mtnbiker326

Thanks for the heads up.

The video demonstrates both methods...

Yes it does... Since it was recommended that I try the "wet" method first, I only watched the first half.  Afterwards, I reviewed it and have concluded that the "dry" method will be attempted next (tomorrow).

Great review.

 

One tip to save yourself from stressing about the wet application and water spots or having to work early or late.

 

Dry the car off like you normally would then just do the dry application process outlined in the video. Sure, its an additional step, but it also keeps you from having to rush around or worry about getting water on already dry surfaces once you've dried so in the overall scheme it would probably be more efficient to go that way.

 

On the tangled wedge 'fingers' I've found that giving the pad a vigorous shake while its still wet will free up most of them. Almost do a throwing motion with the wedge in your hand.

 

In any event glad to hear you enjoyed the products.

That is GREAT advice.  I can report that after doing so, my wedge is back to pristine condition and looks great.  Thanks The Shine Doc!

Next time, I will attempt the dry method.  The wet method was the one demonstrated in the video and recommended by Ben (at Adam's) to try first.

I did the Jeep this weekend as well.   I did not use the wedge as, well, I forgot I ordered it and didn't open the box until after I was done washing.   yeah, I know.

 

Anyway, on to the H2O gloss.

 

Con:

The smell could be better.

It's kind of hard to see where I hit and where I missed on a white vehicle in the bright Florida sun.

That's it.

 

Pros:

Smell isn't bad.

Makes drying the vehicle stupidly easy.  To the point that you don't even really dry it anymore.

Leaves zero streaks and no white film on the trim.

 

one question I have, is how often can you use it?  Is there any reason to worry about build up if you used it say once per month? 

From what I have heard from Adam's CS... It should last at least a few months if not longer (per application).  I wouldn't recommend using it with every wash.  You are just adding additional layers for no reason (and wasting product).  I agree with others using DS and possibly some wax and glaze (full face-melter).

I've found myself a vehicle that actually looks better dirty, than clean, so I really only wash it every 3 weeks or so.  And as easy as DS makes drying, this stuff is a whole other level.

I agree!

Nice review Chris. Thanks for taking the time. Just a side note though, you seem to talk about the Rinseless Wash like it offers some kind of paint protection. Do I understand you correctly? or Does it actually? I know the product description says it has polymers in it but I don't know if that is the same thing as protection.

Hey Fito...  Sorry for the confusion.  I was just stating that I wanted to take (whatever "protection") or shine treatment off my paint before reviewing the HGG.

The paint was sealed with Liquid Paint Sealant and applied with a Cyclo (before this review).  I wanted to remove whatever was left of that protection and the small amount of "gloss" elements from my countless rinseless washes.  (if that makes sense)

Good Afternoon Adam's Family & Enthusiasts...

I completed a quick (1.5hr) 2 bucket wash, clay and seal using the new Car Wash Wedge and H2O Guard & Gloss.

Below is a quick review of both products, as they fit into this particular car washing routine.

First off, I want to document the state of my vehicle prior to washing and sealing and my initial thoughts on the 2 products.

There is a decent amount of build up of dirt, bird droppings (x4+), brake dust, etc.

When I received the box with all my products, I was stoked (as usual).  I opened the box and found my car wash wedges and H2O Guard & Gloss.  At first glance, I was kinda turned off by the foam fingers themselves (within the wash wedge pad) and thought that they would be terrible (compared to the car wash mitts/pads).  It took a few calls to Ben (Adam's AWESOME CS and Sales Agent) and having my fears and questions answered (while the soap was building in the bucket, literally) for me to press forward with the wash wedge.  The H2O Guard & Gloss was a little bit trickier to understand.  By this I mean, I was wondering (and asked Ben) how do you pay attention to one panel at a time (using this product) while the rest of the car is in the sun and water is drying (hard water) on the rest of the panels, you just washed and clayed?  After a few minutes of discussion with it, I found most of the answers I needed to move forward.  Always keep the car wet (without getting the parts you just dried wet) and move somewhat quickly (as you are not putting all that much product on the car to begin with).

The products I used for this project are below.  (including a small kwazar full of Detail Spray)

Starting off I worked on the wheels.  I knocked down the brake dust and grime with DWC and the newer red bristle wheel brush.  BTW, the Red wheel brush is AMAZING.  It has ACTUALLY saved me money in the amount of DWC I have to use on each wheel, just to get the brake dust off.  I went from using almost an entire 16oz bottle of DWC PER WASH to now using 4-6 oz.  THAT IS AWESOME.

Ok, getting back to the real review.  After cleaning the wheels themselves and hitting the tires with some APC (and blue tire brush) and Tire Shine (after the wash was complete), I moved on to the actual washing of the vehicle.

Since I had been using Rinseless Wash regularly with this vehicle, I figured that I needed to strip off whatever wax was on the paint to begin with, that way the rest of the review could take place correctly.  To do this, I used my foam gun and the 2 Bucket Wash method.  I added about 3-4 oz of full strength APC to the foam gun (just to be sure) and another 5-7 oz into the wash bucket (being thorough).

