Valetpro Citrus Bling Review

[Spoony]

Price & Availablilty:
£9.40 for 500ml available direct from valetpro.co.uk or £52.88 for 5L

Used on:
VW Golf Shadow Blue and Electric Blue Honda Jazz

Manufacturer's Product Information & Instructions:

Citrus Bling is definitely our most versatile product.
We often get comments from new customers of Citrus Bling that they don't know how they ran their business without it.
It has so many usages and because its water based it can be diluted to go much further. In short, great value for money. Citrus Bling is an incredible product that no serious valeter or enthusiast should be without!

In-depth

Uses:

Fast wax - As a fast wax the product is either used neat or diluted 1:1. It is a simple process of spray and wipe. It delivers an exceptional shine with very little effort and will last about 3 weeks. A car can be 'Citrus Blinged' (Citrus Bling does not contain wax) in a matter of minutes delivering that 'just waxed' look on both new and good quality paint work.

Drying aid - Some of our customers have informed us that they use Citrus Bling as a drying aid diluted 1:3. After a quick spray on a panel and wipe down with a drying towel, Citrus Bling will speed up the drying process and also add gloss to the paint work, giving an impressive finish to just a wash.

Quick detailer - Citrus Bling is used in showrooms to quickly remove dust and add extra gloss to the showroom cars quickly and easily. it can be diluted 1:3 and up to 1:8 which gives exceptional value.
5 litres of Citrus Bling will make 20L to 45L of quick detailer making it the best value quick detailer on the market. Used regularly as a quick detailer, it will help reduce dust and dirt building up on your car.

Glass cleaner - This is either a love or hate purpose for Citrus Bling. Some customers believe it's the best glass cleaner on the market while others don't. We think this is all down to your personal method of glass cleaning. In truth it's an optional use but not for everyone.

Clay lube - This is definitely an area where Citrus Bling excels. Diluting 1:16, parts water, five litres of it will make 85L of clay lube and just one 500ml bottle will make 8.5L. Truly exceptional value for money.
One of the most important jobs for a clay lube is to create a barrier thick enough to protect the paint work but thin enough to allow the grime and contaminate to be picked up by the clay and Citrus Bling does this exceptionally well, but it will also add gloss to the paint work while doing so. This also helps to add shine in the long run when a wax is applied.

Paint cleanse and gloss enhancer - Citrus Bling contains orange peel derivatives that help clean the paint surface when used neat. This process removes tar, tree sap and other contaminates. It can be used with a duel action polisher, panel by panel, making sure you wipe up with a good quality microfibre afterwards.
This process gives the paintwork extra gloss prior to wax application. If you're looking for a paint cleanse with no abrasives then look no further. Citrus Bling will knock your socks off!

Multi- purpose - Used neat or diluted 1:1 you can clean and protect wheels and door shuts with ease. It is also exceptionally good for cleaning and protecting VDU (use a soft microfibre cloth).

Packaging:
Nice and neat packaging, looks bright and vibrant and easily spotted amongst your collection.


Appearance & Fragrance:
It appears to be a very viscous white liquid, smells like citrus believe it or not. A really pleasant citrus smell too.

Use: Drying Aid
Cutting & Cleaning Power:
N/A

Ease Of Use:
It couldn't be any easier to use unless someone done it for you. Simply dulte the required amount into a spray bottle, spray on the wet panel and then dry using your preferred drying medium.
It really did make drying easier and the towel spread about the water less and seemed to pick more up instead. I've never been a fan of using drying aids as I often felt them to be a hinderance, however my mind may have been changed as this aided the task superbly.

Finish:
The panels this was used on were left streak free and water spot free with a hint of added shine in comparison to those it wasn't used on. I haven't any pictures of it as a drying aid as I feel this is a bit like teaching you to suck eggs - it is that easy to use.

Durability:
N/A


Use: Glass Cleaner
Cutting & Cleaning Power:
Where do the usues for this product end? Now I know many a QD can be used as a glass cleaner, and I have tried in the past but for the life of me I can't seem to get som of them to stop streaking. However this changed when I met Citrus Bling. Diluted at around 3:1 it was ready to roll as both a QD and glass cleaner. Sprayed on with a misting spray head and wiped over with a clean MF the cutting power was superb. Cut through the water spots and grime left on windows with no problem whatsoever. It rates highly in cutting and cleaning power.

Ease Of Use:
Again as applied by means of a spray bottle and MF this product is seriously easy to use as a glass cleaner. I found it required a slight bit more working in than my usual glass cleaner and it benefitted from a wipe over with a clean MF again after it had been worked in and cut through the grime. However this is sometimes typical of many glass cleaners and has often become routine to me when cleaning my glasswork and so I did not find this to be detrimental.

Finish:
Again I haven't got pictures at this stage, mainly because its very hard to take pictures of a window before and after as it was mainly water spotting and some light grease that I was cutting through. At the end I was left with a very clean window, and as such I don't have a complaint about the finish from this product.

Durability:
N/A

Use: Clay Lube
Cutting & Cleaning Power:
Coupled with the clay - fantastic cutting and cleaning power.

Ease Of Use:
Once again I'm beginning to feel a bit silly proclaiming how easy this is to use. Diluted at around 1:16 - I used 50ml of Citrus Bling with 800ml of water... this produced a mighty 850ml of clay lube. Great, because I like to over-do my lube when claying, anything to lessen the risk of marring the paint is helpful.

Performance:
I've changed this section to discuss the performance of Citrus Bling as a Clay Lube. I used it liberally it must say aling with Sonus Grey clay, I had Valet Pro Clay too nit sure why I didn't use that! After spraying the area liberally I gently ran the clay over the surface - reapplying lube when required. The clay slid superbly over the surface - I did not encounter any sticking points and the clay never once dragged accross the surface. As such I decided that this performs brilliantly as a clay lube. The clay was rather grimey too and shows what was pulled from the paint.

