advice needed on my begineer "detail"

[buja]

Hi all,



Would like to get some feedback from autopians regarding my detail action plan.

Went out today to get the p21s paintwork cleanser and carnuba paste wax, and the wheel cleaner.



As my car is still in relatively new and good condition, this is what I plan to do,



1) Wash

2) Clay

3) Meguairs Quik Detail spray

4) p21s Paintwork Cleanser

5) p21s carnuba paste wax



Should I add in a polish and sealant step anywhere here ?







After that, I plan to wash / detail my car on a monthly basis, and this is what I plan to do subsequently,



1) Wash or QEW

2) Meguairs Quik Detail spray

3) p21s carnuba paste wax.



My question is , what do you guys think of my subsequent monthly maintenance style ? Is it alright ? My car is seldom driven and if driven out, it is mostly garaged, day and night.



As you can see, I have left out the Paintwork cleanser step. The reason is that because the paintwork cleanser lotion removes previous layers of wax (correct me if im wrong) .

I only plan on applying this paintwork cleanser probably once every 3 months if I can get away if that ?



also, Im not sure if I should probably add in a polisher and sealant step before the carnuba wax ? at this stage, I'm confused if this Paintwork Cleanser Lotion is a kind of polish or not ?



If not, I might probably need a polish and sealant before i put on the p21s carnuba wax. If thats the case, what polish and sealant you guys recommend ? bearing in mind that I am going to do all these by hand. (im thinking Zaino AIO plus sealant ? at the moment)



Thanks for reading guys , your help will be much appreciated.



cheers

 

[cgage]

Whew, where to start?



If you don't care about swirl marks and marring, or don't want to invest in the equipment it takes to easily remove them (and i wouldn't blame you), then you can skip the polish. As for the sealant, it's a good idea in your case as the p21s wax will not likely last the month between details. Some nice spay on wipe away sealants are:



Zaino Clear Seal

Optimum Opti Seal

Ultima Paint Gaurd Plus



You can also try a wax like collinite or 1000p if you need a months durability. p21s and souveran are generally considered the high end of the 100 or less waxes, but they do not last long at all. Unless your car is solid black or red, I would tend toward a more durable LSP.



All three of the sealants above are spray on and wipe away and will last the time that you are alloting bewtween details. In fact you can just layer a sealant every time you do a full detail. You can ditch the quick detailer step, those are pretty much just for lubing clay. I personally spray some aquawax (available from carquest) in between my full details, lasts much longer than a QD.