Drive-Fi related: Car wash/wax?

[mlhm5]

Use what the pros use.

First get a variable speed polisher. You can get them off ebay for small money. Example


Then there are two products to use

#1 - Use this first. It is white and will take out all the small scratches and all light oxidation leaving a high-gloss look.

Buy Here

#2 - Use this second. This will take out all the swirl marks (you know the ones you can see at an angle in the sun) and will leave a brilliant deep wet look (see below), just like when the paint was new. You can use this by itself if you don't have any micro scratches.

If anything else worked this well, every detailer, paint and body shop in the US would be using them, however the 3M products and competing professional products from companies like Meguiar's are what the pros use exclusively. If you paid $300 for detail work, they buffed out your finish with these products.

Buy Here

Pads and Backs

 

[mlhm5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rock&Roll Ninja /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use common cotton mitt for washing car. I am thinking of getting Griot's broar-hair brush, because it looks cool. Really the darker the car the easier it will be to see clearcoat swirls.... best not to buy a black car.

the solution for clear coat swirls is this.

 

[SayNoToPistons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlhm5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif the solution for clear coat swirls is this.

Clear coat swirls?.... Swirls can happen on single stage paint also and there are many new cars out there still using single stage paint...

 

[nickknutson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMT /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think the time and effort spent on maintaining the finish of your automobile is directly related to whether you see exterior maintenance as a "chore" or an "activity." Personally, detailing my car is something that I look forward to so it is not a one hour deal. Additionally, there is no way in hell that I would let my car anywhere near Mr. Kelly's Car Wash (old fart's reference to a toy available in the early 1970's), I wash my car with Zaino Z-7 car wash and dry it with a Toro electric leaf blower. I then wipe off the remaining water droplets with a microfiber drying towel. I then mix some Zaino Z-2 Pro (or Z-5 Pro) with some ZFX Accelerator and apply with a microfiber applicator. I let it cure for about 2 hours while I am treating the leather with some Z-10 and the tires with Z-16. After removing the Z-2, I apply a coat of either Z-6 Gloss Enhancer or Z-8 Grand Finale sealant. Every six months, I claybar the entire vehicle before the above process. All of this takes me about 4 hours, but the results are well worth it. More importantly, I enjoy doing it.

I'm going to have to copy that process. Looks like it works great!

 

[chadbang]

Zanio is pretty universally recognized as giving the best finish and protection, but I refuse to pay their prices, plus I also refuse to go throught the steps that are posted above. I did WAY too much reading only polishes when I bought my new car and I decided that Finish First was the way to go. It's the finest liquid polymer around. The company was started by ex-employees of Liquid Glass, which was once the most amazing polymer polish/finish around. Then the formula was changed (for cost reasons) and it wasn't the same. Finish First is a purer polymer formula, much like the original liquid glass. It's really not that expensive. I think a can is around $17, which gives you about 5-6 polishes. The more coats you put on the better. It adheres to and protects clear coat My 2002 Honda Civic Si looks pretty much new because of it. It's is also a one step application, dries fast and comes off like a champ - so easy to use. Best of all, nothing lasts like a polymer finish. I go about 5-6 months between polishes. Regular wax? Why even bother. As a recomendation for Finish First, it's either the lamborghini or Ferrari Club of American that recommends it as it's polish. When I ran across that recommendation - that sealed the deal for me!

 

[ALBPM]

Zainos !!!!!!!!

Here's a picture of the relection off a friends red 4-Runner after going over his badly oxidized paint.

Nothing a bit of 3M Finesse-it II, Z5 and Z2 couldn't fix....

That was the Reddest looking Runner I've ever seen after we finished.

 

[SayNoToPistons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightWoundsTime /img/forum/go_quote.gif All about the Eagle One Nanowax. Anyone that can install little tiny robots on my paint job to keep it in top form gets my vote. Ok ok I know nanotech isn't actually concerned with little robots but I'm more into science fiction than actual science. Then again nanotech applies equally to the art of little robots reconstructing molecules as it does to a can of car wax.

:rofl: .It's a joke.

