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<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by geekysteve [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>Love the wide bodies!
To answer your question about shine maintenance:
1) Be very careful when washing your car. sdputerbum has a crazy washing technique that takes him like 2 days (j/k) to wash his car. Most of the swirls/marring that people get in their dark cars comes from washing/drying.
So, I'd suggest a search on "washing" or "wash mitts" or something like that. Basically, buy the best wash mitt you can find (at least 2 or 3 of them are needed) - something like a 100% Chenile cotton works well for most. Be sure to rinse your mitts often, because any little bits of dirt, etc. can end up causing micro scratches which lead to swirls.
2) Be even more careful when drying your car. Here's what I do: take the spray nozzle off of the hose and run a steady stream of water over the car. Start at the top, work your way down. This should remove most of the water for you. Then, get an electric leaf blower and blow dry the car. Sounds crazy, but it works. Finally, take your softest, plushest 100% USA cotton towel (or your best MicroFiber towel) and blot any remaining water dropletts.
3) Use extreme caution when/if claying. Clay removes a lot of debris, but on your car (black, especially) use some discretion and caution. You don't want to add any new marks by accident.
4) Depending on how many swirls you have (if any), a product like 3M Swirl Mark Remover for Dark Cars or Meguiar's #9 v2.0 Swirl Mark Remover might be the ticket. Combined with a Porter Cable buffer and some quality foam pads, you shouldn't be disappointed with the results. Do a search on any of those terms for some great tips and ideas here.
5) On a black car, I'd always follow-up step 4 with a high quality paint cleansing lotion. My new, all time favorite product is the P21S paintwork cleaning lotion. It not only helps hide defects, but it adds an incredible glow/shine, too. It's only $9 for a bottle, and it's worth every penny. You can apply it with a Porter Cable or by hand.
6) Finally, follow up with your favorite wax or synthetic. Since you're going to be driving it daily, I'd suggest a synthetic. Asking which is best here is like asking "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Everyone has their own opinions on this, so my suggestion is to search for: "Klasse" "Zaino" "BlackFire" and draw your own conclusions.
Were it my car, I'd use Zaino: 3 coats of Z5 w/ZFX, 3 coats of Z2 w/ZFX, using Z6 QD inbetween each coat. Their Z7 wash rules, as well.
One minor note about using synthetics: wash your car with Dawn dish soap/water after step 5 before appyling a synthetic. You'll get more consistent results from the synthetic that way.
7) Tires, wheels, etc: again, do some searching - too hard to answer this question because everyone has different results from their products. [/b]</blockquote>
Woah..there goes my saturday...!!!
Now I have never used Zaino...and I was told that 1 ounce is enough to do 1 complete coat. If this is true...how would I go about applying it? What are your steps for application?
Also what other tips\tricks (I love the electric blower one) do you guys have for keeping her (Giselle is my car's name) swirl mark free....