Need input on my detailing...

I

iHEARTmyCAR

New member
hey guys and girls!

planning to detail my car this friday or saturday, i've just have a couple of questions and would like some input on my routine.

Interior first. my interior is in pretty good condition, just some marks on the floormats and some minor stains on the seat, but the carpet seems pretty dirty. i bought a bottle of the highly recommended Red bottle Prestone Interior cleaner. i was also gonna use "Folex" see it here: http://www.folexcompany.com/ on the carpet, clean with water, than wet vac the whole interior and floormats.

Exterior: it's a black car, minor swirling, paint in good condition, some bird poop marks that are kind of visible.
i am still unsure if i want ot use the powertool in the garage (some sort of polisher) or do it by hand.
1) Wash car down with sheepskin wash mitt and car wash soap.
2) Dry with Waffle Weave Towel.
3) Turtle Wax "Bug and Tar Remover" on the whole car (maybe twice, would i benefit from doing this twice if i cant remove them the first time?)
3) Mother's Clay bar. Clay the car with car wash soap diluted 50/50 with water.
4) Maybe wash car again here? (need input if i should or not)
5) Rubbing compoud on the whole car (Which is better, to apply with a Terry Towel Applicator or a Foam Applicator?) and Taken off with a MF towel.
6)Polish the whole car. Same question: (Which is better, to apply with a Terry Towel Applicator or a Foam Applicator?) and Taken off with a MF towel.
7) Meguiars #7 (Show Car Glaze) on the whole car. Taken off with MF towel. Should i glaze than polish or polish first than glaze? (Which is better, to apply with a Terry Towel Applicator or a Foam Applicator?)
8) Seal paint with PermaPlate PaintGuard. It's the stuff they use at the dealer, i've heard good things about it but people don't seem to like it because of the price the dealer charges (and i don't blame them lol). I heard it was a polymer sealant. (can anyone confirm this?) and i was going to do ATLEAST 2 coats of this sealant.

that's basically my "plan of attack" on the car. it's just to get it sealed up for winter. i left the names of the polish and rubbing compound blank because i don't know what brand it is but i've had GREAT results with them from past experiences.

still i THINK i might be doing all of this by hand. i am not to fond or "comfortable" with a polisher, mostly because of all the horror "OMGosh i tried to use a polisher and swirl marks galore!!!" stories i've heard of.

i would be appreciate it if you guys/girls would give any suggestions or recomendations on what to do.

thanks!!!
 
Hmmm lengthy but hope I can help. Interior products are good, just scrub and vac out to your need. Run Turtle Wax Bug/Tar Remover where needed, its strong and somewhat not nice to your finish. Wash after clay if you want, you can just polish. Terry App for: "black car, minor swirling, paint in good condition, some bird poop marks " Don't compound unless you want to remove the defects or imperfections.
Polish to Glaze to Seal. Do by hand if the work isn't that bad.

Rotary polisher turns circular, which is dangerous. Random Orbit polisher "jiggles" in place being VERY safe!

Replying fast, but I hope I could help. Best way is to stick on these boards and read read read. :dcrules
 
First, skip #3 -- you don't need to Bug & Tar unless you've got 1,000 dead bugs on your front grill that don't come off with the wash. A few bugs here and there will come off with the clay. In fact, taking off bugs with the clay bar is EASIER and FASTER than using B&T remover.

Second, Step #4 (you mis-numbered it as #3!): I know the experts here swear by their own concoctions, but I say stay with actual 100% clay lubricant. It really is the best. Whatever.

Third, Step #5 (again, you have it as #4): No need to re-wash the car...if you were really time constrained, you could go onto the polishing (COMPOUNDING ????) step and skip taking it off. I do take it off with a MF towel. You could also make this easier with a little water spritz bottle.

Fourth, Step #6 (you have it as #5). You are COMPOUNDING? You sure you want to do that? Normally, this is the polishing stage -- you want to use something like AIO or Poorboys Professional Polish. They'll make sure that what follows sticks to the car and also get off any residue from earlier steps. You can use a MF towel (forget terry) but an applicator is best -- if it doesn't do it smoothly, wet it down, ring out the excess, and re-try. The water bottle helps here (2 spritzes every few minutes) make it glide on. Yes, take it off with a MF towel (also may want water spritzer bottle).

Steps 8 & 9 (you have #7 & #8): I use only sealants like EX-P, SG, or UPP so it's your choice here. Sounds like a good exit strategy, and yes, you POLISH before you apply any sealants/glazes/waxes/etc. Polish is preparing the surface for your final layers -- it's not the final layer and it will take off anything before it, so don't glaze beforehand or you're wasting time and effort and product!!

You may need to wait 24 hours between sealant applications -- check what you use.

