What's In DFB's Cabinet?

[DFB5.0]

Yes I agree. I have Parks Detailing in Charlotte NC that is an NV dealer I can order from, their prices are reasonable. I do find NV products are great, those that I have tried so far. Purge especially. I really like Purify too. I used it with a clay towel on my Mazda before coating and man that stuff is awesome for clay, 2 steps in one I like Snow as well, gonna get some Snow+ too, probably supplement my Carpro Lift and Gyeon Foam. I agree about KCx. I like their stuff but I find others as good or better at a more affordable price. GSF and PSS are the lone exceptions. Those are fantastic. I like GUF and Motorplast for dressings. GUF on rubber mats is fantastic.

As for Shine Supply, my local detailer has been wanting me to try their stuff, I just have so much stuff already I haven't even tried everything I have bought yet

Of the KCx stuff, some products are well worth the premium price. GSF, Green Star, Pol Star, PSS, Guf, Eulex, S0.02 and Motorplast easily have a place in the cabinet. MWC, ASC, TEA and Nano Magic seem underwhelming. I also didn't rate AS shampoo, that stuff is terrible.

For the Shine Supply stuff, I really like Shift pure shampoo, and Punch It is well worth a look. Wise Guy is also a staple.

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[skinnyb]

Of the KCx stuff, some products are well worth the premium price. GSF, Green Star, Pol Star, PSS, Guf, Eulex, S0.02 and Motorplast easily have a place in the cabinet. MWC, ASC, TEA and Nano Magic seem underwhelming. I also didn't rate AS shampoo, that stuff is terrible.

For the Shine Supply stuff, I really like Shift pure shampoo, and Punch It is well worth a look. Wise Guy is also a staple.

Agreed. I have all of those KCx products in my cabinet (your top picks) except Pol Star. Haven't found a need for it yet, I use Carpro Inside 1:1 for most of my interior work, no Alcantara or sensitive stuff for me. I forgot to mention S0.02 best spray sealant I have used so far.

 

[DFB5.0]

Agreed. I have all of those KCx products in my cabinet (your top picks) except Pol Star. Haven't found a need for it yet, I use Carpro Inside 1:1 for most of my interior work, no Alcantara or sensitive stuff for me. I forgot to mention S0.02 best spray sealant I have used so far.

I have Pol Star mainly for customer cars, which I use as a more economical leather cleaner, on carpet mats or dealing with stained cloth seats. I say economical as I dilute it down to 1:6, but it can be used from 1:5 to 1:10.

It's not a WOW product, mainly due to the lack of scent. But it is a very useful workhorse. You can also put it into a small foam bottle and use it in a similar manner to the ColourLock leather cleaners. The foam in effect increases the working time.

The key to Pol Star is that it's pH neutral, which is safer to use on leather, Alcantara and interior plastics. The same applies to P&S Express.

 

[DFB5.0]

Two cars today, a much needed "sanity detailing" session.

Having done daily driver duties this past couple of weeks, the XR6 was first. Wheels were cleaned with Brake Buster from my foam cannon, the tyres scrubbed with the remainder of a bottle of Adam's Rubber & Tire Cleaner. The wash soap was NV Snow, having not used it for a while, today was pleasant reminder of why this soap is so good.

Drying aid of choice was Bead Maker, which I also used on the door jambs and engine bay. For some reason, this paint seems to love Bead Maker. The interior was wiped down with ONR, the glass cleaned with Invisible Glass. Finally, the tyres treated to another coat of OG Tire Dressing applied with the Curveball brush.

Clean and ready to swap duties with the Mustang.

It was then onto the Ranger, using the unremarkable Gtechniq G-Wash. Nothing wrong with this soap, but it just doesn't get me excited.

Drying Aid of choice was Optimum Car Wax. While spray wax's are not popular these days, there is something magical about how wax makes a car look and feel.

Capping off the garage therapy session, I changed the oil on the Victa Mustang 750iS, which was last changed 13 months ago. With nine other lawn mowers to choose from, the workload of this unit is shared, so that interval is more than fine.

These OHV engines only hold 440ml of oil, compared to 600ml on the older side-valve engines. This is concerning because Briggs market these engines as "No Oil Change Required". I would have gone the other way with that decision rather than risk running the thing down by inattentive users. I guess Briggs sell more engines that way.

 

[skinnyb]

Two cars today, a much needed "sanity detailing" session.

