the 'mistakes you've made so we don't have to' thread

Used fine cut rubbing compound all over the car with a buffer, and i think put pressure behind it too. but i dont think it was all bad though. since my car shines alot more now then it did before i used it, I think it got rid of alot of oxidation and scrathes, but it did swirl the car kinda bad. the SMR and IHG fixed the swirls up pretty well though so its all good now :D



The next go around I'm gonan try some new techniques to see if I can get it looking better.
 
Nufinish, Dawn as a weekly wash agent, spraying clear enamel on engines, not having a backup rotary,vac,orbital,etc. Giving a discount to friends, giving friends a part time job, running over a bottle full of liquid wax and staining the asphalt, Not changing the radio back on a customers car, not having the dealer transport tag, properly displayed on the rear of the vehicle..... and a whole lot of stuff I cant think of at 4 in the morning. :bounce
 
I have a friend ;) who thought it would be a good idea to clean the external (non painted) with a dish washing foam pad, the result, nice and clean with hundreds of new scratches.



This same 'friend' also rushed out the the house with his new Neatitems MF towels, tripped, and ended up with 5 brand new towels covered in grit dirt etc. 2 were saved, the rest are used around the house :(



Steven
 
I once fell off my step ladder while detailing the roof my 1986 F-150. I hit the miror coming down ( :eek:"ouch!) and thought that I was damn lucky that the mirror didn't break (although I had a rather nasty bruise on my side from the impact) I adjusted the mirror to bring it back to it's proper position...then the mirror fell out of the frame, landed in the driveway and shattered into lots of teeny tiny mirrrored glass shards.....
 
I used the dreaded armor all on my dash and tires..



I had a 1998 ZX2..last year I noticed that some brake dust or something wouldnt come off the rims... I went and bought these package of three

bristle brushes..one very soft, one medium , and one hard..



anyways I can't get the little black spots off the rims with the soft brush..SO i grad the hard bristle brush..by the way the brushes are the size of toothbrushes..I start rubbing the rims with this brush and yeah the blash dust comes off but I stratched the hell out of those rims..idiot!



:shocked
 
Waxed Windows



Leaving wax on for hours in the midday sun to turn to a complete white haze (Actually, I had no problem with this one, people complain about "hard to remove" too much)



Armorall everything



Kragen's pack of cotton towels... (tiny and not that gentle).



BTW, I have 6 of those yellow flannel detailing towels from Kragens now... are they safe to use? I don't have any MF (I'm tired of ordering stuff and no store would dare stock any).
 
Back in high school, I was attempting to ressurect my 65 Mustang's slowly diminishing finish. I went to the local auto paint supply store and asked the fellow behind the counter what I could use to improve the shine of my paint.

He pointed me to some professional-level compound and I went home happy as a clam.



I began applying it by hand, not knowing it should have been machine applied. I did the hood and trunk, then buffed off. I then noticed how the shine was completely uneven and mottled. I began freaking out and using all sorts of over-the-counter stuff to improve it. I managed to get it looking fine for the average eye, but I could always see the uneven shine after that.



Subsequent story: Once a year, I took it to a detailing place and for $90 they always shined it up real nicely. EXCEPT.... I showed up once and noticed they must have let their least-experienced employee rotary buff the Stang because it was covered in a dozen burn marks on the edges. When I pointed them out, they did nothing but shrug. I was so steamed but never did anything about it.



My stang has been repainted since, thank God! Oh, and I used Armour All on the seats as well. It was always a riot to see friends sliding around on the rear seat (especially since it didn't have rear seat belts)

:up
 
My most painfull mistake.....

I was cleaning the inside of the wheel and my hands were covered in grease & dirt. I asked the kid who was helping me to give me the all purpose cleaner. I thought i would just use that to clean off the grease and the cleaner was not that strong.

But the kid gave me the wrong bottle, he gave me the bottle that was next to it which was the acid wheel cleaner..........

:scared :shocked

If you think getting some lemon juice in your cuts burns try some acid wheel cleaner and see what happens. I needed to go to the hospital as i could not move my hands due to the burning feeling. They used baking soda & vinager to remove the acid.

Since then i also keep baking soda near me when i clean with acid wheel cleaner.

but i try to stay away from wheel cleaner, a little elbow grease and soap and eveything will come off.

NYD
 
Opening the hood when the wipers were up… :o It left a chip on the back of the hood and scratched my windshield and plastic.
 
BW said:
Opening the hood when the wipers were up… :o It left a chip on the back of the hood and scratched my windshield and plastic.
Click to expand...



I've done that about 4 times on my Maxima and I still haven't learned!



I did it once on my Integra and that was enough to remember next time. Now I dry the hood before I touch the windshield. Duh!
 
I stored my drag radials in the back seat of my 2001 GTP with leather interior. When I removed them, black marks all over the leather that I can't remove. I am in the middle of various leatherique treatments to see if I can remove these stains.



STUPID STUPID STUPID



Brian
 
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