As for a PC (machine?), I only use mine on the SSR step which you aren't using here. If you want to try it out, I'd say use a PC or something similar (you aren't using a rotary or something more dangerous are you? If you are, you better know what you're doing!!) on the POLISHING stage since that's a stage where if you don't do the greatest job, it gets covered up by the later steps. If you don't do a good job on the application of the glaze/sealants, it may stand out. From what I hear, using a PC is pretty much idiot-proof on those final steps (even though I haven't done it yet) but I've been content to go by hand for the polishing steps (AIO, PB PP) and also sealant steps (UPP, SG, EZ1, EX-P).

Hope this helps. Folks helped me out a lot when I first came here, so I hope you don't mind me being thorough.
 
My only advice would be to shy away from using a machine that you say is "just sitting in the garage." If you don't know what it is, how it works, or how to use it don't use it on your paint. It might be a random orbit, it might be something else. If you don't know don't use it. The consequences are far too great to use something like that blindly.
 
Jared is 100% right....if it isn't an Orbital Polisher, don't use it. Most of us newbies here are using the PC 7424 -- simple to use, not too much $$$, and won't hurt the car unless you drop it from a step ladder.
 
first and foremost i've like to thank EVERYONE for their replies! :dcrules

The Woob: thanks, so is their a more non-abrasive bug & tar remover that you wouuld recommend? from your description the polisher in my garage is indeed a "rotary polisher" because i know for a fact it spins in a circular movement.

HondaMan: thanks, i apoligize for the incorrect numbering. i've tried to go back and edit it but iono it doesn't seem like i can? i'll probably go without the bar and tar remover, and see if the clay bar will take it all out.

the car as minor scratches here and there and want to use the Rubbing compound to remove those scratches off my car.

thanks for the tip on spraying the applicator, that'll come in handy :)

i understand what you mean by if i wanted to use the polisher use it during the "polishing" stage because it won't show as much after i seal and wax it.

thanks, and being thorough is a good thing! :headbang

jaredpointer: i probably will stay away from it lol i've done nice jobs in the past all by hand.

thanks agian to everyone for taking their times to reply and helping me out!
 
For a Bug Remover it really depends on what your willing to spend. Now that I think of it, I don't really trust what you find at your local stores, but thats just me. Currently I use 1Z Bug Remover (Eiszett) since I was purchasing awhile back from Autopia Car Care. DO some searches or look around.
 
For that bug problem....you may could soak the area down with soapy wash water and let it sit while you do some other panels. Then soak it down again and again until you get it clean. Someone on the board here turned me on to that - CharlesW I think. It works great for me, and believe me I have some tough bugs. I commute about 80 miles most day (back and forth) and I get quite a bit of them. It's even rougher when I have to go southward. I never have to "soak" the front end more than twice. By the time I go to wash it that third time, the bugs literally hop off the paint. By the way, I am using NXT car wash. Hope you find a safe solution!!
 
Woob's B&T suggestion sounds good, I would just add again that the Claying takes off dead bugs. I doubt I'll ever buy B&T stuff again because regular washings take bugs off and unless you go into a place where bugs are in the millions, you're not gonna come home and find 100's of dead bugs on the front grill. Even then, the wash usually gets 90% of them and then claying gets the last 10% or whatever remains. Remember, claying is a mild abrasive, probably toughter than B&T remover, so it'll probably be easiest to take it off that way.

IHeart, verify that the polisher is a rotary or an oscillating machine. Both "move in circles" but it's a big difference. Find out the make and/or model and check here or on the web or with the manufacturer. I say buy a new PC 7424 but it's your choice.

Use the right polish and sealant combo for best results. If you're gonna use EX-P then use PB PP before. Using SG -- then prep with AIO.

If you want something a bit more "abrasive" than polish, then try a Super Swirl Remover (for that, you really want the PC !). If your car has lots of light scratches, then you probably want SSR 2.5 or 3.0.....I'm not sure how abrasive PB PP is relative to SSR 1, 2, 2.5, and 3.0 (maybe Poorboy can weigh in if this hasn't been discussed previousley), but if you use a SSR you might find the results good enough that you don't need to use a chemical polish like PB PP or AIO. However, for BEST results, and I would use PB PP before applying EX-P or use AIO before using SG.

Sometimes cutting out an extra step and saving 45 minutes isn't worth it. And if you really have to cut out a step, sometimes the one you want to cut out isn't the one you first think (for instance, I didn't SSR my sister's 1-year old car with SSR 1 or SSR 2 this weekend but DID use PB PP to make sure the EX-P had a good surface to bond to. Dumb move would have been to SSR her car or an older one with lots of light scratches but then ditched the PB PP step -- that not only eliminates more cleaning and getting rid of light scratches by itself, but also makes the EX-P process not as good).
 
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