tjkazai

Armor All - Leather Care Gel
Hello everyone
How's it going..
this is just a little question..

About the armor all leather gel care.

Do any of you Acurazine people use this product?
What's best to whipe with a paper towel or cloth or damp cloth.

( YES I READ THE BACK.. just wanna prefer what you guys use )

Fine leather requires special attention and care, especially when it's subjected to the intense sun, heat and humidity in your car. Our rich, luxurious Leather Care Gel pampers and conditions fine leathers to protect and preserve their rich, supple, natural appearance. Our most advanced leather formula ever with three ways to care for your leather at once:

Cleansing Agents reach into the grain of the leather to remove dirt & soil

Conditioners enhance leather's rich, natural beauty & restore its supple feel

Powerful Blocking Agents help protect against spills, stains, cracking, fading, discoloration & premature aging

Tips & Tricks: Spots and scuff marks can sometimes be removed with a pencil eraser, especially on lighter leather.
For great Tips & Tricks on taking care of your car, visit the Armor AllŽ Owner Center: www.aa-ownercenter.com

Usage Directions:
1. Shake well before use.
2. Unscrew cap and remove foil seal before dispensing.
3. Squeeze directly onto surface or clean cloth.
4. Spread evenly over surface.


ANYWAYS does this actually work?
Do you have before and after pictures?




Share it below
<- ORGASM.

Jesstzn

Yes I use it and its no better .. no worse than most of the rest..

Here is a thread to read about leather.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...are-Discussion

fabrikated

Ugh, I stay far far away from Armor All products. I personally use the Leatherique treatment, but I'm positive you can find cheaper products that are still much better than Armor All with a little bit of research.

Jesstzn

And your specific expert reasons would be?

fabrikated

Yikes, what's with the defensive stance? OP, PM me if you'd like, and I'll tell you my specific reasons for disliking Armor All.

Jesstzn

No I'm not defensive ....

1) Have you tried it?

2) I'm sure everyone would like to see your reasons .. thats what forums are for. Could you please post them here? I'm sure everyone would be anting to see ligitimate reasons verses wives tales and hearsay.

fabrikated

Look man, stop pushing for an argument. I'm not here for that. OP, good luck with your questions, and the offer stands if you want to discuss.

Jesstzn

Sorry .. I'm not pushing for an arguement .. your telling us a product line is no good .. I'd just like to know the reason ...

fabrikated

I dislike Armor All because I don't like a layer of high-gloss goo on every surface of my car - I like a nice, clean, matte finish (think 303 or Einszett 1Z). Plus, the silicone tends to collect dirt and take out the natural moisture of whatever surface you are using it on (not sure if this product has silicone in it or not). I've seen plenty of leather seats that exclusively used AA products that were hard and cracked.

tjkazai

Well if I use my Armor All Gel Care
will this remove like permanent stains?

Or like cracked leather its all wrinkled -.- etc.

I got a little bit paint on it.

Jesstzn

Cool ... so you haven't used this Gel ... I have .. for over 4 years regularly on numerous cars some being my TL.. a Ferarri 335Spider ... a Jag sedan ... and an aray of other cars.

I pre clean them with a Woollite solution and use the gell and not one has had issues ..

just for your info ..

PDMS dressings, (polydimethalsiloxane) only differ by percentage of the resin mixed into the water that is it's carrier to the surface.
Be it Armorall, Eagle One, Zanio, Mequiar's, Mother's, 303 etc, all the "white-water based" dressings are PDMS.


303 has a higher resin content, the maximum that can be used, which is why it cost more.
Most of the mass marketed PDMS are usually around 18 to 20%, most professional dressings are between 22 and 27%.
Cost is an issue for professional detailers, and even the higher resin 303 does not last "that" much longer than a, say 24% content.
Just looks better for a couple of days.
The "UV" protectant adverstising is pure bunk, it is not possible to actually put "UV" blockers in these types of resins and if it could be done, the product would have to be marketed at about 3 to 4 times a higher price, as a UV component is very, very expensive.
The claim of "UV" protection comes from the resin barrier created and the additional shine, which reflects the damaging UV's.
The real advantage of using a PDMS is protection from the far more damaging ozone that is present. This protection is only there as long as the product is.


BTW there are numerous types of silicone and the harmful ones are seldom ever used in auto products any more .... but you will be suprised what "Brand Name " and "High End" products do contain the "good" silicones.

Jesstzn

A lot depends on the stain .. and paint I doubt if any of the cleaners will .. as far as cracks and wrinkles nothing is going to remove them ... using a conditioner "may" soften it some but its the vinyl coating on the seat that is wrinkled & cracked.

turbo_911

NO, it WONT remove any stains... There are NO leather protective gels that remove stains, they just make your leather shiny that's all.

It won't remove cracks in the seat, you have to use special leather treatment that will make them less visible.

It won't remove paint either, as you have to use Cleaner FIRST and then apply leather gel of your own preference.

I used Armor product ONCE, literally, ONCE and threw away still full bottle of gel. It give this super shiny look and makes your eyes hurt if it is sunny and if your dashboard is black.

Best product I used was from Meguiars, as they have a lot of products in the consumer line, that is affordable, where professional line is a bit more expensive, though it lasts longer, gives better finish and look.

But once again, to everyone its their own, and I love Meguiars products, as I've been with them for 3 years and they haven't let me down.

Jesstzn

You used it on your dash?

fabrikated

Bravo, we're all so impressed.

