Over the years, I have fallen for many, many marketing pitches. The one that keeps getting me is specialty cleaners, like "specially designed for fiberglass hulls" or "specially formulated to remove mold" or "unique chemistry wipes out grease on contact". Bullcrap. A general-purpose degreaser like Krud Kutter and a melamine sponge work 99% of the time. Those two, some Windex, Goo Gone and Acetone is all you ever need.
Replace windex with Sprayway and I'm with you. Even Goo-Gone has gotten bad the last few years. The old stuff I had that ran out worked 100x better than the new bottle. If you're at the challenge, look at the front bumper of the Rio. You can still see "GRIDLIFE" in there and that's after multiple passes with it.
I always just purchase whatever product has the longest and most terrifying warning label.
Nope, it's all marketing junk. Elbow grease with general purpose cleaner will always work better than whatever "no scrub unique chemical composition" selling for twice the price will do.
Know what pisses me off?
Methylene chloride was banned. Boo hoo. You died cause you didn't follow the warnings and didn't allow for ventilation, so now I get to put elbow grease into stripping paint? Whats the point of the warnings, then?
Bite my big ole hairy butt.
Simple green, at high concentration. Dawn, and invisible glass have never let me down. I don't bother with anything else anymore.
Replace goo gone with 3m adhesive remover and Krud Kutter with Simple Green, add Dawn dishwashing liquid, and that's my list.
The only other "special" soap I use is automotive washes. Many soaps use salt as a thickener, automotive wash does not.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
You died because you didn't read the directions, that's Darwin Award. Bye! You died because Darwin Award's brother-in-Law poured it down the drain cleaning out his garage that's ban the dangerous chemicals. We can't fix stupid people so we have to restrict their ability to harm others.
Disagree on 2 products:
1. Invisible Glass - Especially the aerosol, it just flat *works*. Windex is often streaky for me. I use IG on every reflective surface (glass, chrome, stainless) and it doesn't take nearly the elbow grease and leaves a nicer finish.
2. Sonax Alcantara Cleaner - This stuff is specifically for Alcantara, and it works the business. The S4 has "Lunar Silver" (almost white) Alcantara inserts, and not only does Sonax keep it clean without matting or staining, it also got old set-in stains from the PO out.
Everything else yeah, there's not really a point in any of the specialty stuff that I've tried.
A few months ago, I looked up the MSDS on Brakleen. Turns out the non-chlorinated sort is just acetone.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
Find a Benco dealer near you. They have a stripper that rips powder coating off like it is old snake skin. It still has the good stuff in it. They have their own trucks that deliver to their dealers around the country because the stuff is so hot chemically.
https://bencosales.com/metal-strippers/b17-procedures-best-practices-the-bomb-of-strippers/
I remember reading somewhere that there is pretty much just one recipe for detergent. The only differences are water and scents.
...not the ones I have to keep a logbook of SDS printouts for at work! Those work incredibly well!
Mr_Asa said:Know what pisses me off?
Methylene chloride was banned. Boo hoo. You died cause you didn't follow the warnings and didn't allow for ventilation, so now I get to put elbow grease into stripping paint? Whats the point of the warnings, then?
Bite my big ole hairy butt.
Thank you! I could not have said it more eloquently. Pretty much sick and tired of every product that can't be consumed in large quantities by your 2-year old toddler without causing gastric distress being banned by a few heavy-handed bureaucrats.
In reply to jgrewe :
Sweet. Gonna have to do some looking. Probably 3x the price of what it was, though.
The solution to all this is to not really worry about cleaning stuff. If it can't come off with a wet rag, I spray brake cleaner on it. If it's still dirty, well, it stays dirty.
Except my hootus.
1988RedT2 said:Thank you! I could not have said it more eloquently. Pretty much sick and tired of every product that can't be consumed in large quantities by your 2-year old toddler without causing gastric distress being banned by a few heavy-handed bureaucrats.
If evolution is correct, eventually we will breed toddlers that can withstand solvents and the inside of a hot car.
We just need to keep trying!
In reply to ShawnG :
Lol!
ShawnG said:1988RedT2 said:Thank you! I could not have said it more eloquently. Pretty much sick and tired of every product that can't be consumed in large quantities by your 2-year old toddler without causing gastric distress being banned by a few heavy-handed bureaucrats.
If evolution is correct, eventually we will breed toddlers that can withstand solvents and the inside of a hot car.
We just need to keep trying!
Not true! The bureaucrats will ban the solvents and the hot cars and we will not evolve, but instead grow weak and stupid. It's already happening. Look around you! 
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Wall-E is coming true.
Not necessarily the earth part but the people part.
There is a Lysol product called Foaming Disenfectant Cleaner that will clean almost anything. It's used in hospitals and I discovered it because it would clean up Lucas Oil Stabilizer which is the nastiest stuff ever if it is anywhere but the bottle or an engine. I spray it on, let it foam, and wipe off.
You'll need to log in to post.
