K-A

[I have absolutely NO affiliation with these guys whatsoever]
Firstly, let me say, my "miracle juice" for the interior is Aerospace 303. Aside from damp chamois wipe downs, this is the only detail-oriented product I'll ever need for my cars interior, and it is brilliant in how easy to use, versatile (you can get it EVERYWHERE and it works on everything), non abrasive, and healthy for all materials.

I'm incredibly OCD and meticulous with my car. However, I also have a lazy side, and the amount of time I take on my with detail oriented little things, makes it so that the big things are just way way too time consuming. (See this Thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...l-session.html)

Therefor, I ALWAYS seek shortcuts that get me to the same or at least similar quality results.

When I was at the Auto Show, I saw the display for the Smartwax One, and it seemed too good to be true to me (it's a wash and wax and seal all in one, no soap or water, no extra time), as I've been wishing for something like this forever. Also, let me note that I rarely ever wash my car with soap. I never liked the effects of soap, it always seems to strip wax sooner, and dulls plastics after time. My car's always immaculate and spotless, and the sheen of the paint and plastics/rubbers always look brand new, which I partially attribute to no soap. Frankly put, I never like to use abrasives unless I need them.

I've used the product once so far, and all I can say is that it works exactly as advertised.

"The first one step answer to achieving a show perfect shine effortlessly and without water. An ultra slick non-stick high-shine all-weather gloss magnifier, organically formulated to wash, polish, wax and protect in one step, with no water waste, water spots, swirl marks, streaks, or scratches which may result from conventional car washing. Simply misted onto surface, one softens, lifts, and encapsulates dirt particles in a protective lubricant that is easily and safely wiped away with a microfiber towel. The light carnauba wax haze left is then buffed away leaving a beautiful showroom shine that reduces static charge allowing for maximum repellency of dirt. Formulated with UV light absorbers to block the damaging effects of the sun, one shines and reflects like a mirror. Wash, polish, wax and protect your car, RV, motorcycle, plane, boat, in one easy step. Great for chrome, wheels, plastic, glass, metal, fiberglass and more. Also works well as a lubricant for use with clay bars during spot removal of all kinds of imperfections."

RNBRAD

Snake oil I say. I'm highly skeptical here. Reason is that when you spray the dirt and then wipe it off, guess what happens? That dirt doesn't somehow magically dissapear and encapsulating in lubricant is a bunch of fooey. Once the fiber of any towel hit and grab that dirt, it will push it against and drag it across your clear coat, lubricated or not, and cause micro scratching (swirls) that would otherwise of been prevented with soap and water. I'm sure it will work fine for many people, as I see several people all the time using the wheel brush on their paint. I'd like to see that product used on a medium dirty "black" car that was then scrutinized under fluorescents. It may have great lubricants that can hide it's damaging effects. I still think saop and water from a power washer is the best way to preserve a paints beauty. As I've always said, the less you actually touch a paint the better off it will be. Unless of course your polishing/waxing.

danlnyc

^ that was the first thought I had too. What happens to the dirt and crap thats been sitting there?

vdubpower

keep using this product, eventually youll wipe away all yourclear coat and paint and have a nice baremetal car

stop being lazy, use proper products and methods and youll be more satisfied with your results

ImInPA

I think White is the only vehicle color that would not show the damage these products do. Dirt does not dissolve, and, any lubricant just makes it easier to scratch it across the surface. A microfiber rag with dirt in it becomes sandpaper. I sure hope K-A doesn't get all **** and look at his paint under halogens or fluorescents. He will bum. I will not even use a spray-on detailer if my car is anything more than dusty. Any and all forms of road grime are highly abrasive. Griot's also make a waterless carwash product. If you read their instruction to "minimize paint marring" it can take close to a dozen extra deep pile microfiber towels to complete a car. Continued use of these products will guarantee you a non-Designo, matte finish, that is, if you don't wear the clear coat off during the abrasive process first. This is the only thing I can think of that is actually worse for a car finish than an automatic car wash.

K-A

Lol. That's one of the reasons that I posted it here (to get contrasting reasons as to why it should be bad). It does seem "too good to be true", naturally, but the results were so good when I did it, I really think it just might be "that good".

Why would it be harmful to the clear-coat, or more harmful than soap, for that matter? From what they said, it shouldn't be any more abrasive than soap?

Also, dragging dirt across is an obvious downside, however, you technically do that when you drag your mitt/washcloth/etc. against the dirt when you wash the car.

I do have to say, the way this product lubricates and "lifts dirt off" is really as good as they say, it removes the dirt more smoothly than soap even. However, I guess at this point, my biggest concern is as to whether it's more abrasive than they say, i.e your comments on the clearcoat diminishing?

steelgrey

Also, dragging dirt across is an obvious downside, however, you technically do that when you drag your mitt/washcloth/etc. against the dirt when you wash the car.

Well, K-A that is why you use car wash products (soap) when you wash your car. The foam of the soap lifts and suspends the dirt from the surface of the paint. A lot of detailing enthusists also use a two bucket method of washing with a second bucket to rinse your mitt so the contaminated mitt doesn't go straight back into the wash bucket. Foam Guns are becoming popular to spray the car with a heavy soapy foam prior to using a wash mitt to provide more lubrication. As for your use of a chamois to dry your car they have been pretty much been replaced with quality microfiber drying towels. Purists use leaf blowers so they don't have to wipe the paint surface. All of the comments above are correct. You are very lucky you don't own a black or dark car.

