semi pro/hobby detailer

[Jngrbrdman]

For what its worth, I saw the Klasse twins at the local Honda dealership parts department a couple weeks ago. Those are some of the premium products that used to be really tough to find locally. Another place to check are autobody paint supply shops. They are often Meguiar`s or 3M distributors and there are other products you can find there as well.

There are three grades of products the way I see it. Consumer, Professional, and Enthusiast.

Consumer grade products are like Mother`s. I`ve never seen those available by the gallon or marketed towards professionals. Meguiar`s has some consumer grade stuff, but they also have professional grade products in consumer sized bottles. Most pros don`t have much use for a 16 ounce bottle of car wash, but you can get Meguiar`s 00 in such sizes.

Professional grade products are industrial strength and industrial sized. Some of them don`t necessarily work any better than consumer grade, but they are available in larger quanities. Most of the paint polishes would be considered Professional Grade due to the fact that most consumers don`t have machines to cut their paint with. This is why you won`t find the whole line of Meguiar`s or 3M polishes on the shelf at WalMarts. You`ll see a couple at Autozone or somewhere like that, but usually only one or two choices.

Enthusiast grade products are for those individuals like yourself, who are only caring for their own vehicles and want the best. Since `best` is a totally relative term, I suppose you could find what works best for you off the shelf and be perfectly happy. I know I was totally content with Meguiar`s Gold Class for years until I found Klasse and Four Star and Pinnacle and Wolfgang and the list goes on. Gold Class is still a great looking consumer grade product, but when I wanted to turn the corner in appearance, I had no choice but to go online. Enthusiast grade products aren`t marketed on the shelves. They are sold through distributors who typically don`t have brick and mortar shops. I`m not sure how Zaino distributors work, but most of the product distributors I`ve seen for Enthusiast grade products are professional detailers themselves and carry the products they use to sell to their customers. All of the vendors on Detail City carry all three grades of products. The thing I like about places like Autogeek are that I can order some of the professional grade products along with the enthusiast ones that make my cars look so good and I can even throw in a few consumer products that are often priced better than they are on the shelf. Sure I have to pay shipping, but it isn`t that big of a deal. It is worth it.

One thing I can promise you is that there is no wax you will find off the shelf that will compare to Natty`s or Souveran or Fuzion. There is no polish line you will find off the shelf that is as versitle and easy to use as the SSR polishes from Poorboy`s or the XMT polishes from Pinnacle. I`ve never found a leather cleaner/conditioner that does the job of Leather Stuff from Poorboy`s. I`ve never used a leather conditioner that works as well and smells like the Pinnacle or Wolfgang conditioners do. There is a huge difference in quality and performance, so while OTC products are adequate, it sounds to me like you have a passion for detailing and making your cars look their best. I think to correct some of the problems on the older `stangs you are going to pick up you are going to need something with a little more kick than what you`ll find easily off the shelf. There is a lot to learn about what does what, but just know that while there are some products off the shelf that are hard to beat, when it comes to paint care, I can`t say that I`ve found anything locally that compares to what I`ve found on the interwebs.

[TRAKPAK]

thank you so much for the reality 101 lesson. I know your probably right about that info. I`m gonna stop at the Honda dealership and get some Klasse-it`ll do the job for now. Thanks

[Jngrbrdman]

When you said you were going to have to deal with old mustang issues, the Klasse All In One product was the first that came to mind. It is a tremendous oxidation remover and `primer` for the Sealant Glaze. There is a little bit of a trick to applying the sealant glaze though. It isn`t like a typical wax. One thing that you`ll learn as you delve into the Enthusiast grade products is that they don`t always work like what you are used to.

The easiest tip I can give you is to use a damp applicator and wipe it on in a very thin layer. Don`t apply it like we learned on Karate Kid. Wipe it in a straight line in the direction the wind goes over the car. Thin thin thin. If you can see it then you are using too much. You`ll thank me when it comes time to remove it. Sealants only need to make contact with the paint to begin bonding, so a thick layer just turns into a nightmare to remove.

