GerryC

Thanks for the experiment, its always great to get some real world resuilts that one can see
 
Tides come and tides go... But PATS FANS are here to stay! 

Adam's gray is definitely stickier than the blue, which helps it pull more contamination, but I found that the tradeoff is more marring specifically on softer paint. I prefer to use the blue on my G8's paint because the clear is soft, and use the gray everywhere else (especially the wheels) since it does a much better job at removing particulate. Nice front plate by the way

Here's the thing with Leather Conditioner that most people using it for the first time don't realize.  Once you've cleaned your seats well, you should apply the leather conditioner.  I like to apply it with a microfiber towel or with my hands.  Let it sit for a couple minutes, then wipe it down good with a clean microfiber towel.  A LOT of times you'll see streaking or an uneven appearance after a few hours or the next day. It's normal. That's because your seats and leathers/vinyls, etc. are not equal in their dryness. The areas that are dryer will absorb the product quicker and look duller or streakier.  The solution is as simple as reapplying.  You may even need to do it three or four times until it's uniform. But once you get it all evened out , you should only need to do it once the next time.  It's just a matter of getting it all equally treated and moisturized.  

I usually skip the windshield when I do H2O and just go straight for the glass sealant. I probably use glass sealant too often but today in some light rain, I never needed my windshield wipers until I got into the stop and go stuff. Once I got up to 40MPH or greater traffic, windshield wipers just made noise and lines on my windshield that weren't necessary. LOVE glass sealant. 

If G&G makes you happy then go for it, but personally I think the Glass Sealant is much better at protecting glass than G&G is.

Please keep this civil and do not bash competitors - we do not believe in that here - or this thread will be locked and deleted like the one from last week. I also edited out the link from the first post. Thank you for understanding.
 
From our User Agreement on the forum:
 
OUTSIDE PRODUCTS & COMPETITIVE COMPARISONS
Linking competitors products or outside vendors on AdamsForums.com is strictly prohibited. The team at Adam's understands that we are clearly not the only detail products on the market, but we do however reserve the right to limit the discussion of such products in order to protect our best interests. 
 
Light discussion and comparison of outside products is perfectly acceptable so long as it remains respectful, but direct links, marketing, excessive discussion, and endorsement of any product not endorsed or sold by Adam's Premium Car Care is prohibited. There are a number of detailing discussion boards and enthusiast forums on the web where these products can be discussed at length. Here at AdamsForums.com please try to keep the discussion related to the use and support of Adam's products. 

Let's not turn this into a bash fest. I think googling CG will net you lots of opinions to form your own.

Just want to thank Adam's for sourcing this American made, heavy duty foam gun for your traditional washes (or can be incorporated into a rinseless routine as well in a pre-treat phase)
 
The 32oz canister is perfect, on my wifes Sportwagen yesterday I used the purple tip (heavier solution flow I believe) yesterday since we had 1/2" of snow on Monday and her car looked like it went through a blizzard.  I was able to foam it twice (once as a pre-foam, then rinse, then I foam up the car again before touching my wash pad to it) with some solution to spare and ended up wasting the rest on the roof - so definitely a good idea with the 2 sizes of tips included, if I had a big rig pick up I'd probably still use the same tip as I really was foaming it slowly, or you may want to use the yellow tip and more soap in the foam gun.
 
Coming from one of the plastic Chinese foam guns, I will admit that those did ok as I used one for almost 2 seasons, but the connector was flimsy (plastic quick connect), the hose nozzle leaked all the time, and the hose nozzle itself was junk, I used to release to trigger and it would still be foaming for 10 seconds later, probably because the vaccuum on the canister was too much for the thin plastic.  The nozzle finally broke the last time I used it back in a warm spell in February.
 
Since its post winter here, a lot of us will be washing traditionally to get our cracks and crevices cleaned up, the Adam's Foam Gun is a tool you would be 110% satisfied with incorporating into your wash routine and the amount of extra lubrication on the surface adds safety.  Sure there are some of us who do a lot of rinseless washes too (I'm one of them), but I'm usually always doing my wheels/tires traditionally and I'll most likely be pre-rinsing and foaming, even if I'm going to just pull it in the garage and complete a rinseless wash on the paint after, a great way to break up grime on the surface.
 
