I can't begin to respond to this guy.

[Godiva]

I understand there is a paper filter/bag you can put inside the cloth bag and throw away just like a regular vacuum filter bag.

What attracts me is the power. Vacuuming the carpet in the car seems to need more power than doing a regular house carpet. I've never been satisfied with anything I've ever used.

[the other pc]

OctaneGuy has one of the DeWalts. He's very happy with it.
Here's a thread about it: http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...t&pagenumber=1
and one where he used it: http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...ghlight=dewalt

The 2.5 gallon Shop Vac can be used as a blower by unplugging the hose from the the inlet port and plugging into the exhaust port (the 1 gallon can't) but I haven't used it that way.

I have a phobia about using a vac that I've used for picking up dirt as a blower. I just can't get past the thought of blowing whatever gets past the filter into the water on the car. Most common filter media pass fine particulates. Maybe a HEPA filter or a Cleanstream filter would be good enough but I'm paranoid.

I've considered buying a Metro to use as a dedicated blower. For now I'm only blowing out crevices with my compressor.


PC.

[Mikeyc]

Originally posted by BenP
It's mainly on high-end car forums, such as M-Power, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini etc where the punter has spent a considerable amount of money on a car and therefore spends a proportionate amount on the Zymol. None of the people who say this are detailing fanatics, just people who like to look after their cars as best they can but are unfortunately not that well informed - they've been sucked in by the Zymol marketing hype. The classic one being that Zymol is the best for your car, yet they still suggest you wash it with a sponge...

Ben

I've been using a sponge on my car for years. While I understand the idea behind why not to use a sponge (no knap to hold grit away from the paint), I've never had an issue with swirling or any scratching at all. After several years of washing I do get some swirling on the lower portions of the car, but they're easily polished out.

I have recently been using a genuine lambs wool mitt recently. The only things I've noticed are that it doesn't get the car quite as clean and that it doesn't suds up the paint as well. It definitely feels like its gliding along top of the paint with less friction though.

[Murr1525]

There are lots and lots of options out there, so there are many right ways of doing things, with different techniques, products, goals in mind, etc.

Unfortunately, some people pick an option they like, and will swear up and down that is is the only way.

So if something works for you, go for it.

[MandarinaRacing]

Originally posted by Setec Astronomy

Unfortunately, some people feel the need to prove that they are knowledgeable, or "right" in the product selections they have made, and try to force lifestyle choices, so to speak, on others.

Alex

[OctaneGuy]

Vacuum
Thanks for posting that. I was about to make my own post until I saw yours. The vacuum has been great around the house as well especially when my 20month old spills stuff--and he does that often.

I love the portability and the fact it doesn't need a cord, however the motor is ear splitting so don't point that towards sensitive hearing. =)

ZAINO
As for the Zaino zealots--I deal with them all the time. Unfortunately in the MINI world, Zaino has some how gotten the reputation to be the ONLY polish, and I admit I went that route as well when I bought my MINI cause I didn't know any better. I was also instilling scratches in my car using the so called "100% Cotton terry towels". But a single Meguiar's Clinic completely changed that as I discovered how to really care for my paint.

I've found the best way to get these people to shut up is simply post pictures of how great Meguiar's looks, and how great it feels, and others will chime in as well about how wet it looks!

Of course the next step, is someone will post a link to another forum and say how poor the durability is over XXX brand. But if you do your homework, you'll often find the forums they refer tend to have a severe Zaino bent, and once you point that out--maybe, just maybe, they won't post anymore, atleast not in that thread.

Detailers use hand or machine?
Godiva---the term "detailer" refers to a pretty wide range of people. I tend to refer myself as a "paint polisher" or something other than a detailer since here in the Los Angeles market, everybody and their brother is a "detailer". Whether we're talking about Mobile Detailers or working at the local car wash, the term is very generic. With that said, I have many detailer friends that only work by hand which essentially amounts to a wash and hand wax. They might do clay as well, but they don't remove swirls from paint.

IMO, making the paint swirl free goes a long way toward affecting the visual qualities we see in a nicely washed car. But that's another thread all together!

