IMO and experience, if you are using a filtered apple juice like Motts, that is clear coming out of the jug, you don't need a clearing agent. Let it sit. It will clear up just fine, and quickly. Wal Mart offers a store brand juice that works for apple wines, too, and is cheaper.
If you are using apples, be sure to throw in adequate pectic enzyme right away, and they will clear up decently with gravity and time alone, too. But if you are impatient with them, use the clearing agent. Same goes with cloudy ciders.
With any grape or fruit wine (using the actual item), you can quicken the overall clearing time by racking it to a clean sanitized carboy 7-14 days after your first racking. Choose when by how quickly the lees are piling up. Gets rid of a lot of gross lees. Then rack as usual after that.
I have a stock of clearing stuff I bought that I never have used. I've found if you're just busy enough or lazy enough, things will take care of themselves.
Also, when you bottle, if you have 5 gallons or so, set aside two bottles of the dry apple wine right off the carboy. Put them somewhere for 18 months minimum and open them then.
With the rest, you can stabilize and back flavor with frozen apple concentrate and sugar to raise your taste level. Taking the first 2 bottles dry allows headspace in your clean bottling carboy for additions. Arne is a fan of using a tiny drop of real vanilla or using a vanilla bean in secondary, and after having some of his wine, that does work well, too.
But when you get back to that aged dry apple wine, I think you might be amazed at how good it tastes. I was when I set aside a couple bottles. It went in nasty tasting and came out tasting heavenly. I could not believe how good it was dry. Worth trying with 2 bottles. See what you think.
