Mixing APC and Hyperdressing?

[Firehouse Mike]

So I read somewhere that you could mix a diluted APC, say 8:1, and hyper dressing, lets say 2:1 to get a single solution of cleaner and shine. Sounds interesting, but I'm thinking it just wouldn't be that easy. Anyone tried this or have any thoughts?

[nieljo4]

I recently listened to a podcast from Larry Kosilla from AMMONYC. He was talking about product confusion and got onto the topic of all-in-one products. In a perfect world, that'd be great: to just have 1 product for multiple things or everything.
I am not an experienced detailer like Larry, but mixing a cleaning product and a finishing product seems like a waste.
The cleaner is designed to break down things. The dressing is designed to repair/protect things. I don't see how they'd work well mixed together.
What was the reason someone suggested doing this?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Mixing APC and Hyperdressing?

There are several different products in the car care industry that combine multiple steps into one, the most common of which are cleaner waxes. These products usually combine three steps - clean, polish, wax - into a single product. While there is nothing wrong with that, and in many cases it's a better solution for the end user due to time constraints, end goals, etc, there is always a compromise when combining multiple steps into a single product. The cleaners in a cleaner wax, even a very potent cleaner wax like White Wax, are not up to what can be accomplished with a dedicated, single use product, like Ultimate Compound. The amount of polish is usually not what you would expect from a dedicated polish like M07 Show Car Glaze.

More directly related to the question Mike poses, think for a moment about cleaning and dressing your vinyl or plastic surfaces in one go. Sounds great doesn't it? But if you take a dilute mix of APC and then mix it with a dilute mix of Hyper Dressing, you are further diluting both of these products. That 8:1 APC mix is going to be mixed with how much HD? 50/50? That cuts the cleaning power of your APC even further. And that 2:1 HD is going to be cut further as well. Where do you start, and how compatible are the two products? If you enjoy experimenting that's up to you. It would seem, however, that anyone thinking about mixing these two products in the ratios described is looking for some pretty light duty cleaning. By the way, we'd love to see where this discussion originated because we find it rather interesting that someone is considering this. And here's the thing: if you're looking for some light duty cleaning with a low sheen water based dressing at the same time, we've already got an answer for you - M40 Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner. It doesn't have the cleaning ability of M39 Heavy Duty Vinyl Cleaner, but if you wanted heavy duty cleaning you most likely would not be looking for an all in one type product.

[ycdriveclean]

Re: Mixing APC and Hyperdressing?

I currently use a water-based dressing and apc all in one mix in a majority of my work. It cuts down on time significantly and works better than you'd expect. Cleans light to moderately dirty interior plastics. For the bad interiors, i preclean the bad parts with diluted apc only. Then clean/dress the rest of the interior with the all in one mix. then buff the residue with a dry mf towel.

If you're doing production work, it keeps you from wasting time "overcleaning" what could simply be dressed. Cleaning interior panels by myself used to take atleast an hour. But now, especially for doing car lot cars, cleaning interior plastic takes around 20 minutes. All I need is a few microfibers, all in one dressing/apc, diluted apc only and compressed air.

I don't really measure the products exactly, but I use around 4 oz of apc and 16 oz of dressing mixed in a 32 oz bottle filled with water. We don't use meguiars products for this, but I can imagine it working and looking similar or better.

[Jarhead0754]

Sure for the person who really doesn't care much I guess that's ok. But I think for the vast majority of us and myself it just doesn't cut it. I don't think it does that perfect job were looking for. Personally I just don't see cleaning and dressing at the same time gets u that deep clean brand new look ur going for.

[ycdriveclean]

Re: Mixing APC and Hyperdressing?

Have you tried it?
Do you have a business?
Do you ever do production detailing?

Time is money and it honestly looks awesome and the results are ALWAYS unbelievable. You buff off the residue like you would with a two step clean and dress, and it has a nice semi dressed sheen. The dirtier stuff, like i said, gets cleaned with apc only first, so whipping through the rest if the interior is a breeze.

Renny doyle actually mentioned doing this in his book.

But if you havent tried it or dont like dressing interiors, then you must have just come on this thread to bash it instead of providing input like the op wanted

[Jarhead0754]

I don't get where u think I was bashing at all? Kinda confused by ur response. To me I just don't see how u can clean and dress at the same time just cuz u throw both on at the same time.

