First Time Detailing

[watsony250]

Since its summer and nice out im going to detail the car. I have kept my paint in good condition just that there are some swirls and what not on the car. The car is a bright red and the paint is about 7 years old. Im picking up the porter cable 7424 here soon with some lake country pads. Now here is where you guys come in. I need some suggestions on products that i should use because i have no idea which ones to pick and i didnt know since the car was bright red if some products were better than the other. Thanks for your help!

[bjackson8]

You are probably going to get as many different product recommendations as you are responses. There are so many great products to choose from.



My recommendations would be as follows:



Wash

Clay the car (very important step)

Polish the paint (I prefer Optimum polishes, but there are several great lines)

Wax/Sealant



Depending on what you are looking for, there are many great waxes and sealants available. The following is a list of my favorites



Collinite 845 - Great look and great durability. Very easy to use

Colliinite 476S - Very durable product, looks good, hard to use if applied too thick

Duragloss #105 - The most durable product I have ever used, looks good and easy to use

Meguiars #26 - Great wax for non-metalics. Average durability

Poorboys EX-P - Very good look for a sealant, average durability

Duragloss AquaWax - spray wax that is very easy to use (10 min for whole car) looks great and has decent durability



Really there are so many to choose from, you should try several and see what YOU like best.

[watsony250]

thanks man i appreciate the response

[watsony250]

anyone else want to throw their 2 cents in or share their process?

[kleraudio]

Definitely the process should be



Wash

Clay

Polish

Wax/Seal



Now as for products, man you are getting into sticky territory. Everyone has their own opinions on everything. You will eventually have to decide for yourself what you like/dont like. No one can do that for you.



The product area you should spend the most time researching is polish. Without good prep, the best wax/sealant money can buy will do you no good. Your car has to be prepped as perfect as *you* like. It doesnt have to be perfect (especially if its a daily driver) but it should be well prepped and free of most defects for you to truly appreciate your hard work.



To save you some time here, get Menzerna polishes. They are hands down the best polishes for your money. Sure they are a little pricey, but man do they work well. I could also recommend the Optimum line, they make some very nice polishes as well. The OP is a little too mild for me, I would rather finish with 106ff (menzerna), but their OC has a decent cut.



Wax/Sealant: heres a little list to get you started



Acrylic Jett Trigger

Chemical Guys waxes

Zaino sealants

Duragloss sealant

Natty`s Blue

26

Souveran

P21S

NXT



and the list goes on. You get my point, all these are top notch high quality LSP`s. Just try out what interests you and see if you like it.



Man I am rambling, its late. I hope this post made sense cuz Im not going to proofread it right now!



Jim

[watsony250]

yea it made sense..thanks man

[BigAl3]

Polish the paint (I prefer Optimum polishes, but there are several great lines)



agreed, OP & OC are user friendly products... :up