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.
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.