Having done daily driver duties this past couple of weeks, the XR6 was first. Wheels were cleaned with Brake Buster from my foam cannon, the tyres scrubbed with the remainder of a bottle of Adam's Rubber & Tire Cleaner. The wash soap was NV Snow, having not used it for a while, today was pleasant reminder of why this soap is so good.

Drying aid of choice was Bead Maker, which I also used on the door jambs and engine bay. For some reason, this paint seems to love Bead Maker. The interior was wiped down with ONR, the glass cleaned with Invisible Glass. Finally, the tyres treated to another coat of OG Tire Dressing applied with the Curveball brush.

Clean and ready to swap duties with the Mustang.

It was then onto the Ranger, using the unremarkable Gtechniq G-Wash. Nothing wrong with this soap, but it just doesn't get me excited.

Drying Aid of choice was Optimum Car Wax. While spray wax's are not popular these days, there is something magical about how wax makes a car look and feel.

Capping off the garage therapy session, I changed the oil on the Victa Mustang 750iS, which was last changed 13 months ago. With nine other lawn mowers to choose from, the workload of this unit is shared, so that interval is more than fine.

These OHV engines only hold 440ml of oil, compared to 600ml on the older side-valve engines. This is concerning because Briggs market these engines as "No Oil Change Required". I would have gone the other way with that decision rather than risk running the thing down by inattentive users. I guess Briggs sell more engines that way.

I concur with the "Sanity" sentiment. I call washing mine "Car Wash Therapy" and I do it every weekend when weather is fit. I am enjoying it while I can, it is starting to get cooler here in East TN so it won't be long til rinseless will be my best option. My garage is un heated so I have invested in a set of shelving to put in my spare room inside to store my supplies. I "think" one set of shelves will hold it all LOL. Looking forward to my wash mid October, I am going to do a deep dive Decon wash on my daily driver.

Pic of my therapy session this past weekend

 

[skinnyb]

Made an investment and got installed yesterday. Not a big deal but due to my garage not being climate controlled, I needed somwhere to store my chemicals in the colder months. I bought a farily nice set of shelves off Scamazon and got them put in yesterday. They fit real nice and will be a good place to store most of my stuff. I'm slowly filling them up I test fit the tote on top, my pressure washer fits in it real nice, I will bring it inside too and put my DI rig on top. Goals are to get a Mini Split with heat pump capability to be able to keep it all in the garage at some point..

 

[DFB5.0]

Made an investment and got installed yesterday. Not a big deal but due to my garage not being climate controlled, I needed somwhere to store my chemicals in the colder months. I bought a farily nice set of shelves off Scamazon and got them put in yesterday. They fit real nice and will be a good place to store most of my stuff. I'm slowly filling them up I test fit the tote on top, my pressure washer fits in it real nice, I will bring it inside too and put my DI rig on top. Goals are to get a Mini Split with heat pump capability to be able to keep it all in the garage at some point..

Nice one!

I love how Carpro and Koch Chemie bottles look all lined up on a shelf, very satisfying!

How do you find the new iK Mini sprayers?

 

[skinnyb]

Nice one!

I love how Carpro and Koch Chemie bottles look all lined up on a shelf, very satisfying!

How do you find the new iK Mini sprayers?

I like them a lot so far. The spray pattern is really nice. Time will tell how well they hold up. Strongest thing I have in them so far is Brake Buster Neat (it is in one of the HC sprayers). The smaller ones with the 360 sprayers are really nice, the weighted tip on the straw is very cool. I only have a couple of those, I wish I bought all that size now as the big bottles are a little much for me as a home hobbyist.

I still have a few things to put on the shelves, all my IK bottles are still in the garage, and I have a few more chemicals out there as well. I put all my NV products on there too since the picture was taken. And all the gallons on the bottom really balances it out.

 

[DFB5.0]

The Cruze Returns................

I actually started with the worst part of this job, the interior. Looking back to the previous times I have detailed this car, vacuuming the carpet was a nightmare, so I wanted this out of the way first. And once again, it fought me the whole way! Using some P&S Paint Gloss to cut down the static helped, but in the end, I had to call it good and move on.

It was then onto the exterior, starting with the wheels.

NV Purge for the wheels, applied after the rinse, left to dwell while I scrubbed the tires and wheel arches with Wise Guy. I then rinsed, reapplied the Purge and attacked them with various brushes.

Next, I applied Gyeon Iron to the whole car. Geez, I don't know how the pro's use this stuff every day! Even after a shower, I can still smell it on my skin!

