I put some duragloss on the Saab a week and half back, and a friends Audi last wednesday. Thought it may be a good winter coat, hopefully durable.
Both are looking really nice and glossy still...but its not rained since and I was hoping for some beading shots.
I went out in the rain especialy for you lads This has been on the car for 4 weeks and 2 days, Duragloss 111.
I'll say from the outset that I would have liked to have had the 671 Swirl Remover handy before starting out. I also wish I had their Aqua Wax spray (I'll probably order it in for maintenance next week), or their 921 Fast & Clean Shine Detail Spray since I had to use a Chemical Guys QD at one point and wished I could have kept it all Duragloss.
Kev sent me a sample in a 1 fl oz bottle, so I popped it all in my bucket and topped up with a gallon. Wow! That's a lot of suds and a really milky, frothy liquid. I used the 'cappuccino' method of bucket filling, holding a strong spray just under the surface of the water. My main point of reference was going to be Meg's Gold Class shampoo, so I used the same method that I used with that shampoo. At one gallon, I though it would stretch a little further, so added another half gallon and then another half gallon ... so, 1/2 floz per gallon, then My car is in good condition anyway, so a light shampoo would do fine and I'm going to cleanse afterwards, so I'm not too worried about leaving behind old product.
... with a light spray, the water drops off the car drying itself. Nice. That's what I like in a shampoo. This means, especially today in the sunlight, I could get the car dried without water spotting.
There is a warning on the bottle about water deposits etching into the paint and they recommend the 652 product to clean up the paint.
Nice, eh? I applied it with a microfibre pad, as you can see in the pictures. I would liken this to Car-Lack68 NSC, but the finish is not as good with the Duragloss product - no great surprise, since this is a cleanser, not an all-in-one product. Anyway, I digress ... I will say at this point that the swirl filling is not very good. I rather wished I had their 671 product handy for the boot, which is quite swirled. Is there a kind soul who'd send me a small panel sample to try out?
... I had to use some QD to get the product off After applying the 105, I could still see the unbuffed 601. Sorry, I should explain here - the pre-bond agent (the 601) is applied and not buffed; you apply the final coat, whether their Total Performance Polish (105) or Clear Coat Polish (111) on top. I applied the pre-bond agent with a yellow foam pad and the polish with a terry applicator. I removed the polish with a Costco yellow microfibre.
Thanks Kev - I had a lot of fun and you'd given me a great introduction to this product range. To do full justice, I would still like to try 671 and perhaps even 111.
Final thoughts? The shampoo is fantastic! 'nuff said The cleanser is good and does not smell as evil as, say, Serious Performance's cleanser. While it does a good job, I can't help thinking that I could just use Car-Lack68 NSC and have an all-in-one job done. Time will tell how the pre-bond agent and polish fair - there are others on this thread testing longevity. Again, speaking of Car-Lack, I can't help thinking the finish is no better than NSC/LLS. White is a tough colour to play with - it does not show off a lot of gloss and it is hard to see much difference between products. For this year's winter prep (which is why I was interested in Duragloss in the first place), based on today I would go back to Car-Lack68 NSC/LLS and Collinite. That, or Bilt Hamber Auto Balm. I'll probably do the Car-Lack route at the end of October and deep clean end of January with Bilt Hamber - where I live is very exposed and even the hardiest products start to fail quite quickly.
Oh ... one last thing, Kev dropped in a sample of Turtle Wax Gloss Guard I asked for it ... I wanted to compare to AG EGP. I prepped the wheels with the Turtle Wax stuff and I have to say, it's quite good stuff; certainly as good as AG EGP. I have yet to try it out on a panel.
... washed from a very dusty "before" with Duragloss 901 (still making suds after letting down 1 floz of product to 2 gallons, using that and re-foaming up a further 2 gallons from the residue in the sponge ) and spritzed down with Lucas Slick Mist.
... looking out now, it looks fantastic - the Duragloss shampoo is most certainly to be recommended.
The Aqua wax is a must and adds more shine I use it when the car is dry but it can be applied to a wet car. Their QD 921 is also great.
Last edited by Ash on Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'll be getting some Aqua Wax anyway, since I tend to prefer a sealant on my white car and have not applied a wax finish for some time now. I still have a lot of the products left (apart from the shampoo, which I will be buying a full size bottle), so I'll maybe add another coat next week of 601 and 105.
I really like Chemical Guys Blitz on top of their products, so I hope Aqua Wax is as good on the Duragloss finish.
Never tried the GC Blitz but I'm more than happy with the Aqua wax.
I will ... from just one use it became my new favourite shampoo. I really like the Serious Performance shampoo, which is very much like the Duragloss product but does not have the nice smell Yup! Next shampoo purchase will be the Duragloss. I'm still in two minds about whether to fortify the Duragloss finish or go Bilt Hamber on the white car for winter - if I go Bilt Hamber, I'll use their shampoo, but the Duragloss would be used on the black car.
... could I still swirl fill with 671, then pre-bonding agent and more 105 without stripping back and starting again?
I'm not sure about using the 671 without stripping back and starting again The 671 may strip it back, I'm not sure how strong the cleaners are in it.