Ok all, this will be my first attempt to do a full detail.
I'm going to outline the plan of attack. Please feel free to comment on anything I might be missing.
GOALS for this procedure:
- inexpensive (relatively) for a detailing budget
- ease of application - since this is my first time I'm trying to avoid products that are hard to apply, use, or remove
- simple - I want as few steps as possible because I'm lazy and probably won't enjoy doing this too much
The vehicle: 2005 Subaru Legacy GT, red paint. 4 years old now, and probably has never been waxed or polished - only washed.
The plan:
WASH
- wet car with hose
- use wash mitt with meguiar's deep crystal wash
- rinse off
- dry? ( should I dry before clay-barring? )
CLAY
- lubricate and slowly glide clay over each panel
RINSE OFF ( should I follow the clay with another full wash, or can I just rinse it off with the hose before I polish? )
POLISH
- using 7424xp + 5" green CCS pads
- doing a 1-step polish with mezerna po203s polish. If it looks bad I plan to to run a 2nd step using the same polish but with a finer blue pad
- wipe off polish with microfiber towel
LSP
- apply VERY thin coats of duragloss 105 by hand using applicators
Other notes:
- I decided to go with a 1-step polish rather than 2 to save time. I'm told the po203s polish is easy to work with and would work well as a polish that cuts well but also finishes pretty fine
- I've opted not to use the duragloss 601 bonding agent ahead of time to save money. I'm hoping this won't make a big difference.
- Winter is coming up, and is the main reason for adding protection. Collinite sounds really good and tough, but from what I've heard it's tough to work with. I'm hoping DG105 will be good enough for now.
Any pointers?
Also, I'd appreciate it if people could address my questions above.
1. Do I dry after washing but before claying?
2. Do I wash the car after claying or just hose it off with water?
3. I assume the car should be completely dry before I polish?
Thanks!
I'm going to outline the plan of attack. Please feel free to comment on anything I might be missing.
GOALS for this procedure:
- inexpensive (relatively) for a detailing budget
- ease of application - since this is my first time I'm trying to avoid products that are hard to apply, use, or remove
- simple - I want as few steps as possible because I'm lazy and probably won't enjoy doing this too much
The vehicle: 2005 Subaru Legacy GT, red paint. 4 years old now, and probably has never been waxed or polished - only washed.
The plan:
WASH
- wet car with hose
- use wash mitt with meguiar's deep crystal wash
- rinse off
- dry? ( should I dry before clay-barring? )
CLAY
- lubricate and slowly glide clay over each panel
RINSE OFF ( should I follow the clay with another full wash, or can I just rinse it off with the hose before I polish? )
POLISH
- using 7424xp + 5" green CCS pads
- doing a 1-step polish with mezerna po203s polish. If it looks bad I plan to to run a 2nd step using the same polish but with a finer blue pad
- wipe off polish with microfiber towel
LSP
- apply VERY thin coats of duragloss 105 by hand using applicators
Other notes:
- I decided to go with a 1-step polish rather than 2 to save time. I'm told the po203s polish is easy to work with and would work well as a polish that cuts well but also finishes pretty fine
- I've opted not to use the duragloss 601 bonding agent ahead of time to save money. I'm hoping this won't make a big difference.
- Winter is coming up, and is the main reason for adding protection. Collinite sounds really good and tough, but from what I've heard it's tough to work with. I'm hoping DG105 will be good enough for now.
Any pointers?
Also, I'd appreciate it if people could address my questions above.
1. Do I dry after washing but before claying?
2. Do I wash the car after claying or just hose it off with water?
3. I assume the car should be completely dry before I polish?
Thanks!