 

[SayNoToPistons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang /img/forum/go_quote.gif Zanio is pretty universally recognized as giving the best finish and protection, but I refuse to pay their prices, plus I also refuse to go throught the steps that are posted above. I did WAY too much reading only polishes when I bought my new car and I decided that Finish First was the way to go. It's the finest liquid polymer around. The company was started by ex-employees of Liquid Glass, which was once the most amazing polymer polish/finish around. Then the formula was changed (for cost reasons) and it wasn't the same. Finish First is a purer polymer formula, much like the original liquid glass. It's really not that expensive. I think a can is around $17, which gives you about 5-6 polishes. The more coats you put on the better. It adheres to and protects clear coat My 2002 Honda Civic Si looks pretty much new because of it. It's is also a one step application, dries fast and comes off like a champ - so easy to use. Best of all, nothing lasts like a polymer finish. I go about 5-6 months between polishes. Regular wax? Why even bother. As a recomendation for Finish First, it's either the lamborghini or Ferrari Club of American that recommends it as it's polish. When I ran across that recommendation - that sealed the deal for me!

It's not the best but it's really good. Most professional detailers don't use them because of the price.

 

[warubozu]

I agree with mlhm5, 3M automotive detail products are one of the best I've used. The shine and longevity of the wax were IMO better than what Meguair's and Zymol waxes could offer me. After using 3M detail products for a few years with excellent results, I was recommended to products offered by Malco Automotive Products by a friend who owns a automotive finishes and paint shop.

Like 3M, Malco products are also widely used by auto deatailers with excellent results. The shine and longevity delivered by Malco products is one of the best I've come across. Some of the products by 3M and Malco can be applied by hand while others are formulated to work it's best with a variable speed puffer and the appropriate buffing pad. By variable speed buffer, I don't mean those orbital ones that you find at Sears or at Costco. True variable speed buffers would be the ones offered by Porter Cable, Dewalt, or Makita to name a few.

I would also agree with pne that a thorough wash and wax for my car takes a minimum of 4 hours. Here's a few of the Malco products that I've used with excellent results:

http://www.malcopro.com/cgi-win/mselect.exe/1193

http://www.malcopro.com/cgi-win/mselect.exe/1117

http://www.malcopro.com/cgi-win/mselect.exe/1014

http://www.malcopro.com/cgi-win/mselect.exe/1106

http://www.malcopro.com/cgi-win/mselect.exe/1185

http://www.malcopro.com/cgi-win/mselect.exe/1147

 

[Vertigo-1]

I swear by Zaino as well, but one thing I've learned is you don't necessarily have to go through every single item that they recommend. All I use in general is just the Z2 as a polish/wax, and it works peaches and cream. I started off like JMT but realized some of the other steps just weren't worth it in terms of durability and now just wash and Z2.

The main reason I like Zaino though isn't for its look, which is about the same as any good wax out there, but because of its durability. I live in probably the rainiest city in the U.S., and with most off the shelf waxes, the wax will have been stripped in about two weeks at most by the rain, evident to me by how water starts to cling to the car instead of just sheeting off at high speeds. With Zaino, water continues to effortlessly slide off my car for well over a month, and the surface continues to feel nice and slick for over a month. Well worth the money, and a bottle easily lasts me over a year, and I wash my car once a month. I definitely make time for a wash as it takes me at least 4 hours as well.

 

[chadbang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vertigo-1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I swear by Zaino as well, but one thing I've learned is you don't necessarily have to go through every single item that they recommend. All I use in general is just the Z2 as a polish/wax, and it works peaches and cream. I started off like JMT but realized some of the other steps just weren't worth it in terms of durability and now just wash and Z2.

That's useful information. Has me half tempted to check it out.

 

[JMT]

Using Zaino, with the exception of the cost, isn't really any different than using other polishes in my opinion. The process is the same:

- Wash the vehicle
- Dry the vehicle
- Apply the polish
- Let cure
- Remove the polish

The only additional step I add is the sealer after the polish is removed, and I only claybar twice a year. Dressing the tires, detailing the interior, detailing the convertible top are all things I do when the polish is curing. And I would do regardless of the type of wax used.

mlhm5, your Porsche is absolutely stunning.

Chadbang, that comment you made regarding Finish First and the Ferrari/Lamborghini clubs intrigues me. Can you post some pics of your Si after detailing?

 

[mlhm5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMT /img/forum/go_quote.gif mlhm5, your Porsche is absolutely stunning.

Thanks. It is an '84 930.