30 years ago they were ok for the money, and market. But they really are not considered detailing products, even less so by brand snobs (of which I am slowly becoming)
Remember quantity is not always quality. I use their trim shine (£15 for 5 litres) to fill a spray bottle, to spray onto my tyres. It doesnt last very long, but then, I have yet to try anything that will last much longer. So I spend little on that.
My favourite value for money product, I have yet to better (for regular use)
Valet Pro Bilberry wheel cleaner. Can be diluted up to 10:1 for cleaning off brake dust. As I use it so frequently, I rarely need anything stronger.
My own method of washing and maintaining my car, is more for therapeutic reasons rather than maximum detailing effect. And since I would generally wash it fortnightly at least, I do not need large quantities of anything fancy or of great cost.
Maintenance products would be where I spend my cash.
A few years ago, I did what I call a detox of the paintwork, maybe not what a pro would do, but it worked to my standard.
Used a fall out remover (I liked Valet Pro's Dragon's Breath - and continue to use it annually)
Then clay barred it about three times (lubricating the clay bar with
Valet Pro Citrus bling, which can be used to aid drying.
I then used
Auto Finesse Tough Prep
Polished with a Poorboys polish (I cannot remember which one, but now use
Farecla G3 with my polisher annually)
Followed that with
Auto Finesse Tough Coat sealant. (a twin pack of this with the Tough Prep was available on eBay at the time for £25)
then a couple of coats of a Dodo Juice wax (a small sample pot was around £6 or 7, and enough to do the car 3 times)
Fortnightly I would use a snow foam, starting with
Glimmerman snow foam, as it was on offer, and was very good, but have since moved to
Bilt Hamber auto foam, which I think is better, but not as visually impressive.
Wash with
Valet Pro concentrated car wash with a relatively cheap lambswool mitt (synthetic ones can be just as good, but these were about a fiver each on ebay I think)
I dry with a couple of decent microfibre drying towels using the Citrus Bling mentioned above as a drying aid, which also helps it maintain a shine, and beading, seems to last 3-6 months.
Before doing the wash, I wash the wheels with a microfibre wheel brush (
Simoniz do a great one with no metal - Tescos have them quite cheap) along with a knock off version of a
wheel woolie , and a
valet pro sash brush that came as part of a bundle with the Bilberry wheel cleaner. Then spraying on the carplan trim cleaner onto the tyres (make sure to wipe off from the wheels - it will leave streaking).
For glass I used to like Poorboys glass cleaner, with a proper glass microfibre cloth, but have gone off it recently. It seems to require much more effort than before, and leaving small streaks. I am going to try some others. I still like Autoglym's glass polish, but it is messy, and hard on my skin.
Interior plastics I only clean rather than treat with
valet Pro All Purpose Cleaner. I dont like shiny or slippery surfaces, and this does it how I like it, as well as being dilutable also.
As I mentioned above, annually, I break out the Dragons breath, clay and polisher.
Have a look at
https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/ for inspiration, also
https://www.shopnshine.co.uk/ and
https://www.slimsdetailing.co.uk/?gc...SAAEgIiZPD_BwE
and also, if not for the soothing tones of the guy lol,
https://www.youtube.com/user/CarClea...arCleaningGuru