Don't tell anyone, but most of the time I'm just using the Foam Gun now with 1 bucket, as my processes allow for much less dirt on the paint before I start touching it with wash pads - and the new rubberized red nozzle is actually pretty darn powerful for a hose nozzle, and I don't have the best water pressure in the world.  And although I have a foam cannon and nice Ryobi electric PW, some days I just don't feel like dragging it out, nor do I have enough surface dirt to warrant it.
 
IMO, if you don't have one, pick it up on the next sale and throw it in your cart, it makes your traditional washes safer and quicker.  The upgrades alone are worth it (better nozzle and larger canister), and yes its worth the $100 when not bought during a sale, but if you do get a few bucks off with a current promotion, even better.  You definitely will not regret it.

Wimps.

I just performed the WORST car wash in the history of Adam's Polishes. My membership card is on the way back to Adam and I promise I won't tell anyone that I used his products.
 
I'll start at the beginning: My daughter is driving to Colorado and wanted me to wash her car before she left.  She, thoughtfully, gave me nearly 45 minutes to perform the Herculean task.
 
Let me describe said vehicle: It's a red (I think) Explorer that looks as though a pack of muskrats has taken up residence.  You know those races in the deserts of Peru that last like two weeks?  This is the vehicle they use to pick up the people that can't finish the race.  Every time you drive it under an overpass the homeless people boo.  The paint has more calcium than a milk truck, The bug guts have water spots. You get the picture. (Sorry - I didn't get a picture.  I only take pictures of pretty things. It's a rule I have.)
 
Anyway - I told her that there was NO WAY that wreck could be cleaned up in less than a week and she batted her eyes and asked me, "Can't you just WASH it, Dad?"  I caved and said, "Of course, Sweetie.  I'll have it ready in 45 minutes."
 
So I put some plastic wrap on the driver's seat, gripped the steering wheel with bar-b-que tongs, stuck my head out the window, held my breath and drove it to my house to wash it.
 
I should also mention that it was EXACTLY the WRONG weather and time of day to do this.  No room in my garage (I'm not taking the Rocket out for this).  Early afternoon sun, clear blue Texas skies, 20 mph wind, air drier than a Mormon convention. I don't know how you guys in Arizona do it...
 
No time for clay, no time for interior, certainly no time for polish. I hit the wheels with water and All Purpose Cleaner and brushed them off with the wheel brush.  Rinsed the entire vehicle with water and then foamed it down with the Foam Gun. Prepared my one-bucket wash (gasp!).
 
Before I could get the roof washed the soap had dried all over the car. I foamed down again and washed the windshield and hood.  Again - dry soap. More foam. More sections washed.  More foam, more wash. Final water rinse. The paint is so porous and rough it took FOREVER to get all the soap off the car and it STILL looked like a streaky mess.  The existing water spots just scooted over to make room for the new ones.
 
Broke out the H20 Guard & Gloss and started on the windshield and hood. I didn't bother with the roof of the car because my daughter is only 5'8" and she can't see it anyway. Started with the "wet method" but I had to revert to the "dry method" for most of the rest of the car.  Went over the paint, the glass, the chrome trim and the black trim.
 
Had a few minutes left so I went ahead and used Glass Cleaner on all the windows but then it was time to take it back to her.
 
I was pretty embarrassed - I mean, it's covered with water spots and streaks, the front grill looks like Armageddon. The flat back trim is chalky and grey.  I didn't do ANYTHING with the interior.  It looks TERRIBLE.
 
She took one look, gave me a HUGE hug and said she couldn't believe how great it looks! It's like a new car!  I just smiled and waved goodbye.
 

I haven't gone to the lengths that Scott has verifying the longevity, but when I do cars, after I have clayed the windshield and paint the first thing that I do is put the sealant on the windshield. I then go about polishing and sealing/waxing the car including the other windows. The last thing I remove/clean is the sealant on the windshield. 
Thanks Scott for verification that I am doing something right! LOL

I use whatever is left in my foam gun to suds the car down again, and then rinse off and move on to your drying routine.

