Swirl Removing, Polishing, Protecting

R

ragtopgolfer

New member
In one of the other threads I was just reading that waxing does not protect a car for too long. I want to detail a few of my buddies cars and am now rethinking what services to offer.



I was originally planning on

  • Swirl Removing
  • Polishing
  • Waxing



Instead what are the alternatives? How many coats, etc



thanks in advance for the input and knowledge.
 
That's a tough question. Are you going to be doing it for free or will you be charging them? How long did you want to spend working for them? What products will you be using? Its all going to factor. It depends on the vehicles as well. This is one of those questions that is complicated to offer any input on without a little more information on what your plans are.



I think the services you are offering are good ones. Those are things that all cars need. As far as what products you should use will really depend on what other information you can give us on the cars and such. :)
 
I concur with what Jngrbrdman said. However, I can tell you what I offer my friends. I save my best stuff for myself, so I what I offer for my friends are:



clay, DACP, SMR, #20, and top with #26 if that's what they want.



Lasts a while and looks great. Most of them only care about lower maintenance.



I don't use glazes, or scrub wheel wells, or any of that, as they are not paying top dollar.
 
How good of friends are they?

What you are doing is fine, but i would make them help you.



I have helped tons of friends out in the past and never charged them, But you must also be sure they are not taking advantage of you for detailing the car.



Just get them all together for a day of detailing and bbq, have some fun and hang out together.

I would say get some beer, but beer, detailing and cars do not go good together.

NYD
 
1. By hand, dual action buffer or rotary?

2. What is the current state of your friends car?

3. Who'll be buying the products and if it's you, will you get reimbursed?

4. Protection - Wax (wetter look and easier for your friends to maintain) or Sealant (longer protection - will involve teaching friends who may fear sealants).



1. Bug/Tar Removal

2. Clay

3. Light Compounding

4. SMR

5. Wax/Sealant



Are you looking to use top of line type products or your average consumer's products. Meguiars 1-2-3 or Mother's line provide decent results and will be cost effective for you.



It really depends on what you are hoping to achieve as a detail.



i.e. tire/wheels, engine, interior, glass to be detailed as well?



Go ahead and give us a few more details and we'll steer you in the right direction.
 
I'll try to be more specific. My buddies are going to pay for all the supplies. Let's assume that I am looking for the best protection and the best possible shine. Assume the car has swirls, etc, so it will still need swirl removal. Now what do I use in terms of products. I was planning on using products that would go together well with wax, now however, as I mentioned some other posts suggested using a sealant so I would like to find products to remove swirls, polish, and protect. I don't know what the changes. As far as the winters: they are cold, rainy, (20-40 degrees) and lots of salt and sand. Summers are hot 85+



thanks guys.



NYD - did you get the PM I sent you?
 
Are you going to be shopping right off the shelf or do you have some good stuff on hand already? Do you have access to Klasse or any other sealants? If you have time to shop online then there are a ton of things you could do.
 
Wash - Meguiars Gold Class is a good all around performer



Clay - Claymagic, Zaino or Mothers



Compounds - Meguiars Dual Action cleaner polish or 3M Finesse It II/Perfect III Machine Glaze



Swirl Removers - Meguiar's No. 9 v2, Meguiars Swirl Free Polish



Glaze - Meguiars Hand Polish or No. 7, or 3M Hand Glaze



Wax - S100/P21S or Meguiars No. 26 or Gold Class



Sealant - Zaino, Klasse, BlackFire



Quick Detailer - Do a search, there are plenty too chose from



Check out my post on the "Search Tips" thread in the Autopia University forum to help you start your researching.



Sooo much to learn in soo little time :cool:
 
Now just to be sure, what do you do first. What do you not have to do every time. What can you not use with what.



Thank you so much !
 
The order in which I listed the product type would be the step wise fashion.



With regards to what products and you can't use with what.



The only questionable product is a glaze if you use a sealant.



Some quick detailes have a bit of carnuba in them, so you might want to avoid those as well if you don't plan on topping off the sealant with a wax.



Note: The reason you wouldn't want to top off the sealant with wax is that the wax would need to be stripped off before another sealant layer can be added. The solvents in the wax may cause the sealant to not last as long as well but I haven't seen any posts or tests to confirm that hypothesis (oh yea, another test!). Otherwise, wax or no wax on a sealant is a personal choice.
 
My routine is, in order:



Wash with Zymol Clear and lambswool glove

Dry with Big Blue MF Towel

Clay

MG#9 with PC

MG#7 with PC (although I prefer Final Polish on my black car)

P21S wax by hand

MG#34 spray and dry with MF (not really necessary).



But no car is complete without the windows, wheels, tires, and interior.

Wheels: P21S wheel cleaning gel

Tires: 3M Tire cleaner with Eagle One swipes

Tires: 3M Tire dressing with Eagle One swipes

Glass: Stoners Invisible Glass

Interior Carpet: Carbona Carpet Wizard
 
A sealant last longer than a wax. People here like Klasse and Zaino best, it seems.

You can layer them for more and more protection, as well as a wetter and wetter look.

Then you can put a Carnauba Wax on top of the Sealant- but not the other way around.
 
THESANTINI said:
Do the sealants offer protection?



Would I be better of using a sealant over a wax for protection is the ultimate question.
Click to expand...



If you are going to be doing a car that isn't going to see any additional layers of protection on it for more than 2 months then you should definatly go with a sealant. A wax won't last very long. If they are going to be brining it back every month for another coat of wax then you could go that route. Sealants last longer so that is really the deciding factor. You could use a product like Blackfire or Platinum that have the depth and wet look of a carnauba and the protection of a Sealant if you are too torn. They are both sealants so they will outlast a carnauba by possibly several weeks depending on the weather.
 
You know, doing a friend's (quasi-customer's? ;)) car isn't too much different than doing your own.



At minimum, what I'd do is: Wash, clay, remove swirls in one step if possible, and wax/seal.



#20 might be a good choice for a polymer sealant. It's one stand-alone product, can be locally available, and has a pretty good durability track among users here.
 
I've now found a wealth of information. Thanks guys !



So what swirl removals would you all reccomend?

What polish?

What sealant? or is the sealant klaasse or zaino?



thanks again.
 
THESANTINI, swirl removal and polishing are pretty much the same thing when people use those terms. Several of the above posts list the usually recommended products for each job. Some are stronger than others and they are almost always listed first in order because that's the order in which you'd use it. How strong a polish you need depends on how bad the paint is, and no one can call that except you in person. I feel like a broken record here, but remember that if you aren't sure, start off mild first.



Sometimes people (wrongly) interchange "glaze" and "polish". Glazes are also listed above, but they're an optional step and should only be used with normal waxes.



Klasse, Zaino, #20, Blackfire, Platinum are ALL sealants, but they all have slightly different procedures to use them. Which one to use is up to you because there are just too many variables.



Hope this helps.
 
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