daily.

After I'm done cleaning the wheels it's important to get your tools into a cleaning solution, I just use water and APC.

See:

Often cleaners will cause rusting and oxidation to start on brake rotors.  So I'll take the car for a quick spin before a wash it to clean the rotors, the problem is that the wheels take the brunt of the grime on the brake rotors as well as any leftover dirt that wasn't washed away. After parking it again I just take a microfiber towel and clean up anything left over on the wheels.

Now the last thing to do is dress the tires.  Here I'll be using Wolf's Blackout Gel, it provides nice sating sheen that doesn't look greasy and lasts for 2-3 weeks depending on your driving style.

Tire Before

After

For a glossier shine go over the tire again until it meets your desires, for a more satin shine use less product.

Now it's time to move on to washing the car.

For this take your towel soaked in solutions and gently wring it out. You want it wet but not completely soaking and dripping water.  With towels with a short nap and long nap side use the longer nap.  This lets the more dirt get trapped deeper and since you're trying to minimize swirls and scratches you want to avoid dragging dirt across the paint surface.

When you first start washing your car lay the towel folded in 1/4s flat on the surface and drag with absolutely zero pressure as so.

Now you're going to be picking up dirt and grime as seen here.

To avoid dragging this back across the surface lift slightly on the front of the towel

When you're done lifting 2 or 3 times your towel will have lines of dirt similar to this.  After each panel is complete I dry using a Cobra Guzzler HD, again as little pressure as required folded in 1/4's.

If you're towel still has solution you can continue using a different 1/4 of the towel.  You can see here where I used all 4  of the long nap side.

Lastly is the glass.  Right now I'm using Meguiar's D120 Glass Cleaner, it works very well and is extremely cost effective at 1:20 dilution (1 part concentrate to 20 parts water) and a Microfiber Madness Cloudbuster, by far the best glass cleaning towel I've used.  For the windshield I spray directly on the windshield and clean and buff with the other side of the towel.  I also clean the windshield wipers.  For the side windows and mirrors I spray on the towel so the solution avoids the paint, it's not dangerous but just means less to clean up.

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions or tips!