Newb intro, and getting started

[flamed03vert]

Hello All!,

I have been floating around hee for a while, viewed various posts at work here in Afghanistan. Now I am getting ready to be on my way home and will be looking to step up my detailing game. First off, I have been doing the weekend warrior detailing for years and have exclusively used Mother`s and Meguires products in the past. Last year I decided to try some Surf City products and was pleased with the results. Now, having been thru this site for the past few months I am overwhelmed by the amount of products the pro`s use. I have been researching and wanted to run my list past the craftsmen on here before pulling the trigger on new supplies.
My List:
-ONR 32oz
-OPC 32oz
-CG Citrus Wash
-Meguires 106 ( I thinK?) APC for wheel wells
-Sonax Wheel cleaner
-Various Brushes
-Westleys Bleach White
-(2) 5 gal buckets w/ Grit Guards
- Micro fiber drying towels (need an economical suggestion)
-Clay (need an economical suggestion, plan on using ONR for lube)
-Meguires 105/ 205
-Mezerna 85rd
-Lake country pads (4 orange, 2 white, 2 black sound right?)
-PC 7424 (do I need to buuy the adaptor for the pads?)
-BFWD (or the fire over ice kit?)
-Recommendation for tire dressing (medium gloss)
-Recommendation for wheel wax
-Microfiber polishing towels (need an economical suggestion)
-Various spray bottles (assuming Lowes or Home Depot?)

Interior:
- Recommendation for leather cleaning, treatment?
-303 Aerospace Protectant
- Recommendation for vacuum?
- Recommendation for carpet cleaning?

The vehicles I am working on are:
-2008 Ford F150 S-Crew in Dark Shadow Grey, Black Leather
-2007 Nissan Altima in Frost White, Black leather
-2003 Mustang Cobra Convertable in Mineral Grey w/ Silver Pearl Ghost flames, charcoal leather with light grey alcantara inserts.

Am I on the right track? I intend on making most of the intial purchace prior to my return home. I am most likely going to use up the SCG stuff and then pop for the Blackfire prior to the end of the summer. Thank you in advance!!!

Eric
US Navy
ET1/SS

[Moderator 2]

Thank you for your service.

[Old Pirate]

Welcome to Truth In Detailing Eric. Thank you for your service to your country from one servicemen to another. I`ll be going over your list and see if you will need to add or subtract any item/items.

[bmw5541]

Welcome to TID Eric. Thank you for all you do to keep this country safe.:notworthy::hurray::clap:
Wait for Angelo to help you with your list. He is da man!!!

[flamed03vert]

Thank you for the kind words, and the rapid responses as well. Looking forward to getting home and shining up the cars. I`ll finish the misses car first seeing as she gave me the green light for new supplies. :Innocent:

[Old Pirate]

Yes, take care of your wife`s car first and enjoy your flight out on the freedom bird.

[flamed03vert]

Welcome to Truth In Detailing Eric. Thank you for your service to your country from one servicemen to another. I`ll be going over your list and see if you will need to add or subtract any item/items.

I finally have returned stateside and am ready to get the cars back into shape. ancing Dot: I know you have probably been busy with the new site (looks great BTW)., but was wondering if you had a chance to look over my list and offer any suggestions. Thanks again!

[imported_TLMitchell]

Greetings,

Welcome home! :clap:

Nothing wrong with anything on your list. However, when starting out you may want to take smaller steps or at least wait until there`s a big sale. That`s a pretty good chunk of change when you add it all up.

FWIW, after trying everything under the sun I find the Meg`s MF Correction kit to obsolete a lot of other products. You can vary the cut of the compound by varying pressure and working time rather than switching products and every color pad under the sun. A pro needs to have products available for any eventuality. An enthusiast primarily working on his own vehicles can benefit by getting the most versatile products and those that can do double duty when possible.

My List:
-ONR 32oz
-OPC 32oz
-CG Citrus Wash
-Meguires 106 ( I thinK?) APC for wheel wells

ONR & OPC are two very versatile products. CGCW works well if you want to strip a finish as well as for maintenance washes at higher dilutions.

D103 is APC+, dunno what number the APC is. I favor 103 as the cleaning power is comparable but it foams less on the occasion I use it to spot treat carpets. You may not need a dedicated wheel cleaner unless your wheels accumulate heavy brake dust and you don`t clean them regularly.

-Sonax Wheel cleaner
-Various Brushes
-Westleys Bleach White

I`ve been using Bleche White for 30+ years and find it works as good as anything on whitewalls and RWLs. Diluted 50:50 it cleans wheels wells superbly. I even use it 1:1 on my electrostatic furnace filters. You have to be careful around uncoated aluminum because it`s caustic and will stain and etch. If you`re going with OPC you can probably live without Westley`s.

The EZ Detail or Daytona Speedmaster brushes are sweet for wheels and engine bays. If you see a kit with both the large and small included grab `em both. Very handy to have around. Various sized paint brushes from your local hardware store are handy and cheap and you can cut the bristles back if you need to.

-(2) 5 gal buckets w/ Grit Guards

Paying for buckets & shipping can be a little pricey. Anyplace with a large bakery gets glaze in 5 gallon buckets with lids. I had a few saved at the local Wal Mart bakery. A local Paint & Wallpaper place had some empty buckets that comes with 50 lbs of drywall mud in `em... probably around 3 1/2 or 4 gallons. I prefer `em as they`re lighter to move around than a fuller bucket. YMMV.

