Black Knight
New member
I recently purchased a black 2013 Toyota Avalon Touring. I've never had a new car or a black car. I plan to wash, clay,wash, meguiars ultimate wax then meguiars 26. Does anyone have any suggestions or critiques?
First new black car
- Thread starter Black Knight
- Start date
Get ready for some fun with the black!!!! Sounds like a good plan if it is swirl free. Otherwise you might need to polish before the Ultimate Wax. No need to wash again after you clay the car especially if you use ONR as a lube. If you are not going to polish make sure you use a mild clay.
On my wife's non metallic black Golf I've had good luck by first putting on a coat of DG105 then topping it with HD Poxy--the 105 offers long lasting protection and the wax in the Poxy adds nice depth and wetness.
On my wife's non metallic black Golf I've had good luck by first putting on a coat of DG105 then topping it with HD Poxy--the 105 offers long lasting protection and the wax in the Poxy adds nice depth and wetness.
Black Knight
New member
Thanks for the feedback pwaug. What is ONR?
ONR is Optimum No Rinse wash. A very popular product with many detailers on this forum as well as other detailing forums.
If you are new to detailing, I suggest that you start with products that are readily available over the counter at your local Autozone, O'Reilly's, etc. Over the years I have found that you are always "safe" using Meguiar's products.
I further suggest that you keep it simple. You may or may not need to clay your new car. If the paint surface is really smooth to the touch, it probably doesn't need to be clayed. When I picked up my new Ram a year ago, I washed it, felt to see how smooth the surface was and decided not to use clay. I went straight to Meguiar's Ultimate. There is absolutely no reason to top Ultimate with #26.
Once you get this good layer of protection on your new car, you can think about what you might do to make black really "pop". This forum as well as a couple of others have a wealth of information.
Now about black....I drove black vehicles exclusively for thirty years. Six years ago I switched over to white and have been smiling ever since.
Tom
If you are new to detailing, I suggest that you start with products that are readily available over the counter at your local Autozone, O'Reilly's, etc. Over the years I have found that you are always "safe" using Meguiar's products.
I further suggest that you keep it simple. You may or may not need to clay your new car. If the paint surface is really smooth to the touch, it probably doesn't need to be clayed. When I picked up my new Ram a year ago, I washed it, felt to see how smooth the surface was and decided not to use clay. I went straight to Meguiar's Ultimate. There is absolutely no reason to top Ultimate with #26.
Once you get this good layer of protection on your new car, you can think about what you might do to make black really "pop". This forum as well as a couple of others have a wealth of information.
Now about black....I drove black vehicles exclusively for thirty years. Six years ago I switched over to white and have been smiling ever since.
Tom
Black Knight
New member
Thanks tguil. I'll try the touch test first. I wanted to try black because my last two cars were light grey and seemed to look the same clean or dirty. So the 26 won't make it pop?
The Meguiar's "pros" don't think that Ultimate needs to be topped with anything. I'm sure that some other forum members will chime in with suggestions for boutique waxes that will give you exactly what you want. The secret weapon for a black vehicle is a dual action polisher and a good polish to get all the swirls out. Then a layer of good wax. You need to be super careful with your washing technique to avoid instilling more swirls. My two black Harley's both have very soft clear coat. They seem to develop swirls simply by being looked at.
Tom
Tom
Dan
Well-known member
UW is fantastic on black (and Red). Topping with #26 will only give you more of that rainbow/oily look instead of a deep and rich black. It also might compromise the fantastic durability of UW. One thing to note, if you really love your black looking like a mirror, UW is not the wax to use on it, its much more of a deep black look, where you get to enjoy the color vs reflections.
Sadly UW doesn't get much attention because NXT left such a sour taste in so many people's minds, mostly due to the poor water beading.
Sadly UW doesn't get much attention because NXT left such a sour taste in so many people's minds, mostly due to the poor water beading.
Black Knight
New member
Thank Dan. So what should I use instead of the 26 after the UW?
Accumulator
Well-known member
Black Knight-I'd be far less concerned about what wax to use and far more concerned about how you're gonna wash it without inducing marring. I couldn't wash it marring-free with ONR, but that's just me.
Eh, I never top/combine LSPs (Last Step Products, i.e., waxes and sealants) any more, I just use a single one, whichever's right for the job.
I'd probably lean towards waxing that with some wax from Collinite.
Eh, I never top/combine LSPs (Last Step Products, i.e., waxes and sealants) any more, I just use a single one, whichever's right for the job.
I'd probably lean towards waxing that with some wax from Collinite.
Dan
Well-known member
Black Knight said:
Another coat of UW if you feel compelled to do anything else. Top with UQW after every wash.
Black Knight
New member
I was going to use a mitt and the two bucket wash to prevent marring.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Black Knight said:
Can't get into the intricacies of wash methodology here/now (it's a long, complicated subject IMO), but my view is that the usual two-bucket method is just the tip of the iceberg. Yeah...regulars here know I'm really off the deep end with my wash techniques, but black is pretty unforgiving.
Black Knight
New member
Are there any washing suggestions in addition to the mitt and two buckets?
Guitarist302008
New member
had one black car... looks great clean, but i'll never own another one.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Black Knight said:
Here are some short thoughts on the subject:
I use a foamgun to provide constant lubrication and flushing; if wash media touch my paint, the foamgun output is flooding the point of medium-to-paint contact. Consider this- I don't have to polish even annually (not even when I drove a black Yukon year-round), and when I wash a winter-filthy vehicle at the end of the wash my rinse bucket doesn't have dirt in it. No dirt from the wash media means said media didn't drag the dirt across the paint; the foamgun flushed it all away safely.