I then began my routine 2 bucket wash (with the wedge standing in for my wash pads).  I used Adam's "Old" Car Shampoo, in the small travel bottle.  I have to say, after knocking out a few panels, I LOVE this wedge.  I can do multiple panels (lightly dirty) with one trip to the buckets.  Once I got to the belt-line, I did have to go back much more frequently.  However, going back to the buckets was much easier and I didn't have to waste as much time rubbing a (two-sided) mitt or pad against each grit-guard, just the wedge itself.  The bug guts and dirt came off effortlessly and the wedge was ready to go again, without any issues.  After completing my wash, I did notice one small point that stood out for the wedge.  That is, the small foam "fingers" were small enough for the wedge to fit in between and clean each of the fins within my BMW kidney grills, up front.  That made me so happy.  I could clean 4 or 5 ribs in a single swipe (a little pressure to fit the fingers in between).  It was awesome.

As a point to note, I did see that after completing the wash, the car wash wedge fingers were a little tangled up and it was a little tricky to get them separated again.  (If anyone has a suggestion on this point, I would love to hear it)

So, on to claying.  I was initially going to also include the new blue clay bar as a part of this review, but I still have a few standard clay bar boxes laying around so I decided to use up my old stock first and review it later.  

I decided, for the purpose of this review, to keep the claying technique constant and focused towards the Adam's Purists.  I used nothing but Detail Spray as a lubricant, that way there would be no issues with the claying process or this part of the review (even though I prefer waterless/rinseless wash for my claying lubricant).

I clayed the entire car, from top to bottom (except wheels... wish I had time to take them off and seal them... need to get on that... after a year of promises to myself  ).

After the clay, I rinsed the entire car off and prepped for the H2O Guard & Gloss sealant treatment.  I started on the hot side of the car (as I wanted to get that water off QUICKLY).  I used my go-to towels for this job, my boarder-less blues and a Great White.  I started out spraying 4 or 5 sprays on each panel and found that most of it was soaking into the (prepped) damp boarder-less blue and wasn't being as effective as less.  (a tip shared by Ben prior to starting)  So less is more and even less than I thought was "less".  After the first few panels, I started using 2 or 3 sprays on each panel (depending on size).  It worked like a charm.  I love this new product.  It saves me from drying the car and then putting quick sealant or pain sealant (with my Flex) on top, as an additional, time consuming step.  I have yet to see how long the sealant will last, but I will be using my Rinseless Wash here soon, in order to build up a layer of wax on top, to further strengthen and postpone degradation of the sealant from the Guard & Gloss.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with this product.  I will state, though, that if you are doing this outside, do it in the morning or early evening as you will avoid water spots (with harder water regions).  I regret that in my haste, I didn't remove all of the water quick enough on the roof and have a few spots sealed underneath the Guard & Gloss and will need to be removed with another clay session and paint correction (already planned and needed, regardless).

So, on to the results... Here is my car with the 2 bucket wash, clay, and sealant applied.  I do say it does shine up nicely.  This doesn't have any additional detail spray, wax or glaze on it.  I wish I had time to perform a Full Face-Melter.  Next time, I guess.

In conclusion, these two products, the New Car Wash Wedge and H2O Guard & Gloss are worth their weight in the toolbox of the Adam's Car Cleaning Garage (or other space ).  I highly recommend each of them and praise their engineering and creative teams for the R&D put into them.

If you have any questions regarding either of these, Adam's Reps will be more than happy to help (as will I, via these threads).

Thanks for reading and enjoy the polishing!

Pulled the transmission out of my miata and cleaned the sludge out of it (and on it) with Adam's APC and Deep Wheel Cleaner.  Installed a new flywheel and working on getting the new clutch and seals installed all the rest of this week.  Then a new exhaust will be installed once the trans is back in the car this next weekend.

That company will reply with a message saying "We no longer make these" guarantee it! 

 

I emailed them a few months back looking to buy a case.

 

I too have been looking for the Black & Red Hex Grips. The Blue & Red Americana one was too soft for my liking.

I agree.  I did the exact same thing a few months ago.

Read your bottle of DWC Chris, it specifically says it can be used to get orange specks out of paint (iron particles), if not on the bottle then its def on the Adam's website.

 

As far as I can tell the active ingredient in DWC is the same ferrous fighting agent used in the popular paint decon spray "Iron-X", which I used to use a few years back.  The Iron-X description actually states for use on paint or wheels.  Since DWC is pH neutral, it will not negatively attack the clear on your paint just like it won't attack the clear negatively on the wheels.  Just don't use it on a hot car and don't allow to dry on the surface.

 

Next time you are doing "the full monty", give a light misting of DWC on your car, AFTER the wash, while the car is still wet, let it dwell for a minute or two, and you can either give agitation with a light sponge or wash pad and soapy water, or simply rinse down with a decent stream from your hose nozzle.

 

Then go right into claying, you'll notice it should take you half the time.

 

 

As far as I can see DWC is a phenomenal 2-in-1 product from Adams, probably the second most versatile product after Rinseless Wash.

