Total detailing noob needs help...

[adidas]

Like stated in the title, im a total newb when it comes to detailing cars. Ive had the car for a while now and havent waxed it once.

I really need to know the basics!

What do i need to buy in order to have my car all shinny, like it just came from the show room floor. Specifically what products and how do i use them?(What to use first, second and so forth.)

Thanks.


Edit: Scroll down for pics.

[Calgarydetail]

There is a ton that can be done. I could go on for hours of what you can do.

However lets start with the basics.

Get good car wash. I am going to assume you want to do it all by hand and pick everything up at Canadian tire or other local store.

so for a wash try Meguires gold class, it is a slick soap, dosent strip paint, very gentle and well priced, use a sheap skin was mit. simoniz makes, they are actully very nice and can be bought at CT.

Next you need to dry the car, for this i would suggest a high quility microfiber coth. NO BATH TOWELS THEY WILL MARR YOU PAINT.
I belive canadian tire sells mf clothes, however this is one i would sugest buying online. The best ones i have tried up to this point are cobra which are sold by autogeek.net

After the car is all dry you may want to clay. Your paint collects lots of tiny particals and overspray, especlly while it is on the truck for delivery. I have even seen bentlys loaded on the back of a semi so your car probley needs to be clayed.
The clay is very safe and will not harm the paint.

You can get either a mothers or megs clay kit. I would suggest buying kit. It comes with the clay and clay lube.

Spray the lube on and rub the clay on the paint, make sure to use lots of lube. Ohh yeah and you will know that you are taking crap off the paint, you can feel and hear it.
Do a small 2x2ft area at a time.
Also the clay will start to get a black colour to it. When this happens kneed the clay into a ball and then flaten out again.

Some people suggest cutting the ball into a few peices so when you drop it you dont waste a whole bar.

IF YOU DROP THE CLAY THROW IT OUT, IT CAN DAMAGE YOUR PAINT

from here wipe off the clay lube with good mf polishing clothes, again they can be purchased at CT.
If the lube is really bad re-wash and dry the car.

From here you are ready for the wax. The directions are on the jar, appy, let haze then buff off with a mf cloth.

I would sugggest using meguires NXT tech wax, It contains some lite fillers so it will help hide some of the swirls that are in the paint (which there will be)



You are dont the exterior

Please keep in mind this is very basic, you can get more intense by washing from the top down, using two buckets, using diffrent products, ect.
This is desgined to be a basic guide to exterior work. For more info just let me know and i can helo you out


to come next, the inside

[sneek]

I am way to tired to do this.

Okay so there are 3 things that cause most people to loose that show room shine.

1. Embedded dirt/contaminants in the paint

2. Oxidation

3. Swirls and Scratches


For embedded dirt/contaminants , you want to use a clay bar.
see this thread on how to use one.
http://forums.beyond.ca/st/162488/using-a-clay-bar/

Oxidation is where the paint loses its gloss because it is for or less drying out. This used to be really bad on cars with single stage paint, where the oils would dry out and the paint would turn white and chalky.

Oxidation can be corrected in 2 ways. One way is to feed the paint with a pure polish, reviving the dead paint (there is a certain point where this won't cut it anymore) The second method is to remove the top of the oxidized paint to get to the healthy paint underneath. There are several ways to do this. One would be with a gentle chemical cleaner, such as Deep Crystal Step 1. Another method for restoring oxidized paint would be through the use of abrasives. A good starting point is through the use of a cleaner polish. This class of products utilizes microscopic diminishing abrasives that carefully remove the top layer of paint, after these abrasives are used up, the cleaner polish begins to burnish the healthy paint to a high gloss with oils. If that doesn't work you can try using something called a compound. A compound usually uses abrasives that are larger than those in a cleaner polish. Most compounds on the market don't break down, giving you lots of cutting action. This is not recommended for beginners as it is very easy to remove too much paint. Another method would be through the use of physical abrasives, such as wet sanding papers. Wet sanding uses physical abrasives to remove the oxidized paint. Wet sanding is very difficult and dangerous if you are not experienced. It is even more dangerous than compounding because you might have to compound the paint afterwards to restore gloss. Wetsanding is like a more controlled method of removing film build.

From least aggressive to most.
Pure polish--> cleaner polish--> compound--> wetsanding

Note that this isn't always the case. Sometimes wetsanding is less aggresive than compounding.

3. Swirls and Scratches.

Swirls millions and millions of fine scratches. They range in severity.

To restore the shine you must fill or remove the scratches. Removing a scratch means that you are using an abrasive to level the paint down to the deepest point of the scratch. It is really hard work by hand! What some people like to do is remove the sharp edges of the swirls and scratches and fill in the deeper portions.

