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Store Bought Waxes Part II (No Zaino Posts)
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To answer your "#20 vs #26" question, I think #20 would be the better choice. It has a mild cleaning ability which would be fine for a new car, plus its more durable. The #26 needs a prep step (or more) prior to its use. And use Dawn if you have it. If not, a good auto shampoo is fine.
As for dealing with interior smells, I use a product similar to Febreeze and I'm not too thrilled with it either. If your interior is especially smelly it may need pro help. Many detailers use odor foggers and the best equipped shops use ozone generators. It may be worth the $$ to have a pro detailer deal with the interior smells permanently.
Final Comment - Swirl marks usually are caused by poor maintenance rather than poor polishing/waxing methods. You can greatly minimize swirls by simply hand washing your car with care - Use only new 100% cotton chenille mitts or pure lambswool, use the Two Bucket Method while washing (one bucket with soap and water, the other with plain water, after soaping a section of car dunk the dirty mitt into the plain water to wash it off), do not allow water spots to form, dry your car safely with waffle weave microfiber towels instead of an old chamois or old cotton towels. Staying away from commercial car washes and using proper washing techniques will make a big diff in the Swirl Mark Wars.
I've decided to try the Mothers 3-step system (without the claying). I'll use all three on the Honda, and just the final two on the Audi. Mothers says its sealer and glaze - the second step - is formulated to be used on top of existing waxes, so I wouldn't necessarily have to strip anything off the Audi. And I'm all about saving steps.
If I were dealing only with the Audi, I'd probably try to find the Klasse cleaner polish, or Meguiars #20, and just use that one product. Both were praised on the properautocare.com site.
Now I gotta figure out where to find the best microfibre towels for the money, and what cleaner/conditioner I should get for the leather. Anyone else with leather seats in an Audi care to make a recommendation here?
Also lots of good outlets for microfiber. Properautocare's towels are excellent if pricey. Have a look at http://www.waynestowels.com for great quality towels at affordable prices.
This was the first time using a clay on my 2001 Subaru Outback. I did not seem to pickup much "stuff". The surface seems smooth and clean however. Is there any special process in applying the detailer? I kept the surface pretty wet with the detailer that was eventually wiped off and then cleaned away with the cleaner wax.
Thanks in advance for the comments.
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the results, although I'm not sure Speed Bead got the paint as clean as it could be, even with all the dirt that came off on the applicator. If you look VERY close and at the right angle, you can still see some water spots and other tell-tale signs of the car's age.
I don't know if all age and water spots would be wiped out with one of those "3-step" methods or not. I was trying Speed Bead to see if the one-step approach would work to my satisfaction, and it pretty much did. It minimized the appearance of some not-too-small scratches in the paint. And the car really does shine. I put two applications on hood-trunk-roof, and it seemed to make those surfaces smoother than just one coat.
I made another trip to Pep Boys for Stoner's Trim Shine and Invisible Glass. The Trim Shine works well, but removing it from paint or glass can be a pain. The Invisible Glass foam-like spray is easy to use. It takes less time to remove and seems less likely to streak then normal liqud cleanears.
I'm still not sure if I'm going to use the Speed Bead on the Audi. It didn't perform any miracles on the Honda, but that's an 8-year-old car that has spent almost half its life outside. Anyone else use Speed Bead on a new car, particularly a German one? Would I be cutting too many corners if I used it on mine?
My van is a 2002 and I have used Speed Bead for about a year and a half and the paint is flawless, no water spots. I just put Bead Max on about a month ago, it says that you can dry your car off by driving it. I washed it last week and took it down the road 4 miles at 40 MPH and everything was dry except the back hatch area. The roof, hood and sides were dry, just the back hatch needed some wiping. I believe that if I would have driven it longer or on the freeway, it would have been completely dry.
Bead Max won't clean you paint, Speed Bead will clean you paint, but you should use a clay bar if the finish isn't clean and smooth.
I've applied Mothers Clearcoat Wheel Polish on the clearcoated alloys and that seems to be doing well too. Hard to tell though as the Sierra does not shed its brake dust all over the wheels as my Saab did.
When it warms up a tad I'll do a P21S wash and have a closer look at the paint.
Presently, my favorite products are MPPC, Vanilla Moose, S100, and Final Detail.
Thanks.
The Sandman :-)
http://www.properautocare.com/s1carpaswax.html
It's a pure wax with no cleaning abilities, so make sure your paint is well prepped first.
I was still wondering what to do with the Audi when I realized Audi sells it's "own" line of car care products through its accessories catalog. The catalog also mentioned its dealers carry 3M products, so I took that as a tacit endorsement of 3M. Besides, how could you go wrong using Audi-branded products on an Audi?
I stopped by Metro VW/Audi today. While the parts department didn't have any 3M products, it did have all the Audi washes/waxes/polishes/cleaners, etc. There was also a full line of VW products -- identical to the Audi products, but anywhere from one to five dollars each less expensive.
I grabbed the VW polish/wax, detail spray, leather cleaner and leather conditioner. Each product clearly states on the back label that it was made by Eagle One (I imagine that's the case for the Audi stuff, too. The packaging is the same, but the bottles do not divulge the company of origin). Prices for the VW products are very close to what the Eagle One products go for in auto parts stores.
