Thanks George, I will pick up some Optimum Car Wax with my next order.

 

Hi George - I'm doing some paint touch up, and I'm curious; can you/ are you supposed to wet sand between the touch up and clear coat steps? That is, we sand the touch up paint nice and even before applying any clear coat....?

 

Two Questions...If i apply p21s carnuba wax immediatly after apply menzerna FMJ, what problems can this cause...second, can p21s was be layered?

 

Hi,

I have stocked quite a few stuff from detailed image. But I still feel I'm missing something. I'm going to order few things ( thick MF towels/wash mitt/wheel sealant etc. ) and wanted to ask whether I should add anything more.
Currently here's what I have:
- ONR
- Optimum Instand detailer and gloss
- Chemical guys jetseal 109
- blackfire midnight sun wax
- Lexol (cleaner&conditioner)
- Optimum opti-bond tire gel
- 303
- Stoner invisible glass

Right now I use ONR with OID to wash my car once a week ( or at least once every two week). I use jetseal as a sealant and top it off with 2 layers of blackfire caranuba wax every month. During my weekly wash, do you recommend me buying any spray wax like Optimum wax or blackfire deep gloss to increase shine and gloss? Or OID is good enough?

What do you use to clean the interior? As per suggestion in DI website I currently use ONR for weekly maintenance and apply layer of 303 every month for UV protection. Do you recommend buying meguiars APC+? Whats good for interior cleaner - that can be used on plastics and leather.

I'm planning to get Poorboys' spray and wipe to use as QID to clean my car in-between washes - just to remove 2-3 days layer of dust. I already have ONR though. Do you think Poorboys' S&W would be better or I'm good with ONR as QD?

Also what product would you recommend for cleaning and shining front grill and chrome coated plastics. Will normal wash + jetseal as sealant would be enough?

Aslo do you recommend any glaze to hide minor imperfections that I can apply with my hand? As I live in apartment I can not have buffer

So many questions The more I read in forum more I feel that I don't have enough stuff . I thank you in advance for your suggestion.

thanking you,
Bikas

 

Sounds good, keep us posted what you think of it once you get a chance to use it.

When I do a touch up, I usually mix the clear coat with the touch up paint. It's much easier this way and you don't have to deal with multiple coats. It also seems to match the color better when mixed, similar to a single stage paint job.

I don't know if you wet sand between the coats, I'd imagine if you did, you'd want to wet sand, polish, clear coat, wet sand, polish... Otherwise the paint would look hazy if you didn't polish it out after wet sanding.

Hope that helps.

You can diminish the durability of the FMJ by applying the carnauba wax prior to the FMJ completely curing. Sometimes people can see streaking if they apply one product over another when the first (usually a sealant) has not completely cured. I don't know if this is the case with FMJ though.

P21S can be layered, but you should wait at least 12 hours between coats for the wax to cure.

Hey Bikas,

Thanks for your support and good questions.

Personally, after the washes, I think the OID is plenty. Around a month or a little longer, you'll want to reapply more wax to keep the benefits of having a wax over the sealant. Other than that, using the QD post wash is perfectly fine and you aren't sacrificing anything by not using a spray on protection product. If you didn't use the Midnight Sun as your wax, then you could use a spray on wax / sealant enhancer post wash.

You can't beat the Meg's APC+ when it comes to value for an interior cleaner. Considering you dilute it 10:1 a gallon of product makes 11 gallons of cleaning solution (less when you make it stronger, say for stubborn carpet stains). There are other options but bang for the buck the Meg's is ideal.

To keep things simple, I'd just use the ONR as the QD to remove a light dusting. Keep it in a spray bottle at the QD ratio and follow up with OID to ensure there's no streaking and you leave behind a little more gloss and depth.

I personally like using an all in one product, like Klasse All In One for the chrome trim. This will chemically polish the trim as well as protect it in one step. If your trim is brand new and you don't feel the need to polish it yet, then you can get by with a wash and sealant for now. Having a product like Klasse AIO does come in handy more than you think... good for removing water spots, cleaning and protecting glass, chrome, wheels, etc.

Unfortunately, glazes don't hide as many imperfections as most people think. If you really wanted to take a stab at polishing by hand, I'd consider the following:

Polishing Pal - So you can use any of our 4" pads to polish effectively by hand
4" Tangerine Pad
Meguiar's M205 Polish

If you did want to use a glaze, the best one to use under a sealant is Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze. I think you'll find it's more of a gloss enhancer than an imperfection hider, but since it's acrylic base it plays nicely with the sealant and doesn't hinder the bonding process.

Let me know if there's anything else I can give you a hand with.

George

 

Thanks George. Your reply has really helped me to sort out the things I need to add in my arsenal

I still have 2 questions though. If I use APC+ to clean my interior (weekly) how often do I need to apply 303 for UV protection? I mean does APC+ strip off that protection?

And how long on average does a sheepskin wash mitt in DI last? I was just wondering whether to order more than one or not.

Thanking you again for your help.

Regards,
Bikas

 

Hi,
I just got my car detailed by someone who makes a living doing upscale cars (ferraris, labourgini's, bentleys etc) and it is a superb job. I bought it new from a dealer a few weeks ago and it was loaded in swirls and scratches. he spent three days with it and it is amazing. I have never seen someone so dedicated to this profession. To see him at work and how he looks at the work he does is unbelievable. He spent 1/2 hour just on my exhaust tips.
I now have the task to maintain this the best I can.

A couple of questions: He uses compressed air to dry the hard to reach places during the wash and in the final stages of the waxing to get rid of dust.

I have a compresser and a air nozzle that I can use. What would be the recommended pressure for something like this?

