Decker

Ok, I have taken my car to this one car wash for about 1 year now. And normally they do an Excellent job. But this last time, I took it through with my new rims and they chipped a little piece off the enamel. Really pissed me off, but since they don't guarantee any damage to aftermarket parts, i'm screwed.

So i'm going to have to wash it myself, which I don't mind. But I don't want to ****up my paintjob or something.

What do you guys use for a wash/wax whatever.
I don't want to sit out in my parents driveway for 4 hours washing and waxing my car. Any good washer/waxer mixes? And recommendations?

thankx
-nico

Raithan

I use Meguiar's for everything.. Meguiar's car wash, Meguiar's car wax, quick detailer for in between waxes when theres only a bit of dust on it, rubber and vinyl protectant.. all Meguiar's... go for Gold Class too. And personally, I just take the three to four hours washing and waxing.. I find it calming, pull into my garage, roll down all the windows, put the key in and listen to some tunes while waxing by hand. I hear buffing shines it up better if you know what you're doing, though. But you can ruin your paint if you don't buff right. Hope 'dat helps smile.gif wink.gif

cklawon

I also use MeGuire's. The Gold series does a really great job...leaves a excellent shine for weeks. My car is still very shiny and I have not waxed it for about six weeks. I would recommend taking a few hours to do everything. Dont rush or you might leave wax on your car!!! And it'll look like white streaks. Not cool looking!!! I usually set aside a whole day in order to clean EVERYTHING...inside and out!!! But I also am a clean and neat freak!!!

Jeremy S.

Hey! smile.gif

I used to detail professionally and have been showing since 97. I have 14 trophies in 22 shows, all bu one for my JET BLACK 93 Ranger. If you would like the real deal on what to do and how to do it, e-mail me and I'll shoot you the secrets that helped me take so many trophies.

Jeremy

Decker

Sweet. I'd love some tips! I dont' have your email, could you post it?

Also, I know this is lame. But how often should someone wax their car? every month or so? Can I use a electronic buffer? or what?

thankx
-nico

Jay

cool man. Im going to email you too. I am a detailer on the side. I do about one car a week. But I like to learn new tricks of the trade that I may not know already smile.gif

Jeremy S.

Decker and Anyone Else interested,

Here goes. First and foremost, remember these simple suggestions:
--FIRST AND FOREMOST, DO NOT, EVER, EVER, EVER EVER EVER ALLOW ANYONE OTHER THAN YOU TO WASH OR WAX YOUR CAR UNLESS THEY OR YOU ARE WILLING TO TAKE A BULLET FOR ONE ANOTHER. CAR WASHES ARE NOTORIOUS FOR F@CKING UP PAINT, DENTING CARS, AND OTHERWISE JOYRIDING CARS. ESPECIALLY, ESPECIALLY MECHANIZED CAR WASHES. I KNOW, I WORKED FOR ONE OF THE WORSE UNTIL I QUIT OUT OF DISGUST AND WENT INTO BUSINESS FOR MYSELF.
*whew*
--Use with what you know works...contrary to popular belief, you can mix brands of wax for differing applications. If company A's swirl remover works better than Company B's, use co. A's. The idea is to get the best balance for what you are looking for. A jet black show car might need glaze and wax before every show. A white one might not. A daily driver might not. It depends on your need and the results you are after.
--Wax in circles and wash and dry in arcs or straight lines. Even a excellently washed car still has dirt. Washing and drying in circles just heightens the chance of causing swirls.
--In most cases, a random orbit waxer between 8"-12" (available from $35-100 depending on size and quality.) are better than hand waxing. It does a better job and is easier and faster. You will of course always have some spots on your car where hand waxing is a must. But when using glaze, nothign will work like a r.o. buffer. DO NOT use a straight shaft buffer unless you are 150% positive you know what you are doing and have done it SEVERAL times. Straight shaft buffers will burn your paint if you aren't careful. Trust me. I have done it.
--Yes, you CAN use a buffer with a clean buffer head to REMOVE wax. Anyone who says otherwise...well...ignore them.
--Even driving through polluted air at highway speed can and will embed dirt in your paint. Leaving you car out in the weather will much worsen the effect. It is always a good idea to clean your paint before every waxing. Wash it, chamois it, and then use a good quality paint cleaner. Meguirs makes an excellent product for this purpose. (see the nest post for the products I use and have faith in).
--You should wait at LEAST 3 months from time of manufacture or after a paint job before painting. Do not wax any sooner than that. Modern paints will "gas out" sooner than that, but you want to give the paint time to shink and expand a few hundred times before you start rubbing it down. The damage done by premature waxing is not immediate, but will show through years down the road.
--Let your eyes, not the price of the product, be the judge. I have used $50/12oz bottles of "professional" glaze and I have used $10/20oz bottles of "cheapo" glaze. Guess which worked better.


Okay, these are the simple rules....next post: products and uses.

Jeremy tongue.gif

Jeremy S.

All,

*takes a breath*
First and foremost this is only a suggestion. I make no liabilities for any f-ups that result from my advice. tongue.gif

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, here goes some more ranting... *grin... seriously, I love this shi7 smile.gif*

Okay, first and foremost, expect to outlay anywhere from $100-$250 from scratch *no pun intended* in chemicals and tools to wash and wax a car properly. This includes chamois(s)towels, buffer bonnets, buffer, a decent bag or bucket to hold all of it *i have two cheap duffels that hold it all..still $35*, and all waxes, leather, tire, and assorted 'misc' stuff.

