Performance Auto Detailing

Having used all of the towels Adam's offers at some point including on my personal vehicles and on a ton of customer's vehicles, here is my opinion and what I use them for:
 
Great White Drying Towel: Works as it is supposed to and is high quality. I like the large size, which can dry multiple vehicles if needed. I use a smaller version of the GWDT currently as I don't need the large size. 
 
Waterless Wash Towels: I use these towels for door jambs, cleaning windows or even to dry after a rinseless when a GWDT is not needed. I do not however use them for waterless washing as I prefer a safer, plush option instead. I also like to keep 16x16 waffle weaves in my collection as well. 
 
Utility Towel: I love this towel, my favorite interior cleaning towel. If they weren't so expensive compared to other options I'd have a lot more of them. Also found that these work well for glass since they have extremely low nap. 
 
Glass Cleaning Towel: I am not a fan AT ALL of glass cleaning towels (not just the ones that Adam's sells). They are thin, making holding on to them difficult and they drag across the glass. I much prefer waffle weave towels for glass cleaning (I use a 16x16 waffle weave towel for glass). 
 
Single Soft: Rarely use them anymore now that I discovered the Borderless towels but it is a good, high quality towel but expensive. Works well for wax/sealant removal or rinseless washing. Might be a little too nice for a rinseless towel. Stain very easily also due to the white color. 
 
Double Soft: Never been a fan of the Double Soft and don't quite understand all the love this towel gets. Sure, it is probably the plushest towel you will find but it is too plush in my opinion. It is too large and heavy to do a GDWM Rinseless with as it requires you to practically fill an entire bucket. They also take up a lot of storage room in comparison to the Edgeless towels which is inconvenient for those who are mobile detailers or have tight garage space. Detail Spray wipe downs are the only use I've found for Double Softs, as Single Softs and the Borderless towels work better for every other use and are plenty safe and don't cost $15 a towel. 
 
Borderless Towels: My favorite towel currently. Only towel I'll use for a rinseless wash and love them for wax/sealant removal as well. I've used the Grey, Blue and Orange Borderless Towels (I buy in bulk from the supplier). The longer nap makes it a really good option as a rinseless towel or for waterless wash wipe downs. Reasonably priced when purchased in bulk and have many uses. It is not just a "luxury" towel like I consider the Double Soft to be, it actually has many uses. 
 
Adam's no longer offers the metal polishing towel it appears (which I never owned). I see people talking about using the double soft, single soft or borderless towels for this task and personally I think that is ill-advised considering the price and quality of those towels. 

Having used all of the towels Adam's offers at some point including on my personal vehicles and on a ton of customer's vehicles, here is my opinion and what I use them for:
 
Great White Drying Towel: Works as it is supposed to and is high quality. I like the large size, which can dry multiple vehicles if needed. I use a smaller version of the GWDT currently as I don't need the large size. 
 
Waterless Wash Towels: I use these towels for door jambs, cleaning windows or even to dry after a rinseless when a GWDT is not needed. I do not however use them for waterless washing as I prefer a safer, plush option instead. I also like to keep 16x16 waffle weaves in my collection as well. 
 
Utility Towel: I love this towel, my favorite interior cleaning towel. If they weren't so expensive compared to other options I'd have a lot more of them. Also found that these work well for glass since they have extremely low nap. 
 
Glass Cleaning Towel: I am not a fan AT ALL of glass cleaning towels (not just the ones that Adam's sells). They are thin, making holding on to them difficult and they drag across the glass. I much prefer waffle weave towels for glass cleaning (I use a 16x16 waffle weave towel for glass). 
 
Single Soft: Rarely use them anymore now that I discovered the Borderless towels but it is a good, high quality towel but expensive. Works well for wax/sealant removal or rinseless washing. Might be a little too nice for a rinseless towel. Stain very easily also due to the white color. 
 
Double Soft: Never been a fan of the Double Soft and don't quite understand all the love this towel gets. Sure, it is probably the plushest towel you will find but it is too plush in my opinion. It is too large and heavy to do a GDWM Rinseless with as it requires you to practically fill an entire bucket. They also take up a lot of storage room in comparison to the Edgeless towels which is inconvenient for those who are mobile detailers or have tight garage space. Detail Spray wipe downs are the only use I've found for Double Softs, as Single Softs and the Borderless towels work better for every other use and are plenty safe and don't cost $15 a towel. 
 
