Oh dang...I'm new and confused

J

Joey1558

New member
I've spent probly bout 15hours over a while reading about detailing, and its all confusing and contradicting....



I have a white car and i need to know what to do for it...i need everything...um but ill get to that in another post right now i keep reading dont use detergents on your car its stripes the wax AND DRIES THE PAINT...i want to strip everything off my car and start new...with top notch products...so if i DO want to strip everything off the start over should i do this...or is it still not a good idea...once i used to detergent...i would



wash it

clay it

swirl polish it

polish it

and wax it...is that in the right order for the paint or am i missing steps???



Thanks everyone the forums great!
 
Nothing wrong with using dawn or whatever to strip the car prior to a detail, just don't make a habit of it. Use a regular wash used for automobiles once you've got the car polished and waxed. Im all about simplicity, so for a newb starting our your steps above look just fine
 
yea i think i got all the basic techniques down...to each step...my eyes really hurt cus ive been doin soo much reading....BUT I STILL DONT KNOW WHAT TO BUY FOR EACH THING I NEED>>>i dont know what products are good better and best!!!...anyone have a link???
 
YMMV, but plan roughly on the following:



wash it ~ 45 minutes

clay it ~ 2 hours if you do an average car and it's not too dirty

swirl polish it ~ 4.5 hours, if you have no trouble areas to hit and can really fly

polish it ~ 2 hours, as long as you did OK in the step above and are just doing a finish clean-up

and wax it ~ 1.5 hours, including the time to apply, let it haze, then wipe it all down





I've done a few times where I wash/clay/seal in a long day or over a weekend. Now that I got a Flex I'm heading back and polish sections at a time over proceeding weekends. Spend about 2-3 hours with polish, allowing time to seal/wax that area I just polished. That way I don't get too burned out, keep things looking nice, and still move towards better beauty. i.e. last weekend I was able to hit 3-4 major scratches, plus get the trunk lid smooth even with the plastic bag on my hand. With the wash and Z2 on just that area, I spent about 3 hours.
 
Joey1558 said:
I've spent probly bout 15hours over a while reading about detailing, and its all confusing and contradicting....



I have a white car and i need to know what to do for it....i would



wash it

clay it

swirl polish it

polish it

and wax it...is that in the right order for the paint or am i missing steps???
Click to expand...



You have the right idea.



Unless your paint is *VERY* soft, or *really* scratched up, you could take advantage of white's forgiving nature and just do a single polishing step. It'd be a good way to start out with this stuff without making the whole job too overwhelming.



For working by hand, my #1 (and only) recommendation is the 1Z line of polishes (sources: Home or Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing, Auto Detailing Supplies, Auto Detailing Equipment, Auto Detailing Products, & Auto Detailing Accessories for all your Automobile Detailing ). Their Paint Polish is usually the best choice, their Metallic Polish with Wax is more gentle (and so easy to use you can't imagine).



The 1Z Paint Polish and Metallic Polish with Wax both leave some wax behind...enough to last until the next wash, so if you're tuckered out you can stop at that point (no absolute need to apply the "real" wax then) and wax after the next wash.



For the wax, I recommend Collinite, either their 845 or 476S (which I prefer). Either one will last a long time, provide great protection rivaling sealants, and look good.
 
This weekend I washed my smaller pickup, then spent time with rubbing compound to get the really bad sratches, then a shot with orange pad/Powergloss and then white pad/SIP. Just one side of the bed, and I was out there 4.5 hours.
 
UncleWede said:
This weekend I washed my smaller pickup, then spent time with rubbing compound to get the really bad sratches, then a shot with orange pad/Powergloss and then white pad/SIP. Just one side of the bed, and I was out there 4.5 hours.
Click to expand...



I'd try the LC PFW pads. Via PC, 3.5"; via rotary 6". They're a whole lot safer than orange foam and they do the work a *LOT* faster. It takes me forever to do correction, but today's wool pads can really improve things compared to foam cutting pads.
 
I've added the wool pad to my shopping cart more than once, just haven't gone on and put the credit card in yet. This was the first attempt on a 2002 that has seen a few years of spring/fall brush clearing, so it had some marks. ;) For some reason my shoulder is sore. . .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top