Automotive

Chemical Guys Watermelon Snow Foam

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In this post we will be examining Chemical Guys Snow Foam.

The particular Snow Foam that I’ve been using recently is Watermelon Snow Foam but there is also Honeydew Snow Foam. I’ve gone through a gallon of Honeydew Snow Foam and am working my way through this gallon of Watermelon Snow Foam. As far as I can tell, both variations provide the same performance. They are just different in scent and color. In either case, the Snow Foam line is extremely popular and often recommended because of the quality for the price.

If you’re unfamiliar with this product, it is known for being used with a foam cannon so that’s where we’ll start. As with my other automotive shampoo reviews, I’ll be adding 3 ounces of product and 800 ml of water to my foam cannon’s water reservoir. This consistency will allow you to more directly compare the results of the various shampoos.

In my opinion, if there’s one thing that I can count on with Chemical Guys is thick foam. That’s kind of their thing. Wether the product performs in other aspects is a hit or miss, but at least the shampoos always put on a foam show and there’s no exception here. I've always found the Snow Foam line to provide very thick, dryer, more aerated foam. But the weird thing is, from my experience, this type of thicker, dryer, and more aerated foam often clings really well and sticks around for awhile. Here with Snow Foam, it actually moves off the panels fairly quick. Now, the weather may look sunny in the video above but the temperature was in the 30s while I was recording. It would’ve been difficult for liquids to dry out so it’s more so a characteristic of the foam to run off the panels. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just depends on what you’re looking for.

Now, because this shampoo is advertised to also be good in a bucket, I’m going to do something that I’ve never done before and that is to use Snow Foam for a contact wash. The directions say to use 1-2 ounces of shampoo with 5 gallons of water so that’s the goal. I always start with the hand lubricity test where I run my hand through the solution to get an initial impression of lubricity. I stopped filling the bucket at 2 gallons of water and that means we have a mixing ratio of 1 ounce of product to one gallon of water. This is my personal standard expectation for a shampoo and I would say that Snow Foam easily passes. The solution is pretty slick. Next, moving to 4 gallons of water and that means 1 ounce of product to 2 gallons of water. Again, I would say that Snow Foam passes the hand lubricity test. Now, with 5 gallons of water. Again, I would give the solution a pass. I can still feel the slickness between my hand but this is probably the limit for me. I wouldn’t personally dilute this mixture any more. So for me, the advertised 1-2 ounces of shampoo to 5 gallons of water is true. For me 2 ounces is the minimum but who knows, 1 ounce may work for you. On a side note, you may have noticed me constantly having to push the suds aside in the video above. I’m doing this so I can read the gallon marker indicators on the side of my bucket and I’ve never had to work so hard to do so. Snow Foam just provides a ridiculous amount of suds when used in a bucket. I would say that without a doubt, this is the most suds that I’ve gotten from a shampoo in a bucket, even when I’m trying to avoid it. So if suds are something that you’re looking for, this is the stuff.

As far as actually using the solution for a contact wash, I don’t have any complaints. I’ve done enough car shampoo reviews to know that the hand lubricity test is a pretty good determiner. If a shampoo passes that, there’s going to be adequate lubrication for a contact wash. As far as cleaning ability, again no complaints. Snow Foam cleaned the car without leaving any noticeable dirt or debris. So in my personal opinion, Snow Foam gets a pass for contact wash use.

Overall, I would have to say that I’m happy with the Chemical Guys Snow Foam line. In a foam cannon, Snow Foam provides some of the thickest foam that I’ve seen. The foam is a bit fast to get off the panels but it just depends on what you’re looking for. In a bucket, I’m actually very surprised at this shampoo’s performance. To be honest, from the other Chemical Guys shampoos that I’ve tried, it always seems like Chemical Guys over estimate the mixing ratios. It’s often 1 ounce to 5 gallons of water and that never works. This is the first time where I’ve seen that ratio actually be usable and get the job done. So, we have a car shampoo that is arguably very good for foam cannon use and is extremely economical in a bucket. All of this while always being under $30 a gallon, regularly on sale for around $25 a gallon, and sometimes dropping close to $15 a gallon. Depending on how much you pay for this stuff, it can potentially be a fantastic deal for the performance that this product provides. For me, Chemical Guys Snow Foam wether Watermelon or Honeydew, gets an easy recommendation.

