Question posed to Newbies and those with experience

[solarafied]

I am sure many of you probably can relate to what I am going to say. Do you cringe at how you used to take care of your vehicle before you learned how to detail it properly?



I am astounded at how I took care of my ten year old celica. That car was lucky to be washed once a month, nevermind weekly. As for wax what is that? I think I waxed that car no more than three or four times in the decade that I owned it. Don`t get me started on the use of glazes, hand polishes, and a PC. Those things were not even within the depth of my comprehension and understanding. When I sold that car not too long ago it had accumalated so much oxidation and swirling it was beyong one`s imagination. I only wish I had kept it now so that I could have worked on restoring it`s finish. So fast forward to the present. I found this forum which in one word can be deemed Priceless. Now that I am the owner of my second new car I am determined to keep it looking just like it did when I took ownership of it. Yes it has been some grunt work involved, but I must admit it seems to be very well worth my time. I am starting to understand that detailing a car is really a fine art and that it takes time to acquire new skills. Those skills can not be learned overnight. Someone mentioned in another post that one must learn to crawl first before they walk, and those words have proven to be so true. So to you veterans continue to be patient with us newbies and point us in the right directions. Afterall we are just striving to someday get to where you are! Happy detailing to all:)

[a.k.a. Patrick]

Solar, the majority of us were in your shoes once......Ive been at it for over 20 yrs now, time flys my friend.......And so has product development, equipment, and procedures. There are a good many people out there making batches of stuff that is phenominal. Light yrs ahead of some of the major companies stuff...Or at least par with them. Now that your here at Autopia, you may never again need to walk into an auto parts store seeking products and suggestions for use !



To all you newbies, even the people who have been doing it, still learn things with every job.....And thats the nature of the business, so many new products to try, combinations, MF`s......Its a wonder any of us have any $ to keep the lights on !!

[canisestinvia]

i used one of those green scotch pads to scrape some tar off my moms car the first time i washed it...my how things have changed

[bf109e]

The first time I waxed my car, I used the Turtle Wax Hard Shell (green can).



I was one of those people who thought that MORE was BETTER, so I applied a very thick coat to my car. How thick? Well...maybe as thick as a icing on a cake. I think I used up a third of the can to cover my car. :-)



It took me over an hour just to buff off the wax from one panel before almost collapsing from exhaustion. Hehehe...



I ended up washing the car again just to remove the HARD HARD HARD SHELL that I created.



5 years later (and a crapload of money spent on car care products), I still have that old can of Turtle Wax Hard Shell gathering dust on my shelf.

[SpoiledMan]

DUDE, pitch it!!




Originally posted by bf109e

The first time I waxed my car..........I still have that old can of Turtle Wax Hard Shell gathering dust on my shelf.

[Accumulator]

Nah, don`t pitch it. The smell of the stuff might bring back some good memories some day. I still have some products I bought in the `70s and they can be a real way-back machine :D

[65redcorvette]

My first car had the hood cleaned with COMET! Talk about a mess, but that was 1972. Nothing used on it except VISTA and Simonize, remember those. I think my dad still has the cans in the garage.

[5918mike]

oh yeah those days, a 5 gallon bucket of hot water and any dish soap, any ole sponge or rag, and armor all for everything not painted.

[04BlackAV]

Yes the classics,I still have some on my shelf.Check out this pic,with all the talk about how bad silicones are,one wouldn`t believe it with this product from TW.

[ensteele]

It did make the water bead up a little. :)

[l33]

imagine removing wax with a pair of old crusty underwear now!!!

microfiber who?

[TechSol]

Lol... I`ve only been detailing for a year now (I`m 17) and I remember when I first started I did some pretty stupid things. I did wash my car very frequently, but when I went to wax it I bought the Turtle Wax Color Magic stuff. Someone from my school that happened to be at Target when I was buying it (this person is now one of my good friends) told me to buy Meguiars wax instead. I told him that I needed the color stick and that it had to be better than Meguiars. Now, I know way more about detailing than he does and my car always looks much better.

[allkingz]

Originally posted by bf109e

The first time I waxed my car, I used the Turtle Wax Hard Shell (green can).



I was one of those people who thought that MORE was BETTER, so I applied a very thick coat to my car. How thick? Well...maybe as thick as a icing on a cake. I think I used up a third of the can to cover my car. :-)



It took me over an hour just to buff off the wax from one panel before almost collapsing from exhaustion. Hehehe...



I ended up washing the car again just to remove the HARD HARD HARD SHELL that I created.



5 years later (and a crapload of money spent on car care products), I still have that old can of Turtle Wax Hard Shell gathering dust on my shelf.



That brings back memories. I did the same thing when I was 16. I had a beat up old Toyota Corolla, and I think the wax was worth more than the car itself! After all that work, I pretty much gave up on detailing until I had a nice car. Once that happened, I took the time to find out how to properly detail my car.

[imported_Yosemite Dan]

Back when I was a teenager I used 2 old T-shirts for washing and drying. My Led Zeppelin shirt for washing and my Pink Floyd shirt for drying. It would be annoying when remnants from the decals would get on the paint after some good hard rubbing. I still shudder when I think about it now. My `78 Monte Carlo deserved so much better.

[Yardik]

I remember removing some splattered yellow paint from my `90 Ford Escort with steel wool when I was like 16. Then, years later when I bought my first `real` new car (a true blue `03 Mustang GT w/tan drop top) trying to choose a wax for it and being in absolute awe at all the choices at Canadian Tire.



I lucked out and guessed right when I purchased some Meg`s gold class and haven`t looked back since.



In retrospect, I took better care of that Mustang than pretty much anything else I`ve ever owned, except maybe my new Mazda3.



Nice.