Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Store Bought Waxes Part II (No Zaino Posts)
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1. wash it with Dawn detergent to strip the old wax off.
2. Using a *Clay Bar* kit, clean the paint job with the clay bar.
3. Wash the car again.
4. Polish your Camry with a polish such as Meguiar's Deep Gloss Polish or something similar.
5. Then wax your Camry using a good wax. I just recently tried Meguiar's NXT wax and am quite happy with the results.
I guess I am talking about 2 things:
1)Cleaning the grime off the outside (includes dirt, wax overspray, oil overspray (the dealer lubes all weatherstripping to keep the rattles and pops down on my 02 Camry--I AM SERIOUS), sap, rain marks etc.
2) The inside. You would think this would be easier but I get a film on my wondows. The dealer said this is normal for a newer car.
So what product do I use or what concoction do I mix up? What kind of towell / cloth should I wipe with? Is it best to wipe in circles, vertically, horizontally etc. Whats the secret! Thanks again!
If your windows seem gritty, try steel wool, 00 very fine, on front and then sides. I use an SOS pad myself. I do it when it's raining since that's easier than wetting the windows myself. Some people use barkeeper's friend (oxalic acid) to remove the road grit that adhere especially to the front window.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I then tried Stoner's Invisible Glass in an aerosol can and it worked much better.
Finally I purchase some cheap Gunk window cleaner in an aerosol can, clearly a rip-off in terms of packaging of the Stoner product which has been around longer, and it worked best of all!
I have seen both the Stoners and the Gunk at Wal-Mart's, it is a lot cheaper there than Kragen's etc.
Both aerosol products are "nasty" if you don't keep the car well ventilated. Both really require using newspaper for the best job. Anything else streaks or leaves behind lint.
I also discovered Stoner's Speed Bead Wax a few years back and won't use anything else. Great stuff!
Outside: Depends how dirty. A couple times a year, one or combo of the following Glass Scrub http://www.properautocare.com/glassscrub.html (also available at some auto stores), Clay, Stoners with 0000 steel wool (do NOT use anything more abrasive or the "synthetic" type substitutes). Normal cleaning just wash when I wash the car possibly followed by Stoners using the MF towel.
Aquapel on front window, Rain Clear or Rain-X on sides, back and mirrors.
Simple Dawn dishwashing soap and hot water. Cuts grease and leaves no steaks.
I accidentally used Dawn that I had in a bucket for wheels and added some car soap to it. I had little yellow flakes of carnauba wax that I had labored to paste on a couple of weeks earlier floating in the water. Then I realized what I'd done. Dawn is a terrific grease cutter. They used it when a truck overturned on an interstate ramp in Cincinnati a few years back. The truck was carrying rendered fat meant for a hand cream/lotion type plant in the area. They used Dawn to emulsify that lard. So it's potent stuff.
I would avoid dishwashing detergent on windows because if a drop dribbles down onto the paint, your wax is gone in that path the dribble takes. If you only use a dampened cloth with dishwashing detergent, you might do okay.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
When wife's away...
Wash only car cloths
wash with a little Dawn in first wash along with powdered soap.
Rinse.
Wash with powdered soap through entire cycle.
Dry.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
car wash study
I supposed someone washing at home could scratch their paint worse than a commercial car wash can, but it would take some effort to do so. Like using sandpaper instead of wash mitt, or using real dirty water in the wash bucket. I'd love to hear some real world examples where someone did more damage by hand washing than using a commerical car wash.
Here's an anecdote: At work I oversee the maintenance of our service trucks and vans. This past Monday I had one of our trucks in for repairs (3/4 ton Ford with a service body). I always get the trucks washed prior to putting them back into service. So I took the truck to the local car wash/oil change place, got the oil changed and ran it thru their full service car wash. The truck had a bunch of concrete mix and dirt in the back that I forgot to sweep out before washing. The spinning brushes and water made a mess of the concrete stuff in the back when it ran thru the tunnel. I'll tell ya this, I'd have HATED to own the car behind my truck after it went thru the car wash. Those brushes were coated in dirt and concrete mix! Quikrete + dirt + water + car wash equipt = swirls and scratches.
That's the risk of using commercial car washes - you don't know the condition of the washing equipt before your car runs thru the tunnel. At home you can use a clean wash mitt, a clean wash bucket, and wash the car gently. You control the quality of the tools you're using. At the local automatic car wash, you're at the mercy of the equipt. If their stuff is poorly maintained or the brushes are coated in Quikrete, you're screwed!
bret - I'm shocked. I figured you of all people would figure out a way to justify spending the work day in the parking lot doing a proper wash and detail job of the company truck!!
Ever detail an F350 chassis with a dump body? Don't ever offer to do it for you boss - even for a few extra bucks.
We have an F350 welding truck that gets washed 2-3 times a year. Part of me wants to detail this truck but the other part is saying it'll take me 3 days to do a good job. So far I haven't touched it but it's slowly reeling me in, like its got a tractor beam or something.
