cammyfive

I plan on doing a deep cleaning of the tan leather seats in my gf's car with Adams Leather & Interior Cleaner but only recently noticed on the directions on the bottle that you should wipe down the cleaned surface with a MF that is damp with water. Is this a necessity? Not that I mind, I'm just curious about this extra step.

TID is probably my favorite product of Adams and Im a huge fan of the "non-scent". Last year while experimenting with another brand I was fairly impressed with the performance of their version of TID except for the smell. It was nauseating.......like literally. It reminded me of that sawdust type stuff the janitor would out over a kids vomit in the hallway in grade school (in the 1980s at least). Yeah, bad enough that I ended up giving a gallon refill of it away!!!

My two are a tie and ushered in the era of crazy fast unassuming German rocket sedans. The E34 BMW M5 ('88-'91) and Mercedes 500E AMG ('87 model shown). These were my dream cars as I was patiently waiting to turn 16.

I use straight MFR as the sole detergent with an 'extra rinse' cycle added on.  I also use a half cup of distilled white vinegar in the fabric softener tray.  It acts as the 'make sure 1000000% of the soap/detergent is rinsed out' stage.  I bought a gallon of it at Target for around $4 I think.

Ed, there's nothing "wrong" with what you're saying per se, I also like that you use the GDWM for rinseless washing, its really the best and safest way to do it.  If you are really looking for an efficient Rinseless wash, use distilled water when mixing, makes the solution wipe down so clean!  I use 3/4 oz per gallon of distilled when using Rinseless, I usually pre-mix the gallons, and then when I'm ready to do a rinseless wash I just throw 6-8 plush MF's in the bucket and dump 2 gallons in there and by the time I take the bucket back out to the garage the towels are nice and soaked.

 

Personally, since Rinseless is a concentrate, I can adjust how much "power" it has as a pre-soak.  You can't make Waterless any more concentrated than it comes since its sold as RTU.

 

For Rinseless pre-soaking, I use a dilution of 8:1 or 16 oz per gallon of distilled.  At QD dilution, Rinseless is 16:1, but again its really only good for light dusting and dirt cleanup.  Let me tell you, at that concentration of 8:1, it has a ton more slickness and power to break down the grime, than the RTU Waterless.

 

Granted my Rinseless washes are most often done in Jersey winters, so I am looking for the most effective, slickest, powerful pre-soak and concentration.  Waterless is an ok product but its really not great for breaking up much except for very light dirt, and used by a lot of guys in show season.

 

Waterless recently had a price reduction so it's going to be at that price going forward.  If you're really interested in doing Rinseless washes and want the safest wash possible, why not do the following:

 

-Buy 2 16 oz bottles of Rinseless ($31 after forum coupon), and you have 1 bottle to mix in for your "pre-soak" gallon at 8:1

-The other bottle is good for at least 9-10 rinseless washes using the concentrate

-Alternatively, you could buy the gallon of Rinseless at $45, and have enough to make 8 gallons of pre-soak, or say 6 gallons of pre-soak and 32 oz left of concentrate for Rinseless

 

You can also follow up with a wipe-down of the 8:1 dilution for extra gloss after drying.  Or Detail Spray, whatever tickles your fancy.

 

 

Do you use Waterless often in your current regimen or were you just looking for another use for it?  Depending on dilution, Rinseless does everything Waterless can do and more.

 

I'm not knocking Waterless, I'm just saying there are limits to it (bug softening, actual waterless washing on light dust/dirt with no wax additive), and each product has its own intended functions.

 

 

Oh and another tip for Rinseless washing:  Get yourself a Kwazar Venus compression sprayer.  Your hands will thank you, its so much quicker to pre-soak panels when rinseless washing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great advice!  I feel infinitely more comfortable with the GDWM than a single towel and a grit guard in a rinse bucket.  I'll divert the $60 I was going to use for 2 gallons of Waterless Wash to bringing my Edgeless Blue MFs up to an even 20 in quantity.  

Thanks for all the advice.  I guess this is one of those good deals that I really don't have any need for seeing how I just bought a gallon of Rinseless Wash!  

I just dealt with this when helping a friend detail the interior of his new Ford Fusion Titanium that comes with a similar amount of that piano black trim.  

