Now that they use a carpet material, enhancing the wheel arch liners becomes hard. On plastic liners, you could dress them like a tyre, or even apply a ceramic coating. On carpet liners, I really don't have a recommendation for this other than making sure you flush them out with a pressure washer. If you did want to try a dressing, make sure its a water-based one like Carpro Perl, 303 Protectant or well diluted Meguiar's Hyper Dressing (5:1). Using a solvent product here will create more problems than you solve.
Some good buys @DFB5.0 .A very fast turnaround from the guys at Waxit!
For this year's Waxit Black Friday sale, I went a little berserk! In defence, I had been holding off ordering some of this until the sale kicked off.
- Carpro Reset is a high use soap for me. At $134.95, it's always expensive in 4-litre containers. I probably can't quote the price I paid for it this time as the 20% sale discount applies to a trade price that I'm lucky to get, but it was quite the saving.
- The same applies to NV Purge, especially after a recent price hike. Purge is the only dedicated wheel cleaner I bother with now. Some of its rivals work the same or worse but cost more, so I just stick with Purge.
- I also needed a good bulk soap, something more affordable than Reset and GSF. I had been waiting on another brands soap to return to stock, but it's been months now and I needed something right away. Frankly, the quality of NV Snow cannot be beaten at this price.
- KCx Active Foam and GSF are always a pleasure to use. This sale brings them back to the price they were when Waxit took over earlier in the year.
- I've been using the pre-mixed Hydr02 Lite for a while now as I found mixing my own via the concentrate to be a little unstable. I've since found out that Hydr02 Lite is effectively made at a 1:9 ratio, so I'll give that a go and see if it solves the issues I had when mixed at 1:6.
- The green liquid with a handwritten Wise Guy label was on clearance due to a batch of missing labels. Considering I mix it up in bulk, the lack of label doesn't bother me.
- The price of the 1-litre measuring cups was too good to ignore. Always handy to have, these will probably get used for machinery maintenance rather than detailing.
- The Solution Finish had been out of stock for months, and my bottle was nearly empty. ADS Trim+ has probably replaced this product for longer-term trim restoration, but for whatever reason, I think Solution Finish is the safer.
- The Carpro Dilute bottles I use for back-to-back product testing and easy dilution ratio calculations. These come with normal Carpro spray heads.
- Finally, a new product from Carpro, the Finger Print wheel mitt. These use the same fibres as the benchmark Dab Dab wash pads, but are smaller than the virtually useless Wheels Mitt. At about 15cm x 15cm, these are similar in concept to the TRC Ultra Wheel Mitt and ideal for intricate wheel spokes. So far, I haven't seen much content on this wash mitt.
CARPRO FingerPrint Mini Wheel Mitt – Waxit Car Care
I'll have to let you know on the Carpro Finger Print.
Oh I do have Wet Coat. I mainly use it to top up the ceramic coating on my wheels. I have used it on the paint as well with good results. I still I enjoy the process of foaming the car with the foam canon more than the Wet Coat or Hydro2 method, but I'm keen to try Hydro2 or maybe even Hydro2 foam.I'll have to let you know on the Carpro Finger Print.
I've been using the TRC Ultra Wool Mitt as well, perfectly sized. As you say, they tend to shed over time. I also have their Ultra Wheel Mitt, which the microfiber version, but its a little too big. What they need to do is make it the same size as the wool version and it would be perfect.
Ultra Wheel -
Ultra Wool -
As for Hydr02, if haven't used something like this before, I'd suggest getting a bottle of Gyeon Wet Coat from Repco or Supercheap. This is premixed and very easy/forgiving to use. Just make sure you use these products out of the sun and on cool surfaces or you will have a problem on your hands. So, work small sections with two or three sprays, then rinse immediately, no delay!
Gyeon Wetcoat Sealant 500mL | Supercheap Auto
Gyeon Q²M Wetcoat Sealant 500ml - 116047 - Gyeon | Repco Australia
If you end up liking it, then you can order Hydr02 concentrate and mix your own with demineralized water.
Gotcha.
Thanks DFB. They should pay you commission. Now I'm going to have to order some Koch Chemie Ceramic Effect Soap (CES) to try.Gotcha.
Hydr02 Foam has probably the most pronounced before and after of this type of soap, but it doesn't really foam. I guess it depends on what you want from it, for me the claim of "foam" has me expecting foam and not just watery soap. So, if all you want to do is "foam" then rinse, this is a good option.
This picture is with the product on the paint, not exactly foam in my book.
If you want to use the soap the soap for washing, then I'd be looking at Koch Chemie Ceramic Effect Soap (CES). This stuff produces a crazy slick surface and excellent hydrophobic qualities. I haven't tried foaming as they don't recommend it, so it's a bucket soap only. Like Hydr02, you wouldn't use this at every wash, I've been using every few months instead of a foaming wash. CES is also better than KCX's own Nano Magic and Protector Wax alternatives. Smells lovely too.
Koch Chemie Ceramic Effect Shampoo | SiO₂ Car Wash Shampoo & Wax – Waxit Car Care
A commission? I'll settle for trade discount.Thanks DFB. They should pay you commission. Now I'm going to have to order some Koch Chemie Ceramic Effect Soap (CES) to try.
Thanks. I'll check it out
Thanks mate. Ordered some to try out. Also got Hydro2 in foam and lite version so see which way of applying I like most.
With Hydr02 Foam, if you've mixed up a 1-litre solution for your foam cannon, you'll only use a 250 - 300ml of that per vehicle. So, either mix up in small quantities, or as I do, mix up 1-litre using demineralized water and store it in a separate container. The demineralized water is important for storage as the minerals in tap water can "attack" the soap chemistry, which is something you really don't want with a soap with such a high sealant activity.
