Proton Waja: Tuition detail and Duragloss first impressions

My old secondary school friend recently purchased a second hand car and was keen to take care of it as it was well maintained by its previous owner.

So he came over and as we had breakfast, I explained to him (rather haphazardly a.k.a cincai) the basics of car care.


If you were wondering what that yellow thing is, it's a Detailogy clay

The agenda of the day was to basically show him the steps involved in basic car care maintenance.

So I started cleaning the tires with Westley's Bleache White and wheels with Osren Multi Clean.

We then wash the car with Osren Bubble and Wax, clayed with Detailogy clay using Meguair's Last Touch (cut 1:1) as lube and Osren Magic Cloth(lube was car wash solution).

Then the following products were used.



NXT All Metal Polysh on the wheels and Autoglym Glass Polish for the windshield wipers.

SwirlX was used to remove gummed up residues of M105 on the paint.

It was also my first outing with Duragloss products and I have to say I did not disappoint.

The bonnet/hood was polished with Meguiar's #105 Ultra-Cut Compound with a Meguiar's W-8006 polishing pad at 1600rpm. Followed by Meguiar's #205 Ultra Finishing Polish with a Lake Country black finishing pad at 600-1200-900rpm.

The rest of the car received Duragloss #501 Marine/RV Polish with a 5.25" Lake Country white CCS DA pad via random orbital buffer(ROB).

I can now see why people keep mentioning DG501 as an AIO.



This product is easy to use, does not leave the paint looking patchy, buffs off with ease and cleans superbly!



I just advanced another level in my quest to find a replacement for the reputable Autoglym Super Resin Polish.

We buffed off DG501 and applied Duragloss #601 Polish Bonding Agent by hand via foam applicator pad. It might be easier to apply this product with a microfiber pad as it tends to get grabby after spreading it further across the panel with a foam applicator. Nonetheless, it was still manageable and dried quickly.

This allowed us to immediately apply the next product, Duragloss #105 Total Performance Polish. Applied with foam applicator pad, spreads easily.

While we waited for it to dry and cure, we had lunch and returned to buff it off an hour later. We followed this with Duragloss #951 Aquawax for that extra slickness.

Wheels polished with NXT All Metal Polysh and tires dressed with Osren Tire Shine.

Here are the afters.















Owner checking out his shiny wheels.



I then gave him some Osren shampoo, multi cleaner, tire shine, bottle with chemical resistant sprayhead, sponge applicator pads and a noodle microfiber wash mitt for him to maintain his ride with. He already has some Magic One products, so its better to use up what he has.









Thanks for looking! :)

p.s
The Duragloss products were easy to use, left a uniform shine and very price competitive. It doesn't have any fancy packaging with extraordinary product description on the back of the bottle, it just works!
This is just my initial impression, yet to comment on other factors such as durability and/or protection.

p.p.s
updated this post and an Optimum No Rinse review on the previous post at the same time, here's the link to it.

http://wetshinedetailing.blogspot.com/2009/10/optimum-no-rinse-wash-and-shine-review.html

p.p.p.s
My finals will be in 2 weeks ending in mid november, so it will be another hiatus till then.

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Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine Review

Hello folks, apologies for the lack of updates recently. Having ended the constant bombardment by the 501st Assignment Division recently, finally have the chance to post this long overdue post.

Product to be reviewed today is Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine, also known as ONR in auto detailing forums.



photo courtesy of Autogeek.net

VX55 was at my house during this review and he cleaned while I took photos.

Here's a general 'before' shot of the car, about two weeks worth of grime.



ONR is mixed in the bucket at the wash solution ratio where as the spray bottle contains ONR at quick detailer(QD) ratio.



Wash solution ratio: 1oz. to 2 gallons of water
QD ratio: 6oz. to 1 gallon of water



The panel is first sprayed with ONR at QD strength to 'soften'/'loosen' and grime on the surface.





The picture below is a drop of ONR at QD strength on the ground and if you look closely, you could actually see the heavy grit that is being encapsulated floats upward.



Same photo cropped.



Using the Detailogy sheepskin wash mitt, VX55 gave each panel two passes.



Meguiar's Water Magnet drying towel showing a clean surface after drying.



Same process on the rear door.









Before ONR,



After ONR,



The paint was not perfect to start with, but the before and after shows that no additonal scratches were inflicted during the wash.

The next wash tool used was VX55's own Cobra Bone microfiber wash pad.





Before ONR,



After ONR,



Next tool is the Lake Country Foam Car Wash Sponge, also known as Big Blue. It is a big block of soft foam with a cubed design for grit and dirt to get trapped into.

Ever since learning about the two bucket system and proper washing techniques, I have been wary of sponges and have always used a wash mitt (Cotton chenille mitt, sheepskin/lambswool mitt, microfiber mitt). So I was quite skeptical and was prepared to polish out any marring afterward.

Big Blue was used without spraying any ONR on the panel.



It cleaned well, showing no dirt during the drying pass.



One half washed with Big Blue and ONR without any pre-spray.



Before ONR and Big Blue,



After ONR and Big Blue,





Wow! No additional scratches inflicted by it, I was surprised to say the least. I was even surprised when I washed the other half with my year old Mothers lambswool wash mitt.



Light scratches were inflicted when using my old mitt that has lost its plushness.

Conclusion

Pros:
Cleans well (on a waxed/protected surface?)
Safe (does not introduce new scratches when used correctly)
Makes a cheap cleaning QD and clay bar lubricant
Saves a lot of water

Cons:
May be expensive for washing when compared with basic car shampoos.
May not protect from car wash abrasions if the washing tool does not carry enough wash solution and the panel is dry.

Would I buy it?
Yes on the basis that it makes a cheap QD and clay lubricant plus I can use it when the car is too dirty to use a QD with but not dirty enough to necessitate a full bucket and hose car wash.

p.s
Thanks VX55 for the help with this review!
Thanks to AE Detailers (http://aedetailers.com/ae2/) for the sample of ONR!

This review wouldn't be possible without you guys :)

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