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Definitely! I just picked up more Optimum supplies yesterday including a gallon of Power Clean, so I'm good to go. 😁 If there's one lesson I've learnt about detailing over the last few years - preparation is key! I'm really excited to try it after seeing The Rag Company use it and now this post.

I'm about to order mine and can't wait to try it out. Even if I got 3 months out of it I would be extremely impressed given the price of the product.

As stated in other posts I use OID mixed with about 20% OCW to maintain the full wax I do about every month or so. This seems to work great as the products mix really well together, but I don't have the issue some people get where they apply too much product and it smears. No matter how much I use when drying the car I have zero issues of any kind. I absolutely love OCW and any issues with durability are FAR outweighed by the ease of just adding another layer of it.

Welcome! I fell victim to Optimum's entire line up for the same reason. There's no flashy marketing or BS, the products just work!

For some reason I find ONR stains wash media really badly. I have a couple of was mitts and the one I sometimes use with ONR is dark brown/black. It is actually very clean but the staining doesn't come out even after washing several times. In the past I have gone back to doing a 'normal' 2 bucket wash a few times with it and the colour goes back to normal. I'm really OCD about that too so I now use black microfiber towels to wash with ONR so I can't see it.

I have, and it works pretty well, although I don't like ONR as a drying aid anywhere near as much as OID. OID seems to melt in to the paint (especially with OCW added) where as ONR sits on top of the surface. This is obviously not a very scientific explanation, but it seems to not matter how much OID I use - I get no streaking or build up on the paint. Plus the combination smells amazing!

In my experience you will get 2+ weeks in great weather for PERL or Opti-Bond. If it rains or you drive through puddles they do perform poorly as they are water based. They both look great but PERL is slightly more finicky (i.e it needs to be wiped down after about 10-15 minutes otherwise you can get streaks). Opti-Bond is almost impossible to mess up. I actually really like the look and ease of application from 303, but I would get about only a week of durability even in perfect weather.

I really hate having to clean very dirty wheels. Switching to ceramic pads was a massive difference in how bad they got each week. I've never coated my wheels before but since they are in need of being refurbished (curb rash and minor chips/dings from previous owner) this will definitely be my next step.

It depends on how dirty they are, but since switching to ceramic pads I usually just use normal car shampoo with a little wheel cleaner added in. Since it foams so much I don't need much product - probably only about 50ml of product to 700ml of water. It does make a little bit of a mess on the garage floor, especially if your wheels are really dirty. In the end I was backing the car out of the garage and cleaning the wheels with a hose and the IK Foam sprayer in the traditional way and then pulling it back in and doing my normal ONR wash.

There are none that I have found. There is no streaking on even deliberate 'over use' of the mixture. I prefer to do a proper application of Opti-Seal and Car Wax every month or so and maintain with this as a drying aid for now.

I agree with using ONR instead of OID. It provides a lot more lubrication and is very quick to do. If the car really isn't dirty and has just been rained on you could fill a pump sprayer with ONR solution and completely cover the car in it then proceed to dry with a proper drying towel. Just curious though, why do you need to dry it after being rained on?

Those streaks that you found are perfectly normal and are just high spots that need a second pass as you said. You will have a hard time using too much product with Opti-Seal or Hyper Seal, but there is not really any benefit to adding countless layers of product. There is diminishing returns when using sealants, waxes and coatings. I find that applying one good layer, letting it cure for the required time, then adding a quick second layer is all that is required. Any more and you are probably just wasting product, money and time. Using Hyper Seal as your drying aid with each wash is more then enough to keep it topped up for many months before needing a full decontamination wash and reapplication of it.

After months of testing I think I've found my favourite drying aid I've ever used. There's been a lot of talk about mixing products on the forum lately which is something I'm very interested in. It's a fun way to experiment with different products to come up with uses the manufacturer did not expect (or test). I mix Optimum Instant Detailer at the standard dilution with 10-20% Optimum Car Wax and use it as a maintenance wash drying aid. This provides the following benefits: 'Tops up' the full wax I do about once every month or two It eliminates the usual issue of using too much wax that some people seem to do The mild cleaners in the OID safely take care of any spots I might have missed while washing It's impossible to use too much as it seems to just melt in to the paint Lubricates the surface much better when drying compared to OCW or Opti-Seal alone Provides incredible gloss levels when topping it over other products such as Opti-Seal I am absolutely in love with it and actually look forward to drying my car after a wash because of the experience. I've attached a (average) picture of the results from the last wash I did. I did my usual ONR wash but pre-rinsed with a pressure washer due to the amount of dirt that was on the car.

Good stuff! Since no company has the money to spend on R&D to test all of these combinations it's great that we can all experiment like this and decide what works and what doesn't. As I've said before, I am very happy with the 10% OCW added to OID and have been using it for many months (and may even increase the % of OCW next time I make a bottle up).

I'm not a fan of mixing different brands like this. Meguiars Gold Class definetely leaves glossing agents behind that may not be removed by washing afterwards with M-Wash. I also think Meguiars performs poorly on warmer days where it can dry and leave streaks behind. It does foam well, but the thickness of foam is very overrated in my experience. Optimum Car Soap is a great option as it's very cheap and foams incredibly well. It might be worth a look in this case.