Gentlemen, Help Assess My Products!!

[BQuicksilver]

Hi all, I`m new here and this is my first post, so please excuse me if I`m comitting many detailing crimes. I love a clean car, and am simply overwhelmed that such a huge forum exists on the topic. I wouldn`t have guessed...



About Me:

I have a 2002 Quicksilver C5, it`s a daily driver in Indianapolis traffic/weather, so it gets dirty and has some knicks....but the color is a light very metallic silver, so it doesn`t show it too bad. For these reasons, I`m not interested in pure show car setup, or anything that requires too much upkeep, a la Zaino products. Something effective that lasts would be great, of course some great shine is always a big plus. I typically wash at the local carwash with a high pressure sprayer since I don`t have access to a hose living downtown.



Business:

I`d love it if you could just take a look at my closet and tell me what`s good/okay/awful, what products would work better for me, what should be burnd at the stake, and what I`m missing. All comments welcome.



My Closet:

- Meguiar`s Deep Crystal Car Wash

- Stoner Invisible Glass

- Castrol Super clean AccuVision - Glass Treatment

- Lysol Tub and Tile - for cleaning wheel wells

- Mother`s California Gold Claybar System

- Meguiar`s Cleaner Wax - Used Moe Often than Claybar

- Meguiar`s Gold Class Clearcoat Liquid Wax

- Meguiar`s Quik Detailer - Only if Car is Cleaned, but No Recent Wax

- Nevr Dull - For Chrome Exhaust Tips (I have silver painted wheels)

- Meguiar`s Hot Shine Tire Spray



- plain ol garage towels, I reuse them after hitting the washer/dryer

- generic microfiber towels, for windows/wax

- generic cloth wax applicator sponges

- california duster for freshening up if some dust has gotten on it when clean

- turtle wax water blade - knocks off the big waterspots

- OKO dish brush for deep inside the wheels

- "the absorber" - just use it to dry the car



I need a new cleaner wax. I`m out, though I liked the Meguiar`s. anything better?



I need a portable Vacuum to clean carpet lint/fuzz. Anything with a good rotating brush?



Have at it...:nixweiss

[LouisanaJeeper]

My Closet:

- Meguiar`s Deep Crystal Car Wash GOOD

- Stoner Invisible Glass GOOD

- Castrol Super clean AccuVision - Glass Treatment GOOD

- Lysol Tub and Tile - for cleaning wheel wells TRY SIMPLE GREEN

- Mother`s California Gold Claybar System GOOD

- Meguiar`s Cleaner Wax - Used Moe Often than Claybar GOOD

- Meguiar`s Gold Class Clearcoat Liquid Wax GOOD

- Meguiar`s Quik Detailer - Only if Car is Cleaned, but No Recent Wax GOOD

- Nevr Dull - For Chrome Exhaust Tips (I have silver painted wheels) GOOD, mother`s chrome polish is good too

- Meguiar`s Hot Shine Tire Spray GOOD, might want to try Eagle 1 Wet Spray



- plain ol garage towels, I reuse them after hitting the washer/dryer OK

- generic microfiber towels, for windows/wax OK

- generic cloth wax applicator sponges, OK I like foam ones better

- california duster for freshening up if some dust has gotten on it when clean I dont use them, but some do

- turtle wax water blade - knocks off the big waterspots I dont use it but some do

- OKO dish brush for deep inside the wheels OK

- "the absorber" - just use it to dry the car OK, might want to try the micorfibers from walmart intead



I need a new cleaner wax. I`m out, though I liked the Meguiar`s. anything better?

Mother`s Reflections, meg`s NXT



I need a portable Vacuum to clean carpet lint/fuzz. Anything with a good rotating brush?



I use a Shopvac w/o a rotating brush

[BQuicksilver]

Thanks for the reply, LouisanaJeeper



- I have simple green. I`ll try it on the wheel wells.

- I have Mother`s Chrome Polish, but am pretty sold on the Nevr Dull

- Why is Eagle 1 Wet Spray good vs Meguiar`s Hot Shine?

- Which of the two cleaner waxes do you recommend highest, and why?

