Hi guys,
It seems like when someone asks for advice on wax, cleaner, leather protectant etc, you get all kinds of answers.. and sometimes I go to the store and cannot find any of those brands (of course partly because some of the recommends are mail-order) Anyway, my question is what products to avoid, especially for waxes, leather-vynil protectant, tire shine, whatever you name..
thanks for the input

 

Stay away from NuFinish, The Once-a-Year Car Polish.
An ancient product still being sold on the shelves.

 

Avoid:

Armor All and other silicone based dash/vinyl protectants. Silicone oils will accelerate cracking. The best by far are 303 Aerospace and Lexol. These are water based protectants with excellent UV protectants and plasticizers.


Don't use cleaner wax. I recommend 3M Show Car Paste Wax. Synthetic waxes (acrylic based) will last much longer and easier to apply than carnuaba wax. Carnauba wax melting point is arond 120F which is easily attainable on hot days. Synthetic waxes won't melt away and will protect your car better. Carnauba wax is more shiny, so what i do is put on a coat of the 3M synthetic and put a good carnuaba over it (i like Pinnacle and Blitz).

Use good car wash also. Eimann Fabrikk Power Wash is really really good and won't strip wax.

Don't use synthetic sponges, use clothe chemille pads or natural sea sponges. They won't cause micro scratches.

For tires, make sure you wash them with a brush - people just put coatings of dressing over and over, this can turn them bronw. Use lexol on tires, it's great. If you want it more shiny, put lexol and then put a silicone dressing over that. Don't forget that silicone based dressings like armol all and most others will accelerate the breakdown of rubber and vinyl !!

 

Armor All is junk, and don't waste your money on scratch removers - they all suck.

 

That "junk" Armor All has kept my interiors looking great in all my cars for the past ten years!

Cleaner wax is fine when you want to eliminate some uneven layers of old wax (I use it every couple of months).

Carnauba wax is the smoothest, highest quality wax you can buy (my BMW owner's manual says not to use anything else).

Opinions are like a$$holes--everyone (including me) has one...

 

Here's what not to avoid.

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