Borderless Towels: My favorite towel currently. Only towel I'll use for a rinseless wash and love them for wax/sealant removal as well. I've used the Grey, Blue and Orange Borderless Towels (I buy in bulk from the supplier). The longer nap makes it a really good option as a rinseless towel or for waterless wash wipe downs. Reasonably priced when purchased in bulk and have many uses. It is not just a "luxury" towel like I consider the Double Soft to be, it actually has many uses. 
 
Adam's no longer offers the metal polishing towel it appears (which I never owned). I see people talking about using the double soft, single soft or borderless towels for this task and personally I think that is ill-advised considering the price and quality of those towels. 

100% agree with you on everything Jason

My advice is to give yourself some time to learn before starting a business. Detailing your own vehicle or a friends vehicle is very different from detailing a customer's vehicle for money. The expectations are completely different. You need to make sure your technique is flawless before touching a customer's vehicle. 
 
I was in your shoes a few years back, and am now happily detailing on the side while I am in college. PM me if you have specific questions that I can help you with. 

Having used all of the towels Adam's offers at some point including on my personal vehicles and on a ton of customer's vehicles, here is my opinion and what I use them for:
 
Great White Drying Towel: Works as it is supposed to and is high quality. I like the large size, which can dry multiple vehicles if needed. I use a smaller version of the GWDT currently as I don't need the large size. 
 
Waterless Wash Towels: I use these towels for door jambs, cleaning windows or even to dry after a rinseless when a GWDT is not needed. I do not however use them for waterless washing as I prefer a safer, plush option instead. I also like to keep 16x16 waffle weaves in my collection as well. 
 
Utility Towel: I love this towel, my favorite interior cleaning towel. If they weren't so expensive compared to other options I'd have a lot more of them. Also found that these work well for glass since they have extremely low nap. 
 
Glass Cleaning Towel: I am not a fan AT ALL of glass cleaning towels (not just the ones that Adam's sells). They are thin, making holding on to them difficult and they drag across the glass. I much prefer waffle weave towels for glass cleaning (I use a 16x16 waffle weave towel for glass). 
 
Single Soft: Rarely use them anymore now that I discovered the Borderless towels but it is a good, high quality towel but expensive. Works well for wax/sealant removal or rinseless washing. Might be a little too nice for a rinseless towel. Stain very easily also due to the white color. 
 
Double Soft: Never been a fan of the Double Soft and don't quite understand all the love this towel gets. Sure, it is probably the plushest towel you will find but it is too plush in my opinion. It is too large and heavy to do a GDWM Rinseless with as it requires you to practically fill an entire bucket. They also take up a lot of storage room in comparison to the Edgeless towels which is inconvenient for those who are mobile detailers or have tight garage space. Detail Spray wipe downs are the only use I've found for Double Softs, as Single Softs and the Borderless towels work better for every other use and are plenty safe and don't cost $15 a towel. 
 
Borderless Towels: My favorite towel currently. Only towel I'll use for a rinseless wash and love them for wax/sealant removal as well. I've used the Grey, Blue and Orange Borderless Towels (I buy in bulk from the supplier). The longer nap makes it a really good option as a rinseless towel or for waterless wash wipe downs. Reasonably priced when purchased in bulk and have many uses. It is not just a "luxury" towel like I consider the Double Soft to be, it actually has many uses. 
 
Adam's no longer offers the metal polishing towel it appears (which I never owned). I see people talking about using the double soft, single soft or borderless towels for this task and personally I think that is ill-advised considering the price and quality of those towels. 

Our Wash & Wax is more of a "wash & seal" but most average customers identify with the word "wax" more easily than "seal".
 
Adam's Wash & Wax has protection derived from silica, found in ceramic coatings. The Wash & Wax has nowhere near the durability of some of the professional ceramic coatings on the market that can last upwards of 3-5 years, but it does add some awesome water beading protection. On my personal truck, I brought it down to bare paint with multiple passes of our Strip Wash, and then washed a few days later with our Wash & Wax.
 
During the initial rinse of Wash & Wax, you will notice that the water almost sheets off the surface instead of beading up, as a few others here have posted videos and pictures on the forum. Then during the next wash or rainstorm, you will notice that it will bead up quite well on the flat surfaces like the hood, roof, trunk, etc. One application lasted over a month for me, and I suspect it would have lasted much longer, but I needed to remove all of the vinyl charity road rally decals and do a full paint correction for other testing purposes.
 