- There are no outlets near my parking area, so I need something portable for my carpet. My dustbuster just doesn`t get the job done with white lint, etc

[LouisanaJeeper]

The eagle 1 is going to be alittle less greasy and more natural looking. they are both about the same though



Mother`s Reflections is going to clean more, and the NXT is going to look better but clean less.



Try using a carpet brush to agitate any dirt, then following up with the vac.

[BQuicksilver]

Does the Eagle 1 have much overspray? I like the matte finish of the Meguiar`s relative to the old Armor-All foam i used, but the Meguiar`s has quite a bit of overspray, though much less slinging than the Armor-All.

[LouisanaJeeper]

I apply the dressing by spraying it on a sponge then wiping on the tire, let sit 10-15min, then wipe of excess with a paper towel



no overspray

[BQuicksilver]

Big Thanks!



Anyone else want to add their $0.02?

[shaf]

First welcome to Autopia. :welcome



Most products you have there should be fine. (Not too sure about the Lysol though...) It`s hard to really go shockingly wrong with buying products, but you have to be more careful with buying towels and basically the stuff you touch the paint with.



You didn`t say what you actually use to wash your car with. I`d suggest a real sheepskin mitt for easy availablity. I`d also be more inclined to use foam appliators than the cloth ones, because you don`t know what they`re made from. Check your MF towels for hard corners or anything.



If you want a "better" cleaner wax, what about it do you want to be better? :nixweiss Better hiding, more cleaning, easier to use, etc? Start with that question and go from there...

[BQuicksilver]

Thanks Brian,



Hehe, I was using WD40 for the wheel wells...Lysol just smelled better and was cheaper.



I have a very fuzzy mitt I purchased from Costco, but i have no idea what the material is. I do like it.



My towels are all just bundled microfiber and regular towels from the car care section of my local dept store (Meijer). I`m not sure what makes a hard vs non hard corner...



Cleaner wax: I honestly don`t know what I need. Did I like the Meguiars? Yes, but that`s the only cleaner wax I`ve used. What is "hiding"? I liked the finish and ease of use of the Meguiars, but maybe it could have cleaned more...if I was to guess.

[317indy]

Hey there. Welcome to the Board. Glad you could make your way over here. My name is Chris and I recently done a Quicksilver C5 not too long ago.



http://home.comcast.net/~317indy/brodvette8.JPG



Its a beautiful car, and pretty fast as well.



Like I said welcome to the board!



:p



BTW that mit that I love to use is infact a sheepskin mit.:xyxthumbs



And the Microfiber Towels that you and I use have semi soft edges, I never use the edges I always fold the edges in and use one or two sides then switch to a new one. When he says "hiding" he means swirls or scratchs, however your car has none of those, as I checked your car thouroughly before detailing.



Brody another thing that I have since found out is that we need to find some Meguiars NXT Car Wash, as it works wonderfully from the people on here have said.

[BQuicksilver]

Hehe, that car sure looksa lot like mine. Thanks for the detaials, Chris. Looks like i have a pretty decent shelf of product without even knowing WTH I was doing.

[317indy]

I told you that everything you had was good! You need some NXT though, because that stuff ROCKS!

[shaf]

Originally posted by BQuicksilver



My towels are all just bundled microfiber and regular towels from the car care section of my local dept store (Meijer). I`m not sure what makes a hard vs non hard corner...



Cleaner wax: I honestly don`t know what I need. Did I like the Meguiars? Yes, but that`s the only cleaner wax I`ve used. What is "hiding"? I liked the finish and ease of use of the Meguiars, but maybe it could have cleaned more...if I was to guess.

"Hard corners" or melted corners are when you check out the very corner tip of the MF, you find it has a very tiny little hard "lump" at the very tip. Quite common actually, but cheaper MFs sometimes have larger lumps, which can be bad.



Some waxes like NXT and Nanowax are aiming to have improved swirl hiding/filling ability. This gives you better looking results in one step, but the drawback seems to be reduced longevity. Only some waxes seem to "clean" more than others... and by "cleaning" that is abrasive polishing action, not cleaning as in washing off dirt type of cleaning. A lot of names in detailing products tend to be confusing, yes. :p