Can I Use Products from Different Brands?

We get asked this question a lot, and for good reason. Manufacturers develop products to work best together and many create a system to have everything you need. These products will work great together, however, this does not mean that you MUST use one brands products only. It can, however, make it easy to get into detailing and seeing what to do in each situation with a  clear breakdown in one brand.

One of the hardest things to learn in detailing is that there is no one right way. You can get the same result in 50 different ways and often need to take different approaches depending on the circumstance of the vehicle. Because of this, it is best to look at products as how they work first, and the brand second.

Let’s get our Bob Ross on paint a picture for this:

You want to purchase a NanoSkin Wash Mitt instead of traditional clay, great choice it’s an amazing tool. Now you need something for the lubrication, do you buy the NanoSkin Glide? If you want, sure you can. But you could also buy a detail spray from; Poorboys World, Chemical Guys, Optimum, Meguiars, 303, almost any brand or even use just car shampoo and water. These will all work great for your needs as they all do the same thing, there are minor differences of course, as with all similar products, but if the product works for your needs, the brand is secondary.

This is the case for all products, (polishes, waxes, cleaners dressings, etc.) you can even mix and match products from the same brand. Such as using a more aggressive pad with a polish to get some more cut but maybe finish down better, see Zach’s Article for pairing pads and polishes.

So, remember, use what works for you. Now that may be products of all the same brand and that’s great, the OCD in me would love all my bottles to be the same! But you are not required to, use the correct type of product for the correct situation and the proper technique and you will get great results!