Most people say "I waxed my car this weekend. Or I am detailing my car and putting a new wax on it."

1st question is "wax" what type did you use? Did you remove the old wax (wash car using non flavored dish detergent) first, then wax it?

There are two types of "waxes" on the market. One is called a sealant and is chemically made, and one is natural and called Carnauba wax. They both provide the same function, which is to protect the surface of your paint. When I talk paint, I am actually talking about the clear coat. However, Carnauba Wax only lasts approximately 3-4 weeks and sometimes less due to heat or being in the sun. Its wax, so it will melt off fairly quickly. Hence why I said in my earlier post, I only use it for a topper, and for only special occasions when I want the car to look its best. A Sealant, is a wax, but since its chemically made, it will last 4-6 months also pending climate, but does last longer. You can put Carnauba on top (topper) to give a deeper hueish gloss.

Types of Sealant---- you can buy your normal sealants at Wally World, AZ, Pep Boys etc...... but these will be very consumer grades and none of them I would touch personally, especially on a 100k car. Fine for the mini van. Products like Pinnacle, Black Fire, AMMO all are top notch items you can purchase which will work as advertised no question. There are specialty companies such as Swissvax, Dodo Juice, and several others that make specialty Carnauba waxes. They have different blends, using both white and yellow waxes and in higher percentages. I cannot tell you how or why they would benefit more than another, i just don't have that knowledge. But the specialty websites that cater to detailing have mostly the best products you can buy. Companies that are good, but I either have not used, or don't want to try are Griots, Collinite, Poor Boys, and SOnax. I have found my goto products and trust them which is the most important.

I would likely not waste money on high end SwissVax waxes unless my cars paint was perfect, meaning NO marks anywhere and polished to the highest shine. I have given some really good choices which I promise will treat your car right. My number one is AMMO, number two would be Pinnacle or Blackfire. For high end yes the SV line, but the AMMO products will give equal results.

Zaino---- When I had my Corvette I discovered Zaino products. (For some reason Camaro and Corvette owners love this stuff) Must have studied them for hours waiting to get back in country to work with them. I did all by hand and thought it could get no better. However when I learned there were other products out there, and what they were I never went back. BUT..... the silica type spray they have that is wipe on wipe off, I feel is a great product to have for trim parts. Get a new car, put this on ALL black trim and 3 years later it still will be perfectly black. I would still use it if I had some left.

Want to just do a quick job? Get a Clay bar that is called a Mild one or light one and use that with Car soap for lubricant, and do the car. Try an inconspicuous spot first (i.e...rear passenger quarter panel down low) and see if it marks the surface at all. They will do that pending the coarseness of the clay. AM paint is extremely SOFT paint. (paint can be hard or soft, BMW-Merc is rock hard while P cars, F cars, and AM's are considered soft, but that is another posting). IF no marks, then do the rest of the car, then wash again with dishwashing soap to remove any leftover old waxes. Try either Pinnalce Black label Sealant, or for a combination of Wax and Sealant use the Pinnacle Black Label Synergy. My suggestion is the AMMO Skin then top with Creme if you like.

PS--- white Carnauba wax allows for a deeper more pure hue to the shine. Much harder to refine for the companies. IE.... expensive.

 

Just to touch on some of the things above...

1. When paying someone to detail the car, that typically means they will clay bar it, then apply some type of sealant. The only issue is "will they treat your car as well or better then you will". Also, exactly what products will they be using. That is one of the biggest hang ups for me. Dealers use Meguires typically or a mix match of others. Most detailers have their general products that are ok, but no where near what you can buy and use. Specialty detailers that will charge you $400 plus for the detail will likely use a top notch sealant.

2. For Compounding and polishing yes there are many types of pad liquid combos. For Instance using a Medium cut polishing pad with a compound liquid will product a lighter cut than a cutting pad using the same liquid. My example of this in my first post was using a NO CUT pad (waxing pad) with Rupes Diamond polish, but went a step further and cut the polish with DI water so the cutting power was even less so I could Jewel the clear coat to the highest possible shine. Many tricks and methods. BIGGEST issue most people never correct, and the number one issue I ever see in shops is residue control. Whenever you cut or polish the clear coat you are taking a minute amount of it off the car. So your pads collect this material. You should use a minimum of 6 pads or more per process so the paint surface is only being touched by fresh pad material. Otherwise you will be grinding old residue constantly into the paint all over the car. I see well used pads that are never changed off of buffers at dealers all the time. I actually use compressed air to blow the stuff off my pads or microfiber cutting pads after each section. I change to a new pad after every panel and 2 for the hood.

3. Glazes------- Never ever ever use a product that is called a Glaze on your paint. Glazes sound great, but they are a waste of your time. Dealers use them all the time for quick shines on sold cars. Some detailers use them also for a quick job. The cars look great and perfect, then about 3 washes and a month later the same old swirls and scratches reappear and the gloss level dies. Glazes have what is called FILLERS in them. The intended purpose is to shine the paint, and fill in all the scratches to make the surface level. The smoother the surface the greater the shine. So it does its job and shines great. Problem is when the fillers start coming off the paint within a wash or two, the scratches reappear and the shine level is lost. So the detailer makes off with his money, most people don't notice or care, and only a few get pissed. Glazes have no protectant qualities either and a lot of low end products have them in it to make the surface better, at least for the time being. Took me awhile to figure this type of product out.

