need help with wax technique

Dr. Jones · 02-06-02, 11:12

Hi, I am still preparing for the big day(s) when i go all out on my black civic... so for now im trying to learn everything so that goes smoothly. Today we washed and waxed my roomates civic (blue) using dawn and meguires cleaner wax. I applied the wax in what i think was a somewhat thin layer (as thin as i could to get full coverage.. anyone have pix of how thin layers of wax and klasse should be?) in the shade... we only let it haze for about 5 minutes maybe (about as long as it took to apply wax to the next part of the car) when we buffed all the wax off... i was able to see 3d 'swirl' marks that were always in the direction we were waxing and removing with... i used a cheapo polishing cloth (didn't want to use my MF yet) so that might be it.. but it seems like there is scractched wax or something... i'll try and get pix... it's like you can really see the wax. I was thinking it might be because i put on too much... or didn't let it sit long enough.. or maybe it's just the meguires cleaner wax... Thanks

Dr. Jones

Andre' · 02-07-02, 12:04

It's probably the towel and the wax. If you didn't clay the paint you may have sanded the contaminants in to the paint as you waxed.

cvcaelen · 02-07-02, 12:36

In my humble opinion you skipped a step:
the preparation of the paint :claying or polishing ,because washing gets most of the dirt off,but not all.
Those tiny particles may be the cause of the swirl marks.

Hopefully this was a bit helpfull

Dr. Jones · 02-07-02, 12:46

yea.. i'll definatly do a multi step cleaning process when i do my car... clay swirl remover stuff pinacle paint cleanser stuff and AIO... but in person it looks like it's the wax that's doing it.... i think i really just need to see how much or little to apply... is 5 minutes enough to wait? when i get my souveren i definatly don't want to waste it... is more time better? or less? or is there like a 10 min window you must do it in... also what exactly is a 'thin' coat. Like one dip of the aplicator in the wax container should cover what kind of an area? 1/2 a door... a full door... 2 body panels. I think i have the overall process down... now i just am trying to work out the details.... my school is having a car show (small town) after spring break.. i was going to enter my car in the show... it would be awesome to have it place in something after my first real attempt at detailing.

Andre' · 02-07-02, 01:34

I have used that wax, using less or more of that product or waiting longer is not the problem, it's the product and the prep work.

One can buy all the swirl remover stuff their is, but if you don't learn how to use them and what they do and what they are, they will do you no good, take your time read and leran. Your techniques will make you a good detailer not just the products you use. Read this fourm!!!