I went for a long time without using whirlflock or IM in my beer. In fact, I didn't start using it again until recently a year ago or so. That mean, I was brewing commercially without using it. Then I just happened to use it once on a small batch and noticed immediately how much clearer the hydrometer flask was. The other hydrometer flasks without WF cleared up over night. With WF you could see huge chunks of break. So now I use it for ever batch. Except for wheat beers.