Need Help With Detailing

[ADKMedic]

Hello!



Tonight, I thought I would clean and polish my car... I was using Mother`s products. Before anyone suggests better products, I know they exist, but this is for my daily driver, and I do NOT need showcar appearance - I just wanted to give the paint a decent cleaning and protecting.



Anyways, on to my problem. I washed the car - no problem. I used a claybar on the car - no problem. I then used Step 1 of Mother`s system, the Pre-Wax Cleaner. I applied it using a RO polisher. I then used a microfiber towel to remove the product by hand. When I did this, I was a little alarmed... The sides of my vehicle looked great. The hood, however, looked much worse. It is a 6 year old car, and anywhere there was little chips and dings was now white from the Pre-Wax Cleaner. I tried buffing a little harder with the microfiber cloth, and I also tried using the RO polisher with a sheepskin pad, but the little tiny "spots" remained.



Sooooo... I don`t know what to do next. I`m afraid if I move on to the Sealer & Glaze, and then the Wax, I`ll be sealing these little white "spots" in there forever.



How do I get rid of these spots???



Thank you all, very much, in advance for any suggestions.



Andy

[SFCR10]

Hello!



Tonight, I thought I would clean and polish my car... I was using Mother`s products. Before anyone suggests better products, I know they exist, but this is for my daily driver, and I do NOT need showcar appearance - I just wanted to give the paint a decent cleaning and protecting.



Anyways, on to my problem. I washed the car - no problem. I used a claybar on the car - no problem. I then used Step 1 of Mother`s system, the Pre-Wax Cleaner. I applied it using a RO polisher. I then used a microfiber towel to remove the product by hand. When I did this, I was a little alarmed... The sides of my vehicle looked great. The hood, however, looked much worse. It is a 6 year old car, and anywhere there was little chips and dings was now white from the Pre-Wax Cleaner. I tried buffing a little harder with the microfiber cloth, and I also tried using the RO polisher with a sheepskin pad, but the little tiny "spots" remained.



Sooooo... I don`t know what to do next. I`m afraid if I move on to the Sealer & Glaze, and then the Wax, I`ll be sealing these little white "spots" in there forever.



How do I get rid of these spots???



Thank you all, very much, in advance for any suggestions.



Andy



Andy,



I`m not a pro by any means, but it sounds like the Mother`s has filled those chips and dings and the "white" you see is simply the dried residue from the precleaner. Additional buffing will most likely not remove that residue, at least from my experience. I`d try a good microfiber cloth with some mild APC and wipe over those areas. I`ve used Simple Green, diluted about 50/50. However, make sure you do this in the shade. I hope this helps out.

[ADKMedic]

Yes, I think that`s exactly the cause of the "spots". I probably let it dry too long before taking it off.



If I use simple green, will I have to reapply the Pre-Wax Cleaner, or just move on to the Sealer & Glaze step?



Thanks!



Andy

[extrabolts]

Yes, I think that`s exactly the cause of the "spots". I probably let it dry too long before taking it off.



If I use simple green, will I have to reapply the Pre-Wax Cleaner, or just move on to the Sealer & Glaze step?



Thanks!



Andy



Simple green could work. Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) diluted 50/50 would also be worth a shot. Use the 91% version or whatever - it is something in the 90`s. Or mix a little stronger if you can only find the 70% version. I`ve never used the mother`s pre-wax cleanser, but if it is just a cleaner then no you do not need to reapply once you remove the buildup. Many people use IPA for a cleansing step anyway because it is so cheap and will not leave any residue.

[Accumulator]

ADKMedic- Welcome to Autopia!



I fear this will sound all smart-@$$ed or :nono or something, but I can`t help but think how you said you don`t need "better products than the Mother`s" yet some stuff is much less likely to leave unsightly product residue in the chips. This might be a (rare?) case where specific products really can make a diff.



Now that I`ve said that :o I`ll admit that I have the exact same thing on some chips in my beater-Audi so it`s not like I meant to be critical :grinno But I *have* avoided the issue (via different products) on my other vehicles.



To get the residue out of the chips will "undo" whatever`s on there but yeah...it`s just the cleaner so no biggie. BUT be careful with the next two steps lest it happen again with those. Apply the products very thin and try to buff them off before they dry completely and don`t be surprised/disappointed if you still get a little of the residue effect. Note that this "wipe on, wipe off" ("W-O-W-O") approach is popular with some products, but can result in slightly diminished durability with some waxes.



There *are* products that`ll pretty much eliminate this kind of thing, but just buffing stuff off before it dries can go a long way.