I use diluted Simple Green + a hose. I then treat the plastic parts with a regular plastic protectant.

Be sure your engine bay is cold when you wash it, or the water will dry and spot immediately. I usually do it first if I am planning to do the whole car.

 

Just to let some people on here know..

1) Swirl marks ARE caused from either washing or wi[ing your vehicle. Swirl marks are mistaken for scrathes" in some peoples cases" Swirl marks are a ver fine scrath caused by excess debris on your paint after your do your first rinse before washing. But when you wash there is some debris left on the paint and when you wash you wash it right in the paint leaving swirl marks... UNAVOIDABLE..PERIOD!!!

2) An easy way to prevent these "swirl marks" Is when you are going to wash your vehicle.. A) Rinse the car really well. B) Wash your car very lightly once to loosen the unseen dirt. C) Rinse very well once again. D) Then go back and "wash" your car. Followed by a good rinse ( DO NOT LET SOAP DRY ON THE PAINT.. This is crucail in the summer days and dark cars) E) Shammy dry wit clean shammy. F) Follow up by a good wax job. (Inbetween waxes. Use a quick spray detail wax spray to keep shinny look. and help protect paint.

3) Them cheap orbital turtle wax buffers from wal-mart will not remove swirl marks. They do not have enought RPM's to work the material into the paint. It is good to be used for removing wax that you applied. But not to remove swirl marks and/or used for polishing

4) If you have a regualr buffer/polisher. It is easy/dangerous to polish your paint. There are a few different steps you must follow to get a shiny.smooth result. If anyone needs me to go into detail with this I will post the steps to do so. I will not be responsible for people who "burn through" tho.. Any question just ask.. I worked in body shop and have gone to school for it for 4 years.. I have an idea what Im doing thanks...

 

Good info for this topic!

 

Good info but DA Buffers can get rid of swirls. Maybe not that turtle wax one you mentioned, but my Porter Cable CAN get rid of swirls. Plus we all know that debris is left on the paint even after you rinse, but a lot of swirls can be avoided by what products you also use on your paint. The debris alone left on the paint isn't the single cause of swirls. Like say terry cloth can do way more harm than help.

I found these pictures showing a lab test of 100% cotton terry toweling (right) and a terry weave microfiber towel (left) and a freshly painted test panel.

 

hey scionman 05, could you list the steps to get a good shine, thanks.

 

When I get home tomorrow night I willpost up a thread about how to buff and etc.. Im at my girlfriends right now just checkin some things out. i will have it for you tomorrow night.. I dont like this keyboard to type all the steps.. lol

 

If you could list steps using meguiars products gold class stuff, I would appreciate it, but regardless as to whether you use meguiars or not thanks for agreeing to put it up. Newb to the car scene. THis is my first car. Hehe.

 

1. wash
2. clay bar
3. apply cleaner wax then remove
4. apply polish wax then remove
5. apply wax then remove
6. i usually use a quick detailer afterwards to make sure i remove excess wax.

 

Go here for some info:
http://www.autopia.org/index.php

 

exactly my steps.

 

Sorry got a little behind in work so Ill be postin up in a day or so.. Sorry for the delay. Work just got suddenly busy.. I WILL post this information

 

No prob. Anyone wanna do a group buy on these waxing/buffer products?

 

too late for me, mine are already on the way

chris

 

clay bar?
care to explain...

i always thought it was wash then wax and thats it...
wow.. i must rethink my methods.

 

Man chris0 this is fubar. Bahhhhh. Why couldn't you have waited.

 

I've never been involved in a group buy. I'm getting my tool from one place and everything else from another place. the total was just over $200...how much do you think a group buy would save an individual in a situation like this?

the tool is already $20-40 less than other sites I'd seen. I posted the link in one of the threads here somewhere. perhaps we could've saved on the wax/sealer, but that's where most of us are going to differ in what we want anyway. so...

I'm not sure a group buy would've saved anyone any money in this situation. besides, I'm a bit impulsive. I decide I want something then I get it. I'll pay more to wait less. sorry dude.

chris

 

man we could have saved like a 1. one whole dollar. You can make a 20 minutes phone call with that.

 

waiting for scionman05

 

Here's what I posted a while back on here:


Here's the steps I take each time I wash and wax each month.

