9:41 PM

Universal Pad Washer

Posted by Anthony

I saw the Grit Guard Universal Pad Washer in use at the Autogeek booth at the SEMA show this year. It seemed like anybody demonstrating polishing products had one at their booth. Autogeek had one at their booth too and I got to hear the inventors of the product talk about it a lot. So I decided it was worth giving it a shot. Holy cow!! Why didn't I get one of these sooner??? This is an absolutely awesome device that is a must have for anyone who uses a machine to polish their vehicles.

The product actually serves multiple purposes. It is a pad washer, pad dryer, wash bucket, and grit guard all in one. If you take out the center device that elevates the grit guard above the water level then it is a great wash bucket. Put the grit guard in the bottom and you get the added benefit of being able to scrub your mitt before going back to the car to keep washing. And we all know how much of a pain it is to wash out your pad and go back to polishing with it still damp. Spinning it on the highest setting will still only get so much of the water out. So this product is really a very versitile and useful purchase.

I let my son do the initial inspection and test fitting of everything. It got a big thumbs up from him. The thing I was really curious about is how intuitive this product was. If a 5 year old can figure out how to put it together and understands how to use it, then I am pretty sure anybody will be able to figure it out. ;)













After we got it put together and understood the rules, I put it to the test. It is the end of my detailing season and I had a lot of pads to wash. I rounded up as many as I could find and got ready to clean them. I think I might have missed a few in the garage somewhere... I could have sworn I had a couple more blue ones.




I did learn something interesting through this little experiment. I picked up my Porter Cable 7424 first to do the job, but I think the Flex 3401 is a little better at getting them clean. The entire motion of the Flex is gear driven and the pad doesn't stop spinning just because you put a little pressure on it. I cleaned a couple with the PC, but then I used the Flex for the rest.










I started at 20 after the hour and I put the last pad back on the shelf at a quarter till. It took me maybe 30 minutes tops to wash and dry every one of these pads. And that is considering I had to switch from the Edge 2000 adapter backing plate on the Flex to the velcro one halfway through.










After I poured out the water there was quite a bit of... something left in the bottom of the bucket.




I would say that is just proof that it works! Every one of those pads had been sprayed out, so this is also proof that spraying a pad cleaner and hosing them off isn't enough to get them clean. If you value your pads and want them clean then this is a must have product! Even if you don't care that much about your pads, if you hate polishing with wet pads and the resulting mess that they cause, then you still need to get one of these. It is a new must have recomendation for OCDetails.com for sure!

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9:33 PM

Souveran vs Fuzion

Posted by Anthony

I haven't done any good product comparison experiments for awhile, but I think I'm going to start again. I'm going to begin with Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax and Wolfgang Fuzion Paste Wax. The test vehicle is a 2005 Corolla XRS in sort of a charcoal grey color.

First impressions:

Fuzion was a little tougher to apply and remove. They both were fairly easy, but the Fuzion bites a lot more trying to rub it off. The Souveran always comes off like butter.

Fuzion enhances the flake in my paint MUCH better than Souveran does. It almost made the side I used it on look bronze in the light. Once again, Wolfgang creates a product that provides an instant appearance difference.

Fuzion and Souveran both smell terrific while applying them.

This test begins today and will be evaluated every week for the next several weeks. I will be looking at dust attraction, durability, cleanliness (some waxes don't attract the dust and rinse cleaner in the rain than others), and appearance. The Driver side was waxed with Fuzion and the Passenger side was waxed with the Souveran.

I lined the car up with the sun so I would get equal light on both sides for the baseline pictures. The sun is pretty far south and it is tough to get direct overhead light this time of year. It is also a little hazy out there today, so the light was difused a bit.

Here are the initial Day 1 pictures for a baseline.



















My Employee of the Month six months in a row approves of the shine. ;) he assisted in the application of both products. Again, if a five year old can do it, then so can anybody else!




Keep checking back for more updates on the progress!

