i've been taking my car to a detail shop over 7 years now...$60 per week x2 = $480 a month...average above $400 a month
i think it's time to clean my own car.

okay these are my questions,

1. best soap, clay, wax, etc... blk ...(comlete exterior kit)
2. best leather interior cleaner and conditioner... blk ...(complete interior kit)
3. wheel, brake caliper, rotor cleaner, etc...?
3. which towel or pad to use?
4. most important q's... where and how much?


recent pic... other car is bmw x5 blk/blk(sry no pic)

 

Cognac,

What is your detailer doing for you just a wash every 2 weeks and a coat of wax?

Best wheel cleaner P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel formula

http://properautocare.com/p2wheelclean.html

Get a few high quality MF Towels for Buffing and Windows, MF applicator pads, MF Waffle Weave Towel for Drying.

http://www.adamspolishes.com/site/de...CCFE&killnav=1



Wash mitts, try the Schmitt Pads: http://audizine.com/forum/showthread...hreadid=100676

Possibly get a Porter Cable 7424 or 7336 with a few pads

http://audizine.com/forum/showthread...threadid=99399

Sale:

http://audizine.com/forum/showthread...threadid=98265

http://properautocare.com/index.html

http://www.autogeek.net

If you can keep up with what you got now with washes weekly and a coat of wax you might only have to clay your car once a year as well might not even need to get all that much.

 

If you go the synthetic route, you cannot go wrong with P21S. They make excellent products across the board. Their wheel gel is great, their polish and wax system is excellent for the money. To go the natural route, I'd use Zymol. They're not cheap but you get what you pay for and use little and it lasts. To maintain, you would want to use a mild pH balanced soap to wash and a natural sheepskin wash mitt. Dry using a microfiber drying cloth and finish up getting the rest of the water off using a forced air system such as an Airmax. Since you have a black car, a DI water system would be an excellent investment. Maintain the weekly washes using a liquid carnauba spray and you can expect to wax anywhere between 2-12 months depending on the use and storage of your car and the qulity of the products. I would clay every time I polish and wax by the way. It's a simple step that yields large dividends. Use a mild clay like Zymöl Lehm Klay II. Hope this helps.

 

thanks for your detailed advice...

1. i know where to get P21S now.
2. which Zymol are you talking about? where can i get it?
3. a mild pH balanced soap?
4. what is DI water system?
5. where can i get a liquid carnauba?
6. where can i get a zymol lehm klay II?

sorry for asking additional q's.
i'm located in hawaii and need to know where to get those.
there are a couple of private detailers here but they use their own chemicals...

btw, do you carry the products you've mentioned above?

once again thanks a lot for your advice...

 

PM me for Zymol. Very few companies have a pH balanced soap; Zymol happens to be the only one I know. DI water is De-ionized water. All of the impurities have been taken away; this means the car will dry SPOTLESS!!! True liquid carnauba comes from the sap of the carnauba tree; once again, Zymol makes Field Glaze and Detail Spray which contain this. Your questions are valid and I'm sure helpful to others reading this post. It's my pleasure as always to point DIY detailers in the direction unique to my style of work.

 

[quote=MoeMistry]If you go the synthetic route, you cannot go wrong with P21S.

Since when is P21s synthetic !! Their wax is carnauba, just like zymol only cheaper and better

Bill

 

Carnauba is a natural product; however the rest of the ingredients in the jar are not. You cannot get 100% carnauba by volume; it's harder than concrete. You have to process it and add agents to make it soft. It's the silicone that 90+% of car care companies use that makes them synthetic. For future reference Bill.

 

So how does this differ from zymol ?

Yes, I understand the solvents..true of every carnauba...again, how is this different from zymol ?
Bill

 

Zymol does not use synthetic solvent agents. To breakup the wax, zymol uses montan oil instead of petrochemicals. They're the only company that lists actual ingredients in all their products. There's nothing wrong with synthetics; the look isn't the same as natural products. You get much more gloss with a synthetic, which in my opinion, distorting the true jetness of color and definition of the finish. Zymol has gloss but it more importatly has depth. You just gotta see it.

 

Moe,
I guess you and I can agree to disagree. I've never heard anyone call P21S carnauba wax a "synthetic". I have seen it beat zymol in the independent wax test (by far and away the highest scoring canauba) and I never see anyone on Autopia using zymol...it's always Zaino or Klasse for synthetic and P21S/S100 for carnauba.
Bill

 

I have tried almost every approach to detailing. Carnuba, synthetic, Plutonium (Just Kidding).

Go to Proper Auto Care and order the Menzerna Car Care Kit and when finished top your car off with Pinnacle Souveran Wax. I absolutely love the results! Just my oppinion.

Here's a picture of the resultss

Good Luck!

 

Fair enough. I'm on the consumer's side Bill. That is why I use various products from Meguiar's, Autoglym, Menzerna, and Zymol. I simply want the best for myself and my clients. That independant "test" by guru report you're speaking of used up a jar of zymol for their test. Anyone using zymol knows that a jar will typically do 50 applications; not sure how they used it all up on their test panels. Bottom line, use whatever you like that gives you the look you're after. Zymol happens to be my choice; I'm not married to the stuff. If something else can outperform it, I owe it to my clients to give them the best. So far, I've yet to see anything outperform zymol. If I were to switch though, P21S would be a good contender.

 

go w/ nattys blue. 1/6th the price and results are nearly identical.

 

1-poorboys super slick & suds, clay magic, pink moose glaze or fmj, nattys blue. You'll love the results!

2-lexol cleaner & conditioner. Leatherique if you have the time (should let the cleaner sit in sun/80+ weather for a day).

3-p21s, spray & rinse. both are good. Put some wheel sealant on them once they're clean. Makes removing brake dust, etc sooo much easier in the future.

4-towels, these are subjective. Lots of companies make nice towels. Are you using a pc? if so, edge, lake country, meguiars and sonus all make nice pads

5-sent you a pm.