car wax
07-22-2008, 03:27 PM
#21
RE: car wax
ok i have to go somewhere been waiting for a call and got it. so here is a quick summary: mind you i use mostly meguiars products and a few others this is a brief summation of the process. i would like to add i do it all by hand, though i want a machine buffer and am working on that, this will reduce spiderwebbies that you can only see up close, i know how to fix those but doing it by hand is highly not reccommended. what i will describe can be done by hand and the total time you should set aside is 4 to 5 hours.
my steps for keeping your car looking nice: enjoy! i hope this helps someone out there. (i might add i do not reccomend doing this in the open sun, find a shadded area to do this, or do it at dusk, (i perfer dusk or night, but at night especially with black make sure it is well lit, i had a polish snafu this weekend that after spending 4 hours on the car the night before i had to spend about another hour to correct. the car was streaky but i learned something in not only fixing it, but fixing it fast.) that being said this is what i normally do, you can customize the process depending on how deep you want to go with cleaning your car in general.
Step 1:
if you have a home simply wash the car with car soap meguiars makes some. you can do it in your driveway use a bucket and a soft mitt. be sure to have a soap and rinse bucket. as water will get dirty. if i had a home i would use three buckets, 1one soap, 2one rise, and 3one clean rinse. i.e. when the mitt gets dirty rinse it in bucket 2 then rinse it again to ensure paritcles dont get put back inthe soap.
if you live somwhere where this process is not possible do what i do: go to a good u wash it high pressure car wash. DO NOT USE THEIR BRUSHES bring your mitt and make sure your have your wheel cleaner:before you spray the car with anything, spray your wheeel cleaner, i use meguiars, and most of them require you to rise it off, you will do this later, in addition my u wash it place has a tire cleaner too, i use that on top of the meguiars, for your spray wheel cleaner be sure to get the right kind for the right kind of rims, read the bottles there are different agents to clean different marterials.
now put in about 5 bucks worth of quarters and we begin:
pre soak the car work from the roof down. try to avoid the tires. next move to the high pressure soap. once the car is soaped go over it with the mitt: if your place has tire cleaner give the tires a spray. rinse the whole car tires too from the roof down. i use the spray wax and spot free rinse. leave the u wash it joint find a nice shady spot and drive there. dont worry about water spots, they wont have time to bake, find your shady spot and begin i have a service station that has good lighting i usually do it at dusk as the lighting is good, its not too hot or sunny to be in the open, but non the less find your spot.
Step 2 outside : (please note i use only microfiber rags and applicators on the car inside and out. you will need several i recommend approximately 15 or so, plus 5 for maintenance. dont corss contaminate your rags: i.e. dont use one for amor all and then use it on the windows. us different towels for their different applications)(to apply the products use a microfiber applicator and to remove them use a microfiber rag, being sure to fold it in fours and flip the sides, and the folds to utilize the whole rag)
once im set up i dry the car of any remaining wetness, basically preparing the car, i dont worry too much about water streaks at this point, all the rubbing we r about to to do is going to take car of that.
1. i clay bar the car using meguiars clay and their quick detailier that comes in the red bottle. to learn about claybaring visit their site im sure there is information on how to do it, im just saying this is what i do.
2.Next i apply meguiars paint cleaner to remove any thing i may have missed with the clay bar and this gets paint ready for the polish.
3.next i apply a coat of polyshield.(i apply this twice a year so you can skip this step. the poly shield is a clear coat that i got from the dealer, its basically a maintenance product for it.)
4.next we apply the polish. i use meguiars. polish does not have to dry to be reomved, but it wont hurt anything if it does.
5.next i apply usually one coat but somtimes two of meguairs nxt wax. buffing until shined.
i start in the backapplying and removingin this order:spoiler, trunk, back bumper, backquarter, drivers side, drivers side roof, front left fender, front bumper, right front fender, hood, passnger side, passenger side roof, back quarter. wheels, windows, trim interior. dont aks me why thats just how i do it.
wheels: for wheels i have chrome rims and simply polish them using the nxt wax, they come out great, for other wheel typesi would suggest simply wiping them down and drying them off. for shiny rubber i use armor all tire gel and the meguiars product. you will never win the battle of wheel dressing spraying up onthe car, dont over do it or youll be wiping down the car with uqd on your 1st stop. i live with it and over time i can get them shiny with small to no amount of kick back.
on my windows dont laugh i use rain x . i used it for years on the road. i ocasionally use windex before applying. the secret to not streaking with windex is clean dry rags.