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9:29 PM

Pinnacle Souveran vs Wolfgang Fuzion

Posted by Anthony

I haven't done any good product comparison experiments for awhile, but I think I'm going to start again. I'm going to begin with [url=http://autogeek.net/pinsouvwax.html]Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax[/url] and [url=http://autogeek.net/wolfgang-fuzion-carnauba-polymer-car-wax.html]Wolfgang Fuzion Paste Wax[/url]. The test vehicle is a 2005 Corolla XRS in sort of a charcoal grey color.

First impressions:

Fuzion was a little tougher to apply and remove. They both were fairly easy, but the Fuzion bites a lot more trying to rub it off. The Souveran always comes off like butter.

Fuzion enhances the flake in my paint MUCH better than Souveran does. It almost made the side I used it on look bronze in the light. Once again, Wolfgang creates a product that provides an instant appearance difference.

Fuzion and Souveran both smell terrific while applying them.

This test begins today and will be evaluated every week for the next several weeks. I will be looking at dust attraction, durability, cleanliness (some waxes don't attract the dust and rinse cleaner in the rain than others), and appearance. The Driver side was waxed with Fuzion and the Passenger side was waxed with the Souveran.

I lined the car up with the sun so I would get equal light on both sides for the baseline pictures. The sun is pretty far south and it is tough to get direct overhead light this time of year. It is also a little hazy out there today, so the light was difused a bit.

Here are the initial Day 1 pictures for a baseline.

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/111508TESTING/DSC09447.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/111508TESTING/DSC09453.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/111508TESTING/DSC09455.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/111508TESTING/DSC09462.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/111508TESTING/DSC09463.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/111508TESTING/DSC09464.jpg[/IMG]

My Employee of the Month six months in a row approves of the shine. ;) he assisted in the application of both products. Again, if a five year old can do it, then so can anybody else!

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/111508TESTING/DSC09466.jpg[/IMG]

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10:07 PM

SEMA 2008 with Autogeek.net

Posted by Anthony

SEMA 2008 was awesome this year!! I went down to work with the boys from Autogeek.net in their booth at the show. Dwayne has been a close friend for seven or eight years now and this was the first time we had actually met face to face. It was an awesome time! I'd go into more details, but there is that whole "What happens in Vegas..." code that I have to obey. ;)

Here is the booth the way we had it set up. Autogeek manufactures five product lines. Diamondite, Pinnacle, XMT, Wolfgang, and Detailer's Pride. We had pretty much the entire line for each product on display at the show.




Here is the mighty Max from Autogeek! It was great working with someone I have looked up to for having such a great company. Max, Dwayne and Jason were terrific to work with! I can't wait to do it again next year.




Here are Chris and Doug Lamb from Grit Guard. They spent the week with us in the booth demonstrating the Pad Washer and the Grit Guard. I gotta tell you, I hadn't seen the Pad Washer at work until this show, but after seeing it in action I am impressed! I will be writing a review on it soon and sharing the good word on an essential tool in detailing.


Sorry Chris. I know it isn't the best picture, but that's the one I got. ;)

You know what I didn't get? I didn't get a picture with Max, Dwayne, and Jason all together with me. Oh well... That is an opportunity that will present itself again the future hopefully.

I did manage to get pictures with other greats in the industry. Here is Barry Meguiar and Richard Griot to name a few.





Barry wrote some kind words with his autograph for me. He was familiar with OCDetails and what I've been trying to accomplish for the last several years. It was an incredible honor to learn that someone like Barry Meguiar knew about my work.

Here was another high point. Rick and Sam from Four Star Products stopped by for a visit. I designed the Four Star logo for them a few years ago and I have done a few things for Rick, but I haven't ever met him before. It was awesome to finally get to shake his hand and tell him how much I have enjoyed his products.



The show was just phenomenal and I had the time of my life. I will be working more closely with Autogeek in the future on some projects and I look forward to working with them in SEMA next year as well. I can't say enough about how much fun I had and how excited I am for what comes next. Thanks Autogeek! Here's to the future!

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