 

Chemical guys 50/50 with a chemical guys glaze the jet seal. Awesome.

 

No offense guys, but I just hose my car down, wash it if it's dirty and drive it.

 

i use Autoglym products on my v8v, keeps it beautiful

 

Haha, Thats perfect

If you guys want information about a process or type of product please ask, I will be happy to keep writing novels on the subjects. If someone wants to Start a thread specifically to ask questions then do so and I will start to respond with information. We can take one subject at a time including equipment items.

I will be asking a lot of questions myself here in a few months----

OCT--- WANTED, 2009-10 DB9 in either ONYX black or possibly one of the metallic silver grey. But only the obsidian or smoke colored interior with silver stitching. Also must have less than 15k miles. Thats my choice, but with the sport pack type wheels, none of the stupid mesh looking things they put on a lot of 09's. Saw a 12 Virage volante that looked pretty good, but not really wanting to jump that much in money or a volante. Want a coupe.

 

Sheriff,
Thanks so much for sharing your experience dealing with paint/clearcoat. Very informative and straight forward. I'll be rereading your post a few times to get it to sink in.


One question though. How do you deal with clear bra material? Washing, etc. I know it will scratch and 3M recommends a special type of soap to wash the bra.


Regards,

 

For clear bras I do nothing different. I use professional (i.e.... specifically car wash soap, Chemical Guys MR pink, Honeydew, Strawberry Honeydew my favorite,) ONLY soaps that are made for cars and have no additives such as wax. Other than that just wash away. The Bra material is meant to save the actual paint under it. Not sure if it was telum1 or KF who backed out of their garage and nicked the wall, which destroyed the bra but the paint was perfect. Its gonna scratch in areas but you wont scratch it yourself by washing as long as you don't wash areas with grit and drag that across the surface. What the manufacturers don't want is soap like Dawn being used on them. Not that once will hurt anything, because people top the bras with glass coatings, carnauba, sealants etc.... to even give them a layer of protection and that needs to be removed at times. I personally have not owned a car with them, save the few areas manufacturers put them on, but friends/customers cars have in areas, however I didnt change anything for what i do, and treated them like the painted areas.

IF you read areas of the previous posts, please ask and I will expound on those subjects. There is so much more that we could go into. Might be nice to have a separate thread going over each aspect. Like---- types of waxes, types of polish, pads, machines, wash soaps, sponges or mitts, types of micro fiber towels and how to take care of them, clay bars, coatings, trim protectants, tire shines, wheel waxes etc.....

 

Thanks for the response. I agree some separate threads or series tied into one another would be valuable information.


Regards,

 

A little off-topic, but wanted to reply re: clear bra. I have my entire car wrapped and a while back I had someone I know accidentally open their door into mine. It hit the car pretty hard (was on a hill) and resulted in a nice little chip (pics below).




With the wrap on there, it was a very painless process to get fixed. Took about 1 day and cost about $300 to get it looking brand new again. Don't even want to think about the cost/time associated with having to fix, paint, blend, etc. Especially when you have some PPIs being done with paint thickness gauges.

 

Start a thread and I will try out a topic one every third day or so, pending the amount of questions. Suggestions for topics----- Tools used, machinery used and types, pads can be a complete topic, microfiber towels is another single topic, degreasers/wash soaps, polishes, compounds, coatings, washing /drying process. Very many singular topics that can really help. Others will have little tricks up their sleeves for things also. I will actually try the who/what/why/how approach to each subject so that its understandable. So if you want to start it, I will keep checking. I am in Afghanistan right now so every third day might work pending how busy I am.

 

I purchased my 2009 DB9 Volante about two months ago. I've always enjoyed detailing my vehicles and did extensive research before taking the plunge today. My paint is in excellent shape with a high gloss and a smooth feel, but I wasn't sure what was done to the vehicle previously to achieve this.

Here were the steps that I took and the products I used:

1. Two bucket wash and dry.
2. Clay bar entire car.
3. Polish using Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer w/dual action orbital polisher.
4. Apply Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0

I'm very happy with the results. The paint surface is very slick. I'm planning on layering Collonite 476 on top tomorrow once the sealant cures to add some depth although I'm not sure if this will perform as well as sealant in the area of repeling dirt.

Open to suggestions.

Jim

 

There is no best wax. Tons of folks use a ton of different products to great results. Totally depends on what you want to accomplish, condition of paint etc etc.

 

I waxed one inconspicuous panel with Collonite 476 over the Wolfgang deep gloss. I'm glad I tested it as it wasn't nearly as smooth and slippery as the sealant alone.

I'll stick with sealant only.

Merry Christmas to all.

Jim

 

+1 -- I use turtle wax and have been told many times by detailers that it is what you do before the wax goes on that makes the car look the best. Carnauba wax lasts longer, but I wax often so that is why I do not spend the extra coin on it.


Not sure how true this is, but I read that liquid wax give a better shine than paste wax, at least Consumer Reports thinks so.