SAAB 900 (1979-1994) Special Editions

orca · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject: Duragloss Sample Products

This is a copy and paste from the original at Clean Your Car forums - dated 28/09/2008:

Kev (see above) sent me a little sample pack of Duragloss products - 901, 652, 601 & 105. That's the shampoo, a paint cleanser, a pre-bond agent and the Total Performance Polish for normal people Wink

I'll say from the outset that I would have liked to have had the 671 Swirl Remover handy before starting out. I also wish I had their Aqua Wax spray (I'll probably order it in for maintenance next week), or their 921 Fast & Clean Shine Detail Spray since I had to use a Chemical Guys QD at one point and wished I could have kept it all Duragloss.

So ... the subject: the white SAAB 900 (oh yeah ... she's hot and you know it Twisted Evil

) ... here we go ...

The shampoo is nice. It smells of cherries and it looks good. I knew from the outset it would be a good product based on comments here. The instructions are for 1oz per gallon. The cherry smell is very evident during the wash, too - follow that up with Mothers Cleaner Wax mid-winter and you'll be lusting after some kind of duck dish for tea Laughing

Kev sent me a sample in a 1 fl oz bottle, so I popped it all in my bucket and topped up with a gallon. Wow! That's a lot of suds and a really milky, frothy liquid. I used the 'cappuccino' method of bucket filling, holding a strong spray just under the surface of the water. My main point of reference was going to be Meg's Gold Class shampoo, so I used the same method that I used with that shampoo. At one gallon, I though it would stretch a little further, so added another half gallon and then another half gallon ... so, 1/2 floz per gallon, then Laughing

My car is in good condition anyway, so a light shampoo would do fine and I'm going to cleanse afterwards, so I'm not too worried about leaving behind old product.

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9016.jpg

... with a light spray, the water drops off the car drying itself. Nice. That's what I like in a shampoo. This means, especially today in the sunlight, I could get the car dried without water spotting.

After drying the car (with a chamois, yes ... sorry Embarassed

) it looked like this:

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9017.jpg

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9018.jpg

... good, already! I like this shampoo Cool

There is a warning on the bottle about water deposits etching into the paint and they recommend the 652 product to clean up the paint.

So ... let's try it:

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9023.jpg

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9024.jpg

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9020.jpg

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9022.jpg

Nice, eh? I applied it with a microfibre pad, as you can see in the pictures. I would liken this to Car-Lack68 NSC, but the finish is not as good with the Duragloss product - no great surprise, since this is a cleanser, not an all-in-one product. Anyway, I digress ... I will say at this point that the swirl filling is not very good. I rather wished I had their 671 product handy for the boot, which is quite swirled. Is there a kind soul who'd send me a small panel sample to try out?

... on with the pre-bonding agent (Duragloss 601) and then a coat of Total Performance Polish (Duragloss 105):

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9033.jpg

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9035.jpg

Phwoar! But ...

... I had to use some QD to get the product off Evil or Very Mad

After applying the 105, I could still see the unbuffed 601. Sorry, I should explain here - the pre-bond agent (the 601) is applied and not buffed; you apply the final coat, whether their Total Performance Polish (105) or Clear Coat Polish (111) on top. I applied the pre-bond agent with a yellow foam pad and the polish with a terry applicator. I removed the polish with a Costco yellow microfibre.

Finally, a couple of the whole car:

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9032.jpg

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9031.jpg

Thanks Kev - I had a lot of fun and you'd given me a great introduction to this product range. To do full justice, I would still like to try 671 and perhaps even 111.

Final thoughts? The shampoo is fantastic! 'nuff said Exclamation

The cleanser is good and does not smell as evil as, say, Serious Performance's cleanser. While it does a good job, I can't help thinking that I could just use Car-Lack68 NSC and have an all-in-one job done. Time will tell how the pre-bond agent and polish fair - there are others on this thread testing longevity. Again, speaking of Car-Lack, I can't help thinking the finish is no better than NSC/LLS. White is a tough colour to play with - it does not show off a lot of gloss and it is hard to see much difference between products. For this year's winter prep (which is why I was interested in Duragloss in the first place), based on today I would go back to Car-Lack68 NSC/LLS and Collinite. That, or Bilt Hamber Auto Balm. I'll probably do the Car-Lack route at the end of October and deep clean end of January with Bilt Hamber - where I live is very exposed and even the hardiest products start to fail quite quickly.

Oh ... one last thing, Kev dropped in a sample of Turtle Wax Gloss Guard Laughing

I asked for it ... I wanted to compare to AG EGP. I prepped the wheels with the Turtle Wax stuff and I have to say, it's quite good stuff; certainly as good as AG EGP. I have yet to try it out on a panel.

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/duragloss/DSCF9036.jpg

Oh (Apple-style ... "One More Thing") ... I should say, the 1 floz sample of shampoo went to to make up a very lean 2 gallon mixture, squeezing out the sponge for the black car. I will certainly buy the shampoo - it is fantabulous Idea

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/swd2008/DSCF9039.jpg

... washed from a very dusty "before" with Duragloss 901 (still making suds after letting down 1 floz of product to 2 gallons, using that and re-foaming up a further 2 gallons from the residue in the sponge Shocked

) and spritzed down with Lucas Slick Mist.

I like this picture - in high sunlight, our black car can appear brown ... you need to cast a shadow to see how you're doing on the paint. Here's a pure sunlight shot and a shadow cast:

http://www.pjgh.co.uk/gallery_albums/swd2008/DSCF9041.jpg

... looking out now, it looks fantastic - the Duragloss shampoo is most certainly to be recommended.