Can you use this to dust off your car as well (pollen etc)? Is this a risk to introduce scratches or swirls? Can you sue this to dry the car as well?

He also uses a duster made by Zymol (ZYMOL WOOL DUSTER 1pk). Is this a good idea?

Finally, the last stages of his detail he used some zymol wax (several $1000) which he puts on by hand. I mean really by hand! He dips his fingers into the wax, rubs his hands together, and then rubs his hands over the car panels a small area at a time. He then wipes it a few times with a microfiber cloth. The wax doesn't dry like others I've seen. It turns out absolutely perfectly, with no streaks and a gloss you have to see to believe. Have you ever heard of this technique before?


Thanks

 

Hey Bikas,

Glad to hear the posts have been helpful.

Yes if you were to clean using the APC+ weekly, you'd need to reapply the 303 AP after to maintain the protection. You best bet is to use the APC when there is a stain you want to clean or if you want to strip off the 303 and add a fresh coat. For in between maintenance, take a damp MF towel and simply wipe down your interior and follow up with another towel to ensure no streaking.

Mitts are made of natural fibers, the longevity of them varies greatly. I've ruined mitts in 1 wash before from catching it on an emblem or corner of a panel and tearing the mitt. I've had others last months without a problem. I usually don't let the mitts go more than a few months before demoting them to a wheel mitt and getting a fresh paint safe mitt.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

Unfortunately, I've never used compressed air before to detail. I know many detailers do use it, I just don't know the recommended setting. With anything detailing related, start with the least aggressive, or in this case, powerful setting and work your way up as needed. I've used an electric blower or the blower side of my Vac 'n Blo and it does come in handy when it comes to blowing out panel gaps, lug nuts, between lights, emblems, trim, window seals and many other parts of the car. Just start lightly with the power of the compresser and ramp up as needed. I wouldn't recommend getting TOO close to the trim / paint / etc. so do so cautiously. If you use compressed air that is too powerful and you are pushing pollen, dirt and other contamination into and across your paint, you do run the risk of adding imperfections, as you do with any technique not performed properly.

I've read decent things about the Zymol duster, but personally I'd rather use a plush MF towel and a quality quick detailer.

You can use the air compressor to aid in the drying process, but I think it'd be more work than you think to dry the car entirely with it if it has a pretty targeted nozzle. I'd recommend sheeting the car first with water, blot drying with a quality waffle weave MF towel, then using the compressed air and following up with a QD (I personally enjoy Optimum Instant Detailer) and plush MF towel. That seems to be the recommended drying process to avoid adding imperfections to the paint.

There are a handful of high end waxes that you can apply by hand. The Dodo Juice soft waxes and Supernatural are some that we carry. I've used Zymol Vintage before and have been pretty impressed, that goes for around $2k. The real results come in the prep work, which it sounds like he did quite well. Hand applications IMO only waste more product, there's not really any benefit, other than the cool factor of seeing someone literally massage the paint. When I apply Supernatural, I still use an applicator pad, get a little product on there, fold it together and rub it to help melt the wax like you would using your hands, then spread it as thin as possible with the applicator pad.

Congrats on having your car restored, it sounds like it turned out better than new. Enjoy!

George

 

George,

I was too impatient and washed my car with too much direct sunlight. I got water spots all over most of the finish. I'm using the CG Water Spot Remover which has an acidic formula. Am I taking all my wax and sealant off? It seems so but I wanted to ask you to be sure. Thanks.

 

Yep, something like that would strip off any protection. You'll want to reapply some protection ASAP. How'd the CG Water Spot Remover work for you?

Hope all is well

George

 

Hi George,

I have a problem, and was hoping you could help me,

To avoid getting dings, I bought these things called door shox which are magnets you attach to the car. The surface of the the magnets was covered in rubber and in itself is harmless. But, this car has the most delicate paint I've ever seen, and after a rainy night, I have found what I think are large water spots, with the pattern of the rubber embedded in them.
I tried washing it, also used maquire's quick detailer, and they are still there.

What can I do?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

I'd recommend polishing over the area where the marks are. Chances are a very light finishing polish would take them out. You could try something like ScratchX by hand, but for best results you'll want to use a quality buffer, a polishing pad and a finishing polish. After polishing, remember to re-protect your panel with a sealant and/or wax.

Let me know if that does the trick for you.

 

The CG water spot remover only works so-so IMO, it depends on the spots I guess. I wouldn't buy it again. It got some of these water spots out, but for most it did not take the outlined etching of the spots out. I haven't tried vinegar/water of alcohol/water yet. I may have to polish again.

 

Thanks George,

I thought something like scratchX only works for scratches and not so much for water marks... but I will definetely try it. I will do it by hand since I don't have a buffer.

 

If the water spots are etched, the water spot remover won't do much help, neither will either of the other solutions you mentioned. Once etched, you have to resort to leveling the clear coat, which means polishing using abrasive polishes unfortunately. Hopefully a light polish combo does the trick for you.

ScratchX is basically a mild abrasive polish. It'll work on scratches but it will also easily remove oxidation, haziness and other imperfections in the clear coat, which it sounds like you are experiencing. But revealing a new surface of clear coat, it should remove those marks your experiencing. Remember, to use ScratchX effectively, it does require some elbow grease and sometimes many applications. Don't give up after the first application and the marks are still there, keep at it for a bit and if it's improving, even slightly, that means you can keep at it to keep getting better results. The difference between hand application and using a quality buffer is you could probably get the results you want after one pass on a buffer vs. many applications by hand.

Good luck, keep us posted on how things turn out.

George