ok...to do a complete exterior clean...

as far as I know, you need

clay bar
microfiber cloth
wax
wax detailer (the sponge thing)
soap
scrubber
running clean water (preferably high pressure)
tire wet spray/wipe
and terry cloth to dry everything...

Now...is there anything I'm missing??

and my question...

what is the proper order to do this all in???

 

Hmmmm...

OK...

35 views...

But no one has any suggestions on the question I asked?

 

i spent about 5 hours full cleaning my maxima this past weekend, i'll do my tc this coming weekend.

what i did was
wash car,
semi dry - i got most of the flat surfaces dry
clay bar using a mixture of meguire wash and water as lubricant,
rinse off the soapy residue
dry completely
polish with meguire polish
wax

started at 8am and finished at 1, very time consuming doing it by yourself, but the result is very satisfying.

 

1. Do a full wash with high quality soap. Use a microfiber or soft mitt.

2. Rinse AND Dry completely before soap dries onto paint.

3. Use detail spray and claybar to remove particles that have trapped into your clear coat.

4. Wax and buff your car. (You might want to use a polisher if you really want a wet/shiny look).

5. Shine your tires and wipe the rims of any drips.

- Don't use any rough terry cloths if possible. I would recommend high quality microfibers to do all the washing, drying and buffing. No point in shining up your car if your towle leaves swirls all over.

- Don't wash under a hot sunlight.

- Goto www.autopia.org for everything you need to know about washing/waxing your car!

- Recommend products/brands... Meguairs soap, PakShak Microfibers, Shining Monkey Wax...

Sorry, just a quick run through. You should check at autopia.org for the details!

 

Oh yea.. someone might wanna move this to the correct forum.

 

whats the purpose of completely drying off the first wash when you go and spray it down with lubricant when you clay bar? i didn't think it was necessary to be bone dry. i did dry it completely for the polish tho.

 

I try to avoid any watermarks or leftover residue. But whatever suits you.

 

but you'll be spraying it wet again right away though, and there won't be leftover residue from water. since you won't be claying in the hot sun, the little bits of water droplets wont have time to form water spots before you spray and clay...thats the one part i never understood...

 

But I'm claying it with my d-spec... not water. And I buff along with claying. It's what suits me. Might as well go over a complete dry while I'm at it..

 

moved...

 

for drying i like to use the obsorbe that thing works wonders for me

 

With the high pressure water you have to be careful about your technique. What works best is if you first get the entire car good and wet and let all the dried-on dirt get soft. If you try to blast it off with the wand when it is not soft you can actually dull the finish on the car.

Another thing is that you should never let the tip of the wand get closer than about 3 inches and preferably 6 inches or more away from the car. Those wands can be a big timesaver if used right but they can really destroy your paint if used wrong.

I had never heard of clay bars until I read about them here on scionlife. I definintely agree they are a good thing when used right. Don't drop it on the ground.

 

Happened to my gf and I three times the first 2 times we waxed my tC and her IS300...

 

how much does a clay bar cost, and where can i get one?

 

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...er=asc&start=0

 

I got the Claybar package from http://www.shiningmonkey.com/store/i...roducts_id=139

Enough to clay a full car several times...