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Store Bought Waxes Part II (No Zaino Posts)
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This is my plan after spending days reading online.
1. Continue with the Gold Class wash and shampoo.
Considered using a clay bar next but just don't feel very comfortable. I am afraid I might do more harm than good.
2. Apply 3M Imperial Hand Glaze (I have a Waxmaster orbital buffer that I have never used but may get the Machine Glaze-not sure).
3. Then use One Grand Blitz Wax for 3 coats (one week apart).
4. After each wash therafter I plan to use a little One Grand Show Off Quick Detailer.
Thought about a P21S Super-Absorbing Drying Towel. Does anyone have any experience with one of these?
Also thought a California Car Duster would be good to deal with minor dust and lint in the garage as long as I keep the car well waxed.
I am not a fanatic but I do like to keep my car looking good and don't mind working a little bit as long as it does not affect my time on the golf course. A man must have his priorities!
Appreciate feedback from the true fanatics.
car wash - Eagle One's Wet - $5 for 1/2 gallon at Advance Auto Parts
chamois - The Absorber - less than $10
Quick detailer - either Eagle One's Wipe and Shine or Meguiar's Quick Detailer (I like these better than Show Off)
as far as the Ca Duster - well, I personally don't like to wipe the surface of a dirty car, but I know others recommend the Duster - that's just my 2 cents -
Your plan looks fine to me. If that's the procedures and products you are comfortable with, then I say stick with it. But allow me to offer a little food for thought:
Clay - I love the stuff. Most fanatics do too and use it as part of their detailing regimen. It's very easy use and would take some serious abuse to mess up. As long as you use plenty of lubricant like quick detailer and go over the paint lightly, a small section at a time, you should not have any problems. Clay streaks can be easily removed with detailing spray and a clean towel. I'd imagine your car needs a good claying. After washing feel the paint surface by lightly rubbing your hand over the hood and roof. Try this with your hand inside a sandwich baggie. Feel roughness? Those are surface contaminents that need to be removed before polishing. Clay will take that crud right off.
Polish - I really like 3M Imperial Hand Glaze (IHG) but for a two year old car it may be a little light duty. I'd go up a step to 3M's Swirl Mark Remover which will remove light oxidation and swirls. Glazes like IHG are mostly fillers and oils and are meant for new or perfectly polished paint that's ready for wax. As a car gets older it can use a more aggressive polish. It won't hurt the paint and you might be surprised how good it looks after a little rigerous polishing (not like the swirl mark remover is aggressive; its mild stuff). This is where that buffer will really come in handy.
Wax - One Grand Blitz is terrific and an excellent choice. The more expensive stuff like P21S or Pinnacle is only moderately better. I've used them all and I think Blitz is a great product.
Car duster - Some hate them but I do use mine occassionally. Just for light dust like you mentioned. If my car needs more "dusting" I use quick detailer and a microfiber towel.
The CRV - That would be a good candidate for the IHG. That stuff is ideal for new cars and new paint. It'll work great. Check the paint for surface contaminents and consider claying the CRV. You might find it needs the clay too. Floow the IHG with the Blitz and you'll be good to go.
I think I will try the clay. What brand is the best value for clay in your opinion?
I will take your advice on the swirl remover. You seem to think that I can use the orbiter buffer without screwing up. Is it messy? Any tips? I was planning to to tape the trimwork but don't know if regular masking tape is ok or not.
Are the microfiber towels at Walmart (I think they are made by Viking) and AutoZone ok to use?
What do you use to dry your vehicles after washing?
One more question. I was trying to avoid a detailing spray or other products that contain silicone in case I need to do touchup work but I also would love for my finished work to repel dust and lint. Are these valid concerns for an amateur or can I get both worlds here?
I can't comment on the microfiber towels, sorry.
After washing, I use a microfiber synthetic chamois made by Simoniz. Works great.
I've used Meguiar's Quik Detailer for a few months now and I really like it. It does a nice job.
My current formula is:
1. Prep the car with Meguiar's First Step paint cleaner.
2. Use Meguiar's Gold Class to wax/polish the car.
3. Meguiar's Quik Detailer for in-between waxes.
4. Turtle Wax Emerald Series Gel Tire Dressing.
5. Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish for my mags.
