Changed car care brand. Sort of.

[Mystyler]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone may find this useful. I've used a lot of different car care brands and eventually settled on (mostly) Autoglym because it did what it said on the tin and it was a brand my Grandfather used when I was a kid. Sentimental stuff. It's also easy to get hold of. I'm aware of multiple places you can get super exotic products that are rarely sold "over the counter" at auto stores, but that's not me. I like finding a good sweet spot of price/performance.

I needed to pick up another bottle of Autoglym bodywork shampoo and conditioner, but while at the auto store I saw Bowden's Own, which I had been meaning to try. However, even though I'm a very staunch supporter of buying Aussie I couldn't bring myself to switch. Bought the Autoglym stuff and went home.

That night I couldn't live with my choice. Off I went again the next day and picked up some of Bowden's own Nanolicious Wash and even shelled out for some Bowden's Own Leather Love and Leather Guard. In for a penny...

Really didn't have high hopes for the Nanolicious but the difference was night and day. This was the first time I didn't need to use Fast Glass on the windows after washing and drying. The stuff is super slippery and the car was super clean with no spots marks or streaks. The temp was also in the mid-thirties today when I was washing the F.

I'm happy with the leather stuff too. Easy on, easy off. Not greasy or slippery. The Autoglym stuff I have works well in my Mazda, but was pulling up colour from the F's red leather, so I promptly stopped using it after trying it on the shift knob. No such problems with Bowden's.

I'll probably be sticking with Autoglym for their Fast Glass and Glass Polish, and it will take a LOT to get me to change from Mother's California Gold Showtime detailer. But I was very, very happy to find some great products that are Aussie made and the company Aussie owned. There are a lot of products out there that will separate you from your money with lofty promises and so-so results. It's nice to make a change and have it work out in your favour. Can recommend the three Bowden's Own products highly, and I will see how longer-term use goes. Granted, this post is based on a car wash sample of one...but I really did notice a difference.

 

[BLK ISF]

Always good to hear non bias reviews of other products, thanks for the share.

I use a foam lance so not sure if the Nanolicious can be used for that.  I do like Bowdens Wheely clean.  Leaves that infamous purple after result to show the spray reacting with brake dust, dirt and the like.  Minimal effort required, just spray on and water spray off.  Sure for stubborn or very dirty wheels some agitation might be required but as i wash my car weekly, i find it reasonbly clean with minimal physical effort of scrubbing etc

I like buying bulk but with supercheap its either 500ml or 20L (um a bit too much bulk for me lol).  Been trying to find 5L without any luck so been using a mothers branded product.  Not bad but not as good as the Bowden.

For washing my car with the lance ive used the Chemical guys Honeydew foam which wasnt bad but currently using Autobrite Magifoam which is concentrated and gets really thick thuds.  Car has been ceramic coated so i use a blower after that to dry the car with a plush Concours tempest drying towel for remaining wet spots i may have missed with the blower.  Once i got the ceramic coating done, the water beads off with the blower and is great on the grill etc where you just cant get a drying towel / chamois too.

[18ADF]

I love bowdens products, their interior and leather love/guard works awesome on the leather. For the outside I use their snow foam first, use the car wash below bought in bulk majority of the time just use that thru the foamer gun and rinse. I wash it with a mit maybe once every 6 months, usually use bowdens lazy wax and fully slick after most washes. Gets polished using McGuires every 6 months or so, front end is pretty smashed with chips but rest comes up pretty mint.