Product Review: Bilt Hamber Auto Balm

Sorry Ben! No offense to u or Pete intended, nor was I trying to accuse either of u of false advertising. I shoul know better than to say things like that.

Not being advisable to top it hardly diminishes my intention to purchase Auto Balm.

 

Sorry for the confusion, let me clarify. What I was trying to say is that, if it tanks in two months, I'll have evidence to support the theory that topping it compromises its durability. If it lasts for 5-6 months, like JL is seeing on his Jeep (which he hasn't topped with anything), I'll have evidence to support the notion that maybe topping it doesn't hurt anything.

My application of AB onto the S2000 was about a week ago. I topped it with Vintage yesterday, 4-14-09.

 

You topped AB with wax? Don't you know you're not supposed to do that! LOL:drinking2:

 

Alright, tell me this isn't Karma, or whatever. Crazy amount of typing at work today...didn't know I'd have to write so much at the new job...and the subject matter is turning my brain into gelatinous goo. So, of course, I have my iPhone and am taking mental breaks surfing the various boards I frequent. Finally, I say "Frack it, I'm just going to order the AB, Karl and JL say pollen doesn't accumulate as much with it on." Sorry Ken, I'm impatient and impulsive. So off to Carnaubawaxshop.co.uk I go and order up a pot of Bilt Hamber Auto Balm along with a pair of finger pocket foam apps and one other white foam applicator (using Co. bandwith to purchase detailing products FTW!).

So I leave work all happy about my purchase and as I'm driving down my street I notice something's not right. When I get to my house I figure it out. The city cut down that old frackin gumball tree that hangs over my driveway pissing pollen and those stringy pollen holding buds all over my car every spring!!!

:doh:

Sooo, what's your favorite applicator and buffing towel for Auto Balm application? :gidiup:

 

After that you want my opinion? Your kidding, right?!!!! :bat: Get the Blackfire Ultimate Applicator pad and use a shorter nap towel. Our 530s work well. Any longer nap will work, but doesn't work as well.

 

Ohhh, I'm not done with your store yet Ken, I just don't like ordering one thing from Ben; gotta make the shipping from across the pond worthwhile, ya know?

I'm trying to work through which Werkstatt products I want :

 

I used a plain old foam applicator, which I *think* I got from DD. Hard to say, I've had it forever. I used a plush MF to remove the stuff. I've got a bunch of nice MF, but I think these I got from Justin.

AB comes with its own applicator pad and its own buffing cloth, but I've not tried either. The pad looks like it would be fine, the cloth I'm a little less sure about. It's cotton, and I'd rather use microfiber. I never even took it out of its wrapper.

 

Ditch the old skool stockinette - the product was initially aimed at and for the classics market, since that's what Pete owns himself, and where their rust treatment products were developed with half a mind for.

BH's main source of income is the oil rigs and big industry, where marketing BS and honeydew melon extract are not something that lands you big contracts.
Proving your product lasts as long as it claims to under strict ASTM testing parameters is - and this is why, if you look on their website on the AB page, you'll see a picture of products tested under ASTM B117, showing how they fail to protect the sample strips beyond 24 hours.
That test is an accelerated timeframe one, so if sample 6 were to really last for the number of years claimed, then AB would be nearer to a decade of longevity, which is just ever so preposterous a notion!
In that test, iirc, AB went on to show no signs of rust until the 72 hour mark - a sign of the rust inhibitors doing their bit too.
As said, designed primarily with the classic owners in mind, and with the addition of rust inhibitors for protecting any metal exposed by stone-chips.
Auto-wash is similarly designed too, regarding bare metal road rash.