My suggestions:

1)  Don't let any MF towel under a Single Soft even near that stuff!!!  Never use a basic utility towel or bargain store cheap MF near it, you'll end up with a swirled out mess.  We used a new Adams Double Soft and even then were VERY gentle.  NO SCRUBBING.

2)  I would think a gentle spritz of Rinseless Wash or Detail Spray would take care of any smudges or debris.  

3)  I'm overly cautious of the piano black trim since it's crazy how easy it swirls/scratches but I would just give it a gentle wipe with a Double Soft when needed and avoided using too much product on it - sealants, glazes,etc....those are just more opportunities to scratch in while applying it, in my opinion.  

It had been a number of months since I purchased anything from the Adams website, for variety of reasons, and in the last few weeks decided to restock my arsenal and place some orders.  I'm happy to report that shipping times have been cut nearly in half for me!  (I'm in North Alabama)  It was frustrating in the past for an order to take 3 to almost 5 days to 'process' and then at least a week to arrive.  My most recent order processed in less than 24 hours and showed up on my doorstep 4 days later!  I'm not sure what changes were made but props to you guys!

Lot of good ideas here already....

1)  A strip wash - good for those of us wanting to start over on a vehicle....or looking for a little more 'bite' out of their shampoo, particularly on a coated vehicle.

2)  A primer/'Eraser' - I was always very leery of mixing my own ISP blend after polishing and before LSP.

3)  Highly concentrated APC so we can dilute it for multiple jobs in various concentrations. 

4)  While I love Rinseless Wash, I'd vote to keep making it slicker/more concetrated.  Make it 'more better'.  

5)  Highly concentrated bug/tar remover.  Years ago, I used something from another company called 'Prince of Wales Tar Remover' (I think that's what it was called) and it worked very well.

6)  Some various wash media options besides the standard synthetic wool wash pad. 

7)  Ultra plush MF drying towel to supplement/replace GWDT.  

8)  Something trivial but cool - more Adams brand stickers to label generic larger bottles.  I saw the prototype new logo on social media - very cool!

Far be it for me to pass up a stellar deal here so I'm thinking about loading up with some gallons of Waterless Wash that are on sale.   I understand the basic premise of the differences between Waterless and Rinseless Washes (waffle weave and spray bottle vs plus towel and bucket(s)) but how about this hybrid I've worked up in my head....

1)  Saturate/pretreat panel with Waterless Wash and let sit for a minute or so.

2)  Proceed to Rinseless Wash method via numerous plush MF towels using 2oz Rinseless to 3 or so oz of water in a bucket.

3)  Dry with a large supersoft MF towel.

4)  Wipe any residue away with Detail Spray when dry.

Now I know you can make your own quasi-Rinseless/Waterless by diluting Rinseless in distilled water but is there any advantage to what I described above by using the specific Waterless Wash that is currently on sale?

Geez.....  So I have an order en route that will be at my house Thursday so I might as well order some WW gallons on sale so they'll be here next week, right?  lol

Wow.......congrats on learning the ropes of this addiction at such a young age. When I was 17, my detailing of my vehicle was limited to Meguiars Cleaner Wax available at Walmart and getting yelled at for using the nice bath towels to dry my car. Lol.

I'd advice you to make sure you are comfortable using a DA polisher and various types of pads before you commit to any sort of paint correction on the rock hard clear coat of most Porsches. I literally can't imagine how many hours of hand polishes it would take let alone the weeks of massages afterwards for your back and arms!!

I used some vinegar this weekend when I cleaned my towels.  I don't know if it was enough, but I used about 4 oz in a small load.  No vinegar smell or adverse reaction.

 

Holy cow that was a lot of white vinegar!!!!  LOL.  I use 1 oz or so in the fabric softener tray and set it for double rinse.

Yikes.....  I suddenly feel light headed even thinking about it!  LOL.  Well, 15 years ago I bought a PC, some pads, a mix of some chemicals and spent like $500 or so which I tried to use once, got frustrated, and sold for pennies on the dollar.  I got back into detailng a couple of years ago and have probably spent somewhere between $2-$3K since then.  Of course, much of that was trial and error learning which products I like and which ones I didn't care for.  I do know that I've spent $155 so far in 2015 via the just expired Adams 20% off sale.  

You guys are too much! thanks so much for all the kindness... I promise to deliver on the hype. Excited to get some new projects rolling and continue to bring innovation to the brand.

Wait......weren't you the Cubs fan that told me that I should wash my car with Dial anti-bacterial soap?  Can't remember....

