Earl

What exactly cuases the hazing/oxidation I have seen on my black Mustang GT? Was it factory overspray? Can it be caused by an automatic car wash?

Yeah I know, supposed to do it all by hand. Well I do at least do the waxing/buffing (McGuires Gold Class) and constantly keep it nice between washes (every weekend) with McGuires detail spray and a California Duster. The white/greyish oxidation/haze areas are only visible during direct sunlight and under other lighting conditions. The paint is a bit rougher around them.

As per the posts I read on the Mustang boards I took a Mother's Clay Bar to it today. That certainly works to clean the haze areas up but was/is alot of work and doesn't do as good a job as I would have thought after reading the posts. Next I tried KIT Scratch Out Scratch & Haze Remover. This is one awesome, awesome product. Apply it as you would a wax, buff it off - no real effort is needed, and haze/oxidation areas are gone with the paint looking beautifull as it should. I cleaned up the hazey areas with that today then used the orbital buffer to apply another coat of Gold Class and buff it - she's looking sharp now. Though that black mirror wet wax look actually works like a wet wax, every damn dust particle within 100 miles is automatically drawn to the car! Grrrr.... Black is beautifull but a pain in the ***.

Earl

Scaught

Earl, I owned a black Ford ranger 4X4. I'll never do that again. Black truck Four wheeling? Every scratch and nick stood out. Hard work and a little professional help was the only way to keep it decent. It wasn't a show quality truck so I never got beyond waxing it and wahing it but I feel for you, thats why I have gone with red this time. I've had good luck with red.

Earl

This is actually my 3rd black car - but lets just say I wasn't as **** about the others! Earl

graphicguy

That's not oxidation as the car is too new to have the paint oxidize. What you are seeing is the "spiderwebbing" or minute scratches that automatic car washes leave on your car (don't believe them when they tell you that their "soft cloth" washes are safe). The finish "looks" hazy, but in reality and espicially on black, those teeny scratches make it look hazy. My guess is that KIT is a filler that fills in the scratches. Trouble there is, that's temporary. Eventually, that filler will not last.

Only way to avoid the "haze" is to hand wash, dry and wax with good microfiber or 100% cotton towels.

Drive through or automated car washes are a definite "no-no" to keep your finish pristine.

Clay shouldn't have been that much work.....just lubricate the finish and rub the clay back and forth until the finish feels smooth. I just clayed mine and it took me about 20 minutes.

If you want to keep your car from becoming a dust magnet (which is what you're experiencing) try some Zaino. It will not have any static build-up to attract dust.

sicride

Oxidation is from the lack of clear coat and protectant. It causes a faded look and rough surface. This feel is entirely different from "Fall Out." Fall out is the elements in the air getting attached to your clear coat in one way or another. These elements include tree sap and bird crap and other stupid stuff you couldn't see in the air that ends up on your car and causes a rough surface, this surface is not consistantly rough though it is more sparadic with spaces between bumps. Clay bars are used for this. Automatic car washes are definetely horrible for your cars paint if they contact the paint with any kind of cloth. Fortunately you are wise enough to use automatic spray washes which don't actually touch your paint. The problem with these washes is they do not actually get everything off of your car, they just get most of the visible dirt off, overtime this can cause a hazey look to the paint. Another cause of Haze is too much protectant on the clear coat. If when you get your car washed by these automatic spray washers you get the spray wax this can buildup and cause a haze, these chemicals will also be included in the other spray because of leftovers (they use the same nozzles keep in mind). Think about it this way, wax is something that sits on top of your paint to protect that paint from the elements. If you continually put coats of wax on top of each other they will eventually collect opacities and become more opaque, harder to see through, hazy. A car should only need waxed once every 2-3 months at most! If you are not satisfied with this, and want the car to have a brilliant shine more often when you wash your car, you should be sure to strip the cars old wax off of the car before applying new wax. This can be done by using dish washing soap (people say don't use it because it removes the protection and can damage your clear coat). Well keep that in mind, dilute the soap and do not let the soap set on the car for a long period of time. Wash an area thuroughly and then spray it off. Move to the next area. As mentioned by another member the fine scratches in the paint surely can give a hazey appearance to the car and a fine polishing compound can probably get most of these scratches out, keep in mind that it is important to put a wax on the car after using a polishing compound for protection and a good shine. Also make sure when polishing that you get all of the polish off of the car. Hope this helped.