In the absence of a foamgun (I can't wash without one), fill the mitt with shampoo mix and hold it shut at the cuff. Gently whisk it across the panel while the shampoo seeps out (providing the lubrication/flushing). IF the mitt's dirty, and it touches the paint, you might get marring. No, I don't believe that the dirt gets "caught up in the nap, safely away from the paint".
People wear a mitt like a glove, and apply *way* too much pressure, resulting in marring.
Use short, interrupted strokes, not long sweeping motions. If/when you do get marring, you don't want it to be a looong scratch.
Don't try to wash a whole panel (or even half a panel) without rinsing the mitt.
Use a LSP that sheds dirt readily. That'd be a bigger concern for me than how it looks.
Gotta get the vehicle 100% clean before you dry, or else you'll rub dirt into the paint causing marring.
Dan
Well-known member
I'm all about a pressure washer as a part of a marring free wash regimen.
http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/142576-powerwashers-whos-me.html
Foam has its place, but a good PW will remove 99% of the dirt before any wash media touches the car. I can wash four cars using a single bucket and the water stays very clean.
http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/142576-powerwashers-whos-me.html
Foam has its place, but a good PW will remove 99% of the dirt before any wash media touches the car. I can wash four cars using a single bucket and the water stays very clean.
Kean
New member
Accumulator said:
I will say that your process is more “involved” than what many (even here) may feel is necessary in their own scenario(s), but not to the point that I would consider irrational. In fact, I would say others could really benefit from reading your non-marring technique. Even though they may not incorporate most of what is in your process, I’ll bet they will walk away with something. Even if it simply gets them thinking about how their own products/tools/techniques affect the condition of their finish. My own wash regimen (while far from what I would consider “Autopian” these days) was pieced together using the shared experiences from several members in the detailing community over the years (including from you).
OP, I would read as much as you can on this forum (in addition to what’s being discussed in this thread) and some of the other popular detailing specific websites. My Challenger is my 4th black car and I have never really regretted owning this color. It can be strain on your patience keeping a black car clean and maybe even more of a challenge trying to mitigate the risk of marring the finish while doing it. For me, there is usually some form of compromise in my decisions relative to maintaining my vehicles. The time & effort your willing to invest, location, environment, water quality, water accessibility, laws/regulations in your area, how the car is stored, paint characteristics, goals/expectations and money are just some examples of factors that can impact your decisions regarding your own regimen. There is no “one” perfect or best solution that will suit everyone IMO/IME.
You can quickly gather more ideas by further searching for threads on the subject within these forums. Even after spending a little time reading some of the responses around here you begin to get a sense (at least I did/do) of what you can basically trust as potentially good information vs. what to take with the proverbial grain of salt. You can then expand your research from there on the specific tools/products/techniques you discover.
Personally, I would keep your initial process fairly simple. Get a feel for what works for you and adjust from there. I would also recommend buying products like soaps, towels, etc. in smaller quantities first (when possible). Test them for yourself before deciding if it’s worth buying more.
If you want a black paint kit CG has one Black Car Wax Complete Black Paint Care Kit
Accumulator
Well-known member
Kean- Heh heh, yeah...my approach to washing is so extreme that when you say it's not, in your opinion, "irrational" I take that as a generous compliment!
And you're absolutely correct about how there's no one, single method that's right for everybody.
Dan- Yeah, if somebody can incorporate a pressure washer into the regimen that's a *great* way to get the "big stuff" off :xyxthumbs I'm *still* trying to figure out how to do it in my shop :think:
BTW, is that AR unit of yours still working OK?
Black Night- See, the big issue with washing boils down to this- The dirt on the car should be assumed to be abrasive. If you press that dirt against the paint (say...by pressing a wash mitt against it) and then move the dirt under that applied pressure (say...by moving that pressed-down wash mitt across the panel), the combination of washmitt and dirt acts just like sandpaper, resulting in all the "spiderweb" or "swirl" scratches that you see on most vehicles.
So IMO you need a way to dislodge the dirt and move it across/off of the paint without letting that "under pressure" thing happen.
Get good shampoo. Every little bit of lubricity and encapsulation will be helpful. Don't put too much value in "sudsing" as the foamy suds don't really contribute much (hence my references to "foamgun output" as opposed to "foam").
And you're absolutely correct about how there's no one, single method that's right for everybody.
Dan- Yeah, if somebody can incorporate a pressure washer into the regimen that's a *great* way to get the "big stuff" off :xyxthumbs I'm *still* trying to figure out how to do it in my shop :think:
BTW, is that AR unit of yours still working OK?
Black Night- See, the big issue with washing boils down to this- The dirt on the car should be assumed to be abrasive. If you press that dirt against the paint (say...by pressing a wash mitt against it) and then move the dirt under that applied pressure (say...by moving that pressed-down wash mitt across the panel), the combination of washmitt and dirt acts just like sandpaper, resulting in all the "spiderweb" or "swirl" scratches that you see on most vehicles.
So IMO you need a way to dislodge the dirt and move it across/off of the paint without letting that "under pressure" thing happen.
Get good shampoo. Every little bit of lubricity and encapsulation will be helpful. Don't put too much value in "sudsing" as the foamy suds don't really contribute much (hence my references to "foamgun output" as opposed to "foam").