^ would love to have this, sir, if it already has not been spoken for.

The merino wool mitt is the Dodo Wookies Fist and, to my knowledge, is one of the largest and softest wash mitts on the market. The MF wash mitt is the Microfiber Madness wash mitt. Both of these have always been thoroughly cleaned and air dried after each use....the Wookies Fist is always brushed with a pet brush so it doesn't 'knot up'. Both mitts are around 3-4 months old. For my preference, the Wookies Fist is just too large for me and the contours of my car. If you wash a large truck or SUV this thing would be killer!

The Adams Great White Drying Towel is about 3 months old and still in great condition. I pretreat any spots and wash with Adams MF Revitalizer after every use. There is a VERY subtle blue tint to it as I have laundered it with my Borderless Blue MF towels but otherwise it's like brand new.

Prices:

*Dodo Wookies Fist = $20 (new it was $40) plus $6.50 shipping via USPS

*Microfiber Madness wash mitt = $15 (new was $25) plus $6.50 shipping via USPS

*Adams Great White Drying Towel = $15 (new was $25) plus $5.00 shipping via USPS

Or......

All 3 items for $45 plus $10 flat rate shipping USPS AND I'll throw in an Adams short handle tire brush for free.

I have two and use one for APC for tire/wheel cleaning and fender wheels where I need to completely saturate the surface and the other I use for diluted Rinseless Wash to saturate a panel before I actually wipe with the MF that is soaked in the bucket.

I too am on the fence about the value of these. Granted it cuts down a bit on the use of your trigger finger but at the same time, $17 each is a bit high. I bought mine as part of the package deal you got when you bought gallon refills at the same time and, quite, frankly, just had some extra money in my Paypal account that swayed me to say 'why not....'.

I've noticed most of you guys have the Kwazars that are (at least somewhat) clear to where you can see what color liquid is in them with a black base and sprayer. I ordered some gallon refills last months and the ones that came with them were opaque, as in there is no way to see what's in them and they came with red sprayers. I would definitely prefer the clear bottles with black sprayers, were these changed up recently??

Been doing it for over two years now, and my face condition has greatly improved.  I got my BIL started and he loves it too.  I've tried many creams and aftershaves and I finally stuck with Prorasso, and their aftershave. Great stuff.

I've been wet shaving the old fashioned way consistently for about 5 years now and its amazing how much healthier my cheeks and especially my throat are....in the past, my throat was beat red and bumped up for days after shaving.

My old barber used to straight blade my neck, best shave!

 

I use Proraso shaving cream.  Voted world's best shaving cream.  I completely agree, this is the best shaving cream I have ever used!

 

Link:

 

Proraso

My old barber used to straight blade my neck, best shave!

 

I use Proraso shaving cream.  Voted world's best shaving cream.  I completely agree, this is the best shaving cream I have ever used!

 

Link:

 

Proraso

When you get a chance, try Trufitt & Hill's 1805 during the summer months.....that stuff is awesome!

The cool thing about Proraso is you could find it at Bath and Body Work stores. Kiss My Face is available at some Krogers and organic grocery stores and more reasonably priced than many others.

I have never used them but I have read about all of the old cool shaving razors & brushes on different forums...... a cool hobby indeed.

Chris, I would have definitely assumed you were an old-fashioned wet shaver!!! The parallels between auto detailing and traditional wet shaving are many - expensive to get into at first vs what you're used to, many different concoctions and brands to suit personal preferences, people that are looked at as overly OCD by non-enthusiasts, etc. Their version of a drive in car wash with brushes and dirty rags is an electric razor or a Gillette Fusion with a can of $1.99 drug store shave gel. lol

I use a 1955 Gillette Super Speed with a silver tip brush daily. I love Stirling shave soap and Saint Charles Shave's after shave balms. The shave is so much closer and much more comfortable.

Cool! I use a Gillette SS from that time period as well. My preferred blades are Feathers (which I buy in bulk on Amazon and Ebay). I currently using a silvertip Shavemac brush and alternate shaving creams depending on my mood. I actually skip the aftershave cream usually but may try a few out in the near future.

This is me and my soon to be 87 year young grandmother about 2 months ago at one of my grade school best friends wedding. The best wedding date I've had to date.

And another one of us taken last month.

They come in a variety of colors but I dare say that was the most masculine one.