Richard

Originally posted by the other pc
OctaneGuy has one of the DeWalts. He's very happy with it.
Here's a thread about it: http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...t&pagenumber=1
and one where he used it: http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...ghlight=dewalt

The 2.5 gallon Shop Vac can be used as a blower by unplugging the hose from the the inlet port and plugging into the exhaust port (the 1 gallon can't) but I haven't used it that way.

I have a phobia about using a vac that I've used for picking up dirt as a blower. I just can't get past the thought of blowing whatever gets past the filter into the water on the car. Most common filter media pass fine particulates. Maybe a HEPA filter or a Cleanstream filter would be good enough but I'm paranoid.

I've considered buying a Metro to use as a dedicated blower. For now I'm only blowing out crevices with my compressor.


PC.

[Mikeyc]

Originally posted by OctaneGuy
Godiva---the term "detailer" refers to a pretty wide range of people. I tend to refer myself as a "paint polisher" or something other than a detailer since here in the Los Angeles market, everybody and their brother is a "detailer". Whether we're talking about Mobile Detailers or working at the local car wash, the term is very generic.

Paint polisher . . . I really like that one.

[Carl B]

Vacuum

Hi Gang:
In my humble opinion - Meguiar's needs to add a Professional Auto Shop Vacuum to their line. If I were to design it for them - a) it would be truly powerful, b) it would use standard commercial filters of some kind (maybe even use Craftsman's filters), d) it would have at least a 35ft electrical cord - but most importantly - d) it would have the heavy motor below the vacuum chamber, at the base of the unit.

I am so tired of pulling on the vacuum cord, or vacuum hose only to have the darn vacuum fall over on its side!!! Give me a vacuum with a wide wheel base, and the motor located between the wheels!! Go to China and have it built!! A 2.5 gal. capacity would be just fine.... but don't OVERPRICE it...


Carl B.
Clearwater, FL

[showtime]

I run into these product "experts" in the clear bra business all the time. I read this on another forum-

"People have been sending me PM’s around a comment I made regarding an alternative to the 3-m film. I heard about it at a professional seminar last year. The process is done using a clear coat with an additive called “Plasticizer”. The molecules in the Plasticizer are tighter than traditional clear coat making it more resistant to stone and rock chips. The shops applying it around here have tested it on cars and the findings are 60% more resistant to chips. Keep in mind if I dime size stone hits your car going 40MPH it won’t help. The effectiveness is in the ability to withstand minor stones without chipping the paint. Cost is about 35% more than the 3-m film, reason is because the areas it is applied to has to be treated just as you would if you were repainting. Hope than helps some."

" Keep in mind if I dime size stone hits your car going 40MPH it won’t help. "

The stones are actually hitting at you at what ever speed the stone is going plus the speed you're going, basic physics. The impact is actually more around 120mph and higher on the highways. 3M film holds up to that with ease, and this won't hold up at 40mph? Yet this is an "alternative"? (Costs more and protects less, what a deal) Where to people get such ****!!!!!! I've got pictures of a 911 that hit a wall at Road Atlanta and the film held up! (The metal was a wee bit bent...) This comes from some guy who sells "paint sealant" so that says something about credibility.

I think the best thing to do with "zealots" is just ignore them. They will NEVER change their mind. Process > Products, not vice-versa.

[Mosca]

I have the Vac-n-Blo.

Plus: Powerful as all get out, and built like a tank.

Minus: Noisy. Heavy. And awkward to use. Although it comes with a shoulder strap, I wouldn't use that when working on the interior. You're better to put the tank on the floor.

There is an optional dolly, I'd recommend getting it or making your own.


RE: Zaino. I say, don't be a hater. Leave the zealots alone. Their cars usually look pretty good, IMO. If you are responding to the zealotry, then you aren't answering out of truth; you are answering out of emotion, you are responding because you are offended by the zealotry and not because the car doesn't look nice.

A better response to a Zaino lover is to truthfully say that his car looks awesome; it probably does. Then move on to say that you get great results from whatever it is you use. What that does is tells the truth. If the Z user responds with venom, then all you have to do is respond that "At the end of the day the car either shines or it doesn't, and everything else is talk. Because if the car shines, the product works, and hey maybe if you're in the area someday we can get together and do some driving and share some laughs?"

Just like Meguiar's, Zaino didn't get the following it has by not being a great product. It is. Competition improves the breed.


