Paint care for us novices..

[DKS]

The Tech wax lasts longer but you get more initial shine from a carnuba. I love the Blackfire Wet Diamond as a sealant if you guys want to really make your car pop after all the above. P.S. I am one of those guys that is a fanatic about my paint. No fingerprints ever!!! I polish way too much, lol Got to love Black

 

[DKS]

And be careful using the quick detailer and a microfiber to remove dust. On a black car you WILL put micro scratches in it and you can tell if you do it. Best way to get rid of dust is a pressure washer and use a Leaf Blower to dry.

Try to never rub the paint unless you are just taking wax off. If you dry with a leaf blower then blot with a microfiber, not rub, you will be amazed at how well the finish lasts. Just blot the couple of places that water my run out of etc. I almost never touch the paint with anything and my car is a mirror, Always, no microscratches no fingerprints, etc.

Oh, and when you do have to hand wash, do it in a straight line, never wash in circles, this puts more swirls. And use a Grit guard for you bucket to keep the dirt from scratching your car when you wash it.

I love maguires M205 polish with a Tangerine LC Hydro pad. I use the Hydro Blue Lake C. pads for wax or sealer. I never seem to need to use anything more abrasive then the M205 but the Ultimate compound is good and the M105 is better, but it's super cutting stuff and needs to be used only on neglected paint and not often. . .

 

[Steedman07]

And be careful using the quick detailer and a microfiber to remove dust. On a black car you WILL put micro scratches in it and you can tell if you do it. Best way to get rid of dust is a pressure washer and use a Leaf Blower to dry.

Try to never rub the paint unless you are just taking wax off. If you dry with a leaf blower then blot with a microfiber, not rub, you will be amazed at how well the finish lasts. Just blot the couple of places that water my run out of etc. I almost never touch the paint with anything and my car is a mirror, Always, no microscratches no fingerprints, etc.

Oh, and when you do have to hand wash, do it in a straight line, never wash in circles, this puts more swirls. And use a Grit guard for you bucket to keep the dirt from scratching your car when you wash it.

I love maguires M205 polish with a Tangerine LC Hydro pad. I use the Hydro Blue Lake C. pads for wax or sealer. I never seem to need to use anything more abrasive then the M205 but the Ultimate compound is good and the M105 is better, but it's super cutting stuff and needs to be used only on neglected paint and not often. . .

Great info^^^..I used the grit guard and the 2 bucket method..One bucket for soap, and one for rinsing..And +1 on no circles when washing, straight line only..I used a microfiber today to get the pollen off, hope I didnt fuck it up, I dont think I did though..I grabbed some SwirlX the other day, just in case the Ultimate Compound wasnt enough to get rid of the spiderweb crap and swirl marks..But it looks like the Ultimate compound/Polishing compound worked..

 

[Bingo]

I don't use quick detailer ever unless I've just washed the car. Wiping the car down with any type of dust/pollen/debris is asking for scratches.

I just washed and waxed today...what a difference waxing makes. I try to wax about once a month and in the interim, the car just doesn't look as nice after washes without waxes.

 

[DKS]

I don't use quick detailer ever unless I've just washed the car. Wiping the car down with any type of dust/pollen/debris is asking for scratches.

I just washed and waxed today...what a difference waxing makes. I try to wax about once a month and in the interim, the car just doesn't look as nice after washes without waxes.

Exactly, never use that stuff unless you are just getting off a finger print or something when the car is dust and dirt free. It's great for post waxing to get any lint off from the microfibers if there is any, but that's about it. And for the love of God don't use one of those damn car dusters either. I've tried them a few times and no matter the method they will scratch the paint every time.

If you have a DA get you some M205-this stuff is awesome for getting a car completely swirl free. The Ultimate compound is pretty much overkill for just getting out micro scratches and swirls unless they are pretty bad. You don't have to worry about the M205 eating away too much clearcoat.

For you guys just starting out with a DA, lots of good videos on youtube.com to show you how. Proper pressure is important and it does take time, but OMG is it worth it!!!!!

 

[DKS]

I can't stress enough how much a $29.00 leaf blower from Wal-Mart will change your life!!!!

 

[Blxcklist]

Ive never thought of using a leaf blower. Nor using 2 buckets either.

 

[Bingo]

Ive never thought of using a leaf blower. Nor using 2 buckets either.

You only really need 2 buckets if your car is really dirty and have actual dirt/debris coming off in your sponge/mitt.

 

[J.Cagle]

Question: is that DA basically an angle grinder?

NO! Only use a DA style polisher or a Variable speed buffer. A big grinder will not be variable speed and will burn through your clear coat. That is a big no no.

I use a Maguires system for wet sanding and buff after I paint a car. Its pretty awesome and about the same as the setup you use. The Diamond pads are really nice and work great. But as far as a wax I am still stuck on Turtle wax Ice. Last so much longer than Maguires and doesnt leave any white residue on all the black plasic that our s197s have.

