Your words of praise (coming from a Pro) means a lot to me. Thank you. I got into detailing about two years ago when I noticed swirls after just a couple of auto car washes on a brand new (literally as we picked it up the one day after it arrived at the dealer) MINI convertible. I said to myself, there is no way I am going to let this happen to my cars. 98% of people don't care about these details since they trade cars every 3 yrs or there are just not auto-enthusiasts.
BTW I have been to the detailed image website but never checked out their blog. Thank you for that info.

 

know quite a bit about the detailing buisness, although one of my companies does more of the private jets than the autos.... but either way, here is a pic of one of my mode of transportation, with another more of transportation behind it.

 

Good thread. Thought I’d elaborate a bit on the steps I’ve used on both our new car and our 16 year old 200K autos.

Goal as everyone has noted is to prevent as much wear on the finish as possible usually in the form of micro-scratches (swirls), water spots, etc. If you lay down a good base from the start, your car can stay looking good with easy maintenance. Our 16 year old cars still look great.

I don’t know about the reader from Dubai though. I lived in Saudi from 75 to 94 and keeping the paint on the car from the sand and salt was a losing battle.
In any event, here goes:



1. Washing

• Use soap that’s safe for the wax, sealant, etc.
• Use two buckets with a microfiber mitt.
• One bucket for the soap and one to rinse the mitt before re-soaping
• Ever use one soap bucket and wonder what’s in that dirty water you’re scrubbing back on your car.

2. Claying

• This was new to me. Basically running a special clay bar over the finish removes tiny bits of stuff (sap, tar, bugs, etc.) that are still on the finish. Don’t want to wax over that stuff.
• Here’s a test. Run your hand over your just washed car. Seems smooth? Then put your hand in a zip lock and run it gently over the same place. Where’d all those bumps come from?
• Process is to run the special clay over the finish with a supplied lubricant and it grabs this stuff up.

3. Wax Removal (optional)

• I like to remove whatever wax has been squirted on the finish before applying my own. Product I used is applied by hand and removed by microfiber.
• At this point , the finish should be clean to the clear coat (and indoors).

4. Paint Sealant

• No, not the stuff the dealer wants to charge you $400 bucks for on a new car.
• I apply a Quality High Gloss sealant by hand and remove by microfiber towel.
• There’s a debate on using sealant or wax. Folks have their preferences. But the sealant needs to be applied indoors and kept out of the rain for at least 12hrs to bond to the clear coat. You could stop here as there is now a very durable, long lasting finish.

5. Carnauba Wax (optional)

• Ok, maybe overkill. But the wax over the sealant gives an almost liquid shine and additional protection. The wax will not last as long as the sealant, but can easily be re applied over it every month or so.
• So what is Carnauba Wax? It’s not the squirt on stuff, but a hand applied paste of high quality. Again, use lots on microfiber towels.

Hints:

• Get a lot of microfiber towels; don’t wash them with fabric softener or high heat.
• In step 4 and 5, do not play “wax on, wax off” in circular motions. Go back and forth in the direction the wind goes over your car.
• Maintain above by washing with the soap from step 1 if necessary; use some Detail spray and microfiber towers in between; and apply the wax or sealant again with claying when you want to.

Finally, I’m not a detail professional, but this method is the routine I’ve been using. I’d be interested from any experts their thoughts, modifications, additions, deletions, etc. Always open to improvements.

Regards.

 

Don, very good points. I follow every single point that you have mentioned.
Some more points to add to your techniques which I am sure you already do follow

WASH: Try to not wash your car when there is direct sunlight. Wash panel by panel, turning the wash mitts surface every half panel. Wash the cleanest parts of the car first and then use a different mitt (different colored one to let you differentiate) for the bottom half. Use gritt guard for the rinse bucket.

CLAY: You have to thoroughly wash/dry your car before claying. If you drop the clay on the floor, do not re-use it. Use the recommmneded lubricant and not any other ones for your clay. Surface should feel like glass after clayed.

WAX vs SEALANT: Dark colored cars, if you like warmth depth, or on garaged cars, if you have time to apply the LSP (last step product) every 3 to 4 months then go with wax. Light colored, daily drivers, occasional auto wash, sheen more than warmth then sealant.

Good point on not using fabric softener and just a dedicated microfiber cleaner product when you wash your microfiber towels. Also wash the wax removal towels separately.

Jaace very nice picture. What do you know about detailing anyway

 

I only powerwash my car once or twice a week, then get a handwash once a month and a wax every 6 months max............

What should one expect to pay retail for such a detail?

 

To have someone just wax the exterior, depending on the market you are in, a normal job, without clay or the extensive methods most of us use on this board, but normal job is about $300.00.

I have seen them as expensive as $1,000.00-$2,000.00 depending on the car and methods used.

when my company does the car attached obviously that job is more around the $600.00 mark.

 

not much, novice <<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

...I wish I could come and spend a few hours with you to get a tour of all the work done, talk about Porsches at some point in the future. And I will make sure that I never test drive your CTT.

 

w00t, you've seen all the hangar posts I have put up in the past right? Those are all taken from my folks place and such...

do a quick search or my posts and you should find them with ease, or let me know and ill show you some fun pics.

EDIT: here is a link
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ur-hangar.html

this is 2 years agos party. I have better pictures of the one we just had this past summer if you are at all interested

 

Great idea with the sprinkler. Brought my Pig up from LA, so it hasn't seen salt....yet.

 

Great info on detailing/washing the car.
I have a question for the group...
If I bring my car to the dealer to get it detailed does it do all of these procedures..like clay barring it removing swirls etc.
I really would love get this done because my car has quite a few swirl marks and blemishes from the autowash.
Just want it done right and would like to know if the dealership would be the right place for this.
Thanks for any feedback

 

No they wouldn't. They might outsource but they themselves I wouldn't trust with mine.

 

Take it to the dealer ? Absolutely not. I would recommend taking it to a reputable detailer in your area. If you do not know of one, I suggest you ask for a recommended detailer in the detailing section of this forum. I am sure the pros will know of one. For heavy swirling you would need a full detail which will include a paint claying, correction with polishing and protection with wax or sealant.

 

Not sure *****-jo's question re "how soon" was ever answered. My CS was delivered last week; Leatherique products, Zymol, etc delivered yesterday. Too early to clay, wax?; vehicle looks great and feels smooth. Should the new leather get proactive Leatherique treatment? Thanks for answering the nube questions.

 

Paint from the factory is baked and ready to go with any process you'd like. I waxed within 1 month. I would apply leatherique immediately and wax ASAP.