Cleaner Wax-When to Use?

[FreeBIZZ]

I did a paid detail this weekend on a 2 yr. old Nissan Sentra-maroon. This paint was in very rough condition as the owner informed me it had NEVER been washed since she got it.

Paint was dirty, many bugs, stains from bird doo, lots of nicks and scratches. No swirls (`cause no washes~!).



Here`s my process, then a couple questions:

wash

clay

Using PC

PB SSR2.5 w/white pol. pad on the worst scratches-worked well

3M Finesse-It II w/white pad whole car

PB PWC-Blue-white pad-whole car

DuraGloss AquaWax



After finishing the PWC, I moved the car into the sun for a close look and noticed quite a few areas where the were bugs, bird doo, tar, ground in dirt was removed but those areas were still rough and/or stained. Igrabbed a bottle of Meg`s Cleaner Wax, and went to thos areas with it. It seemed to work well on all excpet the most extreme cases.



My question is this:

If I were to incorporate the Meg`s into this regime on the whole car, at which pint would it be best to do so? I`m thinking that if I would have used the SSR2.5 on the whole car, maybe that would have done the job, but I was reluctant to use that agression on my 1st paid detail. Since the cleaner wax worked well on the touch-ups I did, why not do the whole car with it?



1-What point should the Meg`s cleaner be used? I`d still want to polish and top with something like the AW.



2-If I use the Meg`s cleaner, does the PWC add anything?



2-Anyone use the Meg`s with a PC, and what pad works best-I`m thinking either a polishing or finishing.



Thanks everyone......I`m doing a car with similar age and neglect----black---next week. A 2005 Ford Focus that has swirls.

[Accumulator]

Keep the Meg`s Cleaner Wax off black trim ;)



I`m assuming you`re talking about the "consumer line" cleaner wax. The liquid in the burgundy bottle (pn A12). The paste version is pretty similar but less user-friendly for most (but not all) applications.



It`s just a chemical cleaner, some very mild abrasives, and wax. I dunno if it`s all that different from the PwC (never used that), but it probably has better chemical cleaners but milder abrasives.



I don`t have any problems with cleaner waxes, but I don`t know if you really need to incorporate it into your usual regimen. But if you want to, I`d use it instead of the PwC. Who knows, it might be the best penultimate product for you (counting the AW as your true LSP).



The PwC would presumably cut though the cleaner wax, taking it off, but that wouldn`t affect the cleaning/polishing that the cleaner was had done.



When I used the cleaner wax by PC it gummed up the pad and I didn`t like it. IMO it works best by hand. If you want to try it, use a polishing pad, it`ll clog/load up a finishing pad in no time and you want a little "pad bite" to make the cleaner wax do its thing.

[FreeBIZZ]

Thanks for the tips. Yes---it`s the OTC liquid burgundy bottle. I`m thinking that this car was sooooo dirty (the clay bar was shot when I was done), that the polishes I used just weren`t strong enough. Then when I got good results on the touch-ups with Meg`s cleaner....that`s what gave me the idea.



What if I put the cleaner was on after the polish???



P.S.---Got huge 32 oz. bottles of the cleaner and QD at Big Lots-$9.95 for both. All Meg`s brushes were $3.99.

[miked2]

The Meg`s process is wash-clay-clean-polish-wax. Use a "polishing" pad for cleaning (what Meg`s calls cleaning most others call polishing). This would be the 8006 Meg`s pad or the orange Griot`s pad, for instance. For polishing and waxing, you want to use a finishing pad, the red Griot`s pad or the 9006 Meg`s pad, for instance.



I`m a BIG fan of Meg`s. Their Deep Crystal 1 paint cleaner is just great stuff. Applying with an orbital buffer, I`ve been able to remove nearly all the swirls on our 9-3 Vert, while deepening the paint. I`ve also been a big fan of the DC2 polish, though next time I went to try their professional #9 show car glaze. Note that most Meg`s polishes are non-abrasive. I top off with either Meg`s Gold Class (which is a combo polish/wax), but don`t like the durability. I`ve since tried Klasse SG, which works great for durability, but IMHO doesn`t give the same depth/shine as GC. Therefore, I top Klasse SG with #26 professional wax.



Many on the Meguiar`s Online forum swear by ColorX as a great cleaner/wax, if you`re interested in a one-step process. If applying by PC, use a polishing pad, not a finishing pad, to get the benefits of its cleaners. ColorX is supposed to be better than Meg`s standard cleaner/wax in the red bottle.

[FreeBIZZ]

The Meg`s process is wash-clay-clean-polish-wax. Use a "polishing" pad for cleaning (what Meg`s calls cleaning most others call polishing). This would be the 8006 Meg`s pad or the orange Griot`s pad, for instance. For polishing and waxing, you want to use a finishing pad, the red Griot`s pad or the 9006 Meg`s pad, for instance.



I`m a BIG fan of Meg`s. Their Deep Crystal 1 paint cleaner is just great stuff. Applying with an orbital buffer, I`ve been able to remove nearly all the swirls on our 9-3 Vert, while deepening the paint. I`ve also been a big fan of the DC2 polish, though next time I went to try their professional #9 show car glaze. Note that most Meg`s polishes are non-abrasive. I top off with either Meg`s Gold Class (which is a combo polish/wax), but don`t like the durability. I`ve since tried Klasse SG, which works great for durability, but IMHO doesn`t give the same depth/shine as GC. Therefore, I top Klasse SG with #26 professional wax.



Many on the Meguiar`s Online forum swear by ColorX as a great cleaner/wax, if you`re interested in a one-step process. If applying by PC, use a polishing pad, not a finishing pad, to get the benefits of its cleaners. ColorX is supposed to be better than Meg`s standard cleaner/wax in the red bottle.



Thanks for the great answers to my questions. I appreciate it~!

[Accumulator]

Yeah, one of my gripes with Meguiar`s is the, uhm, "inventive" way they use certain words ;) It can be tough to tell what their products are gonna do if you try to just go by the labels....and they say "cleaners" when others would say "abrasives" and I could go on and on. It can be very confusing.



Slightly different approach with the Meg`s "pure polishes" here, I prefer to use a polishing pad with them instead of a finishing pad. I do make sure the polishing pad in question doesn`t have any "cut" of its own to worry about. I find that the finishing pads are too soft for my taste (for this application) and also tend to load up with product.



This isn`t a :argue with what miked2 posted, just another approach you can consider. It`s one of those situations where there are more than one "proper" approach.

[aaron33]

Meg`s actually calls polishes a cutting compound or a swirl remover. Their polishes on the other hand are actually glazes! The OTC version of Meg`s product don`t have any good swirl removers. You have to go for the professional line in the beige bottles.

[miked2]

I will definitely agree that Meg`s products can be confusing. If you go by the labels or the blurbs at the "e store" at www.meguiars.com, you will be very confused with which products are supposed to be what. The best guide is to use meguiarsonline.com -- there are a number of posts as to which polishes are "pure" polishes, which are cleaner/polishes, which waxes are "pure" waxes, which are cleaner/waxes, which are polish/waxes, etc. The plus side with Meg`s products is that they`re more or less all readily available OTC, and relatively inexpensive compared to some of the boutique products that are popular here . . . .

[Kroon78]

Wish i would of read this a week or two ago lol. I got sick of trying to figure meg`s out and just opted for Zaino, which i don`t regret mind u, it is the best product out there, but for the dozen or so bottles of meg`s stuff i no longer have use for, well...... At least i know what they all are now :goodjob