sup guys , post your experiences with wax's on the market , whats hot , whats not.
what are your detailing secrets.... what have you leand through the years . im interested in what other people are doing to make their cars look beautiful.

 

what i leaned ...

Wash your car thoroughly with clean water. If you dont, you'll introduce scratches.

Only apply light coats of wax. You should be able to wax the entire car in under 15 min.

Use a new foam pad for each wax application. they are cheap.

Use microfiber cloths to remove wax. Wash them after each use.

Clay bar your car periodically. more often if you have nothing better to do on your weekends.

Always work from top to bottom.

A cap full of concentrated carwash is all you need.

When drying, always pop open the doors, boot and bonnet. You'll always find excess water by the door handles.

Always remember to do the wheels. If youre washing the car, they just an extra few minutes overall.

Instead of spraying armourall on the dash, try cleaning it with a duster.


Soft bristle brushes work great on vent ducts.

Take a multipurpose spray and a brush to your door panels at least once a year. It will do wonders with odors, and any residue left after your armor all'ing.

heck, if youre scrubbing panels, might as well do the head liner. works great for you smokers out there.

I personally use a combination of mothers and meguiar's products. Mothers by choice, and Meguiars because they sponsored my friend's shop and provided a truck load of products.

After trying several brands, I can safely recommend the mother's claybar as the best. The worst would be Meguiars. Same goes for the quick detailing sprays. These are based on my own experiences. Im sure other people may have better luck.

If the car is gravely neglected, dont gun for a show room finish after one session. One might actually over do the cleaning process and hurt the finish. That's when you hear complaints about having more swirlys after each washing. With all thats said, moderation never hurts. a short testimonial: My friend's 99 A4 was parked outside since he bought it new. We worked on his car one weekend and he was satisfied. I told him to come back the next weekend and we'd hit it again. The second cleaning was easier and the differences were enough for him to drop that darn jaw once more

Rule of thumb... stay away from car washes. even when they say brushless, you dont realize the debris the truck in front of you leaves on those foamy mops that work on your car next.

g/l all

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hella_JDM &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sup guys , post your experiences with wax's on the market , whats hot , whats not.
what are your detailing secrets.... what have you leand through the years . im interested in what other people are doing to make their cars look beautiful.</TD></TR></TABLE>



Modified by IntEGNYC at 12:56 AM 12/10/2003

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IntEGNYC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what i leaned ...

Wash your car thoroughly with clean water. If you dont, you'll introduce scratches.

Only apply light coats of wax. You should be able to wax the entire car in under 15 min.

Use a new foam pad for each wax application. they are cheap.

Use microfiber cloths to remove wax. Wash them after each use.

Clay bar your car periodically. more often if you have nothing better to do on your weekends.

Always work from top to bottom.

A cap full of concentrated carwash is all you need.

When drying, always pop open the doors, boot and bonnet. You'll always find excess water by the door handles.

Always remember to do the wheels. If youre washing the car, they just an extra few minutes overall.

Instead of spraying armourall on the dash, try cleaning it with a duster.

Soft bristle brushes work great on vent ducts.

Take a multipurpose spray and a brush to your door panels at least once a year. It will do wonders with odors, and any residue left after your armor all'ing.

Rule of thumb... stay away from car washes. even when they say brushless, you dont realize the debris the truck in front of you leaves on those foamy mops that work on your car next.

g/l all

</TD></TR></TABLE>

dam he sumed it all up
now which products do you use?
in order if you can

 

too many to list. You should see the cabinet in my garage

honestly it depends on the condition of the car and how much time i have to spend on the detail job.

at the moment, both cars are immersed in road salt. I've basically rinced them both down twice already and will wait till january to do a wash and quick waxing.

Generally when you wax, i'd recommend up to three (light) coats. an ideal finish is one where water beads and you can bascially blow the water droplets off the car with little effort. wax is the only protection besides the clear coat for your finish.

Do a good job and the maintenance is a snap going forward.

 

http://www.clearkote.com

http://www.topoftheline.com

only use MF's
use s100 over p21s

good results come from prepwork.

 

yep dont ever take your car through those scratcho matic washes....shudders.
claybars do wonders for finishes. i've used a bunch of waxes and have become a fan of zaino wax

 

what about zaino... my car was sitting for nearly 4 months... (it wasnt working, vacation and hospital) lost track of time... but now she is running and I just sprayed her off, but im making a trip to the store tommorrow and am curious about some different things. I was reading up and zaino pictures seemed amazing so I was leaning towards that. if not mothers is definently what I will be going for

 

zaino is good stuff if you use a lot of layers. it lasts longer than a carnuba but doesn't have as much depth. it is all peresonal preference pretty much... a lot of carnuba will give a lot of depth. a synthetic sealant / polish like zaino will give a sharp reflective look.

 

i love mothers products . but i have more meguirs than mothers . i use the meguirs 3 step wax , tire shine , wheel cleaner , quick detailer , trim detailer , leather conditioner etc...... im gonna try the mothers reflections polish , if anybody has used it let me know what you think about it!!

 

Don't forget your washmitt... I use one bucket for soapy water, and one for rinsing my washmitt... change the water in the 2nd one as you find necessary

less is more. Remember, only a little bit touches the surface of the paint. Putting on a thick coat is only going to make removing the product more difficult.

I usually just soak my foam/terry cloth/microfiber applicators in a bit of dishwashing detergent and water, then clean them out really well. They look almost brand new

good for those pain in the *** black cars... terry cloths leave lint all over

if you maintain your car regularly, there shouldn't be a need to claybar too often

Maybe use a 2nd washmitt if the bottom panels are especially dirty

Compressed air or an electric leaf blower works well to get water out of tight places too. Just remember to wear earplugs if using the latter

You wax the paint on your car, why not wax your rims? Synthetic polymer sealants (like Klasse and Zaino) seem popular for rims since they last longer

or even a damp microfiber towel!

such as your mom's/sister's/gf's/wife's old makeup brushes

Mother's and Meguiars make great off-the-shelf products. Meguiar's Pro Body Shop line also makes excellent products.