[ycdriveclean]

Re: Mixing APC and Hyperdressing?

Your post wasnt helpful at all to the op. It just implied that i dont care much about what i do or that our customers dont care, and that you are a part of the vast majority that doesnt like the quality of work that i would put out, being that i would use an all in one product, or a product thatt cleans and protects at the same time.

If youve ever used d151, megs cleaner wax, white wax, black wax, gold class wax, etc you have used an all in one product that cleans or cuts and protects at the same time. That is logically absurd, but it works, and its know to work.

Just give it a try. You might like it and it might save you time if you have that kind of business and application. Or dont lol

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Mixing APC and Hyperdressing?

OK guys, let's back it down a notch here. We don't think anyone here is bashing anyone else - it's all a matter of perspective. ycdriveclean, with you doing production work for car lots your primary goals are speed with decent results, and that is exactly what you should be aiming for. Far too often we see people bashing production detailers as being hacks, and that just is not accurate. People get so caught up in some idea of perfection that they have in their heads and lose sight of, or have no clue about, what it means to be "in the trenches" working on cars where perfection is not the goal - not even close. Sure, we see some truly insane things happening in YouTube videos all the time, but that does not mean that every guy who is NOT detailing a Lambo or McLaren to perfection is a hack. Jarhead, please understand that I am NOT calling you out here - this is not directed at you, it's a generalized statement.

The best detailers we know, and we've worked with plenty of them, do most of their work with SUVs and minivans, but the pix they post up are their glamour jobs, not their production jobs. Even Joe Fernandez of Superior Shine admits that nobody gets excited to see pix of a minivan that was given a thorough interior cleaning and a one step on the paint - there's no "wow factor" with most of those.

ycdriveclean, if you've found that mixing APC and a dressing works well for you, then so be it. From Meguiar's standpoint, we don't normally recommend mixing different products when discussing any process in an open forum. It's far too easy for people to misinterpret things and tell everyone on another forum "Meguiar's said to do blah blah blah" and then that get's changed and the next thing you know, someone with very limited experience screws something up. Or we get those guys who overthink everything and start questioning us on exact dilution ratios for some crazy concoction that they read about somewhere else that somebody heard someone else talking about that was misinterpreted in the first place!!!

Bottom line: ycdriveclean, if you've hit onto something that works in your workflow, under your conditions and requirements, then so be it. Jarhead, if you'd rather not mix product but stick with stock formulations instead, cool.

Let's just all be a bit more cautious how we phrase things so as not to come across as confrontational on either side of the discussion.

[SweatTheDetails]

Re: Mixing APC and Hyperdressing?

I mix Meg's APC and HD for my quick wipe down packages. It works great for light cleaning. Like mentioned before straight APC is needed to clean heavier areas, but this combo is a more cost effective option to #40. After applying you may need to buff with a dry microfiber but it looks great. Yes I did get this Ida from Reney Doyals book.

[cfilly]

Re: Mixing APC and Hyperdressing?

I currently use a water-based dressing and apc all in one mix in a majority of my work. It cuts down on time significantly and works better than you'd expect. Cleans light to moderately dirty interior plastics. For the bad interiors, i preclean the bad parts with diluted apc only. Then clean/dress the rest of the interior with the all in one mix. then buff the residue with a dry mf towel.

If you're doing production work, it keeps you from wasting time "overcleaning" what could simply be dressed. Cleaning interior panels by myself used to take atleast an hour. But now, especially for doing car lot cars, cleaning interior plastic takes around 20 minutes. All I need is a few microfibers, all in one dressing/apc, diluted apc only and compressed air.

I don't really measure the products exactly, but I use around 4 oz of apc and 16 oz of dressing mixed in a 32 oz bottle filled with water. We don't use meguiars products for this, but I can imagine it working and looking similar or better.

I mix Meg's APC and HD for my quick wipe down packages. It works great for light cleaning. Like mentioned before straight APC is needed to clean heavier areas, but this combo is a more cost effective option to #40. After applying you may need to buff with a dry microfiber but it looks great. Yes I did get this Ida from Reney Doyals book.

I tried this over the weekend with Meg's APC & HD, and it looked great to me. I will now keep a bottle of it mixed up and ready to go...thanks for the tip!