Back in my young and foolish days, I offered to wash and wax the 2 company F350's noted above at a summer job I had with a landscaper. I used Armour All on the vinyl seats and steering wheels - let's just say I didn't make any friends on the crews until the stuff wore off!!
A few years ago I toured the printing plant where the BMW Car Club's magazine Roundel is published. While browsing through some of the other magazines published at that facility I found a magazine aimed at commercial car wash operators. It contained a story which explained how to quietly utilize local and national environmental regs to shut down CHARITABLE car washes. Unbelievable.
I don't know that there's anything really despicable (to borrow from Daffy Duck) about that. After all, these car washes are trying to make a living and probably have a lot of regulations to deal with that drive up costs (such as minimum wage). In some areas you can get a charity every week offering to wash a car for pennies.
I'm not saying they should be banned or anything, but it's not so clean and dry (pun intended)
Can you recall some of the details about how to do away with the competition car washes?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
- Dawn dishwashing liquid to remove the current coat of wax
- a clay bar to really get the car decontaminated
- some sort of a polish for swirl marks (not a compound - the swirls aren't that bad)
- a regular polish to use after the 1st polish dries
- something to "cure" the polishes
I was gonna go with Zaino (the stuff does sound really great), but am just turned off at having to buy it via mail order. What products/brands would you recommend that are sold in regular stores (like Pep Boys or Discount Autoparts)? Also, I've heard that synthetic clay is better than natural - does the brand really matter for this? Lastly, is there a polish out there that doesn't need to be cured? :confuse:
Thanks for your input.
It could also be acid rain damage that you are seeing on your paint job.
If you don't want to use Zaino, I would shoot for either Meguiar's or Mother's brand waxes/polishes. Both also sell claybar kits. I don't know if these 2 brand's clay bars are synthetic or natural, but I've used both brands and they both work great!
I believe both Mother's and Meguiar's sell polish specifically for swirl marks. Read the label thouroughly. I stopped using Carnuba wax a while ago because it is a pain in the a** to remove when it dries and the protection doesn't last too long. I've tried Meguiar's NXT wax recently, and personally I'm happier with this. It goes on easier, comes off easier, and seems to last longer than Carnuba wax.
"Lastly, is there a polish out there that doesn't need to be cured? "
I don't know what you mean by this. Anyone?
My son used Speed Bead on his 1989 Toyota with black paint and the car really did shine, almost like new. I can't say if the Toyota had any swirl marks to begin with, but I didn't notice any after he waxed the car.
You said that you don't want to order over the phone or online and I don't like to do that myself, but, I ordered a case of Speed Bead (some for family and friends) and it was at my door the next day. Depending on where you live you might be able to buy Speed Bead locally, that's what I did when I went to visit relatives out of state and found a store that sold Speed Bead.
I paid about $6.00 a can for Speed Bead froms Frank's Autosuper Store in PA when I first wanted to try it. I will never use anything else. Speed Bead is fast to put on, very easy to remove and it leaves no powdery residue. Great Stuff!
Just used it on my van on Saturday and the van shines like it's wet.
Good Luck.
When I asked about a polish that didn't need "curing," here's an example of what I meant:
according to Zaino's, before using their polishes, you either need to coat your car with a product they call "polish lock" or add a few drops of a product called ZFX to the polish before using. I believe the site says this is necessary to "cure" the polish and make it bond to the car.
Since you didn't know the term, I guess that's am unusual requirement :confuse: Maybe it's something used by higher-end products that last longer? :confuse:
I don't mean to push my luck here, but I'm getting such great feedback that I can't help myself!!!
I believe that most people don't want to spend all day waxing a vechicle and will shy away from doing it again if the product is difficult or if it takes too long.
As you can tell, everybody has their favorite brand of wax. I use Speed Bead, they don't call it Speed Bead for nothing. I would rather be out driving my convertible than spending all day waxing my two vehicles.
Good Luck!
Plan to use the Speed Bead on it when I feel better.
The Sandman :sick:
Like I said in my post, everybody has their favorite wax, enjoy your Zaino. Just read what some people go through using Zaino and it does seem to be very time-comsuming.
I've gone 6 months between waxing with Speed Bead also, easy on, easy off and less than $6.00 a can delivered to my door.
That particular post does list many steps. But the prep ones are just like the prep ones for any good detailing job. Plus, the prep steps are used only with the first application - just like for any other product.
As for the rest, you can take any product or process to the nth degree. I remember using a Meguir's three step process to polish, glaze, and wax.
If you want to spend all day waxing your vehicle don't use Speed Bead. Speed Bead is for those of us that want a "great" long-lasting shine in about 1/2 hour.
If it works for you, great.
If you don't demand the best possible shine and you want to spend as little time as possible cleaning your car, there are lots of quick and easy products out there - just wipe or spray on, wipe off, and go. It's all a matter of expectation meeting results.