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Chemical Guys Honeydew Snow Foam https://amzn.to/3sVG97F

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Stoner Invisible Glass Glass Cleaner + Reach & Clean Tool

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In this post, I want to share with you my favorite glass cleaning chemical and that is Stoner’s Invisible Glass Glass Cleaner.

This product is an all purpose glass cleaner, meaning it can be used for all glass surfaces, not just those pertaining to a vehicle. Invisible Glass is also tint safe so no worries for those who have window tint installed.

Actual use of this product is fairly straightforward as it’s a wipe on wipe off type of product. This is not a glass cleaning tutorial so I’ll just briefly go over my approach.

When I clean glass, I generally like to have two microfiber towels. With the first towel, I spray the glass cleaner directly into it and then wipe with the towel. I do this rather than spraying glass cleaner directly onto the surface because this helps to minimize overspray and not get glass cleaner on unwanted surfaces. After the initial wipe down, I take the second towel and pick up any excess glass cleaner.

This two towel method is beneficial as it really helps with streaking. With some products, if you use too much and don’t completely wipe it away, streaks can develop on the glass as the cleaner air dries. That being said, Invisible Glass is my favorite glass cleaner because it is the only product that I’ve tried that is truly streak free. For the sake of the video above, I used the two towel method but in normal use, I generally just use one towel when I use Invisible Glass because I’ve never seen it streak.

Now, you probably noticed that throughout the above video I clean the various glass surfaces with a tool. This is the Invisible Glass Reach & Clean Tool. The particular package that I bought came with a few proprietary sized microfiber towels that are meant to attach to the tool itself. The tool is a triangle head that is attached to a handle. The idea behind this is that the triangle head is shaped to allow us to more easily get into corners and the handle allows us to clean a large surface without a lot of excessive stretching.

This particular tool isn’t all that helpful when cleaning side windows but it really shines with the front and rear windshields. With the Reach & Clean tool, I’m able to easily clean an entire windshield with minimal effort. I’m able to reach all surfaces without changing seats or put myself in overly awkward positions. Prior to getting this tool, I would often neglect cleaning the windshields because the task is a bit of a pain but now that I have the tool, the job only takes a few seconds so I don’t mind it as much. If you’re in a similar boat, I can definitely recommend the Reach & Clean tool or something similar.

So, that’s my review of Invisible Glass Glass Cleaner and the Reach & Clean Tool. These are two great products that I absolutely can recommend. The Glass Cleaner cleans glass adequately while being streak free and tint safe. It is also extremely budget friendly so I see no faults with the product. The Reach & Clean Tool tool is a luxury but it has become a critical part of my glass cleaning protocol. If you have a few extra bucks for such a thing, definitely give it a try.

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303 Protectant

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If you’ve been around a lot of older cars, you’ve no doubt seen some cracked dashes or interior trims. This is likely the result of long-term sun exposure. This isn’t as much of a problem for modern car interiors but it can happen. To help prevent this issue, we can use a product like 303 Protectant that when applied, will provide various surfaces with a layer of UV protection.

Before we get started, I should mention that 303 Protectant is labeled a few different ways. You may see it as Automotive Protectant, Aerospace Protectant, or Marine Aerospace Protectant. You may also see these products in a few different formats. I have both a spray bottle and pre-moistened wipes. No matter the name on the label or the format of use, if it’s 303 Protectant it’s all the same stuff. The different names are just for different markets but they all contain the same formula. So, if you can only find one form or the other, don’t worry. Just buy whatever you can find.

Use of this product is fairly straightforward. It’s largely a matter of spreading the product on the surface of choice then wiping off excess.

When I use the spray, I like to spray the solution on to a microfiber towel or an applicator pad, then wipe it on the surface rather than spraying the surface and wiping it in. Spraying an applicator first just helps to control overspray and not get the product on unwanted surfaces. Depending on how dirty the surface that you’re applying the protectant to, you may want to clean it first with something like an all-purpose cleaner or a dedicated interior cleaner. After you’ve coated the surface, just take another microfiber towel and wipe the surface completely dry. 303 Protectant does not dry by itself. If you don’t wipe the surface clean and you leave 303 Protectant on the surface, it’ll continue to sit there. Depending on how much you used, the surface may even look a bit wet and shiny. With 303 Protectant, extra buffing actually increases bonding, repellency, and longevity. So, don’t be afraid to get in there and buff off the excess.