I tried out the leather cleaner and conditioner this afternoon. The seats (which had never been cleaned or conditioned) must have been awfully thirsty, because they really drank up the conditioner. There wasn't much excess at all to buff out.
Tomorrow, I plan to try the polish/wax. I'll let you know how it goes.
Before I used the polish/wax, I used some Meguiars Scratch X on the decklid. I wanted to erase some scratches I accidentally left when the car was 2 weeks old. It took about 4 or 5 applications to get the scratches minimized to the point where I was sorta satisfied. To be fair, these were pretty deep scratches. Luckily, they don't show up unless you look at a certain angle. And, after several applications of the "X", they are much less noticeable.
So, I guess I've learned that Eagle One products are good (as if there were any doubt). After I use all this stuff, I'll probably try one of the 3-step programs. Or maybe I'll clay the car sometime early next year. I don't have to decide right now. I'm just happy to have a good wax job on the car before winter.
In a panic I went out and sure enough they have a blue can for carpets and auto's. I bought it and the only difference I can see is the blue can sprays it wider and it is more foamy whereas the red can is a mist. I personally prefer the mist of the red can.
Did I just perform a big no no by spraying my carpets with the red can?
My second coat was done with the proper blue can. The carpet looks fine. I would like to believe that the only difference is the red can would be less affective on carpets because of the application process.
Does anyone recommend it?
Aaron
Would a buffer be a good idea for waxing and polishing, or is it mainly a tool for removing imperfections?
If you recommend a buffer, what kind? what wax and polish do you use with your buffer?
What should I use (car wash?, polish?, wax?, etc.)? Many thanks for any help!!!!
I tried it for the first time and all the black marks on the sill trim panels simply rubbed off.
Read the instructions, though, not intended for glossy or shinny surfaces. You will also be amazed at what it will do for the flat paint around your house. It looks like a fresh paint job after scrubbing with the eraser.
I highly recommend trying this product.
IF you like to spend all day working on you cars finish, use something else.
Speed Bead has kept my paint clean, so I can't say how it would work on a very dirty painted surface.
I just know that I don't have to rub and rub this stuff in. I lightly spray a section about 2'x2' and rub lightly. Again, my vehicle's surface isn't dirty.
Some people like a multi-step process waxing system, that's find, for me this works and it is easy.
My personal theory is that a good product will keep gunk from adhering so tightly to the surface, making it easier to clean the next time....but maybe the cleaning agents in Spead Bead are better than those in NuFinish.
Can I use regular paste wax on aluminum?
I clayed my cars and then used Speed Bead or Bead Max ( I didn't use glaze) and the finish has stayed smooth since I started using Speed Bead products.
Two months ago I switched to Bead Max from Speed Bead, just washed the van yesterday and it still beads water like it was just waxed. I live east of Cleveland in what's called the "snow belt" so my vehicle sees alot of salt and snow.
They're selling Zymol and Meguiar's gift kits for 50% off. Both kits offer the basics; wax, shampoo, interior cleaner (leather products in the Zymol kit), wheel cleaners and a few other items. They come in those hardwood boxes.
The Zymol kit I saw today was $17.50 and the Meguiars kit was $15.00. Consider that a 16 oz bottle of Zymol wax is almost $20 and the same size bottle of Meguiar's Gold Class polish is about $10, these kits are a screamin' deal.
Limited to stock on hand, I'm sure, so don't dillydally if you're interested.
This has been a Public Service Announcement from your friendly neighborhood BretFraz.
Keep those vehicles shiny in the new year. Clean, good looking cars make the world a better place.
The other thing to consider is getting a pro to do your first wax job. Your vehicle is pretty big, it's brand new, this is rough weather. A pro will clay it, if necessary, and you can take your own product if want to use that same product in the future. If you are looking for the best store bought shine, consider having your vehicle clayed and an all polymer product like Nufinish applied, then a week later put a carnauba wax product over it. You can do the "overlayer" yourself, but be sure to use a "wax" only and not a "cleanerwax" or you will be stripping off the polymer base coat.
Your professional should be able to tell you if swirl marks are likely to be a problem with your preferred product, given the black finish. I don't have black, but recollect hearing people complain about swirl marks on black.
A new car should cost a lot less to professionally finish like this, than a badly contaminated older vehicle.
Finally, you should get a good price this time of year.
Once you have a nice start, it won't be so hard to maintain thereafter. Personally I just wax "top surfaces" thereafter, until the "sides" don't bead up as well, then I wax the whole car. My cars are in the sun, and the angle of the surface (flat top, for example) makes all the difference in the speed of contamination and durabilty of the wax/polymer.
Oh yeah, one mistake I have made is to "not clay." Even a new car picks up crud in transit etc. It's worth claying first, or else you are "finishing" the environmental crud, waxing over unremovable dirt. Clay Magic at Walmart works swell.
I too suggest using a clay bar even on a new vehicle first before using anything you decide to use. Stoner products are available on line and at some retail stores. I called Stoner and my order was at my door the next day!!! Speed Bead is in a spray can and is about as easy as it gets. Spray on, rub lightly, let it dry and wipe off, very fast to use and lasts for months.
My question: Is SpeedBead a polymer sealant, a wax or both?
Also, an ad for SpeedBead said it removes fine scratches.
Does that mean there are abrasives in it?
The Spead Bead kit ($20) includes Bead Max, which has NO cleaners at all.