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View Full Version : Chrome Polish Face Off


Charlies02GLS
11-30-2007, 09:53 PM
Product Name: Two in total: Griot's Chrome Polish Vs. English Custom's Hot Environment and Chrome Polish.

Product Container: The Griot's comes in the standard Griot's white plastic 8 oz bottle with it's characteristic red lid. Nothing overly impressive about the design, it serves its function well enough. The English Custom came in a brushed aluminum (at least it looks like brushed aluminum) 250ml bottle with a small spout. Don't really see the necessity of such a design but it's impressive.

Product Labeling: Instructions given by both companies are clear and to the point although Griot's recommends using a 100% cotton towel while English Custom suggests use of a soft towel which meant I went for an el cheapo new microfiber to apply and remove the polish.

Product Characteristics: The Griot's polish has the normal consistency of a typical chrome polish, no really overwhelming scents or any distinguishing characteristics in particular. The English Custom on the other hand is as viscous as water which I thought was pretty unusual for any sort of polish. The smell of the English Custom Polish is also pretty nasty so you need to make sure to recap it after getting some polish onto the cloth.

Product Performance: The Griot's I've used before without much satisfaction and this time was no different. I tried using a terry cloth towel, an old t-shirt, and even a microfiber to apply and remove the polish but there was no difference in the product's performance. The English Custom absolutely blows Griot's out of the water in every category, there's very little need to rub hard, removes easily (even @ 35°F) and you don't need to use much product at all, it dries pretty quickly as well which is always a bonus.

Product Price: The Griot's is sold for $12.99/8oz and performs basically like the same products you can find at local stores for half the price and a much bigger bottle. I don't know if I've just got a bum batch but I don't see much value in the product at all based on the results I've had. The English Custom is worth every penny, and I'd still consider it a worthwhile investment even at a 50% price increase from the current price of $16.99.

Product Safety: So long as you follow instructions there shouldn't be any issues with safety for either polish. The English Custom recommends using gloves while the Griot's does not.

Charlies02GLS
11-30-2007, 10:06 PM
The photo on the left is not the greatest but I wanted to give an idea of just what sort of condition the drip rail is in. It had been polished to that tape line which took about 5 minutes of work at most using the English Custom Chrome and Hot Environment Polish.

Second to left is the trim on the A pillar of the vehicle. This is AFTER trying a few different methods with Griot's. You can see the tape mark part way down the trim. Obviously there's not much improvement...

The third from the left is the A pillar again, I taped off the section I had worked with the Griot's and worked a section to the right of it with the English Custom polish. This gives you an idea of the night and day difference in the performance of the polishes.

The last photo shows the drip rail break point a bit more clearly, it's a bit dark to be taking pictures and the lighting in the garage is difficult because of the placement. I'll try to get a better shot of this tomorrow cause it does look better than that picture.

Pete
12-01-2007, 06:46 AM
Quite a difference with the English Custom's

When you say the smell was bad, was it that old style heavy solvent stink like chrome polishes of old used to have? As soon as you said runny and unpleasant smell, I thought of liquid chrome polish from the 70s and 80s in small metal cans. Worked, but it stunk

Charlies02GLS
12-01-2007, 09:41 AM
I would say a solvent smell is good description, so probably the same type of cleaning action going on as those older polishes.

Pete
12-01-2007, 03:34 PM
3M had a paste chrome polish in about 1998 that looked like some of the newer products but still had that pungent solvent smell. Worked well enough, but it stunk.