6. Wash using Zymol car wash. It suds like I've never seen and works great.
tntitan..I have a CA duster and think it is great. I dust when it needs it when the car is clean and well waxed but do not use when dirty. Get at WaL-MART FOR $10.
I need to clean up my wife's car which has some paint oxidation (not bad), what are some store bought choices that would work before putting down the wax...
Thanks in advance
The weekend driver has a bright red Chromabase paint job with a few coats of clear. It was painted a few years ago but I just recently started driving it to shows and cruise nights. What are your recomendations for removing swirl marks from the buff job done after painting? Should I use a clay bar? I want to get a streak-free drop dead gorgeous shine.
How do you detailers wash your terry cloth polishing and waxing towels? Do you use fabric softeners?
Thanks
I prefer not to do that. Then Use Meguiars Professional Swirl Remover with a buffer. Try it twice, Then a glaze and apply your waxes. I did this on a Blaze Red Mazda that literally looked Pink and it is now a deep red.
After you have removed the oxidation and it looks good don't use anything stronger than a glaze. The clearcoat is weaker than normal not worth loosing pigment. If glazed twice a year should keep an excellent shine and depth. Love 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, and Meguiars #7. IHC is a little stronger.
Thanks!
"If a vehicle is brand new, it should not be waxed or sealed for a minimum of 21 days. Verify the vehicle's build date by checking the certification label on the driver's door."
http://www.carwash.com/article.asp?IndexID=6631067
mrdetailer - Thanks and keep us informed. It's always good to hear about a real world test.
What do you guys use for polishing and waxing towels? And how do you clean them? With softener?
But many of us have switched over to microfiber towels. Softer than cotton and very absorbant. Perfect for buffing off wax or polish and ideal for washing windows. Once you use microfiber you'll never want to use anything else.
The problem is their limited availability and sketchy quality. The ones available at most retail stores are so-so (granted, softer than cotton terry but not as good as they can be). All the microfiber I have I got via mail-order. Here are a few places to shop microfiber:
http://www.tacscar.com
http://www.neatitems.com
http://www.properautocare.com
As for washing, here is a quote from the Neatitems folks. It applies to cotton terry as well as microfiber:
Hand wash with dish soap in hot water or machine wash with laundry detergent. Rinse thoroughly. Do not use bleach (bleach will shorten the life of your micro fiber cloths.) Do not use fabric softener (fabric softener leaves a film on the cloths.) Be careful when machine washing or drying in mixed loads (micro fiber cloths will pick up lint from other fabrics.) Air dry or put in dryer on low to medium heat.
Aren't the microfiber towels made of a synthetic material that could scratch? I bought one to use for cleaning the windows.
fastdriver
1. Wash - I still have a little bit of Meguiars Gold Class but plan to buy 1 gallon of Turtle Wax Zip Wash for $4.96 at WalMart.
2. Bought the Erazer Clay Kit (2 2oz clay bars and 16 oz. of detailer) for $19.95 at DCCarcare. Finally decided to clay both cars. WalMart had the Mothers Clay Kit for $13.67 which was more than $5 cheaper than Pep Boys but it only has one clay bar and I believe the Erazer clay to be better for a novice.
3. Bought the 3M Swirl Mark Remover for the Accord for $9.99 and the 3M Imperial Hand Glaze for $8.99 for the CRV. I plan to use the IHG on both vehicles for subsequent polishing after the initial job.
4. Went with the new Collonite 'de Elegance wax from DCCarcare for $22.50. From all of the comments I have read this appears to show the shine, one of the more durable, fairly easy to apply, and only needs one coat. My cars are garage kept and washed regularly - I hope to go through this process only twice a year - three times at the max. I debated seriously between the Collonite and One Grand Blitz Wax ($13.99 or $18.49 for the 10 oz or 15 oz from motorhead). I believe I would go with the Blitz wax if I was willing to wax more often or put more coats of wax on to begin with. A man has to know his limitations!
5. I plan to keep some Meguiars Quick Detail ($4.27 at WalMart) in the car for occasional touch up work.
6. Lexol Vinylex ($8.99 from Pep Boys) for the interior, trim work, and tires. I think the UV protection sold me on this.
7. Got the California Water Blade ($19.99), California Car Duster ($9.99), and The Absorber towel ($6.00) at Pep Boys because I am lazy. Plan to use the Duster sparingly but on the Dark Green the dust really shows.