Although some clays do say just water is required I often err on the side of caution and use a lube. As far as value goes - Citrus Bling will be hard to beat as a go to lube.

Spray Liverally:


Clay Time:



And Dry:

Nice and contaminant and marring free.

Durability:
N/A

Use: Quick Detailer

Cutting & Cleaning Power:
At this use the product does provide a bit of "cutting" and cleaning power. I used it to sucessfully remove greasy finger prints and fresh bird droppings with ease using a soft MF cloth. As far as cleaning on the go goes and in line with most QDs on the market it has the right amount of cutting and cleaning power.

Ease Of Use:
Spray on Wipe off my young apprentice! As ith most QDs again this is a spray on and wipe off product. Can be used to bring back that freshly waxed use. It did not require a secondary buffing and so I felt that it was extreme ease of use once again.

Finish:
As mentioned this can be used as a QD to bring back that freshly waxed look in between a proper waxing session. And boy does it do that well. I've used it to the Passenger side of my can and the rear end after cleaning and drying the car. The car was wearing Nanowax which had started to fade slightly in terms of depth and wetness. Not to worry Citrus Bling to the rescue. After application I could immediately see a change in slickness and the finish was achieved in a matter of seconds. Pictures are below:

Before:




After:







It really did add that bit of "bling" in the flesh and it looks like I've applied a fresh coat of my favourite wax or sealant.

Durability:
I suspect it won't last much longer than my next wash - but afterall what is a quick detailer designed for? It sure isn't designed with durability in mind.


Use: "Fast Wax"
Cutting & Cleaning Power:
Not really applicable here, though I suspect if you had any small points of dirt or grime left at this stage (I never did) then it would be removed by the product.

Ease Of Use:
*Copy&Paste* No seriously, once again it was easy to use as a fast wax. I sprayed it on and wiped it over. I then took another clean plush MF and gave it a final sort of buff over to get rid of any product left to produce the finish.

Finish:
I thought then finsih from the QD was superb, and to be honest I didn't think it would get any bettter. Boy was I wrong. I used it as a fast wax on the bonnet and drivers side of the car. It really added depth and shine to the paint and left it nice and smooth. Serious Bling was added at this stage. I;d not hesitate to stay that it works best enhancing the finish at this dilution.

The fast wax was applied to the bonnet and drivers side. There are no direct befores but they are similar to the finish which was shown in the QD section, however here is the big unveil - THE AFTERS!







Beading:




Especially on the front wing! I can't say how impressed I am by this.

Durability:
It does not actually contain any active wax element although this is said to last 3 weeks-ish. It showed signs of water beading and did sheet water off at fresh application. Durability wouldn't bother me as application was so quick and painless and I used little product - it wouldn't harm re-using this every week and I believe it is designed as this type of product.

Use: Paint Cleanser/Gloss Enhancer
Now this is where I thought things with this pruct took a turn for the strange, how? and how do I even go about using it? I've ditched the review format to explain this.
So used neat it will remove tree sap and tar and so forth. Used by hand it did indeed. It disolved a few tar spots, albeit not as quickly as Tardis or similar dedicated tar remover but it done the job nonetheless. Now this can be used via DA as a gloss enhancer/paint cleanser and contains no abrasives. Time for the fun.

So using a black hexlogic pad I sprayed the 12x12 area of the panel with the neat citrus bling and proceeded to "work the product at speeds 3-5. Obviously the pad will be doing some work here and the product some too. I did not take any before pictures as I didn't expect it to do much. Instead after use I was left with a seriously LSP ready surface and it was nice and shiny. The surface had been clayed recently so there was little in the way of contaminants but it did add some gloss.

Here is an after of the car but before ZAIO and Z2 application:



Now the product can also be used as a multipurpose cleaner either neat or 1:1. This usage also works out just fine, no real pictures ass I had just used it to clean plastics and clean door shuts and jambs. It does well in this area too and leaves a little hint of shine behind.

Value:
This product provides serious value for money. From 500ml I got a litre of QD at 1:3, 850ml of Clay lube and 400ml of "Fast Wax" - what more can you ask for under a tenner. Other than using as a clay lube the other applications require very little product for effectiveness and as such I expect it to last a vast number of details.
It does seem steep for 5L, but seriously, that would last an unbelievable amount of time unless you took to drinking it!

As such I should proclaim that this product offers brilliant, wiat, EXCEPTIONAL value for money!

Overall DW Rating: 97%


Conclusion:
Firstly to explain my rating, during the testing over the time period the product did not put a foot wrong. OK Durability I hear you scream and to that I will scream back that its a QD its a Fast Wax, its a Glass Cleaner, it's a Clay Lube, its a Transformer! Durability is not a quality which I would consider important for a product of this nature.

It is a one stop shop type product, and is certainly one which is a necessity for an "in car" detailing kit, where room is essential and you need to clean on the go I would consider Citrus Bling to be top of the list. Extremely cheap when you consider what it does, and if you don't have a huge budget, then I would invest in this. QDs are my personal vice with detailing and I have more of them than I do pairs of underwear, and this is going to be at the front of my shelf for a while.

So yes, overall it is fantastic, 10/10. No it won't fight off decepticons but it will give you a clean and slick looking finish, it will clean your windows and it will lubricate your clay, hell it even works as a paint cleaner with use by DA. Honestly what more do you want?

Thank you for reading, if you have any questions about the product then feel free to PM me.

Thankyou to ValetPro for supplying this product for reviewing. If you are interested in purchasing this, please visit: www.valetpro.co.uk