Then when you are buffing it off use a damp (not dripping) towel in one hand and a dry one in the other. The damp towel will give you the bite you need to remove the haze and the dry one will take care of any streaks. What you will be left with is a diamond hard shine that is comparable to a polished rock. Give it a day or so to cure and then go ahead and top it with a paste wax if you want a little more glow to it. I think you`ll really like the Klasse twins and it is a great place to start if you can find it locally.

[JaredPointer]

When you said you were going to have to deal with old mustang issues, the Klasse All In One product was the first that came to mind. It is a tremendous oxidation remover and `primer` for the Sealant Glaze. There is a little bit of a trick to applying the sealant glaze though. It isn`t like a typical wax. One thing that you`ll learn as you delve into the Enthusiast grade products is that they don`t always work like what you are used to.

The easiest tip I can give you is to use a damp applicator and wipe it on in a very thin layer. Don`t apply it like we learned on Karate Kid. Wipe it in a straight line in the direction the wind goes over the car. Thin thin thin. If you can see it then you are using too much. You`ll thank me when it comes time to remove it. Sealants only need to make contact with the paint to begin bonding, so a thick layer just turns into a nightmare to remove.

Then when you are buffing it off use a damp (not dripping) towel in one hand and a dry one in the other. The damp towel will give you the bite you need to remove the haze and the dry one will take care of any streaks. What you will be left with is a diamond hard shine that is comparable to a polished rock. Give it a day or so to cure and then go ahead and top it with a paste wax if you want a little more glow to it. I think you`ll really like the Klasse twins and it is a great place to start if you can find it locally.

You need to repost those pictures here of that old, red oxidized toyota pickup and let them speak for themselves!

[Jngrbrdman]

I`ve got those pictures on my website. I need to find the larger resolution versions of them since these got shrunk a bit. I don`t think I took them that large to begin with, but these aren`t as big as they could be. It definitely is a good example of the power of a chemical paint cleaner like AIO though. eshine.ca has been using those pictures to sell Klasse for several years. That stuff is just really amazing.

[TRAKPAK]

alright GUYZ- I appreciate the info on the Klasse stuff which I will use on the older Stangs but- I haven`t aquired them yet- but its in the process.

However, I think you`ll all- well almost all of yall be proud of me stepping into a larger work[[[lol -I just picked up some DG- yes Duragloss. I grabbed some 101 cleaner/polish/sealant, 111 polish sealant, 104 hand wax and 221 leather conditioner. How`s that yall? Okay here`s the plan, I got 2 cars to do plus 1 to finish from last weekend- here goes

1) 08 sliver Toy 4Runner silver with 20k and (2) 06 Lexus GS300 AWD- opelescant paint 50k.

wash/dry

clay

clean off all excess clay with some good QD - probably Ice or some Eagle 1 nano wax QD- is this step cool? I call it good anyways- lol

Duragloss 101- CLEANER, Polish Sealer

let dry 24 hours

put 1 or 2 top coats of the duragloss 104 paste wax= freak out from the outcome- can hardly wait




for the 08 Roush Mustang=dark candy apple tricoat 1800mi- basially new

Last week I washed/dryed, clayed and 1 coat waxed with megs NXT 2.0 liquid wax- looked great. Just waxed and pulled it in the garage.

This weekend (since I haven`t driven it since then) wipe off any hazish stuff,
use the DGloss 111 since it is JUST Polish/Sealant= don`t wanna clean off lat weekends work?

. 24 hours later put on 2 coats of DG 104 paste wax.

If this needs to be changed- let me know. I think I`ll be okay puting the 111 over the NXT because its been on there almost a week by the time I get to it. Is that cool????????????Thanks everyone.

remember- I don`t have all the goodies you all have- I still have NXT. Ice QD, Eagle One QD nano, killer glass cleaner and my NEW Duragloss goodies. plus wheel- stuff which is NA here.

All comments are much appreciated- NO machines at this point. Thanks TPAK

[Beemerboy]

Hope you have strong arms, regardless of how new the cars are (you`ve pointed that out in a few threads now, we got it!)

