When I detail my car, I claybary, polish, seal, syntheic wax, carnuba wax.

I do this every 3 months or so.

My questions are

1) What is the best Polish for a black Z that can be applied by Hand

ex)

Turtle Wax Ice
NU Finish
Mothers
Meguirars
Menzerna
ect...

2) Say I want to put a new coat of wax on my Z every month. If I clay bar before applying wax will the clay bar strip my sealant off, and or all of my wax coating that is still good?

I use FMJ sealant

Thanks

 

First off let me introduce myself. I have been detailing for 15+ years. I worked on $100,000+ cars, new and old. I tried them ALL. Trust me.

Anway, that out of the way, DO NOT wax every month. Wax is a top coat protectant, not a shining agent. If it shines, then it's not wax.

If you want to wax every month, then you must remove the old layer by washing the car with Dawn or some other liquid detergent.

To answer #1, there is a product called Autoglym, available in some stores, and is from Englad. Expensive. You asked the for BEST didn't ya? Meguiar's FX works great, and same with P21S.

Another great product is Zaino. http://www.zainostore.com/
It's NOT a wax, but a tedious and complicated step-by-step procedure to eliminate swirls and scratches.

To answer #2, your claybar is designed to pick everything up off the top coat, so basically no it won't remove but you shouldn't wax each month anyway.



Darryl
Professional Detailer
GM Canada

 

Hey thanks a lot Darryl, you probably just saved me countless hours of work, and worrying.

I really appriciate it.

I'll probably go with the FX polish, because I haven't seen the other stuff floating around it my local stores.

One more quick question going off your explanation that wax does not produce shine. I have been putting a coat of synthetic wax on then a coat of carnuba wax. Is this pointless. Should I just stick with one or the other.

Thanks again

Nick

(ive been using Black Magic as my synthectic and Poor Boys Natty Blue as my Natural)

 

a. 3 months may be overkill. If the surface is beading water leave it alone.

b. You mention polish but list one-step cleaner-waxes? Do you know the difference between:

one-step cleaner-wax
polish
and wax?

Applying wax monthly? What you may be doing is applying wax over dirt.

 

ok polishing by hand is well stupid. Buy a porter cable buy 2 good solid polishs 2 different pads 3 of each and a sealant/ wax. and of course clay bars.
DO NOT USE DISH WASHING SOAP IT WILL STRIP THE OILS OUT OF YOUR TRIM/MOLDINGS
A good soap to use in place of that would be chemical guys citrus wash clear or citrus wash and gloss. Depending on the dilution you can use it for maintenance or for decontamination. Next would be clay bar clay All surfaces glass wheels and exhaust the order goes paint, glass, wheels, exhaust. This is of course after washing everything thouroughly with citrus wash and gloss. For the clay bar you need lube any quick detailer will work well I personally use chemical guys luber. Which is specifically for claying. Then polishing. I reccomend either a random orbital flex or a porter cable. Then 3 white lake country pads and 3 orange lake country pads. The 2 polishs would be menzerna sip and menzerna 106ff. the 106ff is used with the white and the sip is used with the orange. First polish with the orange and then polish with the white. Then rewash the car with citrus wash and gloss dry it and apply the wax/ sealant of your choice. Menzerna fmj is an excellent sealant as is jetseal 109. Me personally Im a carnuba guy and love dodo juice waxs. Natty blue is a quality carnuba thats well priced. Everything I listed is available through our sponsor detailedimage.com and has great prices as well as great service. I strongly recommend them.

 

I agree with umm the clay bar removing contamination and that the wax does not add the shine. It can however change how the paint looks. But it wont make the paint shiny. Shine comes from the surface prep atleast 98% does anyway.

 

I don't blame most OTC consumers of detailing products because the companies mix and match the terms on their products often - mostly, I've noticed it's labelling a cleaner wax as simply polish.

 

I find some information in this thread very misleading.