- Micro fiber drying towels (need an economical suggestion)

I blow dry initially using the removable blower on my Shop Vac. With a good LSP there isn`t much residue left to mop up and it gets the water out of nooks and crannies. I have a few of the Little Blues that PAC sells and they`re as good or better than anything I`ve ever used. They`re about the only thing that doesn`t leave marks in a problematic, soft black finish on one of my bikes. They`re attractively priced if you don`t need a larger towel. If you`re going to use a towel to totally dry a vehicle I`d recommend the Big Blue. Might even want to check out the combos that PAC sells. You can`t have too many WW drying towels!

-Clay (need an economical suggestion, plan on using ONR for lube)

I`m not too fussy about clay. Frequently when I run low I grab something locally. Clay Magic blue works well, is reasonably priced and available many places. I`ve used Mother`s and Meg`s and find them a bit milder. ONR is a great choice for lube... one of those multiple duty products I spoke of. I keep a spray bottle filled with it at QD strength and use it for lube, spot cleaning as well as QDing. I also use it on rubber floor mats if they`re not overly filthy. Leaves a nice clean non-slippery finish.

-Meguires 105/ 205
-Mezerna 85rd

Although 105 has excellent cut and finishes pretty nice it dusts like crazy and dries quick resulting in less working time. After using D301 with the Meg`s MF kit I use it instead of 105. You may need to work it longer or use a bit more aggressive pad to get results comparable to 105 but it works a long time and wipe-off is a breeze. If you`re going with 85RD you can probably skip 205 as well. IMO, 85RD on a white polishing pad clears up haze and glosses the finish as well as 205 and it`s primo for jeweling for that last bit of extra gloss with a finishing pad.

-Lake country pads (4 orange, 2 white, 2 black sound right?)
-PC 7424 (do I need to buuy the adaptor for the pads?)

That`s a good pad selection, I prefer and recommend 5.5". I`ve got no earthly idea why most starter kits seem to come with 6.5" pads. Many vendors will substitute smaller pads if you ask. PAC`s constant pressure flat pads are very nice. For any tough correcting I find having a few PFW pads useful in a couple of sizes. They correct better than LC yellow without marring, IMO.

AFAIK, PCs don`t come with backing plates, I`d personally recommend going with a 5" BP and 5.5" pads. 4" pads are real usefull for spot work or tighter spots. If you go with the Meg`s MF kits including BPs they will also be useable with foam pads. The GG comes with a 6" BP, that polisher is a bit stouter than the PC, IMO. Plus GG offers a Lifetime warranty on their polishers. You`d still need the smaller BPs if you decide to go in that direction.

-BFWD (or the fire over ice kit?)
-Recommendation for tire dressing (medium gloss)
-Recommendation for wheel wax

I`ve used BFWD sealant and like it. Personally, I`m a fan or 845IW, especially on lighter colors. It`s high gloss and lasts a loooong time and it beads like crazy, I use it on wheels instead of a dedicated wheel wax. It doesn`t stain trim and works well on shiney black trim. Best bang-for-the-buck LSP out there for my money.

AFA tire dressing, everybody has their own personal preferences. I prefer a spray as I have RWL & WOL tires, much easier than dealing with the small, narrow spots by hand. I use Stoner`s More Shine and give it a light wipe after it starts to set up for a more matte finish. I also like a foam product call No Touch that`s available in most Auto Parts stores. I wipe it down before it dries for a matte finish and it`s also handy on wheels wells.

-Microfiber polishing towels (need an economical suggestion)

PAC has some gray utility towels that are priced well and they`re excellent quality. The corners are reportedly cut a bit rough and it was suggested you may not want to use them on paint. I fold the corners in and use `em on paint with no ill effects when they`re fairly new. When washed multiple times the corners and edges tend to fray a bit and when I think they`re no longer suitable for paint they get demoted to underhood and door jamb duty etc.

-Various spray bottles (assuming Lowes or Home Depot?)

Many hardware stores like True Value or Ace have decent priced spray bottles.

Interior:
- Recommendation for leather cleaning, treatment?
-303 Aerospace Protectant
- Recommendation for vacuum?
- Recommendation for carpet cleaning?

303 is a good all-around versatile product. On carpets requiring light cleaning I use D103 10:1 and extract with a Shop Vac. Frequently I spray a clear water rinse and re-extract to remove any residue. For spot cleaning most household foaming carpet cleaners work fine. On tough spots I have a bottle of Folex from Lowe`s or Home Depot.

For vacs I always recommend one with a removeable blower. In addition to blow-drying vehicles they`re handy for blowing off the garage floor and other tasks. I`ve had my 12 gallon Shop Vac for 20+ years... the only thing I`d do different is get a lower profile one. The high center of gravity on mine allows it to tip easily when you yank it around by the hose.

Leather treatment depends on the condition of your leather. If you keep it fairly clean some use OTC Lexol products. For finer leather you may want to use Leather Master products or for the top-of-the-line leather Leatherique seems to be a consensus product.

TL

[Todd@RUPES]

Since Mr. Mitchell basically hit a grand slam with his answer I will simply say welcome to Truth and Thank You for your service.

Todd

[imported_TLMitchell]

Since Mr. Mitchell basically hit a grand slam with his answer I will simply say welcome to Truth and Thank You for your service.

Even a blind acorn gets a squirrel once in a while.

"Mr. Mitchell" would be my Father. :biggrin:

TL

[flamed03vert]

Thank you so much for the informative, well thought out and detailed reply. One reason why I love this site. Now to git `r` done and post up some pics!