Wash and wax, relatively inexpensive and time sensitive?

2

2rocky2

New member
Back in my single days, I would use the Zaino system and spend most of the day detailing my car. Obviously times have changed, and now that the weather is getting warmer and I have the time, I want to wash and wax my two cars -- a Mazda CX-9 (Silver) and a Lexus IS350 (black).



The key for me are these things.. price of materials, time to apply (start to finish), and length of how long they last. Other nice plusses are "wetness" and any other benefits you can think of.



So what works best? Zaino took me almost a full day to do. I also have a bunch of swirl marks that would need to get removed, and I am in the market this year for a polisher that's something other than the $20 piece of crap from Walmart that I bought.



So for products... (and I'm a huge Amazon fan so if it's on there, all the better!), I need the following that meet the above specifications..



Compound/Claybar/etc? (Do I need all? Do I need one?)

Wash

Wax or polish or sealant or whatever

Polishing machine



I'm obviously on a budget, I have kids so my time can't be spent washing the car all day. Any other things you can recommend me to get as well to speed the time to apply would be helpful. I have a california water blade, but it's basically useless now as it's been totally destroyed in the process of storage/moving, but things like that have helped me in the past.



Thanks for any help!
 
Until you get the machine, just get some clay, NXT, and either NXT wash or Gold class. Grab Megs Ultimate Quick detailer for after every wash. These products will fill in minor swirls, they look great and they are easy to use. And you can get them via Amazon.
 
I'm fairly new to this, so you may want to see what others have to say, but I'll give you some of my opinions. I just spent all day Sunday detailing my car, so I understand wanting something quick and easy.



If you want your cars to really look good, you'll need to Clay and something else: compound/polish; All-in-one (AIO); etc.. If the scratches are really deep/bad, you may have to use a compound to remove them. If they are fairly light, you can probably get away with just a polish or AIO. If you're looking for quick, an AIO is likely going to be your best middle step. Clay Bar -> AIO -> Wax/Sealant.



I've read all over these forums about the Klasse twins (Klasse All-In-One and Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze) as being good products, and the KSG should have a decent lifespan. I haven't used them myself, so I can't really speak to ease of use/time required, but I've read they should be pretty easy to put on and buff off.



As for a Clay Bar, the Meguiar's Clay Kit comes with everything you should need to clay a car (enough clay to do 3 or 4 cars I'd say, though I went through the bottle of Quik Detailer (clay lube) on 1 car...), and the price is pretty good (~$18 at Wal-Mart, similiar price on Amazon, which has the Klasse twins as well for ~$15-20 each). Mother's Clay kit also gets mention as a good starter kit (for about the same monetary investment).



Anyway, hope that gives you a general idea, and hopefully somebody with a little more knowledge can chime in and help you out a little further.
 
Dan said:
Until you get the machine, just get some clay, NXT, and either NXT wash or Gold class. Grab Megs Ultimate Quick detailer for after every wash. These products will fill in minor swirls, they look great and they are easy to use. And you can get them via Amazon.
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Which machine would people recommend? I don't want to spend a million bucks for something that will get used two times a year or so (unless they have other uses?)
 
Griots Garage DA is the best value, great performer and it has a lifetime warranty. You can catch it as low as $80 on an amazon lightning deal if you are patient.
 
I just got the 10' cord and a 16 guage (recommended by Groits) 12' extension cord from HD and it is fine. There are allot of threads regarding "what to buy" so do some looking around and searching.



One of our sponsors Detailers Domain has a nice Groits package with a 5" backing plate and five Uber Pads (same as B&S pads and I beleive the same as 3D's new pads) You could then add another 5 pack of pads to get 4 Orange, 3 Green and 2 black. Then get a 16oz bottle of UNO from 3D that should handle most of your polishing needs unless you cars have a very soft clear then also get a bottle of HD Polish. You might want to pick up a bottle of HD POXY for your LSP after you polish--it's a hybrid Wax/Sealant so looks great and lasts. You'll have to take the time to do some reading and watching of videos before you begin. Don't forget after the initial polishing you can use the GG RO to apply additional coats of sealant or wax.
 
Using ONR for your wash and Opti-Seal as your LSP will save you a ton of time, or give you more time to spend on polishing.
 
Hercules said:
Can you say that again in english :)



HD Uno sounds like a TV station :)
Click to expand...

HD= High Definition (company name)

Uno= Product name (versatile polish)



I suspect that you'll be best served by products that conceal as well as correct. I just don't see you spending the hours on end it takes to polish out all the marring, nor do I expect you'll be spending the time/effort to wash in a way that doesn't instill *new* marring. But yeah, you will at the very least need the following:



-Clay

-Polish/paint cleaner/"all in one" product

-Wax



Wonder how Autoglym Super Resin Polish, topped with Collinite 476S wax would work for you :think:



But at some point, you can only take the "I want quick, cheap, and effective!" thing so far. Generally, this stuff takes quite a bit of time, effort, and maybe even expense, at least if you want to do it right.



Ryoken0367 said:
I've read all over these forums about the Klasse twins (Klasse All-In-One and Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze) as being good products, and the KSG should have a decent lifespan. I haven't used them myself, so I can't really speak to ease of use/time required, but I've read they should be pretty easy to put on and buff off.
Click to expand...



While I do like/use the Klasse twins, they aren't what Hercules is looking for. KAIO doesn't do any concealing and is really best used on a perfectly corrected (and maintained) finish. KSG is great *IF* you layer it heavily, but that calls for numerous days dedicated to the whole process (even moreso than with Zaino).
 
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