There are so many rip off reports showing up on the internet, I thought I would provide a less biased opinion of the product for those who are considering purchasing. I am simply an educated consumer (engineer) that believes in being fair. So, here it is.
I purchased the product in August to try it out on my older car with some aggravating plastic fading issues. The fading was occurring on some trim that would be difficult to replace. No other off the shelf products seemed to work more than a week or so, or beyond 1 hard rain.
After receiving the product and reading the label, it seemed fairly obvious the reseller was not making the product. But rather, they were simply marketing something old as something new. But, that is certainly fair and an easy way to make money on the internet/tv. The way the product looked, worked and smelled seemed so familiar, I also began to research what it may really be. I suspected it was an acrylic, and in short, that is what it seems to be.
The product seems to be an acrylic polymer in a solvent base (likely acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, parachlorobenzotriflouride (PCBTF), propylene carbonate, t-butyl acetate, xylene or some combination of those). So, obviously it is quite volatile and hazardous. The label does contain a warning, albeit not very outstanding. It would be nice if they included the contents on the bottle, but they do not. Hence, it would be difficult to tell a poison control center what you actually have. Also, there is no means to obtain the MSDS sheet.
You can purchase a similar product from most any automotive restoration company under names such as PermaShine (Urethane Supply Company). However, note that the price offered by Wipe New is not too far off the mark from the other companies. For example, PermaShine runs about $69 a quart (full retail). Wipe New is about $20 for the 3 oz bottle plus a few wipes and a glove. While Wipe New is higher per ounce, it is not ridiculous.
Keep in mind though, the advertisement that a little goes a long way is very true. It is not very likely you would ever need a quart unless you are a professional detailer. The 3 oz bottle of Wipe New will probably renew the plastic trim on 5 cars, or bumpers of 2 or 3 cars. Just don't soak a cloth as they state in their literature. To work on trim, dab a little on the corner of a cloth. That one little dab will do a whole windows' trim. I assume the product goes so far because the typical surface is not really porous; it's simply penetrating a few microns.
Keep in mind also that this is acrylic. Acrylics are hard when dry (think about the clear acrylic used in thick aquarium glass). So, it is recommended from all manufacturers that these products be used on hard textured plastics. While it will work on soft non-textured plastic and rubber, it may not perform or look as good on those. Non-textured plastics may show streaking. Soft plastics may result in peeling or flaking later. It does perform great on hard textured plastic, especially those of darker colors.
The marketing by Wipe New seems a bit unfair to me because the reseller does not provide an adequate description of what the product is, or how much you actually receive. I have no knowledge of their upselling or mischarging, so I can't comment on that. But, from a cost comparison to similar products, it is pretty much in the ball park, and probably a better alternative to purchasing an entire quart.
Hope this was helpful to everyone.
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