As for topping - most users think of AB as a typical sealant, but as the guys above and the other thread(s) have shown/said, it is unlike the bulk of clinical sealants, having a warmth/wetness/depth akin to carnauba wax.
To that end, they are merely using the wax topper to give the characteristic beading that wax does, and if that's the case, then there will be a solution to that issue fairly soon, in the form of a topper sealant.
Think of it like Collinite - very detergent resistant in that regard, and tight beading, and if my suggestions bear out, then it'll be a spray-on rather than it's current pre-production paste form. It'd be somewhat akin to Dodo Red Mist/Zaino Z-8 - a short-term sealant without the inhibitors and fillers, leaving that for AB to provide.

Time-wise, if you are putting on a second layer of AB, is suggested at 30 mins, so probably by the time you've finished the first layer all over the car.
The second layer should be applied quite lightly, so as to preserve the film formed, and to maximise the masking effect.
I'd leave it about 60 mins then, before adding a layer of wax or the aforementioned DJ RM/Z-8/etc.

Regarding buffing problems - if not as a result of too much 'Balm, then simply go over the area again with the pad to reactivate and leave for 15-20 secs before buffing off.
Keep the pad well damped - not soaking, but don't wring out too vigourously, a half hearted squeeze is the best way to describe it.

If you're pushed for time, or simply fancy being lazy, you can apply on wet paintwork, so long as you use filtered water to remove the calcium carbonate, otherwise you might see some parts of the paintwork dry with the telltale water spots.
Again, don't let the pad get too wet using this option, and it is fun to see the water being swept aside.

Karl, regarding your questioning of how Zymöl's wax will potentially interfere with the film formers of AB, it's the solvent carriers that do that.

 

Would this fill swirls on a windshield?

 

PJS - :awesome:You rock, man!!!

 

I love this forum! PJS, we love AB. I won't top it again, I promise :sorry: I'll be first in line for the topper sealant.

 

Second buddy.

 

Fourth! Cuz JL should be third :

 

As for doing the same thing to glass as it does to paint, I've honestly no idea - I don't think so, but feel free to try it on them once you get some, and see for yourself.

As a screen treatment, it's just alright, but there's a proper one coming soon too, along the lines of RainX, Carlack, etc. - only better, of course!

I've had the previous formula on trial since September last year, and it worked at 30-33mph - the new formulation is supposed to work at lower speeds, so I really need to bother me arse and get it on.
The thing is though, I want to see how long one treatment really lasts for, and with another brand's offering on the other half of the windscreen, I'm reluctant to pull it off.
That said, the previous version that's on there at the moment, was suggest to work at 40mph, and the new one nearer to 30.
Given the old formulation seemed to start working at the lower speed, if the new one is as inaccurate too, then 25mph could be a reality, which is great for when traffic is moving more slowly on the freeway/main road, or residential areas.

 

That's right and I think I might have been the first on here from the US to use the AB. PJS thanks for chiming in with some great info. I must tell you that Vintage over top of AB is absolutely stunning on BMW Jet Black!! I have used it by itself and now topped and it is an incredible sealant.

 

Oh stop it you, you've me blushing now!

 

Possibly the first detailer -a boat company down in Florida took some Balm a while back, iirc, after reading something of that ilk on DW.

As for the Vintage topper, I wouldn't worry about the longevity of AB underneath too much, as the chances are the wax will need stripping off in 3-4 months due to deterioration from the environmental bombardment it sees daily.
What additional difference are you seeing with the Vintage added?

 

Yeah I've been using mine since November of last year and have been very satisfied. The clay is the only clay I will use now as well. As for the Vintage topper it made the Jet Black deeper and darker than I have ever seen it. The Combo of AB and Vintage made one of the blackest (if that's even a word) blacks I have ever seen. I too very much appreciate the no nonsense way BH does business and like you said it does everything it says it will on the package. Can't ask for more than that.

 

Was that with a single or dual layer of AB on?
If the former, I wonder how you'd find a second layer looks, without Vintage?

 

It was a single layer of AB. That thought of another layer of AB vs. a layer of Vintage crossed my mind when I was finished. I will be trying a double layer of AB sometime in the near future.