maintaining a new black car.... Help??
10-17-2010, 08:10 PM
#21
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: FL
Posts: 85
It depends if you're willing to order products or if you prefer to just go buy local. Some products are easier to use than others but for the most part, they'll all get you the same results but with varying amounts of work put in.
Poorboy's World makes products that are designed to be used by hand or machine and in the sun or shade. A lot of products shouldn't be used in the sun. I can tell you that these truly can. I can also tell you that Steve, the owner of Poorboy's World, is a great guy who fully believes in his products and will take the time to talk to you about any issues you are trying to address. That said, he's not the only game in town. Meguiars makes a ton of products, too many in my opinion, but some of them work great too. A lot of them are not available over the counter but they do have a line specific to that purpose. In order of least aggressive to most (Meg's OTC products anyhow) there is SwirlX, ScratchX2.0, and Ultimate Compound. I mention aggressiveness because the general rule of thumb is to try the least aggressive method first and if that doesn't work move up to the next aggressive product. Then there is also Justin at Obsessive Detail/The Rag Shack, who is also a great guy and a sponsor here. His major line he carries is Optimum. I use a bunch of Optimum products I ordered from him.
I'm actually trying to keep this relatively short and simple but it's tough to do. Also not know the condition of your paint aside from you saying their are scratches makes it even tougher to point you in the right direction. Picture in direct sunlight are a huge help.
Poorboy's World makes products that are designed to be used by hand or machine and in the sun or shade. A lot of products shouldn't be used in the sun. I can tell you that these truly can. I can also tell you that Steve, the owner of Poorboy's World, is a great guy who fully believes in his products and will take the time to talk to you about any issues you are trying to address. That said, he's not the only game in town. Meguiars makes a ton of products, too many in my opinion, but some of them work great too. A lot of them are not available over the counter but they do have a line specific to that purpose. In order of least aggressive to most (Meg's OTC products anyhow) there is SwirlX, ScratchX2.0, and Ultimate Compound. I mention aggressiveness because the general rule of thumb is to try the least aggressive method first and if that doesn't work move up to the next aggressive product. Then there is also Justin at Obsessive Detail/The Rag Shack, who is also a great guy and a sponsor here. His major line he carries is Optimum. I use a bunch of Optimum products I ordered from him.
I'm actually trying to keep this relatively short and simple but it's tough to do. Also not know the condition of your paint aside from you saying their are scratches makes it even tougher to point you in the right direction. Picture in direct sunlight are a huge help.
like I said though cant feel these with your nail..
10-17-2010, 08:18 PM
#22
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 128
Those can definitely be taken out if you were willing to put in the work. For something like that though, if it was me and I was doing it by hand, I might do one or two panels a day or as time permitted. For products, if I was going to get something over the counter, I'd probably try ScratchX2.0 on a cotton towel first. Do a small 1x1' section as a test and see if it removes them. It may require a second pass. If it doesn't seem to be working much or at all, then I'd try the Ultimate Compound. However, the Ultimate Compound MAY need to be followed up with ScratchX2.0 or even SwirlX because more aggressive products leave behind their own hazing.
10-17-2010, 08:18 PM
#23
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Pensacola, Florida
Posts: 1,465
all the advice is excellent, except for the best thing you could do to maintain a black car and make it look better.
Do what I did, traded my 2008 black GT for a 2009 Vista Blue GT500. No more "OMG I just washed my car yesterday" black.
Do what I did, traded my 2008 black GT for a 2009 Vista Blue GT500. No more "OMG I just washed my car yesterday" black.
10-17-2010, 08:23 PM
#24
5th Gear Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 2,228
I can sort of relate. I have a white mustang and every speck of dirt/tar/etc shows up really well. I bought my car used and it had a large amount of swirl marks and small scratches, along with some large chips, but most of the smaller imperfections are hard to see unless it is bright out and the sun hits it just the right way. Still trying to find a good product.....
