Product Review: Armor All Extreme Shield Wax

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Armor All for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

In our hectic day to day grind of family life, we often find it difficult to squeeze in time to detail our cars the way we’d like. Ideally, we’d have some magic wash water that would just blast dirt and debris off of the car with minimal effort.

We think we found the next best thing, or at least a product that makes life much easier for people who subject their car to everything that mother nature cares to throw at it.

From the Armor All website:

Armor All’s new wax technology not only protects, it also repels dirt & grime. Since the other elements can’t penetrate Armor All’s invisible shield, they can be easily washed away.

Effortless application; no hazing

Can be applied in direct sunlight

Brilliant, long-lasting shine

No white residue on plastic

Safe to apply on all automotive finishes

We tried this new Armor All product on what is arguably the most difficult to keep clean color ever sprayed onto an Audi – Brilliant Black. When clean and waxed, brilliant black is one of the most stunning finishes available. The problem is, the beauty is usually very short lived, especially for those of us who live off of the beaten path, on a dirt road. Dust, mud, snow, salt, bugs and so on plague the brilliant black owner, necessitating almost constant attention to keep the luster.

Our test subject is a 1998.5 A4 Avant, which is admittedly not a show ready car, but is not a total minger either. All it needed was some TLC, and we found that AA Extreme Wax was more than up to the task.

One thing we need to get out right off – this is NOT a paint restoration product, it’s not a cleaner wax, it’s not a polish, or anything else that some of the be-all end-all car wax products on the market claim to be. Fact of the matter is, if your car has paint issues, address them first, then apply this product last. You’ll be much happier with it that way.

We did apply it on some clean but otherwise untouched parts of the car, and were pleased to discover that the Extreme Shield Wax actually did enhance the gloss of the paint, as well as bringing a lot of black back to the originally dry looking paint.  It also did a reasonably good job of hiding some minor imperfections, and actually slightly improved some very severe scratches on the car.

Never fully satisfied though, we tried to see what the Extreme Shield Wax would do over some paint restorer. It’s even better. The finish is very “wet” looking, and deep.

The best part of the Extreme Shield though is the way it repels dirt and water. Wipe it on, wipe it off, and spray with water, and instantly the water beads and runs off of the protected surface. It is quite remarkable, even compared to a true carnauba wax.

The best part though is the ease of application. This is literally a wipe on and wipe off product. No care needs to be taken to avoid unpainted plastic, as the extreme shield manages to enhance that surface as well.

We’ve had the extreme shield on the car for just over a week, and it still looks great. Dust doesn’t seem to cling to the protected areas, and the morning dew doesn’t leave any kind of water staining, both of which are real issues with brilliant black. Because it’s so easy to apply, we could see re-applying it a few times a year just to keep the protection level at it’s highest.

We’re looking forward to some real foul weather to see how well Extreme Shield repels more mud, but so far, we like the results we’ve seen with this product.