Following is a list of what I use and for what purposes these products can be used. Over the years, I have discovered all sorts of nifty uses for all sorts of things. smile.gif

Tonight I will post on PAINT. Sometime later I will try to get around to interior and generl use stuff. Coool?

Paint, in rough order of use:
--Meguiar's paint cleaner.
--3M light scratch and swirl remover *if you use this product, you can skip the cleaner. I ususally use them both because I am anal like that* .
--Eagle One Liquid Polish
--3M OR Meguairs 'Hand' Glaze *use it with a buffer...please*
--Eagle one can Wax. I have found applying this with a butter knife, like buttering toast, to the buffer head is best.
--Eagle One Wet Wipe and Shine. This has alot of nifty purposes. It is an excellent quick detail for paint touch ups that are minor. I have used it to clean dashes and even wipe down plexiglass displays (won't scratch like window cleaner will..strange but true) But it's coolest use is it's most unheard of. I use it to wet-down my wax bonnets instead of using water. I will swear by this as will all my car-showing buddies. It is a lot slicker than water and allows the wax to really spread. It saves it's cost 3 times over in the wax you will save.
--Turtle Wax "old school" chrome polish. Not only is it a good chrome polish, it takes off tar like nothing...well, nothing other than kerosene, diesel fuel, or fuel oil works better. No over-the-shelf product, nothing I have ever found anyway and I have spent upwardss of $3000 in car care shi7 in the past 4 years, works better.
--Fuel Oil/Deisel/Kerosene. I know it should go without saying, but I know someone will do it. DO NOT SMOKE WHEN USING THIS!!!DO NOT KEEP THIS IN YOUR BAG OF CHEMICALS EITHER. ALWAYS KEEP FLAMMABLES IN APPROVED CONTAINERS SOMEWHERE SAFE...daddy was a firfighter. *whew smile.gif* Use this as a pre- wash. Wash down any area with tar spots with a rag SOAKED in this. Let it sit for a few minutes. Wipe it down with the rag again, throw the rag away, then wash the car in a SPRAY WASH. Don't wash in with any of your home washing tools or you will never get the oils out of them or your driveway. DO NOT use GAS! Kerosene is MUCH safer. (In fact, back in the old days, Ford RECCOMENDED washing lacquer with kerosene and then rinsing with light soap and warm water. It "hydrated the paint". We use glaze for that now. wink.gif) Just make sure you get it all off. Like gas, over time, it will damage modern paints if not removed quickly.
--Eagle One 20/20 or Armor All or ANY CLEAR window cleaner. It is good for almost ANY cleanign applications, but is the only stuff made safe for tinted windows. Also good for wiping down dirty VYNIL *don;t use on leather..it will stip the leather of oils*
--Blue Magic aluminum and metal polish. Best stuff ont he market PERIOD. I say that without reservation. Try it...you'll see what I am talking about. Also works VERY well for polishing out slightly hazed gauge-cluster windows. No, seriously, it does.
--Armor All 1-step spray tire cleaner. I usually shy away from one-step anything, but this stuff just seems to do the job better than anything else. It leaves that just off the maunfacturers shine without being sticky or slick. Of course, if you are looking for that ever so popular 'ghetto shine'...
--Tire Wet. NOTHING beats the original for that "bum just pissed on my tires" wet look. I may make fun of it, but I have used it as a thin underlay to the Armor All stuff for really bad-off tires. It does work as a tire conditioner. But get it off as soon as possible. Too much will do damage to the tire rubber and attracts dirt like a mofo. Automotive spray silicone will do the same thing and is slightly cheaper.
--Automotive spray silicone (3M for example). Use it to condition and blacken your window seals. It will 'hydrate' them and thusly make them seal better. Nothing blackens them better...NOTHING. smile.gif
(((And finally...my fingers are tired. lol)))
--Simple Green. This stuff is an engine's best friend. Spray it on, let it sit, rinse it off with a power washer or a warm hose. Make sure your engine is COOL *never wash a warm engine...EVER*, and make sure you have rags over most of your electronic components. Keep this stuff off your paint. It will damage it if left on too long. Oh, and it's CHEAP! Second in line engine cleaner is Gunk. Foamy Engine Bright works like a charm but leavs such a stink behind...it's almost not worth it. Simple Green leaves a minty fresh smell...really cool.

Well, I need to go get laid and all...so I will leave the Interior and Miscellaneous Topics to another day.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
jeremy

Jay

Thats some good information. I detail cars, so I learned some stuff on top of what I already know. However, I have one question for you. What is Glaze? Never tried this before. And you said it has to be applied with a buffer. I do everything by hand. Thanks for the info smile.gif

Jeremy S.

jhr382,

Hey. I am glad I could help. Wait until I get around to adding the rest of the information. There will be afreaking book on this post string. *lol*

Glaze is a product that 'deep hydrates' your paint. There really is not other way to describe it. The stuff is like body armor all. Most waxes just slick up the surface of paint either by polishing out the imperfections of leaving a layer of hard wax or polymer over them. Glaze on the other hand, penetrates into the paint, giving it a 'wet look' you just cannot get with ANY other product. It HAS to go on with a buffer. If you put it on by hand you will be VERY disappointed. When you put it on, it goes on easily. However, when you take it off...it is just evil...it won't come off entirely, even with a buffer. I normally apply and remove the glaze, and then over wax it to remove any excess left and to seal the glaze in. I normally use Meguiars or 3M glaze (about $12) followed by an overcoat of Eagle One Wet can wax *not the liquid stuff*.

If you have a deep blue or black vehicle, you will see a night and day difference when using glaze.....the change and the result are INCREDIBLE.

Hope this helped,
Jeremy