You have a lot of hand work to do

[TRAKPAK]

Yes - alot of hand work to do is right- but I`ve always done it that way and I get a lot of satisfaction from my work and the finished product. Do you think my plan of attack is the way to go? Do you think the DG will smoke the OTC stuff in beauty? Thanks

[Jngrbrdman]

It is all in the eye of the beholder... After all the work you are about to do, I will sure hope it looks better than typical stuff off the shelf. I would really recommend investing the hundred bucks or so on a Porter Cable 7424. You are dealing with a lot of money worth of cars and the couple hundred bucks to invest in the right tools for the job won`t even be a fraction of the car payments. Regardless of what the cars are worth, you are really dealing with an area where you need a machine to get the best results.

[TRAKPAK]

Well, I`ll think it over- I just don`t see the need for a machine to polish up and wax up a car to extreme luster. After washing/drying and claying- hey- the prep work is good. adding some polish and wax is not hard or very time consuming- I`ll post some pictures in a week or two. I appreciate your comments as always- I`m just to set in my antiquated ways to listen- you know- just been doing it old school forever- hard to change today. I`ll check it out- no problem. Like I said before- the paint on these is extremely good and not a train wreck like alot of older cars that need paint correction and spider webbing etc............cross your fingers- 2 days till D DAY----lol

[Mr. Clean]

trakpak, one thing I`ll reiterate is Troy`s mention that we are full of opinions. That is what most of this stuff is, opinions. Your job is to sort out all of this information and try to pick the products that you like, not what someone else tells you is the best they`ve ever tried and there is nothing better, because that rarely plays out to be true. I can think of a number of latest and greatest highly forum hyped products. There are a couple of things that are generally accepted as fact by a fair majority...1) The results are mostly acheived by process/preparation and not product and 2) pick products you like and use them often (you`ll find that in a signature of one of the members).

I think you`ll find the Duragloss products to meet your expectations. As far as the Klasse twins go, if you do some searching, you`ll find a fair number of fans of the KAIO product, but not so much the KSG sealant glaze. It is finicky to apply and remove and has a habit of reappearing, and the final appearance isn`t highly favored. Those products were forum favorites over five years ago. In today`s world, there is no need to choose a product that isn`t a breeze to work with because there are so many. As for the appearance, well that is a subjective matter. Also DG has it`s own version of an AIO.

Getting some sort of DA buffer is going to help you in the long run. Especially if you are going to be polishing. It can also be used to apply your wax or sealant, which btw doesn`t have to be applied in any certain direction as the PC definitely doesn`t apply linearly. The key of course is complete coverage.

Enjoy your time spent.

[TRAKPAK]

Your wisdom again is much appreciated. I`ll get started friday evening and finish Sunday. Looking forward to using the DG. Thanks TPAK

[JaredPointer]

Keep in mind a machine like a PC is not only a defect correction tool, it can also be used to apply wax and sealant. Saves a lot of time if you choose to use it that way. Occasionally I still apply LSP`s by hand, but not as much as I used to. It`s up to you, most certainly, but sometimes having more efficient tools to do a task is nice.

[TRAKPAK]

I talked to a buddy last night and he`s a detailing MF- a good dude too- but he only uses a buffer with a clean white pad to buff out his exsisting dressings on his everyday driver with 117K and it looks showroom new- he never uses wax- only polish/ stuff like megs/mothrs etc....he says the buffer just glosses it up good for big shows- and yes, it is a show car- a Mustang no less! However, I might add- he`s not looking for durability because he works on that car a ton....but its darn interesting isn`t it? Gotta see how the DG works out- and will pick up a PC over Xmas at Home Depot on a big sale- I`m thinking about a 6.5" buffer- but gotta find some older apint to gets suome reps............Thanks much

[JaredPointer]

It`s not surprising that someone using a polsih only has a great looking paint. Reality is, the work is in the process (i.e. polishing, etc). Waxes and sealants are only the "icing on the cake" so to speak. Sure, most of them give a different look or warmness to the paint. It`s just that you do all the work to get it looking good in the cleaning/polishing steps.