{"id":23724,"date":"2018-10-22T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/?p=23724"},"modified":"2018-10-04T14:22:57","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T18:22:57","slug":"3-products-i-was-skeptical-of-until-i-used-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/3-products-i-was-skeptical-of-until-i-used-them\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Products I Was Skeptical Of…Until I Used Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rinseless & Waterless Wash Products<\/h2>\n

I had grown up cleaning cars with a beat up sponge and old bath towels, so when I learned about the proper three bucket system with grit guards, sheepskin or microfiber mitts, and proper microfiber towels, my world was changed forever.\u00a0 The theory behind this method seemed sound, and the results speak for themselves, so naturally when I was told that it was possible to safely<\/strong><\/em> wash a vehicle without a hose, without multiple buckets, without wash mitts, without grit guards, and without shampoo, I was pretty unsure.\u00a0 In fact, it took me a while to even work up the courage to try this crazy idea out for myself… man am I glad I gave it a shot!<\/p>\n

The three bucket washing system is great, no doubt about it, but it can be pretty cumbersome to do on a weekly basis.\u00a0 A well-maintained car does not generally get\u00a0too<\/em> dirty in between weekly or bi-weekly washes, therefore the process of soaking the car with water and suds for cleaning and lubrication is truly not necessary.\u00a0 I found that on average it would take me about an hour to wash a car and an hour and a half to wash an SUV using the traditional method.<\/p>\n

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Rinseless and Waterless washing drastically reduces the amount of time, products, and effort that goes in to the washing process.\u00a0 I now find that I can complete a proper rinseless wash on my SUV in 45 minutes or less in most cases (without even pulling the car out of the garage), and yes, it is completely safe!\u00a0 To be quite honest, I rarely do a traditional wash on either of our vehicles.\u00a0 Regular rinseless washes have been the most efficient way for me to keep our cars looking outstanding without sacrificing a lot of my time.<\/p>\n

If you are on the fence about using a rinseless product, I’d recommend picking up some Optimum No Rinse<\/a> and giving it a shot.\u00a0 I have demonstrated this process to many friends, customers, and other car enthusiasts over the years and most people absolutely love it after they have tried it for themselves.<\/p>\n

NanoSkin Mitts & Towels<\/h2>\n

Using a clay bar is one of the most simple parts of the detailing process, but on a heavily contaminated vehicle, it can be a time-consuming task.\u00a0\u00a0Nano Skin products<\/a> claimed to speed up this process immensely while also lasting longer than traditional clay.\u00a0 Detailing clay is something that has been around for as long as I have been into detailing, and I had never heard of another product trying to replace good old-fashioned clay bar until these synthetic options came out several years ago.\u00a0 I had a feeling it was going to be one of those “too good to be true” experiences, but after spending some time with the Nano Skin Mitts and Towels, I very rarely reach for a traditional clay bar, and I know many others operate the same way as Kevin George<\/a> demonstrates in the following photo.<\/p>\n

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These synthetic clay substitutes allow me to remove bonded contaminates much quicker and easier than I could before.\u00a0 The time required to clay a vehicle was reduced from around an hour to less than thirty minutes in most cases.\u00a0 One important thing to note is that I have found these products to be considerably more aggressive than traditional clay in that the chances of marring the paint, especially softer paint, is quite high.\u00a0 In general, I personally only recommend mechanical decontamination of any kind if you intend to follow up with at least a light machine polishing process.<\/p>\n

Nano Coatings<\/h2>\n

Coating<\/a> products are now considered the pinnacle of vehicle protection by a large amount of professionals and enthusiasts in the car care community, however not too long ago these products were quite new, and some of the claimed benefits seemed almost too good to be true.\u00a0 Nevertheless, I was very intrigued by these products as they started to gain more attention, so I had to try them for myself.\u00a0 It has been roughly 5 years since I first started experimenting with coating products, and I can honestly say I will not go back to the “old school” way of doing things.\u00a0\u00a0I use a variety of coating products to protect all parts of my vehicles including paint, plastic, wheels, glass, and leather.<\/p>\n

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The biggest perk of using a coating product on a variety of surfaces to me is simply the ease of maintenance after application.\u00a0 Of course, there are many other benefits, such as exceptional durability and a candy-like gloss, that I love as well.\u00a0 \u00a0We have a considerable amount of informative articles regarding paint coatings already published on the blog, here are some of my favorites…<\/p>\n