Products used:
-Meguiar's NXT Car Wash
-Clay Magic clay bar
-Classic Motoring Accessories Microfiber UltraMitt
-PakShak small Microfiber towel
-PakShak Waffle Weave drying towel
-PakShak Ultra Micro Fiber Towel
-PakShak Ultra Fine Micro Fiber Towel
-3 Buckets
-Meguiar's # 83 (Cleaner)
-Meguiar's #9 (Polish)
-Meguiar's NXT Wax
-Meguiar's Final Inspection
-Porter Cable 7424 Dual Action (orbital) Buffer


First off I start with the wheels and tires. Since they take longer to do. You don't want to wash your car/truck then your wheels and just let the rest of the car sit there and dry while you're washing your wheels. I clean my tires and wheels first with Meguiar's NXT Car Wash with a "tire and wheel" bucket. Since you do have more dirt from your wheels you don't want to use that same bucket for washing the "paint" areas of your car. Anyway I clean my wheels and fender wells.

Then I move on to the "paint" areas of my car. I take the 2nd bucket and fill it full of clean water. Then I take the 3rd bucket and mix my Meguiar's NXT Car Wash with water in it. I use two buckets because while I'm washing dirt and other deposits get into or on your wash mitt. After each sectioned is washed, I rinse my mitt out in the clean water bucket so I won't have any lose dirt or debris in my mitt causing scratches on my paint. I start with the front bumper and hood cause again this section takes longer to do than the rest of the car since it has bugs and what-not on the front of it and you don't want to let the rest of the car dry while washing it. I wash each section throughly 2 times each. Once each section is done I take my wash mitt with lots of soap on it and soap down a section that's alreadly been washed and then I take my clay bar and clay that section. The soap acts as a lubricant for the clay. One way to tell you need to clay is after you wash your car take a plastic bag (thin) and place your hand inside it. Rub a section of your paint. If it feels like sandpaper, then you need to clay your car!
Once I'm done washing and claying each section it's time to dry it off. I use PakShak's Waffle Weave drying towel for drying. In my years of detailing cars and trucks I've used many different products for drying and other stuff. And I've found that Terry Cloth Towels and regular chamois like the Absorber for an example will cause scratches in paint. I've seen this many times over. Why do I use Microfiber instead of Terry Cloth?

Even after years of safe, beneficial use, there are still microfiber critics. Staunch supporters of 100% made-in-America terry cloth cotton toweling claim that cotton is the only safe toweling material. Possibly these people have not seen the magnified results of cotton vs. microfiber toweling.

I found these pictures showing a lab test of 100% cotton terry toweling (right) and a terry weave microfiber towel (left) and a freshly painted test panel.

Once I'm done drying my car off I can start waxing. I take my Porter Cable 7424 Dual Action (orbital) Buffer and some Meguiar's # 83 (Cleaner) and start waxing, doing a section at a time. Once a section is done I take my PakShak Ultra Micro Fiber Towel and take the cleaner off by hand. Once the whole car is done I repeat this process for the Meguiar's #9 (Polish) doing it the same way. Once I have my cleaner and polish done I use my Buffer with some Meguiar's NXT Wax. This time I do the whole car instead of a section at a time. Once the whole car is waxed I let it set for 1 hour and then I take my PakShak Ultra Micro Fiber Towel and take the wax off. Once that's done I use some Meguiar's Final Inspection and mist a section at a time wiping it off with a PakShak Ultra Fine Micro Fiber Towel. And that's it!
Now you don't need to do this every time you want to wash your car. I'll usually Polish every 4 or 5 months and use Cleaner Wax about every 3 or so months. I do keep NXT on it at least once a month though. Becasue NXT is only "Wax". It does have some cleaning agents in it but it's main purpose is to "protect" your paint not clean it. It's all about the prep work.

Also here's some links from a few place I buy my products from:
http://pakshak.com/ Microfiber Towels.
http://properautocare.com/index.html Classic Motoring Accessories.

For a better place to learn way more go here:
http://autopia.org/
Be sure to click on "Learn" at the top of the page for tons of how-to's and facts about car detailing!

 

Great write-up and I highly recommend the Autopia link too. I learned all I know from that site, and they can help debunk myths and suggest new methods. They're a great bunch of guys, and they certainly make you feel welcome because they're every bit as fanatical as you are. :D