I also applied some P&S Bug Off to the front bumper, wing mirrors and windscreen to soak them down.

Both chemicals were then left to dwell while I rinsed the black sludge out of my wheel bucket!

This car will never have been treated with iron remover before, hence the strong reaction. I then followed this by foaming Carpro Lift over the top to increase the dwell time.

Next up, a thorough rinse to remove the soap and chemical residue. This is where the time and effort applying these products reveals a much cleaner surface to contact wash. I have to say, I was very impressed with what the iron remover, bug remover and Lift achieved here.

I then re-foamed with Lift for the contact wash. During this step, I also grabbed a car-wash towel and wiped down the door jambs.

After all that, the paint was completely flat, not that there was much protection on the car anyway. Hydr02 to the rescue, applied to the paint, glass and wheels. I really only do this to make the drying process easier, but it does add some gloss and protection to the equation.

After a blow down, I continued the Carpro theme by applying some Reload 2.0 to the paint and glass. I have to say, this new version is much more friendly to work with, flashing nicely and only requiring minimal towel work.

The door jambs were then dried with ONR, the wheel arches sprayed with Hyper Dressing and the tires dressed with yet another Carpro product, this time Darkside.

Back to the interior, cleaning the plastic surfaces with Griot's Interior Cleaner.

Griot's Garage Interior Cleaner – Obsessed Garage

The main selling point of this product is the complete lack of colouring and scent, meaning you just get an interior cleaner and nothing else to complicate the situation. This is probably the dirtiest interior that this product will deal with in the DFB garage, so it got put the to the ultimate test today. While it performed well, I can't help feeling P&S Express does a better job. I actually switched to Express to clean the leather for comparison's sake and felt like I preferred it over the Griot's.

Following the cleaning, I went over the plastics with P&S Swift. While this offers some mild cleaning ability, I like how this has just the right amount of dressing ability without leaving an oil slick behind, or looking too dry like some interior detailers can. I treated the leather to some NV Nourish, the glass was then attended to with Invisible Glass, the carpets misted with KCx FU (an odor neutralizer), and the carpets vacuumed (again!). A quick spritz of Griot's Fine Leather Scent and the interior was done.

A quick wipe over with some Bead Maker and the Cruze was done!

 

[DFB5.0]

There is something magical about cleaning your own, well-maintained cars, it's so much easier and enjoyable.

If it hadn't rained yesterday, I would have skipped the Ranger this week, but it got the better of me. Soap of choice being Shine Supply Shift, drying aid Carpro Release. A quick swipe with Carpro Perl on the tyres and it was onto the Mustang.

Again, if it hadn't rained yesterday, I wouldn't have needed to wash the Mustang today. But because I needed the garage to detail the Cruze yesterday, the Mustang sat across the road in the rain. I only do this when there's money involved! In this case, I decided to just do a quick rinse-less wash with P&S Absolute and Bead Maker.

And then....................

It lives! I may or may not have given it a REALLY good thrashing, so much so I needed to stop by the gas station for some fuel on the way home.

Oh, and the black lines are not from me!

 

[Bulutt]

CanCoat?

………..Sure can.

 

[skinnyb]

CanCoat?

………..Sure can.

I am a huge fan of Can Coat! It works fantastic, easy to apply

 

[DFB5.0]

What do think? Is 15 years a good run on a set of wiper blades?

The XR6 is in for some love over the next week or so, addressing a few age-related things and honing my skill for the future. It will be another one of my stay-cations! Can't wait!

 

[mike3105]

What do think? Is 15 years a good run on a set of wiper blades?

The XR6 is in for some love over the next week or so, addressing a few age-related things and honing my skill for the future. It will be another one of my stay-cations! Can't wait!

Surely it's cheating with your climate?

On another note, is this thread the place to ask about "what's on DFBs floor?" Not sure if you've answered elsewhere, but does your floor drain somewhere? Is it resin/sealed underneath?

 

[DFB5.0]

Um, so this has been in the works for a while now, but I'm now writing for Detailing Shed, helping to flesh out their blog posts with hands on experience and knowledge.

The first blog went live today, which I cover wheel and tyre cleaning.

How To Clean Wheels and Tyres | Detailing Shed

I'm super excited about this opportunity, it's going to allow me to play a small role in product development and testing, without the financial strain of it being my full-time job. While I do enjoy getting my hands dirty with the hands-on element of detailing, it's the product and tool side of the industry that enthuses me most. I think this gig will be a good fit for me, and I'm hoping it does well.

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