The "easy" way of restoring the shine would be to fill in the swirls. This can be done with a variety of products such as a pure polish or a wax. Filling in swirls and scratches usually makes the paint look pretty good, but once it rains...the swirls are back!


To tell you how to get that showroom shine back we need more information! We need to know what kind of paint it is. What kind of problems you are having. Note that you have a combination of problems.

[sneek]

I have sent a lot of paint advise through PM's so I have some info saved.

I am sure you have walked through an auto parts store and you have seen the thousands upon thousands of products. The following are just *my* personal preferences by hand. For swirls I would go with a products called ScratchX. It is by Meguiar's and it is available at Canadian Tire and Walmart (cheaper). The product is what I call a dual action swirl product. Notice how I didn't say remover. This is because the product can either fill in swirls or it can remove them. Removing swirls is usually the best choice because the results do go do away, no matter how many car washes. ScratchX is a product that takes a lot of work, but delivers amazing results. The product contains something called a diminishing abrasive, so it breaks down as you work it into the finish. The product is designed to be worked in well, unlike the instructions. You want to shrink your work area so that you can fully break down the polish. A good rule of thumb is to work in a 2x2' area. Work a quarter sized amount, and work in different directions. Contrary to popular belief, you should work in straight lines instead f circles. If you think about it, working in circles, creates much less friction than working back and fourth. Moreover, your work is more concentrated. First off, with your dominant hand make your dominant hand into a staple shape. ] <- if you are right handed, grab the applicator pad so that your fingers are on the top and your thumb is on the bottom. Apply the product to that area, on the other side of your fingers. Work the product in, in multiple straight lines, up and down, and left to right, until it is almost dry, it should look like there is a clear oily film on the surface. Then wipe the residue away with a clean microfiber towel and inspect the surface. Are all the swirls and defect gone? I find that it usually takes more than one application, but you may have soft paint.

Now you get to do this all over the paint!

The next step after removing defects is polishing. There are three types of polishes. Cleaner polishes are polishes that have microscopic abrasives in them that will remove paint defects and add oils to the paint. There is a pure polish, which is a product that has no abrasives in it, and it is used to add depth to the paint, through adding oils. Then there is a polishing wax, this is a product that usually has no abrasives and will add oils to that paint, and then add protection to the finish.

Polishing is an optional step, but if you have dark coloured paint (red, black, dark blue, purple…etc) it will greatly increase the depth, and add that wet look to the paint. If you want to polish the paint, you can try using Meguiar’s #7 show car glaze or Meguiar’s Deep Crystal Step 2. Both of these are pure polishes, but #7 can be difficult to use, if you are new to things. With a pure polish, you don’t have to work it in. You can just apply in circles or straight lines. It can be wiped off almost after application, I usually like to work on about ¼ to ½ the car, or even work my way around the car before removal because it comes off pretty easily, and I think the oils need a little bit of time to sink into the paint.

Waxing: There are also thousands of waxes. Most of them you see these days are cleaner waxes. There are products that try to combine all cleaning, polishing, and protecting into one step. Although it might sound appealing, the results are rarely as good as if you were to do three steps. Conversely, a cleaner wax is a very useful product when dealing with lighter coloured vehicles, as the swirls are less visible to the human eye. An example of this would be ColourX, this product has a chemical cleaner and a diminishing abrasive, so it can cut out some lighter swirls, but it won’t do much on a heavily swirled car. There is also another type of wax know as a pure wax. This type of wax is made from carnauba wax. On darker coloured cars, it can give the finish that warm glow. An example of this would be S100(available at a Harley dealer) or P21s (they are the same), Victoria Wax (2clean cars), or even zymol (BMW dealerships). The really high grade carnauba waxes, don’t stain trim, but I like to tape off trim anyways to avoid getting excess product in there. The last type is a synthetic wax. These waxes are gaining popularity lately, as they can offer more production, and a glass like look on most paint finishes. Some hard core enthusiast ( myself NOT included) dislike the look of synthetic waxes because it makes black paint look “muted”. Personally I like synthetics because I do like the insane shine, and the lasting protection.

[KKY]

My advise is to visit
http://guidetodetailing.com/
and have fun detailing!

[adidas]

Some really good information in here, i really wanna say thanks for taking the time to write it all out fellas!

Ive only washed my car(2-3x a week) since ive had it but never gave it a good wax because i never knew what i had to purchase to make it look all nice and shinny. My car has alot of swirls in it, and this is the reason that ive decided that im gonna wax it up and make it look all new again.

If i follow the whole process that Calgarydetail wrote out, how long will the car keep its shine for? What if it rains? What if i wash the car?


Thanks once again.

[sneek]

NXT tech wax will last quite a while. It is a synthetic wax. I put M21 (NXT's older brother), and I've had it for 5 months and its still going strong. I bet NXT will go for 3+ months. Make sure you apply thin even coats. I like doing 2 to ensure even coverage.