If you had a better attitude, I might actually give what you are saying some merit, but as it stands, I can't read another word. Which sucks, because I'm sure you know what you are talking about, and I'm all about learning to become a better hobbyist detailer. Do you treat your customers with this kind of pretentious holier-than-thou attitude?

Jesstzn

The reason I wanted you to elaborate on your reasons is because most of the Armoral fearmongering ( Ugh, I stay far far away from Armor All products. ) is based on wives tales that originated years ago about one of the first products they put out and even then it wasn't substantiated.

You percieve I have an attitude because you got backed into a bit of a corner and in reality you haven't shown the product to be destructive or harmful but you just don't like the result. I too have seen plenty of seats that were hard and cracked and they used no dressing at all or used other brands.

Leather is a natural product, with a pH of 4.0 and comes from animal (bovine0 hides, which have been chemically processed (tanned) to preserve them. A properly tanned hide (or skin) creates strong, flexible material; resistant to decay. Most leather is tanned cow hide, which are laterally split, rendering an upper (Aniline) and lower cut (By-cast).

The majority (95% + ) of automotive upholstery is by-cast polyurethane covered leather, these leathers have aspects of a natural finish, but more uniform in appearance, by-cast will also stretch more than top grain leather and is therefore subject to show creasing. The upper portion is the top-grain, or Aniline, the lower portion is the split or by-cast. This cutting process creates different faces to the leather. The outside face of the top grain shows the natural grain characteristics, but is otherwise smooth, whereas, the underside appears as unfinished or suede


Myth buster - many leather products market themselves on how they feed leather. In fact your car's leather seats are first coated with a very fine emulsion to give them the desired colour and then a clear coat. So for best longevity you should be keeping that coating as well protected as possible. These same companies would also have you believe you should feed your vehicles polyurathane upholstery or the car's urethane paint finish with protein, collagen, or exotic oils...
eg. Leatherique treatment

turbo_911

The one specifically for the dash... is there a problem with that?

Jesstzn

Opps sorry ... the way you typed it it sounded like you used the gel on the dash ... Myself I don't use the protectant on the dash either .... and no don't have a problem at all with it.

turbo_911

Lol

I am sorry, I guess I have to be more specific thank you

Oh and I see you detail cars too?

As for Armor products, I don't have anything against them, I just don't like the results they give, that's why I prefer Meguiars

fabrikated

Right. PM me if you want to continue chest thumping, I don't want to ruin this poor kids thread any further (not to mention grab a moderators attention...).

Jesstzn

Ya I do .. and have for over 40 years ... so I have seen the evolution ... thus can speak form hands on experience. BTW ... your doing great work with the OTC stuff... not many can.

turbo_911

Oh wow for over 40 years? that's crazy a lot, how do you like it? didn't get tired? lol

From what I saw (not many pics) you do awesome job too I like it.

I've been in detailing only 4-5 years and this is mainly my second hand job when I have time, otherwise I am in college, my 4th or 5th year lol, forgot already haha.

Jesstzn

Never get tired .. did it as a side job for years but now retired so I do more select cars ... prolly keeps me in shape .. I stick to a couple cars a week now ... will be 66 in 3 weeks.

I don't post a lot of pix any more ..

turbo_911

Wow, that's crazy, in a good way lol

What's the most expensive car you detailed?

Jesstzn

See pvt message

Disbe

iTrader: (1)

I dont think Jess was getting defensive or offensive. You have to remember we cannot convay attitude and demeanor on a message board and the way we sometimes read something in our head is not how the person said it in their head. Jess is very knowledgeable and just wants to help people understand things. As i started to read the thread i too wanted to know specifically what went wrong with an AA product and i would have asked if Jess didnt. At the end of the day i think most of us are hear to help and/or learn. Its all good!

Jesstzn

Ty .. I try .. when you get a little older you get a little more direct .. Remember grampa .. old fart .. stuck in his ways .. couldn't change him for nothing ... oh crap .. I have 3 grand kids .. time to shut up.

Aman

Anyways, back on topic:

I've used Armour All, and it makes your leather very very shiny. The reason most people are against Armour All is because I heard they had a formula years ago that actually deteriorated your car's upholstery, plastics, leather etc. what have you. They've changed their formula and I think they're better, but most people have been scarred by them.

That particular Armour All product was the first I ever used on my leather, and it isn't terrible. Very very slippery, and very shiny. I didn't have any real problems with it. Squirt onto MF towel or onto leather surface, spread around, and on to the next one.

When that product ran out, I tried Meguiar's Leather Cleaner and Conditioner. I tried spraying it onto the leather surface, and then spreading it around with a folded MF towel, but for some reason the towel would stick and unfold. I didn't have this problem with Armour All. You also have to work very quickly, because Meg's leather spray dries very quickly, and you end up with noticeable spots on your leather.

The bottle may say spray from 15 cm away or whatever, but that didn't work for me. Any overspray you get on plastic or surrounding materials will show ugly spots there for a few days. Really annoyed me.

I recently picked up an AutoGlym Applicator, and tried spraying Meguiar's onto that, then applying to the leather. Worked MUCH better, and this way is a lot better than spraying straight onto the leather and then rubbing in with a towel.

Just as a heads up however, I have some dirt that seems to be stuck onto the leather. My guess is that I didn't properly clean the leather, and applied the conditioner on top, trapping the dirt/dust. I used a bunch of paint brushes (ex-artist brother FTW) to get the dust out, especially from in between the creases.

After using both, I'd still recommend Meguiar's. The product itself is great once you figure out how to apply it, much better than Armour-All's.

Although it should be noted that I'm now down to a 1/4 bottle, and the bottle started leaking, so I had to pour the rest into another spray bottle.