EDIT: I've been detailing cars for a Nissan dealership for the past 4 years. Thats not a ton of experience but I have washed enough cars to know what I'm talking about.

Earl

Thanks for the replies.

The Kit (and Mquires) Scratch/Haze remover is NOT a glaze. It contains abrasives and did remove the hazing - whether it is oxidation, spider webbing, or whatnot - it is gone. I just want to keep it from happening again.

Not sure how I want to proceed washing the car. You can also introduce scrathing easily enough handwashing - nothing is perfect especially when a black car is the patient.

You Zaino users - is it tue that dust won't adhere to it? I find that hard to believe but if that is true I'll place an order tonite. I generally take my California duster to my car twice a day - that tool is also a Godsend.

As for the waxing, my car only has been waxed twice in 4 months. I will have to wax one panel again in a couple of weeks. Some BUTTMUNCH keyed my rear passenger quarter panel and it was repainted a couple of weeks ago. They said to wait a month before waxing it.....wish I had caught the fellow doing the keying as I'd loved to Wax him....on second thought its probably a good thing I didn't see them!



Earl

sicride

Keeping your wash mit clean and in good shape is practically perfect for your car, along with a good soap. Using a california duster on your car is much more likely to cause scratches than washing a car by hand. I don't know why but were you not a fan of our replies? It seemed like you were on the defense with your message. I'm not tryin to say you're doing anything wrong. To each his own, anything you are doing can easily be fixed. Your mquires kit is the equivilant of a compound. I tried to include information of what causes hazey looks and oxidation, plus a little something else on how to maintain your paints beauty too.

Earl

Hi,

No, not defensive or against your replies. Merely stated that the Kit/MGuires isn't a filler/glaze but as you said mild abbrasive.

And that I have seen plenty of scratches and swirls on hand washed vehicles too - maybe not handwashed properly and with dirty mits or otherwise harmfull particles on them but handwashed just the same. Nothing is perfect is all I was saying.

I plan to start handwashing myself.

On the Zaino I simply asked for others comments on whether it will indeed reduce/eliminate dust particle collection. Not doubting what anyone said - just wanting some comments. I allready know about Zaino's shine but that is the first I've heard of it reducing/eliminating dust build up. As I said if that is true I wish to place an order tonite!

As for the duster, I'll have to keep my opinion on that one - it causes no scratches on my car.

Earl

Professor Wizard

I am a "detail" nut... my ride has to be P-E-R-F-E-C-T...

One of my motorcycles is black... I use a product called FLITZ on it to take out scratches, rubs and haze.

www.flitz.com

You can find the stuff all over the net... or your local Ace Hardware.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...entPage=family

The stuff is GREAT.. and absoutely AMAZING how it works on chrome and polished aluminum. On a motorcycle - the pipes turn gold/hello where they exit the engine.. I use this stuff to restore the shine and color and it does it so easily it is astounding.

I had this chick jump on my bike and she scuffed the hell out of the tank with her shoes... it took like 5 minutes with my bottle of Fritz to make the scuff marks vanish.

Just a suggestion!

graphicguy

That sucks about somebody keying your car.

I'm not familiar with KIT wax. I've seen it on the shelves, but was never inclined to try it. If it works for you, that's all that matters. I've been using Zaino for about 7 years. Every once in a while, I'll try something else just to see if I can beat the shine or durability of Zaino. I haven't.

If you're curious about how Zaino works on black (and some testimonials)....have a look......


http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...e=TESTIMONIALS