[Calgarydetail]

good adivce sneek.

NXT can last a long time, however calgary is harsh on wax, if its outside 24/7 the durabilty will be far lessend. I would recomend applying a coat of wax once a month, this way you know the car is protected and shiney.

As for swirls, you will find some reduction, the more coats the more reduction however you wont get rid of all of them so dont excpect miracles.

And like sneek said a few coats is a good idea esp. if you are new to waxing

let us know how it goes

[SC300]

question... so after its been say a month or so... should I use the clay bar again before applying a new layer of wax?

[sneek]

I really depends. If your paint feels rough, then go ahead and clay the paint, but it it feels smooth you can just go ahead and apply another coat of wax.


Some people believe in removing all the old wax before a new coat. I am not sure why, but you can remove the previous coat by using a good paint cleaner, such as Meguiar's Deep Crystal Step 1, Mothers Prewax Cleaner and Victoria Wax Lite Clense. There are a whole bunch more, but I haven't tried them yet.

[anhthanh]

thanks for the write up gonna try this wehn all the snows stops btw how offten are u suppose to do this .. like once a month or so ???

[Calgarydetail]

Originally posted by anhthanh
thanks for the write up gonna try this wehn all the snows stops btw how offten are u suppose to do this .. like once a month or so ???

I would wash your car every week, or as often as you can.

I would wax at least once a month to keep the shine up

and I would clay, polish as needed which should be about every 6 months

[sneek]

... but we have 10-15 cm of snow coming tomorrow.

but when it does warm up I am going to try 476S

[anhthanh]

hey btw , how come when ever i go to teh car washer and wash my car ......i always fine new strachtes or piant chips and u see grey lines ( i have a black car ) is thier something im doing wrong and ending up with these lil marks.. any advice would be nice thanks ....also this is how im wahsing my car , low presure soap, high presure soap, high presure rinse, high presure wax, then spot free rinse

[Mar]

Subscribing to this.

So all I need to buy is the microfibre towel, clay kit and wax? Do I need separate smaller towels to apply / remove the wax as well?

Go to public car wash, wash car.
Dry with microfibre and drive home.
Use clay kit.
Wax car by hand.

Are these the basic steps to begin with? And would it be better to use an orbital polisher instead of waxing by hand?

[Calgarydetail]

Originally posted by Mar
Subscribing to this.

So all I need to buy is the microfibre towel, clay kit and wax? Do I need separate smaller towels to apply / remove the wax as well?

Go to public car wash, wash car.
Dry with microfibre and drive home.
Use clay kit.
Wax car by hand.

Are these the basic steps to begin with? And would it be better to use an orbital polisher instead of waxing by hand?

I would suggest getting some foam applicators for applying the wax. Also you will want a wafle weave towel for removing the water when drying.
When removing the wax you will want to use the softest, most plush towel you can. I would suggest buying a few incase you drop them.

On the drive home your car is going to get dirty. This dirt will come off with a good quick detailer, I would suggest picking up a product such as optimum no rinse. It is a whole car wash that does not require you to wash it off with a hose, this will help get off any dirt still on the car.

I would then clay the car. Make sure to cut the clay into peices. You do this to save the clay when you drop it. Once clay is dropped it is done. Dont try to save it, it will marr the paint.
Make sure you kneed the clay often and use lots of lube. Claying a car is very very simple. I am sure the kit comes with insuctions (if you read insuctions)

And waxing is waxing. I am not sure which wax you plan on using but the directions will be on the tin or bottle. Follow them and life will be good. If you are still looking for a wax I would suggest meg's nxt tech wax. Its easy to use, easy on easey off, and has some fillers that will help hide swirls.


Hope all this helps, good luck with the detail. Let us knw how it goes


Mike

[sputnik]

Anyone recommend a good product for using on carpets?

[Hoey]

Wow, good info here guys! I need to learn more about detailing.

Originally posted by sputnik
Anyone recommend a good product for using on carpets?

anyone?

[97'Scort]

Originally posted by sputnik
Anyone recommend a good product for using on carpets?

Depends what you want to get out. If it's just general dirt, vacuum what you can and use just about any automotive carpet cleaner spray on it. Work the spray gently with a medium bristle brush (should be able to get some at Canuck Tire). They all work pretty much the same. Try to avoid ones that are no name AND say that they smell good. They generally don't work well.

If things are really bad and you have, say, white carpets for some reason, you can always rent one of those steam cleaners from Safeway (make sure it has a handheld hose bit) and take your time with it. Do your couches while you're at it

[adidas]

This question is regarding the wax.

Should i use a liquid type of wax or is the paste type better?

What are the benefits of each? Disadvantages?

Also does the wax need to be applied using a buffer or would other things work too?