10-17-2010, 08:23 PM
#25
1st Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: FL
Posts: 85
Those can definitely be taken out if you were willing to put in the work. For something like that though, if it was me and I was doing it by hand, I might do one or two panels a day or as time permitted. For products, if I was going to get something over the counter, I'd probably try ScratchX2.0 on a cotton towel first. Do a small 1x1' section as a test and see if it removes them. It may require a second pass. If it doesn't seem to be working much or at all, then I'd try the Ultimate Compound. However, the Ultimate Compound MAY need to be followed up with ScratchX2.0 or even SwirlX because more aggressive products leave behind their own hazing.
10-17-2010, 09:21 PM
#26
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 128
The majority of my towels come from Justin at Obsessive Detail/The Rag Shack. I mostly use his Super Fly towels. However, you don't want to use MF to polish. MF doesn't really have enough bite/cut in it to really do much. You do however want to use it to remove the polish after you work it in. And you definitely want to work it. You don't wan to spread it around like wax. That won't do any good. Think of it as liquid sand paper. If you were sanding something you wouldn't just make a couple passes and be done. It may take a little while to get the hang of it. Keep checking your work in good light. Preferrably direct sunlight or you may be in for a huge rude awakening later. The major learning curve with doing it by hand, besides patients, is try not to apply too much pressure with finger tips. It may show in the end results. you want the combination of the terry cloth cotton towel and the polish to do the work. As for terry towels, I don't actually have any because I do almost all of my work by machine. I would just go to walmart or even auto stores I believe carry white terry cloth towels.
Most important though is to improve your washing and drying technique or you will find yourself having to do this way too frequently. This will really hit home when you see how much hard work can actually go in to getting the paint back in shape. Which is why I suggested breaking it down in to small amounts spread out over time.
Most important though is to improve your washing and drying technique or you will find yourself having to do this way too frequently. This will really hit home when you see how much hard work can actually go in to getting the paint back in shape. Which is why I suggested breaking it down in to small amounts spread out over time.
12-06-2010, 06:09 PM
#30
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: MO
Posts: 3,234
chemicalguys.com
General rules..
If it's dry.. it doesnt touch the car
if it's not microfiber, it doesnt touch the car
if you dropped it on the floor/ground.. it doesnt touch the car
After you are finished hand washing the car (or after a do it yourself spray wash..never ever use the brush!!!)..
always spray a light coat of detail spray on the car BEFORE you dry it with your clean microfiber cloth.
You can buy gallons of detail spray for cheap at chemicalguys.com.
The detail spray helps keep a light coat of wax on the car.
Other rule... Wax, Wax, Wax.. and apply a sealant once a year.
You car will be pristine if you follow those rules.
My black 07 had no swirl marks.. and it was my daily driver.
If you follow those rules.. you will never need a mechanical buffer. The key is to buy quality wax that is easy to put on and take off. The Butter Wax is what I recommend.. the spray-on wax is good too.. as you can do your whole car in less than an hour.. even in hot and cold temps.
PM me if you want more detail (no pun intended).
General rules..
If it's dry.. it doesnt touch the car
if it's not microfiber, it doesnt touch the car
if you dropped it on the floor/ground.. it doesnt touch the car
After you are finished hand washing the car (or after a do it yourself spray wash..never ever use the brush!!!)..
always spray a light coat of detail spray on the car BEFORE you dry it with your clean microfiber cloth.
You can buy gallons of detail spray for cheap at chemicalguys.com.
The detail spray helps keep a light coat of wax on the car.
Other rule... Wax, Wax, Wax.. and apply a sealant once a year.
You car will be pristine if you follow those rules.
My black 07 had no swirl marks.. and it was my daily driver.
If you follow those rules.. you will never need a mechanical buffer. The key is to buy quality wax that is easy to put on and take off. The Butter Wax is what I recommend.. the spray-on wax is good too.. as you can do your whole car in less than an hour.. even in hot and cold temps.
PM me if you want more detail (no pun intended).
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