Trim Detailer Test: 303, Adam's, Mother's, Black Wow

[bee1000n]

***PLEASE READ MY POST OF A SEQUEL TO THIS TEST HERE***.

I decided to see how my variety of trim detailers would hold up, and tried a little test. This wasn't scientific, but you'll get the idea of these 4 products:

• 303 Aerospace Protectant
• Adam's VRT
• Mother's Back to Black
• Black Wow

All were applied with a microfiber cloth onto the fender trim, with masking tape between. You can see how faded the trim was after not being treated in quite a while. The last application would have been with Adam's VRT.

Here's a blurry photo after the application.


The next day, it looks largely the same except for the Black Wow which has faded. I figured it was being absorbed into the plastic so I gave it another coat after taking the photo (I said this wasn't scientific!).


Two days later, and you can see that the Black Wow area is faded once again. I gave it a 3rd coat after this.


After 15 days and one car wash with Meguiars NXT Wash, I was left with this. All the products are hanging in there, with Mother's holding up the best, but their effects are clearly diminished.


It's very difficult to get really consistent photos of black trim next to white paint in the bright sun, so there is some difference between the photos. When I look at the samples today, Mother's Back to Black is clearly the blackest with the other three similar to each other and not much darker than the faded trim.

Based on what I've read, I was expecting a miracle with the Black Wow and was surprised it didn't outperform the others by a wide margin, and maybe it will over time once I get enough of it into the trim. I expect Octane Guy will have some tips for me!

I'm going to do another test, on the trim below the door, in hopes that the pictures will be more reliable.

[Hmmm]

Very interesting, and much more useful to me... vs the tests run by rocket surgeons!

I think I might pick up a bottle of the Mothers and try it out.

[miniblucabrio]

I've tried that blak wow and all I can say is wow what crap! I now use the mothers back to black. that does hold up good but I still can't wait to get the trim painted.

[bee1000n]

I've seen many impressive results with Black Wow, so I'm definitely not ready to call it crap. And I don't mean to present my little test as authoritative at all. I hope to hear what others have experienced as well.

[Tsar]

Looks like I will be buying mothers in my near future!

[lotsie]

Give the Mothers more time, like over a month, and it won't look as good as the BW will. This may also boil down to the look you like, and I like the matte look, non-greasy look of BW. 303 has a good look also, but does not last long.

Mark

[miniblucabrio]

maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance or I used it incorrectly. but to put it on and then have the trim look faded again a day later made me look to something else. now if I could just find something to get the wax off the trim. I've tried everything I can think of and it keeps coming back through. The mothers stuff will hide it when first applied. then after a couple days it starts showing through again

[Tsar]

Originally Posted by lotsie

Give the Mothers more time, like over a month, and it won't look as good as the BW will. This may also boil down to the look you like, and I like the matte look, non-greasy look of BW. 303 has a good look also, but does not last long.

Mark

If I wait over a month, for mothers to fade, I could just wash the car and reapply the "stuff" again

[M3NTAL]

Black Wow usually holds up really well for me. The Adam's VRT is very easy to apply, just like 303 though and I find myself using those over BW when I'm tired as helk and just want to finish the car.

[Doesnotcompute]

Personally, I don't like that drippy wet look that the Mothers produces, so I think, with regards to the next day looks, it's all very subjective.

Looking at the areas where the tape was, it looks like your trim is pretty faded. I wonder if the BW is being sucked in, vs the others just sitting on the surface. I know that in other posts, Richard suggests multiple applications over time when treating heavily faded items.

Can we get a follow up photo each week?

[carman63]

Interesting test. I've been using Mother's for a while, and bought some BW to try as it's been talked up a lot in NAM. So we'll see.

My trim's not as faded as others, I just have wax residue to deal with - apparently the dealer's "detail shop" got a bit over-zealous with the wax and buffer when prepping the car for sale

[bee1000n]

Originally Posted by Doesnotcompute

Looking at the areas where the tape was, it looks like your trim is pretty faded. I wonder if the BW is being sucked in, vs the others just sitting on the surface. I know that in other posts, Richard suggests multiple applications over time when treating heavily faded items.

Can we get a follow up photo each week?

My trim wasn't that faded. It hadn't been treated in a couple months, but it doesn't look too bad without the treated parts being there for comparison. I do think the BW was absorbed - there's no other way it could have faded in a day. I'll wait to hear from Richard, but I expect the best way to apply the BW at this point is multiple coats on the same day rather than spread out over a week like I did here.

It's been almost a week since the last photo. I'll take another one this afternoon or tomorrow.

[rgc0233]

How about some price comparisons to got with the test? I have Mother's that I bought some time back and, although I don't remember the price, I don't think it was very expensive. I also have a bottle of Black Wow (that I haven't tried yet) that was pretty expensive for the amount of product received.

