Post by Don on Mar 28, 2016 20:31:15 GMT
I got a box the other week with a few Valet Pro products in it. Inside was Valet Pro Advanced Neutral Snow Foam, Poseidon Advanced Car Wash, Dragons Breath, and Mad Wax.
Already on my shelf was VP PH Neutral Snow Foam, Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo, VP Bilberry Wheel Cleaner, Harley Carnauba Wax.
I am just a car washer, not a detailer, and this is what I thought of them...
TLDR: Both foams are good, neither is better. Bilberry is easier to use than Dragons Breath. Poseidon shampoo is better than Autoglym. Haven't tried the wax yet.
The cars I washed were our two daily drivers - a 5 year old Hyundai i30 and a 3 year old Seat Leon. Both are treated to rural roads every day. There has been a lot of road patching recently so tar spots are a real problem just now. Hyundai had 2 front wheels treated half with Dragons Breath and half with Bilberry. Rears were Bilberry. Then it was Advanced Foam soak, then power wash. Followed by Poseidon wash, then rinse, then dry. Seat had all wheels treated with Bilberry, PH Neutral foam soak all over, power wash, then Poseidon wash, then rinse & dry.
Quite honestly I couldn't really make a call between Dragons Breath or Bilberry. If anything I found the Bilberry easier to apply but that may be because I use a nice spray bottle and it is easy to coat the wheel and get the spray into the corners. The Dragons Breath was more difficult to apply because it is more viscous, the spray pattern is more of a jet than a wide spray, and I seemed to end up with quite a lot on my hand after spraying. You can see clearly on the photos that the DB is much more purple after a couple of minutes soaking. Rinse off and there was no clear winner. Second application and a bit of scrubbing to try to get those old wheels gleaming, and after a rinse both sides were equally as good. The photos may not do justice to how much better the wheels actually looked. BD smells rank, Bilberry smells nice. Both clean wheels well.
Advanced foam produces a thinner foam which covered well upon application. Being thinner it ran off, taking a lot of muck with it. It was not possible to leave the foam on for 10 mins because after about 5 mins it some of the upper panels were drying off. After power washing the foam off it was clear that much of the surface dirt had been removed. The pre-wash had done its job and I could get on with the Poseidon wash. 2 bucket method with a micro fiber mitt. The shampoo seemed thin out of the bottle but the hot water/shampoo mix was great! Nicely lubricating the mitt, it was easy to use and rinsed off to give a nice finish with good water run-off. After drying the car looked really good. It was a bit shadowy for good photographs but considering there was no polish or wax, I think the end result was extremely good.
On the Seat the PH Neutral foam went on in its usual thick fashion, coating the car as if in shaving foam. After 10 mins it was still clinging to the car and the power washer took it and the dirt off to leave a surface ready for shampooing. Where the Advanced ran off and took the dirt with it, the PH Neutral stayed on longer and so soaked the dirt more - so before power washing the Advanced had the lead, but after power washing the PH neutral had caught up and there was no clear winner. Both products very good pre-washes. Since I had got on so well with the Poseidon on the first car I filled another bucket and used it again on the second car. Again the finish was as good as I could hope for from a car shampoo. The photographs from the Seat are in better light and you can see the reflection in the paintwork is impressive considering the pack of polish & wax (again).
The autoglym shampoo that I had been using previously is a good product. I should probably have washed one car with that to allow a comparison, but I think I am familiar enough with it to say that I believe the Poseidon shampoo is significantly better. The finish on the paintwork after drying is simply superior. As said earlier, the 'watery' shampoo out the bottle is a bit disconcerting but it really performs when mixed.
In summary, the cheaper PH Neutral is just as effective as the Advanced so I'd probably buy the cheaper one. I prefer the Bilberry wheel cleaner for ease of use. I really liked the Poseidon shampoo and will be buying that in future. Some photos...
Dragons Breath on the left, Bilberry on the right.