8. Since I had such a hard time deciding which microfiber towels were the best value and how many I needed, I ended up going with 12 specially made 100% cotton (thread also) polishing towels from DCCarcare for $12.95.
All totals up to about $130. Hope the weather gets warm quick while I still have the fever to do this. I will report on my results asap. Thanks again to all of the fanatics.
http://www.properautocare.com/micwhatbigde.html
Towels. I haven't made the switch to microfiber yet. Not when for 7 dollars I can get 25 2 feet by 2 feet high quality terry at Sam's Club. If they are no longer soft, it's cheap to throw them away. I make sure that I wash the towels with a liquid soap that doesn't contain any fabric softeners or brightners.
Are they more stain resistant because of an added carnuba wax ingredient?
Thanks. That's the one I bought to do my windows- the Viper. Only used it once so far because our weather finally got cold! ;-)) I'm not so sure that I would use it on the car itself. I'll stick to my white 100% cotton, Made in the USA towels.
To all-
Just got this link from the author. Better than nothing if you didn't save your pictures.
http://www.photopoint.com/statusupdate.html
fastdriver
As far as waxing hi-top vans, well, you certainly have a challenge on your hands. I've done a few and have used ladders or some kind of scaffolding. I took two Workmates and laid some boards across them for a makeshift scaffold. All I can honestly offer is do the best you can. An orbital buffer really comes in handy at times like this. Best of luck.
Do you wash the engine bay, and if so, do you use a foaming wash that you have to rinse off? My dealer's willing to do it for $20, but I can get the stuff at my local Canadian Tire (the Canadian PepBoys equivalent) for $12, and I can just do it myself. I'm just concerned with the "rinsing off" part, since modern cars have electronics, and rinsing off the stuff with water might short circuit something.
Thank you, fellow fanatics!
Ironically I've found that the more expensive low suds varieties work better. They are more durable in cold water, on road salt, and removing grease. They seem to have more brighteners added. Gold Class is the most concentrated that I have used.
http://www.carcareonline.com/clean_engines.html
My Accord has the rear window defroster and radio antenna. It has some oily type film on the window that I want to clean before I have the windows tinted. What do you guys recommend?
Am I making a mistake to get a quality tint job from a longstanding reputable company? The heat here in the spring, summer and fall is brutal.
I did not see this topic anywhere but figured that some of you detailing fanatics would have strong opinions on the subject.
If your windows are not factory-tinted, but rather a tint film that's applied on the glass, never use an ammonia cleaner. Water will do fine, but there are some cleaners specially designed for tint film.
Also, make sure that since you have a glass-imprinted antenna, do not get film with metallic content in it. It could cause poor radio reception.
That said, I would still ask the tint installer just to make sure.
If not, thoughts on products to use?
Teflon (PTFE) in car wax is used as a marketing gimmick, no more. Some years ago DuPont, the developers of Teflon, put out a memo regarding their products and car wax. Here's a quote from Professional Carwashing And Detailing magazine, a trade publication:
"Dupont several years ago released a press statment about their trade mark product Teflon. In a nutshell, they said the Teflon added nothing to waxes or polishes as Teflon can and will only bond to metal while heated to very high temps. Basically what they were doing was giving a disclaimer for all of the polished and waxes hitting the market making claim after claim about how superior their product was just because it was supposed to contain Teflon. This came out about the time the debacle about PTFE resins and the Slick 50 product that also turned out to be a big farce."
I'm not going to attempt to debunk 5 star's claims as it's not worth the time. But I will make this comment - If everything they said was true then I cannot believe that all the car mfr's aren't using and selling this stuff. I put this stuff in the same category as the 80mpg carburetor, magnets on the fuel line to properly align fuel molecules for better mileage, and that tornado thingy you put in your intake tract to improve airflow.
Use this stuff at your own discretion.
I also read that teflon article a long time ago.
fastdriver
We finally had some rain a couple of days so I could check the natural beading. To my surprise the roof and trunk were beading just about as well as the hood I had just waxed. It was still great.
While the shine on the untouched portion still looked good, I would have to say that the clarity and brillance of the newer coat was higher.
Checked the 3M Perfect-It at the same time, and it is still beading well also. More beading than the Meguiars just after washed, but about the same in the rain.