Bilt Hamber Auto Balm announcement!

Lol...I was looking up "rids" in the dictionary and google with no results. I feel dumb now.

 

So scratches

 

Point of order, please stop being lazy (everyone this applies to) and calling it a wax because it is a paste - it's not!
It IS a sealant first and foremost, and with the filling and chemical cleaning, an AIO secondary.
Now that that's out of the way, as I've said elsewhere here and other forums, Auto-balm is not your typical sealant, since it WILL give darker colours more than a lick of wax-like depth/wetness.
Having tried a couple of synthetic glazes, under a number of waxes, I've yet to see any real appreciable difference, and certainly nothing that mimics or replicates what Auto-balm does.

So, in direct response to your comment, AB will more than satisfy your quest for deep wet paintwork, if the colour is towards the darker end of the spectrum.

 

Also, to add to the filling aspect "debate":

*Where preparation of the vehicle to the finest possible degree is desired the application of Auto-balm using light, straight, forward and back technique will eliminate any swirls or microscopic cobweb-like lines. On top panels, use front-to-back hand motions. On side panels, use up-and-down hand motions. This method allows autobalm to fill tiny scratches and improve reflectivity. Heavy rubbing is not necessary. Swirls and cob webbing caused by abrasive polishes and waxes are particularly noticeable on the sides of clean vehicles in direct sunlight - you will be amazed at the elimination of these imperfections by applying Auto-balm using this technique.

Taken from Bilt-Hamber Laboratories - Polish & Wax - Auto-balm

 

Bilt Hamber Test no 3. Auto-balm - Detailing World
Bilt Hamber Auotbalm - Before & After - Detailing World - the one I was thinking of immediately after reading the opening post.

 

Oh, thanks for catching that. My apologies. I put in wax when I meant sealant. Yes it is a sealant.

 

Not to add any fuel to the fire but here's a few pics from today. One coat of AB.

 

Fuel adder. :giggle:

 

Nice! I think that pretty much settles the argument.

 

ooh nice ken. cant wait to get my goodies and try them out!

 

wow!...

 

Is this "filling" a short term thing, decent durability on the masking? If it is short term I do not see much of a point, but if it last a decent time I can see this being a good wax.

Am I correct in saying you can not layer Auto Balm as it has cleaning abilities, anyone found a wax that you can top this with that will play nice with it?

 

I can't really talk to the longevity aspect. Last time I used AB for its filling qualities was a client in Atlanta. She reports that the car still looks fantastic, and is easy to wash and beads water and all of that stuff, but I doubt she's got the eye for the filling stuff that we do. I did that car in early April.

Ankeet, for what it's worth, my S2000, which you saw today, is wearing only Auto Balm plus some Duragloss Aquawax after a Monday wash.

 

You can layer AB - 2 is all that's needed, with the 2nd layer 30-60 mins after the initial one, and with a light touch.
Job done.
New topper to give all you aesthetic beading freaks the satisfaction you crave, is almost good to go - I'm trying to persuade them to get it out as is (another paste but more coverage before buffing needs to be done) rather than waiting until the liquid version is done.
Let me try (making no promises mind!) to see what I can manage to do with BH.

Otherwise, no need to top unless you must absolutely have tall beads that carnauba wax gives - you won't add anything to the looks like you can with a synthetic glaze under typical sealants, or a wax overlay on the same sterile sealants.
AB is very different in that respect, as I have indicated above.

 

Hmmm PJs you have got me interested now. So BH is coming out with a new version of AB or just a 2ed stage as I all it to improve on a already good product it seems.

Is AB more of a sheeting or a beading wax/sealant?

I have been reading a lot about this wax/sealant as it seems to fit more of what I want, a good looking wax that is durable and last longer than a traditional wax, I was looking at RBOE, but sheets water as I dont like beads after it rains. I know I am one of the few that does not like some good beads but they look great but dont like after they dry you have water spots, argg! This may be were I want to look into.....oh I hate you guys on this board got my mind filed with different wax's and must haves




j/k
Serioulsuy my girlfriend thinks I am nuts and ask why i dont buy her as many things as i do for my car, I have to remind her that my car is still cheaper than she is :-D

 

Well, this is another facet of Auto Balm where it seems opinions vary. So, my opinion. I feel it beads water just fine - however, I wouldn't describe it as "tight" beading like you see with, say, RBOE. The water separates into large-ish droplets, and doesn't "poke up" as much as it would were the car wearing a nuba. I'm not sure if that description even makes sense...:sorry:

My F250 lives outside. I'm having very little trouble with water spotting after a rainstorm, and it is also wearing AB plus DG AW. What water spots do form wipe right off with a simple ONR wash.

 

I agree the beading isn't tight, and most water sheets, and what's left is blobs, not tight beads of water. (I also experienced this on a freshly polished car too, so ymmv)

 

AB is a sealant (consider it a paste format AIO like Klasse, if it helps fix in your mind what pigeon hole it fits into) and when being designed, no thought or consideration was given to the PURELY aesthetics tight tall carnauba-resultant beading.
Principally this is because all they tend to do, is evaporate leaving the minerals/dust remnants behind, whereas AB and those like it, will pool larger shallower bead, which tend to run off or blow off on the move, and take longer to evaporate, so there's less instances where you'll find the paintwork looking a right mess with dried spots.

As for the new product(s), they have a topper (as the name suggests, it becomes the top layer) which has been engineered to give stupidly serious beading properties, for those that like that aesthetic look to the paintwork when it's wet.
It's also ridiculously detergent resistant - more so than Collinite, so it won't fall off with a strong wash solution.
There's some data I'll need to check where I read it, but it is something along the lines of 2000 scrubs (remember this is done in the lab under strict testing protocols) using neat Fairy liquid (Dawn), and it was still beading like it was when freshly applied.

As indicated above in my previous reply, it's currently in paste form, and whilst I initially suggested a liquid version would be more preferable, I've just learnt the topper can be left for a while before it sets up too much like AB does if left longer than it needs.
Therefore a second paste product might not be as bad as I thought initially, so I hope to persuade them to get it made and stocked, whilst they configure the changes to the ingredients needed for a liquid version with the same characteristics.

Fingers crossed!

 

Product update for everyone. Tried putting Gloss it QD over AB last week ( on Terences car, not mine - are you mad! ) and it hazed almost instantly. I will be trying some more QDs on his car to see if we have anything that will work. Any ideas PJS? Also, on the hood of my work truck I put 2 layers of AB on the ps and 2 layers of Colli 476 on the ds so we'll see how they stack up. After a week I washed my truck and the AB sheeted off dry instantly whilst the Colli side beaded up perfectly.

 

Ken - while not quite a QD, Aquawax works great with Auto Balm. For QDs, I've also had good luck with Meg's Final Inspection and Optimum Instant Detailer.