Tom

[cydewaze]

You are trusting the meticulious paint job of your car to something that costs $5.99. Be my guest, but I have had 8 cars, of various types and colors and I can tell you many of these products will scratch or swirl your paint."

Sorry, but if "those products" are scratching and swirling his paint, the problem is not the products. It's the person who's [mis]using them.

Higher $$ does not = better.

Heck, I'll pour some NXT into a bottle called "cyde's miracle snakeoil wax" and sell it to him for $50. He'll think it's the best wax in the world, and I'll be rich (until Meg's sues me).

[95retta]

I have a dumb question where did Zanio come from and is it any good really? I have only used Meg never anything else. My boyfriend used to be a turtle wax guy until he used Meg. and then at a car show last year a guy who has a Meg. sponsership said he won't even use Meg products he uses Zanio. Never heard anything about unti then!

[OctaneGuy]

I'm not sure the full history but I can tell you from my personal experience. Zaino is a product by a guy named Sal Zaino and yes, he reads these forums---he knows me as the Blue MINI guy, cause well, I began as a Z user years ago, before I really knew anything about waxing my car.

That's really the crux of my point here. When I bought my MINI Cooper back in 2003, I really didn't know the first thing about keeping it shiny and new except from what I read on the forums, and everybody talked about how great this Z product was and they bragged they put 15 "layers" on over the weekend making their car super glossy and shiny.

When I used the Z product, sure enough, it was slick. Slicker than NXT. I could put a terry towel on the bonnet (hood) and it would just slide off. Actually now that I'm using M21, I get that same effect.

At the time, all Z was, was a fancy polish that required many steps--it came with a little plastic bottle, you had to mix things together in order to get it to cure.....point being, for the newbie it was daunting and confusing, but since it was promoted on the forums, I decided to try it. And that continues today with all the new MINI owners.

Then one day I went to a Meguiar's weekend clinic and BAM, suddenly I knew more about car care than I did in my whole life, and I was sold on Meguiar's. Learning about the 5 step method, and how to keep that show car look all the time.

I would get in heated arguments on the forums with those Z zealots about which was better, and it was funny, the noisest of them would argue they don't have swirls to remove--never had them, and that Z is all they need. One even posted pictures of his light silver car! I asked him how old it was---he's like I just picked it up a month ago.

Often these zealots don't tell the whole truth, and when challenged by someone more knowledgeable, what tends to happen next is a sort of "gang bang"--all the zealots surface to attack you--they start quoting from other websites saying how great Z is, and look at this durability test showing Meguiar's is weak, etc. etc. etc.

Until you dig deeper and point out these sites have alterior motives for promoting certain products over others, do they get quiet.

It's really a no win situation, so I tend to stay out of them these days, and when they start posting on the forums how great Z is, I tend to come back and instead of saying how much better Meguiar's is---I just say well look at THIS! Look at that shine! The proof is in the pictures.

Richard

Originally posted by AS555
I have a dumb question where did Zanio come from and is it any good really? I have only used Meg never anything else. My boyfriend used to be a turtle wax guy until he used Meg. and then at a car show last year a guy who has a Meg. sponsership said he won't even use Meg products he uses Zanio. Never heard anything about unti then!

[showtime]

Zaino really is good stuff, I used it almost exclusively for 2 years. As I got more into detailing for profit, it didn't make sense to use it due to the lengthy application process and cure times. It's just some of the vocal people who use it that gives the product a bad name, like "rice boys" don't act like the other 99% of Honda owners.

[Accident]

My mom's boyfriend uses zaino a lot and his car does look really nice. What I think is funny, is that he will get swirl-like scratches in his paint from his daughter and my brother (6 and 9 respectivley), and he will go at it with his zaino wax. From the way he describes it to me it takes a lot more work using the zaino to get rid of these swirls. In the end, his car is one of the best looking cars around, but he has a very deep clear coat to begin with. Not to mention that his car is a dark blue. What I think is funny, is that he will tell me zaino is better than meguiars, but then he uses meguiars GC car wash, meguiars spray wax and quick detailer on his Honda bike, plastix on his bike's plastic pieces and his car's headlights after I showed him how much it helps, but he still says meguiars is not as good.