For me personally, I don't think I would apply H2O Guard & Gloss immediately after using Wash & Wax. I would probably wait a couple more washes before applying it just so that I'm not layering one form of protection of top of another immediately after the first layer, but that's the beauty of having different products with different techniques - some people may have a different process that works great too. Adam even says right in the video that it's fine to seal over it with H2O Guard & Gloss if you want to add even more shine and protection, but it's not necessary if you don't want to add that extra step.
 

Claying will still not completely remove a sealant. Claying is very mildly abrasive which is why it can be done without scratching a vehicle. A light polishing is the only true way to fully remove a sealant. I'll test for myself if you don't have time to do it - but there will be a difference.
 
Hopefully I can find some time to do a test for everyone.

Claying will still not completely remove a sealant. Claying is very mildly abrasive which is why it can be done without scratching a vehicle. A light polishing is the only true way to fully remove a sealant. I'll test for myself if you don't have time to do it - but there will be a difference.
 
Hopefully I can find some time to do a test for everyone.

I think a good test would be to use a finishing polish on a finishing pad on one side of the hood and compare the beading/sheeting properties of each side. Also could test doing an IPA wipe-down of the hood and see what happens (after the strip wash). A lot of these "strip wash" products have surfactants that mask the water repellency properties instead of truly removing them.
 
A good sealant is not easily "chemically" removed. Abrasion is usually needed. 

1. Leather and Interior Cleaner is what you want if your interior has any soiling and needs true cleaning. It can then be followed up with Leather Conditioner for protection. Interior Detailer is best for maintenance cleaning, when there are smudges or light dirt that just to be "tidied up". 
 
2. Deep Wheel Cleaner's name was changed to just Wheel Cleaner. The formula has been improved as well. Wheel Cleaner is an awesome product but is not necessary each time you clean your wheels. If you use a sealant on the wheels, simple car shampoo will clean them with ease.
 
3. H20 Guard and Gloss (spray sealant) realistically lasts around 2 months. Some can get slightly longer or slightly less due to a number of conditions. 

1. Leather and Interior Cleaner is what you want if your interior has any soiling and needs true cleaning. It can then be followed up with Leather Conditioner for protection. Interior Detailer is best for maintenance cleaning, when there are smudges or light dirt that just to be "tidied up". 
 
2. Deep Wheel Cleaner's name was changed to just Wheel Cleaner. The formula has been improved as well. Wheel Cleaner is an awesome product but is not necessary each time you clean your wheels. If you use a sealant on the wheels, simple car shampoo will clean them with ease.
 
3. H20 Guard and Gloss (spray sealant) realistically lasts around 2 months. Some can get slightly longer or slightly less due to a number of conditions. 

1. Leather and Interior Cleaner is what you want if your interior has any soiling and needs true cleaning. It can then be followed up with Leather Conditioner for protection. Interior Detailer is best for maintenance cleaning, when there are smudges or light dirt that just to be "tidied up". 
 
2. Deep Wheel Cleaner's name was changed to just Wheel Cleaner. The formula has been improved as well. Wheel Cleaner is an awesome product but is not necessary each time you clean your wheels. If you use a sealant on the wheels, simple car shampoo will clean them with ease.
 
3. H20 Guard and Gloss (spray sealant) realistically lasts around 2 months. Some can get slightly longer or slightly less due to a number of conditions. 

1. Leather and Interior Cleaner is what you want if your interior has any soiling and needs true cleaning. It can then be followed up with Leather Conditioner for protection. Interior Detailer is best for maintenance cleaning, when there are smudges or light dirt that just to be "tidied up". 
 
2. Deep Wheel Cleaner's name was changed to just Wheel Cleaner. The formula has been improved as well. Wheel Cleaner is an awesome product but is not necessary each time you clean your wheels. If you use a sealant on the wheels, simple car shampoo will clean them with ease.
 
3. H20 Guard and Gloss (spray sealant) realistically lasts around 2 months. Some can get slightly longer or slightly less due to a number of conditions. 

1. Leather and Interior Cleaner is what you want if your interior has any soiling and needs true cleaning. It can then be followed up with Leather Conditioner for protection. Interior Detailer is best for maintenance cleaning, when there are smudges or light dirt that just to be "tidied up". 
 
2. Deep Wheel Cleaner's name was changed to just Wheel Cleaner. The formula has been improved as well. Wheel Cleaner is an awesome product but is not necessary each time you clean your wheels. If you use a sealant on the wheels, simple car shampoo will clean them with ease.
 
3. H20 Guard and Gloss (spray sealant) realistically lasts around 2 months. Some can get slightly longer or slightly less due to a number of conditions. 

