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Hey guys,
Today I gave my car a wash (2 bucket method) and noticed a couple things that I didn't before
1. The scratches? on the hood, I didn't have these before so Im suspecting that i got them with the mircofiber washing mitt (chemical guys), maybe something was stuck in it and caused these scratches. What can I do to get rid of them
2. On the side of my car, lower part before the rear wheels is a dirty spot that I cannot get rid of. Im suspecting it may be stuck on there and need a pressure washer to get rid of (I'm using a normal garden hose). Will a pressure washer take care of it?
go out and buy a clay bar. that will get the particulate that is stuck on the paint off. next get good microfiber cloths and some polish. it looks like you can hand polish out that scratch on your hood. then apply a coat of wax over the top.
hand polishing can take some time so be patient.
if you have never tried detailing before i would find a local detailer that can do a full paint correction. have them take care of your car and then watch them how they do it.
or go and watch videos on youtube then first try on a friends car. LOL
so you dont **** up ur own. but if you do it by hand and only use polish you have almost nothing to worry about.
OKAY I think I can help a little on this.In my garage I de badged my car.All looked so good and shiny.I was so proud.Took it out into direct sunlight and I was crippled.All the scratches,swirl marks.So I called a detail shop,Very reputable one I found on the web from countless surches and reviews.Got a quote for 600 to 800 and up if damage was severe enough.I gasped,that seems so expensive.Back onto the web to you tube 100,s of videos on auto detailing later decided to go at it myself.Baught a porter cable buffer,Lakeview cutting and polishing pads,cutting polishes,sealant,good wax,claybar,ECT ECT.
Worked on my rear bumper first in case I screwed my paint up.Figured it would be cheaper to paint just the bumper instead of the whole car.Baught 2 1000 watt holagen lights and went to town cutting and polishing.Bumper went well with cutting and polishing,onto the whole car.Omfg,22 hrs of claybar,cutting and polishing,that 22 hrs dose not include sealer and wax.Im glad I did it to my surprise.now I feel comfortable enough to detail friends cars as long as there not black.lol.
But the point of this whole story is if you have a lot of spare time,patience,and true grit try and cut and polish it yourself.just practice on a part you won't mind repainting if it rose horribly wrong.
If I knew then what I know now I would have paid $800 easily.lol.
I have gained a ton of respect for good auto detailers.It takes a lot of time and patience and it gets very tedious.So if you see a good detailer and your shocked at the price,don't be.These guys that are good are worth every penny.
Right after de badge...thought it looked good.Shiny.
Under 2 1000 watt lights.omfg.thst looks horrible.Ghosting,swirls n scratches.
Polishes and pads.
Masked all the lights and trim.
And finaly finished.some scratches too deep but im very happy.
like bacon said a really good detailer is worth his weight in gold.
bacon i feel you on black cars. i had a black corvette and i think i spent more time detailing that car than i did driving it. black is a pain in the *** to get it looking good. but once its done it looks absolutely amazing.
voha if you are serious about detaling get an orbital buffer and the different pads. each pad has different cut in it, depending on how bad the defects are in the paint. and you have to be mindful about how much cut the pad has vs the polish or compound you use. i personally like the poor boys products, but i have used the meguires professional compounds/polishes and had very good results. like bacon practice on a bumper or panel you dont mind having to get repainted first. there are things that you can only learn from doing it.
Even cheap products and a hand buff can get great results
I had to take the work truck down a narrow path with train tracks on one side and brush on the other.
This is what happened
I bought some cheap Turtle Wax compound and polish along and some hand buff pads.
This was the result
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Note, that there isn't even any wax on in that picture. I was going to run out of daylight before I could get the wax on so I just snapped the pic as it was.
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