The funny thing is that I am buying and using DWC and Rinseless the most out of ALL the products I use (which is all of them).  It is great to have multiple uses for the two MOST used products on my shelves.  Now it will mean that I will be purchasing MORE of those two products even more frequently.  

Thanks Jason for inadvertently draining my wallet, more quickly, in the future

That is GREAT NEWS!!!!!  That means that my clays will last even longer due to the larger contamination being removed more quickly with the DWC.  Not all, but a fair amount.   :)

I don't have one of the new ones but I LOVE my "OG edition" Adams woolie set with the DWC.

 

Best part is that DWC is more liquid than Sonax FE (more of a gel), the sprayer on the Adam's bottles are better, it smells better than Sonax, and in my opinion it cleans faster and better than original Sonax FE.

 

I'll be purchasing in gallons from here on out, I only use it on the wheels every 2-3 months or so and Car Shampoo with woolies and brushes for maintenance cleanings in between, but I always clean my barrels each time I wash. 

 

Best thing about DWC is it doubles as an excellent Paint decon spray too so you can save time on claying!

I will say that I am only using my OG edition woolies as well.  I did not know that DWC decons paint as good as clay?  There is no harmful effect on the clear from the DWC?  

MF applicators are extremely versatile, metal polishing, hand polishing, leather conditioning, waxing, sealing, glass sealing, etc, the possibilities are pretty endless.

One of the best multitasking applicators (next to the red and blue hex grip).

Here is a quick before and after post request from Ben and Nick @Adams...

I finally had more than an hour to devote to washing and cleaning the car up (in over 2 months)

I arrived home yesterday to find my tire shine waiting for me, so I couldn't wait to try it out today! The Mustang was pretty dusty, so I gave it a good cleaning, used APC to thoroughly clean the tires, and applied the tire shine (using the less-shiny method Adam demonstrated). 

 

I'm really happy with the results! I drove the car less than a half hour later and the tires were completely dry with no slinging at all. I did get some overspray on the wheels but it wiped off no problem and no dirt has stuck to those places that I could tell, or to the tires themselves. Impressive considering there's a lot of construction going on around here and plenty of dirt on the roads.  I was especially happy with how easily the product filled in the ridges in my tires with hardly any effort (using a fresh block sponge). 

Great write up Pete.  I too was impressed when i showed up and inspected the tires.

If this is successful from Braun, is the smaller wheel woolie (now upgraded to a 45 degree handle as well) coming in the future too?

My BMW 18" wheels and brakes are just too close together to get the medium regular wheel woolie (or anything that diameter) in between.  I use the smallest one to do that job.

Well Done Nick!

Thanks for your email, and sorry again George, this is the first Cyclo that has been reported DOA in our history selling the tools.  I spoke with the owner of Cyclo yesterday, and he said it is the first to have left the factory dead in his recollection.   Certainly an unusual situation, and we will stand behind it 100%. 

It that is the case... I would keep that cyclo for posterity.    1 in 60 years.  That is a collectors item my friend (and with proper documentation to boot)

The long answer is they can't be mixed with other types of materials in the same load, and you can not use fabric softener. There are other topics that go into detail, here is a good one:

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/24216-washing-machine

 

Everybody has their own methods to cleaning their towels. Whichever way you choose is perfectly fine as long as the basic rules are followed so you don't ruin them.

Yeah!!!  Props for Ben.  New(er) guy and ROCKING IT!!!!!

Not to mention Adam's 110% CUSTOMER SERVICE AWESOMENESS!!!!

It could...  BUT it is pretty expensive.  $1300+ for a battery powered unit.  I would recommend just buying halogen on a tripod or scaffold and plugging it into the wall in the garage.  If you must be portable, I would recommend something more powerful and cheaper.

Something like... a Fenix flashlight (with diffuser or without for spot checks) at least 750 lumens or if you wanna go brighter (outside) I would look at the TM26 tiny monster 3800 lumens for under $400.

This may be rhetorical, but are you cleaning your wiper blades as well when doing the glass sealant/clay/cleaning?

 

I usually spritz APC on a towel and "pinch" the rubber and wipe the blade every time I wash my X5, you'll be amazed and what comes off of it once every week or two.  To keep the rubber protected and supple you could give a spritz of In&Out on a towel and just wipe it on the rubber to protect it.  I personally use 303 Aerospace but I know its not Adam's product, but the point is after wiping the blades you might want something on the rubber to keep it supple.

 

Been doing this for years and I get super long life out of my wiper blades this way.

Attempted to apply the glass sealant.  Used the clay bar and then applied with a microfiber applicator.  I tried to apply as little as possible but i didnt really see it going on so i could not really gauge how much i was using.  Now,  when i use the wipers i have some streaking?  how do i get this done right?

And as a note to Adam123nyc...  DONT overdo the VRT (or other rubber treatment) on the wiper blades either.  They won't create a good enough seal with the extra product on it (and leave additional streaks as product is coming off and onto the glass when water hits it).  Just FYI