Review: Blackfire`s One Step AIO on a Shadow Black Ford Flex

Lonnie

Active member
I was asked to clean/detail my sister-in-law`s 2017 Shadow Black (true black, no metal flake) Ford Flex.
Being daily driver for my SIL here in "the sticks" (AKA, backwoods) of Northeast Wisconsin, it needed some extreme TLC.
Lots of bugs and dirt road dust to wash off. It had been washed at the local Ford dealer where she bought it "slightly-used" after an oil change, but the dealer`s car wash left a lot of water on it and the ensuing Northeast Wisconsin limestone hard water left water spots/etching were quite self-evident on the black paint.

Starting early Friday morning, I washed it as best I could to remove what the dealer left behind, like bug guts and door jam/rear hatch dirt. It was a mild late May day, so the interior work was done outdoors. BAD MISTAKE. BY mid afternoon of a dry, windy day, it was covered in tree litter, dust, and pollen to the point I could write my name in the once-cleaned paint. I finished the interior in the late afternoon and evening inside in the garage.
I pulled the Flex out two days later in the early Sunday morning (I do not work on Saturday, as it is the Sabbath of the 10 commandments) and re-washed it. Good thing, as it removed even more fine back road dirt hidden in seams and trim.
I put it back in the garage and commenced to polishing it with a 3-ounce sample bottle of Blackfire One -Step I asked for in the last order I received gratis (AKA, free) with an order of detailing products from the Autopian Store. I have always wanted to try this product after reading so many positive reviews within this forum, but the higher cost of it clashed with my frugal detailing product purchase. But now I had the PERFECT opportunity to try it on a black, water-etched paint to see how well it worked.
I used my (older) Porter-Cable 7374 polisher and 4" Lake Country`s SDO CCS Orange polishing pads (another freebee from the Autopia Store on an earlier purchase!) and went to work.Worked great! It removed all the water spots, but it did leave the heavier etching behind. But I expected that from an All-In-One. One thing I noticed right away: it`s a thick product. I did not use the flip-cap, but unscrewed it from the sample bottle and just tapped it onto the orange pad in blobs.
It had a great work-time, does not dry out fast, and is easy to remove. The sample bottle size was JUST enough to do the entire Flex (it IS a larger SUV). Its resulting finish was day-and-night, even with a not-so-powerful PC-DA.
Is it worth it to buy and use? Even my frugal self would recommend it and for someone looking for a good-correcting AIO who doesn`t want to spend all day polishing a large vehicle, it is definitely worth having in your detailing product arsenal. I think I spent about 5 hours on just the outside paint and dual retractable moon roof glass (Sidenote: I only have two orange pads, so I needed to stop and clean them both about 5 times within the 5-hour time). The Shadow Black Flex looked like it should again. Not show car ready, but pretty good for a daily driver and my OCD detailing standards with a time-constraint.
I was about 4 hours late getting it back to SIL, but when all the little attention-to-detail things on the exterior were FINALLY done, she was more than happy.
Cannot comment on the longevity of the polymer the Blackfire One Step left behind. I will see this vehicle from time-to-time and will let you know how it holds up.
 
Ahhh... you live the Mosaic law?
No, it`s God`s law. Some see it as "Mosaic" because it was given to Moses for the Israelite nation after their exodus (pun intended) from slavery in Egypt. The fact is, these "laws" existed long before they were written down. They were written by God`s own "finger" again on tables of stone:
1) as a reminder to those who had "forgotten" them in 400 years of slavery;
2) as a permanent visual record of those laws.

Unfortunately, some see them as non-binding or irrelevant because of Christ`s death "replacing them" or necessary that they keep them as a means of salvation (legalistic or works). Neither interpretation or "doctrine" is correct.

The 4th Commandment about the Sabbath gives credence to the "fact" that God is the Creator of this earth and the universe that it exist in and mankind. (Some will argue that Creation is "fact", just as some will argue Darwin`s Theory of Evolution is "fact".) The book Hebrews speaks about a "New Covenant", referencing Jeremiah`s prophecy in the Old Testament, that God will (and has) make with mankind when He will "write" the Commandments upon the hearts and minds of His people, not external on stone but internal within ourselves. That simply means these 10 Commandments are a part of our character and are the moral rational of what we do and why we do it. The Sabbath is an important part of my faith and relationship with God.

Someone once asked me if my religion was important to me. I said , "No, but the God of my religion is!"
Now you know "the rest of the story" (1960`s and 70`s radio news announcer Paul Harvey`s famous tag line to his unknown stories or incidents he told about famous people.)

Some will be offended for what I have written here, and in this day and age, rightly so! But I have to tell what I know and believe, and if fellow Autopians hate me for it, so be it. They killed Christ because He "offended" the Jewish religion and its man-made doctrines and its leaders fear of losing their political positions because of the "insurrection" that His life represented to the Roman government.
 
Keep us posted as to how durable this product is, if possible. I purchased it a while ago, and the 32oz bottle was the only option. I`ve since given away a bunch of 4oz samples of it. When I first tried it, I did not like it. To me, it left the surface kind of grabby. I did give it a second chance, and let it sit on the paint a little longer before wiping off...and the results were better.
 
Followup on BF One Step AIO:
Saw the black Flex about a week ago and the owner stated she thought the vehicle stays cleaner outside.
I would not say it self-cleans, but she likes the way it beads up rain and looks "clean and shiny" (her assessment, not mine). She is happy with the appearance and that is what matters.
 
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