Need a quick sanity check on my first detail

[jds62f]

Hey guys I`m planning to do my first detail ove rthe weekend... nothing too laborious just trying to polish/protect what I`ve got.



Car is an 07 with some starshield. Does this look like an ok plan for protecting the paint/ clear bra? I don`t think the car has ever received a full detail so I am not worried there`s any existing product on it...



1. Wash with Foam Canon (using DP wash)

2. Clay the paint

3. Xpel cleaner on the clear bra

-- Remove 4. Re-wash

5. Xpel sealant on the clear bra

6. use blue painters tape to tape off clear bra edges, trim

7. M205 with a light polish pad (i`ve got the griots da) (changed from 105)

8. re-wash

9. IPA wipedown

10. Apply BFWD, wait until the next day

11. Remove BFWD



Does this look like an ok order of operations? Should I apply BFWD over the clear bra? (in which case "remove painters tape" becomes step 8a

[Scottwax]

99% of the time there is no need to wash again after claying. No idea if you will need to follow up #105 with a less aggressive pad/polish combination but you should at least plan on it. I apply whatever LSP I am using over the clear bra.

[jds62f]

thanks, will strike step 4. I think I`ve made a slight error - would 205 be an ok final polish step? I think I just had a typo. Edited OP

[Accumulator]

jds62f- M205 is almost always OK as a final polish. Maybe not the utlimate last word, but still OK. I wouldn`t worry about it.



Not sure I`d bother rewashing after M205, at least not unless you use excess product (and if that happens then I would wash it). I *do* almost always wash after using something like M105 though.



M205 *does* leave a lot of tenacious oils behind, and IPA isn`t always sufficient to remove them all (I prefer PrepWash from Top of the Line Auto Detailing Supplies ). But that might not be anything you need to worry about either. Just be sure to inspect it in good light before you BFWD, preferably natural sunlight. See if the oils cause a pseudo-hologram effect and keep working to strip them if they do.



I too LSP the PPF with whatever the rest of the vehicle gets.

[AuAltima3.5]

I just usually wash after polish and if I see no beading I know that all the polishing oils are gone. I usually use KAIO after polishing so I`m assuming I have a good base for my LSP. If Accumulator isn`t washing after light polishing it makes me questions my method... frown.

[jds62f]

thanks guys, I have one other question - how do you get close to the starshield when applying polish? I`m planning to have the edges of the clear bra taped off so that I don`t risk pulling them up with the da, but if I do that there certainly will be a small amount of paint that doesn`t get polished right next to the starshield... any tips for getting right up to the starshield? Apply by hand? Do a really good job with the tape?

[Accumulator]

.. If Accumulator isn`t washing after light polishing it makes me questions my method... frown.

No, no, don`t question what you`re doing just because I don`t always do it.



I`m just not always as fanatical about the stripping/etc. as some people. Maybe I want to let some light marring get concealed on old paint that`s too thin for correction, or on a vehicle where all I care about is "does the car look better". Maybe I *want* something like Meg`s TSO between my paint and the LSP. Maybe I`m using a "clean" polish (e.g., 1Z HG) and am confident it`s not concealing anything. Lots of reasons why I might not always do the stripping, but those reasons might not apply to somebody else.



Oh, and sometimes you can`t go by a lack of beading; some highly polished, but oil-free, surfaces can bead like crazy. And some polish oils are so tenacious that IPAing and KAIO don`t get `em all off anyhow.



IMO this is a topic where different approaches are gonna be appropriate for different people/situations.

[Accumulator]

..any tips for getting right up to the starshield? Apply by hand? Do a really good job with the tape?

Yes, either/or. You`ve identified the possible issue and those are two ways to deal with it.

[Scottwax]

M205 *does* leave a lot of tenacious oils behind, and IPA isn`t always sufficient to remove them all (I prefer PrepWash from Top of the Line Auto Detailing Supplies ). But that might not be anything you need to worry about either. Just be sure to inspect it in good light before you BFWD, preferably natural sunlight. See if the oils cause a pseudo-hologram effect and keep working to strip them if they do.

Another option (assuming it is sunny) is to pull the car out in the sun for 10-15 minutes and let the surface heat up. It will quickly flash off the oils left behind. When I am doing paint corrections with the rotary, I like to let the car sit in the sun while I grab lunch or take a break after using #205. If I have missed anything, it doesn`t take too long to show up.

[Accumulator]

Another option (assuming it is sunny) is to pull the car out in the sun for 10-15 minutes and let the surface heat up. It will quickly flash off the oils left behind..

Yeah, I never think to recommend that because of my tree-droppings issues, and I`m always envious of the way you can do it that way! With the sun down there in TX I bet it works great.

[Scottwax]

Yeah, I never think to recommend that because of my tree-droppings issues, and I`m always envious of the way you can do it that way! With the sun down there in TX I bet it works great.

The way I see it, the sun won`t mar the paint!