Agreed. If you got it in mystery box those are great uses for it. It can also be used as drying aid if you are polishing or sealin and don't want to add gloss but just safely dry with lubrication. basically all the uses of Detail Spray without adding gloss.

You can yes, but it's kind of an expensive product to use as a presoak when a bottle of diluted rinseless is so cheap. There are other good uses for it that maybe you should try: Door jamb wipe down, interior wipe down, glass cleaner replacement for interior etc. 

On the first day just liquid paint sealant is sufficient. On the next wash you can hit it with some h2o g&g if you want but it's not necessary. You can do the h2o g&g every 2-3 months and you'll be great. 
 
Buttery wax isn't really necessary honestly if you're using liquid paint sealant and h2o g&g

With the introduction of the Mark II we've created large orbit tools that are more powerful than anything thats ever been seen on the market before. As a result we are essentially having to retrain the industry on how to polish. For a long time every dual action random orbital tool, sold everywhere you have been taught to polish at speed 5 or 6 with downward pressure; this starts all the way back with Porter Cables and the fact that you couldn't get any meaningful amount of correction out of the tool unless it was running wide open.
 
With the LHR21II and LHR15II being 30 and 40% (respectively) more powerful than their predecessors you need to rethink your approach to polishing, specifically as it pertains to speed settings. As I tend to do, I like to highlight this new way of thinking with an analogy:
 
THINK OF THE SPEED DIAL ON YOUR POLISHER THE
WAY YOU THINK OF THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL IN YOUR CAR
 
When you get in your car to drive to dinner you don't jump in, start it, and floor it from your driveway all the way to the destination - or at least you shouldn't. You start the car and you drive at partial throttle to stay around the speed limit. The only time you push the accelerator to the floor is when you're trying to get up to highway speed, passing a slow moving vehicle, driving up a steep grade, or outrunning the cops (ok... maybe not the last one).
 
Your polisher should be approached the same way now. You'll run speed 3 or 4 for the mostpart doing your correction... the only time you need to increase up to 5 or 6 is to compensate for slowed or stalled pad rotation, like in a deep curve or in a zone requiring additional speed to maintain the proper movement. You'll then ramp back down to your 'cruising speed' of 3 or 4 and continue.
 
The thing to understand is that the 21 and 15mm movements are HUGE... we're talking 250 and 200% approximately of what a traditional 8mm tool (that most people are used to) are doing. Couple that with added torque and power and you have a tool that puts enormous stresses on the foam. The internal friction between the foams individual cells will generate a ton of heat and can cause internal collapse, melting, or warping. This is why our in house foams are so rigid and made up of unique foam compounds exclusive to our system. The rigidity and structure helps the pads cope with the added stress.

Hope this sheds some light on the issue. The main thing to take away from this is to think critically and not like a robot. Polishing is not paint by numbers, you need to think about the forces at work when you're polishing. If you apply the same speed settings and logic that you used with a 8mm tool to a 15mm tool then to a 15mm tool with a 40% boost of power then something is wrong. You wouldn't drive a stock minivan the same way you'd drive a Ferrari right? Despite the fact they're both cars the approach and application of their potential is vastly different.
 
NOTE/EDIT - also reconsider your sealant/wax stages as well. If you're working with the old logic of "6 for polishing and 3 for waxing" you are actually running the tool at a speed better suited to polishing when you're simply trying to apply a topcoat. This can lead to issues where the product breaks down under the stress and a broken emulsion can lead to sticky/hard to remove residues, surface marring, hazing, and certainly impacts performance.

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.

An IPA wipe down should always be done prior to waxing or sealing the paint to insure a proper bond and max durability - whether it is post polishing or post claying. It takes 5 minutes and is well worth it. Prior to polishing however is not totally necessary. 

An IPA wipe down should always be done prior to waxing or sealing the paint to insure a proper bond and max durability - whether it is post polishing or post claying. It takes 5 minutes and is well worth it. Prior to polishing however is not totally necessary. 

1. Strip Wash
2. Clay
3. Rewash or remove clay residue as you clay panel by panel
4. IPA wipe down
5. (OPTIONAL) You can polish the paint or if you're already happy with it move to step 6. If you do polish, another IPA wipe down after that. 
6. Liquid Paint Sealant
7. Buttery Wax if you desire (not necessary)
 
Good luck!

I suggest to always read what the bottle says... that would have solved your problem

I suggest to always read what the bottle says... that would have solved your problem

Thank you, I appreciate it!