RobbieRob

I'm sorry KA, but this post is crazy. When you wash your car the first thing you do is rinse the car which takes all the hard or large objects off of the car before you use the sponge. Maybe I would use this product if my car was totally clean and I had a water spot somewhere... Spraying anything on dirt and then wiping it is never a good idea.... Just my .02... Seems like the product owner spoke with you so you would post. I don't see you using this product the way you say you do hearing how OCD you are, and how nice you keep your car.

ImInPA

K-A, Use it carefully. The first rule of care cleaning is to rinse the dirt off. This is to keep the amount of particle abrasives low. These abrasive act as sandpaper when they become trapped in a cloth of any type. As a little experiment and to help you understand why this is more harmful than soap. Dampen a rag and drop it i dirt. Now find a had to see spot on your car and rub for that spot for several minutes with your gritty rag. After you are done with that, take another clean rag and pour car waging liquid on it. Rub it in the same spot. Make sure these spots were actually clean before you start. When finished get an LED light and shine it on both spots. Let us know what you see under lights. I think these "waterless" solutions work better on light colored cars. I would never attempt this on black. The bottom line is that if it makes you feel good just do it. You are not likely to keep the car that long. It will probably be the the next owner's problem.

RNBRAD

Soap is not harmful to paint, it is NOT an abrasive, soap is a surfactant with certain oils for lubricants. It's the cleaning process that can be harmful like others have said. I personally don't wash my car with a mit or touch it at all. I only use a high pressure wash and only touch it when drying. This is mainly due to a mitt or rag picking up dirt and dragging it across the paint. As you said though soaps make black trim discolor and diminishes your wax. That's because soap pulls the oils out of the rubber (just put it back) and surfactant loosens the wax's bond to the surface (just put it back). Now the current process may seem to good to be true as it is. It may look fine for now and show amazing results, but wait a few months and let us know how that surface looks against the sun at a slight angle. There is no doubt you are micro marring the surface to avoid steps in the cleaning process.

K-A

The product owner definitely didn't speak with me, I literally was just so happy with the results, I wanted to rep the company.

I agree with what you guys are saying. I mean, it's common sense. What impressed me about the product, is how seamlessly it "loosens" and lubricates the dirt, how well it seemed to protect the paint, how smooth the paint felt, and how long the Wax/Sealant aspect has seemed to last (like any normal Wax, I think), and how "lazy-boy" it is. It seems like the most significant downsides to it, without actually judging the product itself, is the technicalities of how the dirt is obviously being picked up by the Microfiber.

Also, Steelgrey, I have a bunch of Microfibers in the car, but I love the chamois. Very diverse, and I keep them soaked in the trunk, and they come in MAJOR handy when I need to get something off the car and I'm out: Wipe, squeeze.

And, yes, as you'd expect, my car is absolutely a diamond when you see it in 98% of lighting, however, under VERY certain sun lights and angles (I've only seen this twice, and it was in the Desert, if that makes any difference) I've seen micro-scratches all over my car, but this was well before I used the Smartwax. It was there from the stupid Dealer. However, having White is very spoiling. I can literally rub this paint with sandpaper, and wouldn't see the scratches on most lighting or sun times and angles. I've put the car under lots of different lights and am amazed at how certain light scratches I know exist are impossible to pinpoint unless under the proper lighting.

If I use it again, I will make sure to have a bunch of microfibers handy though. Now gotta ponder if with all your comments, lol.

steelgrey

Also, Steelgrey, I have a bunch of Microfibers in the car, but I love the chamois. Very diverse, and I keep them soaked in the trunk, and they come in MAJOR handy when I need to get something off the car and I'm out: Wipe, squeeze.


I carry Blackfire Polymer Quick Detailing Spray. Spray on...wipe off with my trusty microfiber. To each his own.

CEB

There is only one product that really works and that is Optimum No Rinse (ONR)

Quite simply, the secret to a decent finish is a multi step process - some all-in-one just can't do that.

You need to remove the dirt. Thereafter, you need to mechanically remove remaining crud with a clay bar. You then need to polish the surface to smooth it and finally you need protect and preserve the paint.

mbuster25

No free lunch.

If you want to WASH, then use soap.

K-A I don't know anyone who is so concerned with trim/plastic. However, there are many products to address or maintain trim/plastic.

I doubt you would see the effects of a quality car wash soap drying out your trim/plastic. The car wash soaps are made specifically for carwashing! That being said, you don't need to use as much soap every single time. The cleaning power is usually related to the soap:water ratio, but overdoing it, and you are wasting money.

vdubpower

KA is this what u use when u shower

Paxfobiscum

I agree with this K-A. I owned a black car for more than 10 years and I have seen how the paint slowly deteriorated and it was primarily due to my laziness and from "bad washing." Bad washing for me was using those spray-on type of waxes instead of the old elbow grease with water and car soap. My car would gather dust even just after two days of sitting in an indoor garage. The dust can be clearly seen because of the black paint. Imagine spraying that dust with that Quick-clean spray wax and wiping that wax and dust together. Bad results.

The best way to clean my black car was using a power wash spray (mixture of air and water) to remove the surface grime and follow this with a clean mitt and car soap. I even used two mitts, constanly soaked in the bucket to get rid of the grime.

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