[kkcshipp]

Great test, and I'm glad to see it. I've been using Mothers Back to Black on my Jeep Wrangler for years, but was ready to try BW based on the folks on this site (don't know what I was thinking about). You saved me some $, thanks. Doesn't need to be "scientific" because it already was. Same car, same trim piece, same atmospheric conditions over time. That is scientific enough for me, I'll stay with Mothers. At least I can get Mothers without ordering over the internet, paying shipping charges etc.

[kenchan]

one key thing to remember...BW is to provide matte finish, not shiney.

if you want shiny use silicone based tire dressing on your arches. works better than back to black and wont need to buy a separate product so you save even more money.

personally i did not like back to black due to its smearing shiny and sticky finish. after each drive i would have accumulations of dust on the arches. accidentally rub your pants on the arch and crappage just transfers over as if you accidentally rubbed along the sidewall of a tire.

[bee1000n]

As far as cost goes: 303 and Adam's are about $1 per ounce, Mother's is $.75 per ounce and BW is $6.25 per ounce.

You use a lot less BW than the others. I'd say the per-use cost is similar for all 4 products.

As for matte vs. glossy, I agree that is a personal preference issue. From what I'm seeing the BW is fading, not just matte. I'll take some pictures tomorrow that are closer up. The BW-treated area is not much darker than the untreated trim at this point.

[Doesnotcompute]

Originally Posted by bee1000n

My trim wasn't that faded.

Your own photos disagree with this.

[Some Guy]

Originally Posted by bee1000n

As far as cost goes: 303 and Adam's are about $1 per ounce, Mother's is $.75 per ounce and BW is $6.25 per ounce.

You use a lot less BW than the others. I'd say the per-use cost is similar for all 4 products.

As for matte vs. glossy, I agree that is a personal preference issue. From what I'm seeing the BW is fading, not just matte. I'll take some pictures tomorrow that are closer up. The BW-treated area is not much darker than the untreated trim at this point.

Agree with fading, looks about the same as what happens when I use it on my MINI. Not ready to give up on it but need tips, vegi oil seemed to last longer!

[Hmmm]

Originally Posted by Doesnotcompute

Your own photos disagree with this.

Hate to say this, but his trim looks pretty good in his gallery pics, much better than yours did... *shrug*

[bee1000n]

I'd say the trim on my car is solidly in the middle between bad and great. If you're a diligent detailer, yours will be darker. If you're negligent, yours will look far worse (believe me, I've seen Minis with gray trim).

Mine was neglected for a couple months recently because I wasn't able to care for it properly, but that's the longest it has gone without 303 or Mother's or Adams being applied in the five years I've had the car.

[MLPearson79]

It looks to me like there isn't even any BW on there! Not saying there isn't...just saying that that's NOT at all what my trim looks like with BW applied. BW makes my trim dark black and shiny (much like the other 3 in your first picture), until I wash it, then it's just dark black.

[kenchan]

maybe you guys should just spray paint it gloss black and call it a day?

then Hydro afterwards... well after 3wks cure time.

[OctaneGuy]

I've been reading this thread and first off, thanks Chris for conducting this test against the popular trim products.

While the results seem to show that BW is the loser here, I have problems with the way it looks after each application. As Melissa mentioned, the BW treated areas look nothing like how it typically looks for most people.

There has to be some other factors going on here.

I emailed Chris offline, and several things came to mind.

He had been using the previous products on this trim for several years. It's not like the trim was neglected or virgin. As far as I know, the trim wasn't even prepped before the test. BW is a very different type of product. It works by absorbing into the material and saturating it below the surface. At a molecular level, the silicone more easily penetrates the pores of the plastic than coming back out. With trim that has been coated with other products, even if it seems that they have previously worn out, they could impact the performance of BW.

Secondly, unlike late night infomercials that show beautiful bodies using AMAZING excercise machines or diet gimmicks and hold a fine caption below saying RESULTS ARE NOT TYPICAL, what we see here is definitely not typical.

Going as far as calling it crap boggles my mind.

As far as cost per application, I'd say that the majority of BW owners are still on their first bottle unless they spilled it or otherwise lost the contents and we're talking years of use.

I challenge anyone to try to cover ALL the plastic on a Jeep Grand Wagoneer with 1/8 of an ounce of any of the mentioned products..you can't do that except with BW.

I've mentioned this many times before and I'll mention it again. I have a discussion forum here for BW. Use it if you are not achieving optimal results.
http://www.showcardetailing.com/foru...play.php?f=109

Look at this link especially as it's pertinent to this thread...about BW and plastic absorption.
http://www.showcardetailing.com/foru...ead.php?t=1579

Richard