I’ve been using 303 Protectant for a little over a year now and it has become one of my personal favorite products. I use it as a UV protectant, but it does have other uses. It can repel dust and stains and for those who have slightly faded black parts, 303 Protectant can actually restore some of the color. However, all of this is temporary. 303 Protectant only lasts up to 30-45 days so keep that in mind.

One thing that I want to note is that 303 advertises this product for interior and exterior use. I personally do not use this product on any exterior surfaces. From my experience, this product will run and streak if water hits it. I know that this isn’t just me because I’ve seen other people complain about this too. So, just keep that in mind. In my opinion, this product is really only good for exterior use if you live in a place where it never rains. Otherwise, just use it inside.

Other than that, I really enjoy using 303 Protectant. It provides the interior of my cars with UV protection and actually makes them look better because it makes the surfaces have a richer darker color. All of this at a great price. This is definitely a product that I recommend.

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303 Automotive Protectant https://amzn.to/38wWWFW

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303 Protectant Wipes https://amzn.to/3hY0HaA

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Adam's Graphene Ceramic Coating Update & Adam's Ceramic Boost

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I recently made a 3-month update video on the Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating that’s applied to my Supra. If you haven’t, I would suggest that you watch that video to fully understand its current status. But in short, it’s apparent that the coating has diminished a bit. Well when I purchased the coating, I purchased it in a kit that came with a bottle of Adam’s Ceramic Boost.

This product is a sio2 silica-infused sealant. Ceramic Boost can be used as a stand-alone paint protection coating or used as a topper or a maintenance product for another coating. In my particular situation, I will be using it as a topper in hopes of bringing some life back into my Graphene Ceramic Coating.

To get started, I’m going to wash the car. This is an obvious step as we do not want to apply any coating on top of a dirty car as this will just hinder the coating’’s ability to properly adhere to the surface.

As far as prep work, this is all that I will personally be doing. If you are using Ceramic Boost as a stand-alone coating and want maximum performance, I’d advised that you at least decontaminate the surface prior to application and do paint correction if necessary. I’m skipping these steps because I already have a previously applied coating. Decontaminating and paint correction will only further reduce the performance of my base coating. The added performance of the topper is not worth a reduction in the base coating that I want to last for as long as possible. The topper will have to be reapplied again in a few months anyway, so there’s no point in going all out on prep work. This is just how I personally view it, you can do whatever you’d like with your car.

Once everything is clean and dry, we can move on to the application process, which is pretty straight forward. The directions essentially say to spray Ceramic Boost on then buff it off. I personally sprayed it on, wiped it into the surface, then went back and buffed off the excess.

Now, this is where things are a bit muddy. The directions say to spray a generous amount of product onto the surfaces. I felt that this is what I did. However, when it came time to buff the product off, I found that it was very streaky. This typically happens when too much product is used. So from experience, I would say to not use too much product, but who knows if that will negatively affect performance since the directions say to do the opposite.

What’s interesting is that this is Ceramic Boost 2.0, the latest formulation of Ceramic Boost. Many people complained that the original formula was too streaky so Adam’s introduced Ceramic Boost 2.0 to fix that issue. However, if you go to the official Adam’s website and read the reviews for this product, you’ll see that many people still complain about the streaking issue. I, of course, can attest to this so it’s something to be aware of. Don’t get me wrong, you can remove the streaks. It may just take multiple attempts and multiple passes.

The directions don’t say anything about a cure time but I’m going to played it safe let the coating sit for 48 hours prior to any hydrophobic testing.

During application, I was personally able to tell that the Ceramic Boost coated surfaces were slicker. My hand glided over it and it for sure was slicker than just having the Graphene Ceramic Coating on there. After seeing how water reacts to the coating, I was able to confirm the added slickness as water moved off the surfaces a lot faster than before. But, that doesn’t really matter to me. What matters is being able to blow the remaining water off of the car so I can reduce the chance of getting water spots. So, I brought out my BigBoi BlowR Pro car dryer to see how the sitting water drops react to the dryer.

