I need help, I have recently become overwhelmed when it comes to car care. I have no idea what to do like a traditional nerd would do I looked it up. lol. But i'm left with a couple of questions.

Sometime soon I plan to wax my car for july 4th. First I am going to use a pressure washer to soak my car up then dry it up using absorber towels. Then I'm going to apply the wax following the instruction on whatever bottle of wax I choose. Is this okay?

My questions are if I wanted to use something like scratch x would it be before the wax or after? I have swirls and fine scratches from when the guys at the dealership detailed it.

Are pressure washers bad for our cars?

Which wax is good? I always try to have an idea which to buy but then I walk over to the wax supplies and I just get intimidated by the selections.
Meguiars NXT wax
Mothers...
Turtle Wax ICE etc.

Thanks.

 

Wash > Dry > Scratch-X > Wax

And I'd go with the NXT.

Also, don't let anything that's not microfiber touch your car.

 

A sheep skin chamois works wonders for drying.
I second the NXT.

 

Black car? I would suggest Mother's Cleaner Wax. It'll give your car a warmer look than NXT will. NXT will make your car pretty sparkly which is great for the flecks in our paint but it'll also hamper the black's intensity. I only recommend a cleaner wax (NXT is also a mild cleaner wax) since you don't have to do any pre-wax prep work.

Or if you want to go a bit further than wash/dry/wax you can try Meguiar's complete 3 step process (under their Deep Crystal line) or Mother's 3 step (under California Gold.) Either one will result in a very good look for the price. They look good mostly because the 3 step process is a more tradition waxing proccess where you polish, glaze, and then wax. It's a bit tedious for a beginner so they also have cleaner waxes which simplify the process immensely.

Car care is DEFINITELY a mind boggling experience. Just take it slow and you'll sort through everything. Just a hint though, before you buy any product, go to autopia.org and search for the product to get a review. Doing such research will save you a bunch of money in the end. Also, autopia.org is an absolute wealth of car care information since you have professional detailers world-wide discussing products and processes.

And for all you autopians, Paul Dalton just signed up as a member! Very nice guy. (Look up Miracle Detail)

 

Go to the tech section and look under detailing--there are links to two guides. Here is one:

http://www.meguiars.com/tips/article...selected_ID=10

 

If you're serious about doing a hardcore detail job on your car, you should add a couple other steps.

Obviously your starting point is going to be a good wash. While there are no damaging characteristics to pressure washing (just be careful around your engine bay or other small areas where the pressure could move things or sneak in small places), it often doesn't get EVERYTHING off the car. It's still best to use a microfiber wash cloth on the car.

If your paint is rough and you can see contaminants and such in it, you should use the miracle that is a clay bar. It will remove all those stubborn contaminants (including those tiny rust spots from rail dust that are really obvious in light colored cars like mine), and will make your paint smooth as glass. It will also remove any old waxes or things on top of your paint.

To add on to what kungpaosamuraiii said, definitely go with a two or three-step process at this point, which is a Polish & Wax, or Polish, Glaze & Wax. The polish will work to remove those light scratches and swirl marks, the glaze will add a gorgeous wet shine, and the wax is your top sealant coat for protecting your nice detailed finish.

Mothers and NXT are both good brands, I don't think you could go wrong with either. Also, if you want to try something new, Oznium has our own line of car care products available on our site. I've used most of the popular products already, with fantastic results.

Hope that helps some!

Eric