Advanced snow foam after about 3 mins
PH Neutral foam after 5 mins
After advanced foam was rinsed off
After PH Neutral foam was rinsed off
Dried after washing with Poseidon
The other car dried after washing with Poseidon
Already on my shelf was VP PH Neutral Snow Foam, Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo, VP Bilberry Wheel Cleaner, Harley Carnauba Wax.
I am just a car washer, not a detailer, and this is what I thought of them...
TLDR: Both foams are good, neither is better. Bilberry is easier to use than Dragons Breath. Poseidon shampoo is better than Autoglym. Haven't tried the wax yet.
The cars I washed were our two daily drivers - a 5 year old Hyundai i30 and a 3 year old Seat Leon. Both are treated to rural roads every day. There has been a lot of road patching recently so tar spots are a real problem just now. Hyundai had 2 front wheels treated half with Dragons Breath and half with Bilberry. Rears were Bilberry. Then it was Advanced Foam soak, then power wash. Followed by Poseidon wash, then rinse, then dry. Seat had all wheels treated with Bilberry, PH Neutral foam soak all over, power wash, then Poseidon wash, then rinse & dry.
Quite honestly I couldn't really make a call between Dragons Breath or Bilberry. If anything I found the Bilberry easier to apply but that may be because I use a nice spray bottle and it is easy to coat the wheel and get the spray into the corners. The Dragons Breath was more difficult to apply because it is more viscous, the spray pattern is more of a jet than a wide spray, and I seemed to end up with quite a lot on my hand after spraying. You can see clearly on the photos that the DB is much more purple after a couple of minutes soaking. Rinse off and there was no clear winner. Second application and a bit of scrubbing to try to get those old wheels gleaming, and after a rinse both sides were equally as good. The photos may not do justice to how much better the wheels actually looked. BD smells rank, Bilberry smells nice. Both clean wheels well.
Advanced foam produces a thinner foam which covered well upon application. Being thinner it ran off, taking a lot of muck with it. It was not possible to leave the foam on for 10 mins because after about 5 mins it some of the upper panels were drying off. After power washing the foam off it was clear that much of the surface dirt had been removed. The pre-wash had done its job and I could get on with the Poseidon wash. 2 bucket method with a micro fiber mitt. The shampoo seemed thin out of the bottle but the hot water/shampoo mix was great! Nicely lubricating the mitt, it was easy to use and rinsed off to give a nice finish with good water run-off. After drying the car looked really good. It was a bit shadowy for good photographs but considering there was no polish or wax, I think the end result was extremely good.
On the Seat the PH Neutral foam went on in its usual thick fashion, coating the car as if in shaving foam. After 10 mins it was still clinging to the car and the power washer took it and the dirt off to leave a surface ready for shampooing. Where the Advanced ran off and took the dirt with it, the PH Neutral stayed on longer and so soaked the dirt more - so before power washing the Advanced had the lead, but after power washing the PH neutral had caught up and there was no clear winner. Both products very good pre-washes. Since I had got on so well with the Poseidon on the first car I filled another bucket and used it again on the second car. Again the finish was as good as I could hope for from a car shampoo. The photographs from the Seat are in better light and you can see the reflection in the paintwork is impressive considering the pack of polish & wax (again).
The autoglym shampoo that I had been using previously is a good product. I should probably have washed one car with that to allow a comparison, but I think I am familiar enough with it to say that I believe the Poseidon shampoo is significantly better. The finish on the paintwork after drying is simply superior. As said earlier, the 'watery' shampoo out the bottle is a bit disconcerting but it really performs when mixed.
In summary, the cheaper PH Neutral is just as effective as the Advanced so I'd probably buy the cheaper one. I prefer the Bilberry wheel cleaner for ease of use. I really liked the Poseidon shampoo and will be buying that in future. Some photos...
Dragons Breath on the left, Bilberry on the right.
Advanced snow foam after about 3 mins
PH Neutral foam after 5 mins
After advanced foam was rinsed off
After PH Neutral foam was rinsed off
Dried after washing with Poseidon
The other car dried after washing with Poseidon
le sigh