Introduction

Acrylic weathering products, while being very attractive due to not being hazardous, tend to have a big issue: surface tension. Solvent-based products, washes spread much better, and they do not tend to leave “tide-marks” like water-based products do; therefore I was pretty interested in how Vallejo’s dust washes perform.
In short: very well.
(OK, you can stop reading the review if this is all what you wanted.)

Review

I used the road wheels of an old Panther build and left unfinished to see how these washes perform on a complex surface. I simply applied them with an overloaded brush, and let them dry. The wash spread nicely, just like a solvent-based wash. The results are nice: subtle, dusty look.
Photo 1

The second and third photo shows the difference between treated and untreated road wheels for the two washes (one of the reason I chose this as a test-bed: to have a control group right next to the treatment group), and the fourth photo shows the differences between the European earth wash straight from a bottle (1), light application (somewhat diluted with water) (2), and nothing (3).

The fifth photo shows the results of three consecutive, heavy applications.

It might be a good look for a vehicle in very dusty, dry environment, but probably not the best way to use it the product like this.

Conclusion

The best way to use these washes is to form a subtle accumulation of dust in crevices, not flooding the surface with them. As a general rule: using more than one technique with a light touch to achieve a certain look will more likely create a realistic finish than using just one technique with a heavy hand. This means that these washes will not provide a single step solution for creating dusty-looking surfaces, but they do make your job easier.