From my test, I can personally tell that Ceramic Boost did help with the slickness of the surface. Water blew off the surface easier after applying Ceramic Boost. That being said, I personally don’t think that it did much. There’s still plenty of drag that caused the larger water droplets to break up into a bunch of tiny droplets. Before Ceramic Boost, these remaining tiny droplets would have so much drag that they would barely move. After Ceramic Boost, although the smaller droplets are still present, I am able to blow them off the panels if I get the nozzle right on top of them. So, that is no doubt a positive but I personally would not want to try and blow off all of these tiny droplets. It would just waste too much time. Because of this, I personally feel that although Ceramic Boost helped to make the current state of my Graphene Ceramic Coating better, it is not something that I’m impressed with. It definitely didn’t make the Graphene Ceramic Coating look like new, nowhere near it. Knowing this, I personally will not be buying any more Ceramic Boost to top my Graphene Ceramic Coating. I may not even bother using the remainder that I have from the kit that I originally bought. I think for the amount of work required to remove all the streaks, the performance is just not worth it.

And that’s going to be it. This will actually be my last update for Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating. At this point, I absolutely know that Graphene Ceramic Coating has diminished. A true test of durability would’ve been to let it sit and continue to test it as is. But now that I applied Ceramic Boost, I essentially applied another coating on top of Graphene Ceramic Coating. There will be no way for me to test Graphene Ceramic Coating’s performance now that there is a layer of Ceramic Boost protecting it. So, rather than making further updates that will likely provide misleading information, I’m just going to call it here for Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating.

I personally feel that it provides some amazing hydrophobic properties, but unfortunately, that will only last a few months on something like a daily driver. This is a coating that you will have to maintain and top off on the regular. Perhaps even monthly. If you are ok with that, then I can give Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating a recommendation.

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P&S Brake Buster

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In this post, we are taking a look at P&S Brake Buster. This is an extremely popular all in one wheel and tire cleaner that is not only suppose to safely remove accumulated brake dust and other contaminants, but this product also contains corrosion inhibitors which will leave a layer of coating behind, protecting the wheels from future corrosion. Brake Buster is non-acidic and should be safe on most wheel finishes but remember to always test new products out on an inconspicuous location before going all out.

For my initial testing, I cleaned the wheels and tires of my Supra. For this, I diluted Brake Buster at 5 parts water to one part product and use the solution in an IK Foam Pro 2. From my research, this seems to be the go-to combination for many people but Brake Buster can very well be used at full strength or even further diluted. You’ll just have to experiment with the product to see what works for you.

For my personal use, I spray Brake Buster onto the tires and wheels and let it sit for a moment. This will allow the product to loosen and break down some of the contaminants. Because Brake Buster is nonacidic, it will only be able to remove so much by itself. For the most part, we will need to go in and do a contact wash. I personally like to have a bucket with some car shampoo in it to help with lubricity but I know a lot of people who only use Brake Buster for the entire cleaning process. If you want to do this, just make sure to spray some more Brake Buster to get added lubrication if you’ve let it sit for a while and most of it has slid off.

For the most part, Brake Buster did a great good at cleaning these wheels. Aside from the places that I missed and the water spots that were already there, the wheels were clean.

Next, I moved on to the wheel of a Corrolla that’s a daily driver and I can’t even remember the last time it was cleaned. For this, I used Brake Buster at full strength in a spray bottle. Because this wheel is pretty dirty and I’m not diluting, the chemical reacted immediately with the wheel and tire upon contact. Brake Buster did its thing and removed some of the grime without any contact. This was evident by a brown runoff. But, again, unless you only have a light layer of dust buildup, a contact wash is still needed. Again, Brake Buster did a great job at cleaning the wheel.

After trying Brake Buster for myself, I can see why it’s pretty hyped. At around $20-$25 a gallon, Brake Buster offers a versatile product that adequately cleans anything in the wheel wells. The ability to heavily dilute this product down to 10:1 and even beyond depending on your needs further adds to the value of this product. Then on top of this, Brake Buster also leaves behind a layer of corrosion inhibitors, something that very few other wheel cleaners do. So for me, Brake Buster gets a recommendation because it does what it’s supposed to at a great price.

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