There's nothing harmful with Armor All. Years ago, like most similar products, Armor All contained a fair amount of solvent-based ingredients. This could cause problems in the long term, as the continued applications built up more of the product. This was harmful to certain materials.

Those who manufactured the protectants changed their formulas once this was discovered. Armor All has bore the brunt of this stigma, and despite it being safe now it has continued to be a blemish on their record.

Now, is Armor All the best product? Certainly not. It's marketed towards those who tend to look to average products. If you're serious about your car, there are better alternative solutions mentioned above. I tend to use Meguiar's products myself, but many have had good success with the Optimum products as well.

 

As for putting on the tire shine I use these things called tire swipes. Pretty cheap and last a while.

 

Shiny tires are not my favorite, I think they look overdone, and they usually collect a ton of dust. I use bleech white to clean the tires, and then leave them plain looking, clean.

 

Is there a difference in the Meguair's Hot Shine tire gel vs the Endurance tire gel?

 

Another Meguiar's product that works well is their natural Shine Vinyl and Rubber Protectant. It sounds a lot like the other two where it's pastie, not liquid like. It really darkens the rubber, doesn't attract dust, isn't a wetlook product, last weeks, and is easy to use. It makes you tires look like.... tires. Use Bleche Wite to clean them off first. It'll get rid of all that deep down brake dust aand all the other crap you've put on prior.

When I've taken my cars to shows, I only wiped the tires down with a clean towel to remove anything I might've picked up on the drive there and I'm done. No spraying crap and leaving over spray on the car or wet spots on the ground around the tires. That's weak. Who likes wet spots?

 

LOL

I can't stand seeing areas on the pavement that makes it obvious tire dressing was sprayed. If I spray tire dressing, I put something down to avoid this. If I happen to be one of the judges, you'll lose points when I see "wet spots"!

I haven't compared them side by side, but the Endurance seems to last longer.

 

The hot shine gel is a good product too. Doesn't last as long as endurance and kinda attracts dust BUT it leaves a better shine than endurance on the first application.