After claying, I use a rinse then a strip wash to remove the residue.
 
The clay bar is not magic, it does not remove 100% of the contaminates from the surface like some sort of magnet. A good portion of the bonded contaminates will stick to the clay bar, but some and possibly a lot can just get knocked loose by the clay and remain on the surface.
 
If you then removed the residue with a towel, these containments could possibly scratch the paint. If you did wipe the residue with the towel, and some contaminates in the residue got into your towel, you might get scratches and you might not, but if you are going to machine polish anyway, then it might not be a big deal to wipe the residue with a towel.
 
However, I do think that polishing with a machine directly over the residue is a bad idea. Any loose contaminates on the surface can get into the pad and cause a lot of damage. Any stray containments in the residue, that did not stick to the clay bar, would then get into the pad and get worked 100,000+ times over your paint, and you may end up with more clear coat damage than you had to begin with.
 
For me, a quick rinse and wash is cheap insurance, and takes much less time than having to fix damage to the paint after you polish. If you don't want to take the time to wash, then at least wipe the residue away before polishing. Plus, the clay residue will clog your pads and make them less effective.

I wouldn't rinse the application towel; you'll lose a lot of the product that's already in there, which will lead to having to use more. Think about VRT - by the time you're on the last tire you barely need to add more to the sponge.
 
I'd lightly wring it out if it starts dripping. You'll still lose a little bit of product, but not as much as rinsing it.

I wouldn't rinse the application towel; you'll lose a lot of the product that's already in there, which will lead to having to use more. Think about VRT - by the time you're on the last tire you barely need to add more to the sponge.
 
I'd lightly wring it out if it starts dripping. You'll still lose a little bit of product, but not as much as rinsing it.

I seperate by towel type and soil level or use. For example, I don't wash utility towels or any towel used on wheels or jambs with any towel used on paint.
 
I typically do:
 
Load #1 - Plush polishing towels.
 
Load #2 - Waffle weave drying towels.
 
Load #3 - Utility, glass, interior, and wheel towels.
 
I always use MFR&B, and pre-treat and rinse soiled areas before machine washing.

When I first used it I ended up not doing a full pump of the sprayer. I started out doing a full pump and thought it was a PITA to remove, so I backed it off to a 1/2 pump and got much better results. Plus, as you work around the car, the towels starts to become saturated with product, requiring less to be sprayed on the panel.

+1 for Quick Sealant. Ideal for wheels due to many reasons, the top two being application method and high heat resistance.

Good advice there ^^.  
 
Quick Sealant should meet the need nicely.

DWC to decon is pretty much a must-do when it comes to white cars. It was one of the first things I tried when the juice first came out and is now part of my semi-annual regimen. Like you said Kurt, it makes every step afterwards easier, especially clay, since you don't have to worry about all those iron particles clogging up your clay bar

I've used DWC (50/50 with water) a number of times without discovering too much iron in the paint until this last Sunday when I tackled my new company car... WOW.
 

 

Guys come and go all the time.  Some are missed, some are not. You'll still get great advice here from Chris05GTO, Brazn, Adam, Gerry, Ricky Bobby, and any number of others.  Chris@Adams has a ton of experience to draw from and he's a great guy. 

I will be at the tent all day Friday and Saturday, so be sure to introduce yourselves!

I always do the method where you use multiple towels and after one gets soiled, you discard it. With this method I never use a grit guard in the bucket. Never had any issues. I do however make sure that I rinse out any debris that is in the bucket before adding the water and rinseless solution.

Week 9 of Ask The Shine Doc covers one of the most hated topics in detailing - GLASS CLEANING! No one genuinely likes to clean windows, and if we're being honest most of us hate it. In the end however, clean and streak free glass is just a big a part of the detail as anything else. In this video we'll cover a few basic tip, some you may have heard before, some you may have not. Enjoy!
 



 
IN THIS VIDEO: Adam's Glass Cleaner  |  Adam's Glass Towels