Agreed. Meguiar's clay comes apart way too easy. Same with Zaino's. Clay Magic and Mother's would be my top choices.

don't forget those free "courtesy" carwashes at the stealership... the only courtesy they're going to be giving you is the courtesy of spending a whole Saturday afternoon removing the dealer installed swirls

Overall, a good post by IntEGNYC how do you deal with detailing your car when it snows?

 

Products i use.

PC+pads
Menzerna Final Polish
s100 SEC
s100 Carnuba Wax
1z Paint Polish
1z Ultra Polish
1z Vinyl and Rubber care
1z Anti-Insekt
303 Aerospace Protectant
Endurance Tire gel
Pakshak MF Towels
Abosorber
Claymagic Clay bar

I know there are others but too many to list.

 

I personally use a lot of 3m Imperial Hand Glaze, and One Grand Blitz Wax - with lots of foam applicators and super-soft terrycloth towels. However, I'm probably going to switch to microfiber around Christmas, hoping that my fiancee listened to what I asked for...

My old Civic did get a claybar treatment probably once every 8 months or so, but I really never had the time with school and work to do the kind of thorough job on the whole thing that I wanted to (which would have been wash, clay, IHG, IHG, wax, wax).

Alex

 

how does one remove swirl marks?

 

Clay Magic clay bar &gt; any clay bar on the market. Tried Mothers a few times, no bueno. Switched to Clay Magic and it actually felt like soft clay, and performed eleventy billion times better. That's all I'm awake enough to say right now.

 

ZYMOL CLEANER WAX OWNZ!!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by USteppin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how does one remove swirl marks?</TD></TR></TABLE>

3m Swirl Mark Remover for Dark Colored cars is available, as well as for Light Colored Cars. 3m Imperial Hand Glaze makes them better too, but these solutions are temporary and the swirls will come back either way. Only way to actually get them out I believe would be with a random orbital buffer and some appropriate compounds to use with it.

Alex

 

here's a question.. when you say remove the wax? what are you talking about? after applying the wax.. you spray water and "wash" it off?

 

You put the wax on with a wax applicator...like a small-cell sponge pad. You let the wax cure on the car for 15 or 20 minutes (usually, depending on what type of wax) and then once it's hazed over nicely, you (remove) buff it back out with a terry cloth or microfiber towel. That's when you get the purty glossy finish!

Alex

 

Well, I'm a little late.

Here are a couple things I think we missed.

When applying wax, polish, etc, NEVER use a circular motion.
Go back and forth, like the wind would travel over the car. That'll reduce swirl marks.

(after you have waxed the car.) When you are washing it, and you are going to rinse it off, use as low pressure as possible. Don't use any nozzels or anything. You want to have the water "sheet" off. Start from the top, and work down. -- This will just basically result in less drying.

Be sure to resoak your mit often, when washing your car. It takes me a full bucket to wash my integra. Don't dip it once and go over the entire car.


I like the s100 products alot. s100 is THE SAME THING as p21s, only cheaper. I use the wax and paint cleaner.

I like Meguiar's high endurance tire shine, because it smells like grapes.

-Will

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Quik89Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You put the wax on with a wax applicator...like a small-cell sponge pad. You let the wax cure on the car for 15 or 20 minutes (usually, depending on what type of wax) and then once it's hazed over nicely, you (remove) buff it back out with a terry cloth or microfiber towel. That's when you get the purty glossy finish!

Alex</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's actually easier to do one panel at a time.

For instance, apply on the front fender, then remove it when you are done. Same results, just less work.

 

Never tried it that way...it seems like the One Grand Blitz wax takes longer than that to properly set...maybe I should do thinner layers. Oh, and I always do it in a back-and-forth motion, never circles! CIRCLES ARE BAD!

Like I said, I never really seem to have the time to do it how I want to do it or to experiment with methods, but school is over soon and I'm going to give it another shot!

Alex

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mantic6t9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Products i use.

PC+pads
Menzerna Final Polish
s100 SEC
s100 Carnuba Wax
1z Paint Polish
1z Ultra Polish
1z Vinyl and Rubber care
1z Anti-Insekt
303 Aerospace Protectant
Endurance Tire gel
Pakshak MF Towels
Abosorber
Claymagic Clay bar

I know there are others but too many to list.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

you must read autopia

 

how do u guys like quick detailers? i've only used meguires....anyone else?

 

I use meguiar's final detail and final inspection. FD contains sillicones, FI does not. Therefore the FD is good for wax based finishes whereas FI is good for sealants and zaino. Other good final sprays are the poorboy's and the clearkote.

 

I agree with most of what IntegNYC posted except:

Use only a capful of concentrated car wash liquid?

No wonder why someone would introduce scratches if they kept dipping their mitt in dirty water. They way I see it, the more soap/car wash liquid you use would act as a lubricant keeping the surface slick and smooth while removing dirt and grim. Therefore I use lots of it, never once have I needed an extra bucket of water to rinse my mitt, and never had one scratch in my S2K's paint from a cotton wash mitt.

Some tips of my own:

-Never wash your car in direct sunlight. Sun promotes uncontrolled drying and
then waterspots. Shaded areas rock! I always get the best results when washing
my car before/at sunrise or in overcast weather.

-Microfiber towels work great for drying the car also. I can believe how much
water they absorb.


Modified by ITRbroham at 1:12 PM 12/10/2003