 

[DKS]

I use blue painter's tape to mask off all the trim so the polishing/waxing/sealing goes really quickly instead of having to tip toe around all the plastic.

Yeah, I rarely use the 2 buckets either but I'd never wash without a grit guard in my bucket. I have an industrial pressure washer. So, by the time I get to the hand washing I don't have much dirt left on the car anyway (I never drive in rain anyway, so I rarely have more than dust on mine to start with)

I spray the car down with soap through the pressure washer first to lube up the dirt and make it come off easier then hit it with high pressure water. Most days that's all I have to do and then just blow dry it and go.

I've never tried the Ice, heard different opinions about it from different people. Maybe I'll give it a go sometime. I usually stick with the Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant though, that stuff is great if you give it time to dry properly. If not you get a lot of smudging and need to do a lot of extra rubbing with microfibers to make it perfect.

 

[DKS]

Chemical Guys Maxi suds II is an awesome wash to use. Very sudsy and will not strip your wax off. I can't say enough good things about this stuff. Blows the Maguires wash out of the water, no pun intended, lol

 

[Steedman07]

I have a leaf blower, and ima gonna use it. We went on our annual Spring cruise today, and there is dust and pollen everywhere..Nothing a quick wash wont take care of. But I finally got to see the car under full direct sunlight, and the paint came out really good with Ultimate Compound. Im happy with it. I guess I bought the Swirl X for nothing for now. Jeremy(from Meguiar's), loves the 205 also. And for the record, lol..I never have and never will use Ultimate detailer on a dusty car..

Keep the good info coming guys, any and all info helps us all..

 

[DKS]

Most of the stuff I've learned I learned by experience (or should I say screw ups, lol) The worst mistake ever was when I drove my 330I I had just purchased into my garage after I got caught out in the rain and decided to use a California Water Blade to get the rain off so I wouldn't have water spots. Didn't think about the debris that was all over the car. Needless to say I scratched the Hell out of it!!!

But basically, my rules to keep from scratching up a car are this. . .

Unless I completely hand wash a car and there is absolutely no chance of any dust, dirt, pollen, etc. on the car I DO NOT touch the paint with anything at all.
I do the Pressure washer and leaf blower method to get rid of dust and pollen. And when I need to really wash the car I do the pressure washer, then hand wash, then leaf blower method.

Throw the Car Dusters and Water blades away guys, lol

By the way, here's another tip, never use the spray wax at a car wash. Primarily because it's the major cause of headlights turning yellow from what I've heard. . .

 

[Docktour Z]

What about a water-blade directly after washing?

 

[DKS]

What about a water-blade directly after washing?

It's not a good practice at all IMO and many professional detailers Opp. as well. It's taking a big risk. If you miss a spot or dust or dirt somehow gets on the car befor you're done then you're screwed. Plus, even without the possibility of dust or dirt, it's still rubbing a silicon blade on your nice paint. I use one for windows and that's it!!

That's something we discussed in this thread I started. . . http://s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34297

 

[Matt94GT]

good tip for drying

step 1: once your done washing, take the nozzle off your hose and just run the water flow over your panels one by one starting with the roof, if your car is well waxed it will pretty well take over 75% of the water off your car

Step 2: For the other half use a leaf blower

Step 3: Last but not least some good quality quick detailer and a good quality super plush abosrbant microfirbe (spraying the QD as you go) to dry the last bits of water in creases and wheels etc. a nice quick detailer will also help pop the metallics in your paint slightly and leave no wipe marks any water marks.

 

[DKS]

Yeah, I love the "sheeting method" I just did a write up on here and covered that as a prefered method of drying. I dare say if done properly you can get a lot more than half the water off. I usually only have to worry about a couple of spots that I blot off with a MF and the wheels, jams, and trunk channel.

 

[Matt94GT]

Yeah, I love the "sheeting method" I just did a write up on here and covered that as a prefered method of drying. I dare say if done properly you can get a lot more than half the water off. I usually only have to worry about a couple of spots that I blot off with a MF and the wheels, jams, and trunk channel.

Well it really depends on so many factors I was mainly just saying it gets the majority of the water off but you are right it gets like 3/4 of it off for sure now that I think about it. Lots of the time I just skip step 2 (because i only have a gas leaf blower and it stinks) and just hop on with a good MF and QD and it comes out awesome.

Wheels are always a PITA to dry but I actually have been using a wet/dry vac with a microfibre around the end so it doesnt scratch (discovered this my self) to suck all the water out of the cracks of my wheels and the lug holes where it always sits and spits out as soon as you start driving causing your wheels to get dirty.



ps: I could NEVER own a black car, im way too anal about swirls etc, I would spend wayyyy more time waxing it then driving it, i dunno how you do it.

 

[302]

Where can you buy this stuff? Autopia?

 

[Bingo]

www.autogeek.net