for my leather i use meguiars leather protector and cleaner. and a damp rag to wipe and dry immeadiatly onthe dash etc. one point of note: if youlike that shiny pony in the center of the steering wheel to stay silver DO NOT PUT ANY KIND OF CLEANER OR USE ANY THING ABRRASIVE ON IT. it will come off. to clean that part of the wheel and the aluminum i simply use a damp rag, and dry it off, my pony is still shiny save one little mark. i use leather protector on the leather part of the wheel. and i vaccum.
hope this helps you all out.
my steps for keeping your car looking nice: enjoy! i hope this helps someone out there. (i might add i do not reccomend doing this in the open sun, find a shadded area to do this, or do it at dusk, (i perfer dusk or night, but at night especially with black make sure it is well lit, i had a polish snafu this weekend that after spending 4 hours on the car the night before i had to spend about another hour to correct. the car was streaky but i learned something in not only fixing it, but fixing it fast.) that being said this is what i normally do, you can customize the process depending on how deep you want to go with cleaning your car in general.
Step 1:
if you have a home simply wash the car with car soap meguiars makes some. you can do it in your driveway use a bucket and a soft mitt. be sure to have a soap and rinse bucket. as water will get dirty. if i had a home i would use three buckets, 1one soap, 2one rise, and 3one clean rinse. i.e. when the mitt gets dirty rinse it in bucket 2 then rinse it again to ensure paritcles dont get put back inthe soap.
if you live somwhere where this process is not possible do what i do: go to a good u wash it high pressure car wash. DO NOT USE THEIR BRUSHES bring your mitt and make sure your have your wheel cleaner:before you spray the car with anything, spray your wheeel cleaner, i use meguiars, and most of them require you to rise it off, you will do this later, in addition my u wash it place has a tire cleaner too, i use that on top of the meguiars, for your spray wheel cleaner be sure to get the right kind for the right kind of rims, read the bottles there are different agents to clean different marterials.
now put in about 5 bucks worth of quarters and we begin:
pre soak the car work from the roof down. try to avoid the tires. next move to the high pressure soap. once the car is soaped go over it with the mitt: if your place has tire cleaner give the tires a spray. rinse the whole car tires too from the roof down. i use the spray wax and spot free rinse. leave the u wash it joint find a nice shady spot and drive there. dont worry about water spots, they wont have time to bake, find your shady spot and begin i have a service station that has good lighting i usually do it at dusk as the lighting is good, its not too hot or sunny to be in the open, but non the less find your spot.
Step 2 outside : (please note i use only microfiber rags and applicators on the car inside and out. you will need several i recommend approximately 15 or so, plus 5 for maintenance. dont corss contaminate your rags: i.e. dont use one for amor all and then use it on the windows. us different towels for their different applications)(to apply the products use a microfiber applicator and to remove them use a microfiber rag, being sure to fold it in fours and flip the sides, and the folds to utilize the whole rag)
once im set up i dry the car of any remaining wetness, basically preparing the car, i dont worry too much about water streaks at this point, all the rubbing we r about to to do is going to take car of that.
1. i clay bar the car using meguiars clay and their quick detailier that comes in the red bottle. to learn about claybaring visit their site im sure there is information on how to do it, im just saying this is what i do.
2.Next i apply meguiars paint cleaner to remove any thing i may have missed with the clay bar and this gets paint ready for the polish.
3.next i apply a coat of polyshield.(i apply this twice a year so you can skip this step. the poly shield is a clear coat that i got from the dealer, its basically a maintenance product for it.)
4.next we apply the polish. i use meguiars. polish does not have to dry to be reomved, but it wont hurt anything if it does.
5.next i apply usually one coat but somtimes two of meguairs nxt wax. buffing until shined.
i start in the backapplying and removingin this order:spoiler, trunk, back bumper, backquarter, drivers side, drivers side roof, front left fender, front bumper, right front fender, hood, passnger side, passenger side roof, back quarter. wheels, windows, trim interior. dont aks me why thats just how i do it.
wheels: for wheels i have chrome rims and simply polish them using the nxt wax, they come out great, for other wheel typesi would suggest simply wiping them down and drying them off. for shiny rubber i use armor all tire gel and the meguiars product. you will never win the battle of wheel dressing spraying up onthe car, dont over do it or youll be wiping down the car with uqd on your 1st stop. i live with it and over time i can get them shiny with small to no amount of kick back.
on my windows dont laugh i use rain x . i used it for years on the road. i ocasionally use windex before applying. the secret to not streaking with windex is clean dry rags.
for my leather i use meguiars leather protector and cleaner. and a damp rag to wipe and dry immeadiatly onthe dash etc. one point of note: if youlike that shiny pony in the center of the steering wheel to stay silver DO NOT PUT ANY KIND OF CLEANER OR USE ANY THING ABRRASIVE ON IT. it will come off. to clean that part of the wheel and the aluminum i simply use a damp rag, and dry it off, my pony is still shiny save one little mark. i use leather protector on the leather part of the wheel. and i vaccum.
hope this helps you all out.
