T'row, when I'm on my laptop......

It says there that it's a sealant. This thing reminds me of RejeX....

Yup...that's the one. Used to be marketed as an 'Aerospace' (or something) sealant...... Quite a few people say it work quite well locally though...during those 'sealants' generations la (and those times we're talking about 'months' and not 'years' la....).

I think dirt line/trace is common in our area. I have them as well on my car (especially the rear portion) which is wearing a glass coat. The question should be how easy is it for them to be wash off (by normal washing). If can easily be wash off by normal wash/shampoo then I think the wax/sealant is doing it's job just fine.

roxx, my routine/product for wheels - degreaser for tyres and apc for wheels & wheel barrels, *almost* each and every wash. Once in a while (depending on the conditions - roughly around once a month) I use a wheel cleaner (either Megs Wheel Brightener or Sonax Xtreme Wheel Cleaner) to deep clean. And yeah, brushes sold that are dedicated for detailing are quite expensive. I use whatever I can afford and improvise on others. Tips: soft bristles baby bottle brushes comes in handy for cleaning wheel barrels especially those narrow gaps between the brake calipers and the inner wheel face.

I think the blue edgeless looks like better suited for rinseless wash...due to the longer and open naps - easier to pick up and release dirt. And the white plush for wiping and drying afterwards. Just my thoughts.

Anyway, nice haul....

Degreaser not so effective in removing stubborn/embedded brake dust.

I'm not sure about other APCs and Degreasers, but here are what I picked up from Megs MSDS (as I'm used to using these two for quite a few years already):

Megs APC
Ingredients:
sodium C14- 16- olefin sulfonate
2- propoxyethanol
sodium metasilicate, anhydrou
water
pH: 13

Megs Super Degreaser
Ingredients:
oleylammonium chloride, ethoxylated
propylene glycol mono-n-propyl ether
potassium hydroxide
water
pH: 13.5

Megs Wheel Brightener
Ingredients:
ammonium bifluoride
ethoxylated alcohol
citric acid
quaternary ammonium compounds
propylene glycol
ammonium fluoride
water
pH: 4.5 - 5.5

I'm no chemist so I don't have the faintest idea of what the above means. But here's my experience & observations based on a few years of using all three of them:

1. Megs APC - works best in cleaning 'organic' soiling, eg. dirt, mud, etc. which are insoluble in water. It's just an alkaline detergent solutions that contains loads of surfactants to 'loosen' and 'suspend' the solids so that they could be flushed from the surface to be cleaned.

2. Megs SD - works best in cleaning petroleum based soiling and able to emulsify oil, grease, etc. better than APC, but doesn't work as good as APC for organic soiling.

3. Megs WB - works best in cleaning brake dust. Since it's acidic and contains liquid ammonia - which is a good solvent for in-organic compounds, eg. metal. Still able to clean soiling and *some* oil/grease, but not as good as APC or SD.

Now, the above three are DEDICATED products to tackle SPECIFIC tasks hence, as I understand it, they are put under the Megs Detailers (pro) line of products. During the earlier times, I used to use those off-the-shelves 'wheel cleaners' from Soft99, Eagle F1, etc. There were times where some of them clean off the dirt very well but just couldn't get all the greasy film off. Then there are times where most of the brake dust were removed but still left the wheel a little dirty with soiling. Then I understood that being an 'all-in-one' there would need to be a compromise, *maybe* because it's not chemically possible (or not commercially viable) to have all three properties in one product. Being OCD, I researched and decided to get some dedicated products, and finally went for Megs D-line (not to mention being a cheapskate since it's cheaper in the long run... ). One gallon of those three can last me years (especially WB since I used that the least often) since it's dilutable (eg. 1 gal APC diluted at 1:10 makes 11 gals = 41.6L (!)).

Over the years, I've also tried some other products but, for some reason (maybe because I'm used to them) I kept coming back to using Megs. So far, considering their performance, I found that they give the most value for money (locally).

So is the degreaser a stronger version of an apc? I don't know about Osren Degreaser FX (I do have some of it & also their Multi-Clean) since I don't use them often enough, but I do think that Megs APC and SD are two different product and have different chemical compositions. I've tried using a *very* diluted (around 1:20) SD to clean some lightly soiled fabric and it doesn't work as good as diluted APC (at the same dilution). And looking back at the chemical ingredients, I'm not sure if SD is actually SAFE to use it on interior, especially for plastics/rubber.

My advice would be, if you're going on the 'professional range of products' route, better use it for what it's intended for. I've done a few 'trials and experiments' before, some went well and some didn't. And those 'didn't' some times comes and a costly price.....

Not a very reliable tests but can get an rough idea....UNCONTROLLED pH value test...

Errrmmm....how small?

Is that before or after you wash the cloth? Got a pressure washer? I had very good results by soaking my mfs in diluted dish washing liquid or liquid detergent for a couple of hours then blast it with a PW....couldn't get 100% but, I'd say 90%~95% la...

Errr....can la. But with two conditions:
1. You'd need to come over to Shah Alam to pick it up cuz arranging a meet up is so so difficult nowadays since my work schedule is so unpredictable.
2. I'm letting this stuffs go from my own stash so don't tell anybody about this.........

Btw, why you like OPC so much & aren't they selling here anymore?

ic...sorry, don't have much of ONR left myself so can't help you out with that.

I'm of the opinion that chemical cleaners also play a major role in MAINTENANCE. Cleaning with proper cleaners will reduce the risk of damages. I have to admid that some of these chemicals are quite 'potent' but, used properly, dedicated cleaners are far more effective then the 'one or two' chemicals that can 'do all'. Well, it's just me....i'm just a guy who prefer separate shampoo AND conditioner as oppose to shampoo WITH conditioner. No short cut for me unless it's necessary or works as good....

[V4] is up.

Car Care & Detailing [V4]

Closing this thread as of now....

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Aug 29 2014, 09:36 AM