Just wondering what you guys use to make it shinny and clean cuz here in Texas its been raining like crazy.

 

Well keeping your car shiny in the rain is an uphill battle, for sure.

Grab a bottle of Collinite 845 or 925 (same product) or 476S or 855 (these two are the same.) You can buy these at a boating supply store like Marine West or something. Also grab some kind of paint cleaner like Meguiar's Deep Crystal Polish step 1.

Once the sun comes out, wash as you normally would, apply the paint cleaner as directed, and throw on a coat of which ever Collinite product you get, wait a few hours and throw on a second coat, and the next time it rains, it'll be like a free car wash!

I suggest Collinite because it's extremely durable. It's the only carnauba I know of that will last 6 months to a year.

 

Can you skip the Meguiars and go straight to the Collinite?

 

You need to properly prep the car for the wax. Wax won't be very durable unless it can bond to an almost perfectly clean surface. You need something with cleaning chemicals or abrasives to get to the surface of the paint, and past the stuff that washing won't get at.

The whole nine yards include:

Wash/dry
claybar
polish
glaze
wax

You can ditch the glaze. You may be able to pick and choose to ditch either the clay or the polish but at least one of those need to be there. This is only if you're using a "pure" wax.

A lot of locally available (or over the counter, aka OTC) waxes have chemical cleaners in them that allow you to wash, dry, and immediately wax. These waxes have limited durability in comparison to the pure stuff.

 

Ive also been told to wash your car with dishwasher soap before waxing as it strips off everything old... Is this true?

 

It'll strip off old wax and some of the stuff that car soaps are too mild for.

It won't strip enough to replace claying and polishing but it'd be a step in the right direction. Just don't make it a habit to wash with dish soap.

 

Once you have layed down a good layer of quality wax, spray detail wax does the trick pretty quick between rainy days. Try to keep all of your products in the same brand line, products are designed to work together. (I use Mequires Touch of Gold)

 

Yeah, this is true to an extent like kungpaosamuraiii said. I prefer to use something like a paintwork cleanser to remove old wax though.