07-22-2008, 03:36 PM
#23
RE: car wax
if you would like to know about specific parts of the car clean process, i.e. grill, the nooks and crannies please feel free to ask but be specific, and i forgot to mention i use the nxt wax on my exhaust tips too.
maintenance between all that is done with meguiars ultimate quick detailer, and what else...microfiber rags.
maintenance between all that is done with meguiars ultimate quick detailer, and what else...microfiber rags.
07-22-2008, 03:49 PM
#24
RE: car wax
Wow,you should post a full write up in the cleaning section lol.
as you said dont use anything abbrasive on the steering wheel center cap, the previous owner did..ammonia im guessing.. does anyone know where i can get a new one by any chance. I also think it was used on the head lights as they appear almost pitted..i need a product to restore them to shiny clear again.
as you said dont use anything abbrasive on the steering wheel center cap, the previous owner did..ammonia im guessing.. does anyone know where i can get a new one by any chance. I also think it was used on the head lights as they appear almost pitted..i need a product to restore them to shiny clear again.
07-22-2008, 04:00 PM
#25
RE: car wax
daily driver 55k and ticking:
[IMG]local://upfiles/46173/8C9E7CCBA4324CF0983F41CDA996E968.jpg[/IMG]
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[IMG]local://upfiles/46173/FBD2F3051A2748DB887FEDED39D56837.jpg[/IMG]
07-22-2008, 04:01 PM
#26
RE: car wax
a few more
[IMG]local://upfiles/46173/93E23FA5160D447193EBF33CC458F7E9.jpg[/IMG]
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[IMG]local://upfiles/46173/226B092C29304602B7824CC3BBF7F3BE.jpg[/IMG]
07-22-2008, 04:03 PM
#27
RE: car wax
a few more
[IMG]local://upfiles/46173/34117661357248D39209B172304607E0.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/46173/4462C1F9F76C46E98EDBD5BF1B7A29CC.jpg[/IMG]
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07-22-2008, 04:04 PM
#28
RE: car wax
last batch...hmmm thumbnails arent there...photos are tho
[IMG]local://upfiles/46173/D92DE8C669B245A7BCC535D768ABDFE8.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/46173/646BCDFD537642029A2F9CAA295686E3.jpg[/IMG]
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07-22-2008, 04:10 PM
#29
RE: car wax
ORIGINAL: Lethaldosage423
Wow,you should post a full write up in the cleaning section lol.
as you said dont use anything abbrasive on the steering wheel center cap, the previous owner did..ammonia im guessing.. does anyone know where i can get a new one by any chance. I also think it was used on the head lights as they appear almost pitted..i need a product to restore them to shiny clear again.
Wow,you should post a full write up in the cleaning section lol.
as you said dont use anything abbrasive on the steering wheel center cap, the previous owner did..ammonia im guessing.. does anyone know where i can get a new one by any chance. I also think it was used on the head lights as they appear almost pitted..i need a product to restore them to shiny clear again.
meguiars makes a headlight product you can find it at pep boys or auto zone. just follow the directions on the product.
07-22-2008, 04:17 PM
#30
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Southeast Virginia
Posts: 6,409
RE: car wax
ORIGINAL: Lethaldosage423
Wow,you should post a full write up in the cleaning section lol.
as you said dont use anything abbrasive on the steering wheel center cap, the previous owner did..ammonia im guessing.. does anyone know where i can get a new one by any chance. I also think it was used on the head lights as they appear almost pitted..i need a product to restore them to shiny clear again.
Wow,you should post a full write up in the cleaning section lol.
as you said dont use anything abbrasive on the steering wheel center cap, the previous owner did..ammonia im guessing.. does anyone know where i can get a new one by any chance. I also think it was used on the head lights as they appear almost pitted..i need a product to restore them to shiny clear again.
This easy-to-use, rich gel formula quickly restores optical clarity to both rigid and flexible clear plastics. Cutting-edge advancements in Meguiar’s® exclusive Microscopic Diminishing Abrasive™ Technology (MDAT) remove light oxidation, chemical degradation, surface contamination, stains and light surface scratches with ease. Special highly water resistant polymers provide long lasting durable protection to keep your clear plastics clear and beautiful longer. We recommend applying PlastX™ with a High Tech Applicator Pad or Ultra Plush Super Terry and using an Ultra Plush Super Terry or Supreme Shine® Microfiber for the final wipe-off.
G1231010 oz. (296 ml)
$5.49