An aggressive clay bar WILL remove your LSP. It's debatable if a mild clay does or not, depending on you use them.
http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...ling-clay.html

A dawn wash is very 1990s. There are many car washes available that can be concentrated to preserve your wax, or strip it. There is no need to do a dawn wash in between waxing. This is a very dated myth.
http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...oving-wax.html


Also, IMO a wax does "make a car shine". Your average car owner is oblivious to swirls, when applying wax it fills these imperfections and makes the car "shine". With that said, prep is key, as mentioned above, for true flawless results. Wax does create depth and reflection in the paint, which is what most strive over.

 

Ok here is my take on a few of the comments made so far. Thanks for the help guys, I appriciate all the info, but it gets a little confusing and contradictory from person to person so here is what I am thinking.

I understand that if I really want to polish my car I need to generate heat, which will remove the swirls, which means I would have to get a buffer.

Problem is that the whole buffer set with pads and all the rest is relativly expensive.

I really don't mind a polish with fillers that will fill the scratches when polishing by hand. In my mind if I can't see the swirls who cares. Plus I have the peace of mind that I am not grinding down my clear coat.

I always thought a cleaner wax was essentially made to remove contamanates like a clay bar would, as well as wax the car. I personally use the Clay Magic kit with the 100g clay bar. I didn't mean to mention any cleaner waxes. I though all of those companies listed produced Polish. Sorry for the confusion.

This is my system so far and I have done it twice since owning the car. Bought in December 07

Wash with Turtle Wax Ice soap (2 bucket 2 mit way)
Clay Bar - Clay Magic
Polish - Turtle Wax Ice Synthetic
Sealant - Menzerna FMJ
Wax - Black Magic Synthetic wax
Wax - Poor Boys Natural wax

From what I have read this whole ordeal is probably more benificial and practical if done every 6 months or so, or until water stops beading.

As of now I am going to change from Turtle wax polish, to the Meguirars FX and give that a try.

Questions


1) Since the Polishes have fillers is there any point of really pushing hard into the paint and trying to generate any heat or should I just glaze the polish over the surface and let it fill in the swirls?

2) What about the Natural Wax coating over the Synthetic wax. Worth it or not?

Thanks

 

Agree. Terms like wax and polish are used interchangeably for over-the-counter products. I just want to caution novice detailers about using a one-step cleaner-wax in a multi-step detailing process. What may be happening is that you are undoing the first steps.

 

Step #5. This is where I see a potential problem. Black Magic Synthetic contains a cleaning agent. You may be removing Steps #3 and #4.

Note: If you are pleased with the effort and results, then stick with it.

 

Everyone has an opinion about how to detail there car. Several comments
made bridge on major stupidity! Never, ever use dish washing detergent on
your car....it damages the painted surface. Secondly, there's nothing wrong
with applying wax by hand. Most high quality waxes are not intended to
be applied by machine or applicator pad. The several times I've had my G35
in car shows people feel the surface and there jaw drops, due to the shine
and how the surface feels. I use the complete Zymol system, clay, cleaner
and Concourse wax. The final wax itself is applied by hand, yes using your
hands....sounds crazy? When wax is this expensive you follow the instructions!

 

Ahhhh I see. That makes sense. What you are saying the best thing to do is go one of these 2 ways

1) Wash, Clay, Polish, Seal, Carnuba Wax

or

2) Wash, Clay, Black Magic Wax

Correct?

Thanks for letting me know that. I had no idea it had a cleaning agent in it, But I guess it would make sense because it won the best wax or what not. My guess would be that most people who walk into their local Autozone have no concept of all the different steps involved in detailing and probably just wash and then throw the Black Magic on which removes the surface contaminates which make it seem like it is a better shine than other waxes based on the fact it is getting out the contaminants where other waxes just wax over them.

 

You got it. Try both methods and see which works best for you.

 

Agreed.

 

wow this thread turned into a war, here is what i can say i detail cars for a living thats what i do, i do ever thing from show car prep down to your normal wash and wax.

First never please never use dawn on your car. yes its a old myth that it strips every thing off the car so you can clean better. but you will make your trim look horrible and strip away the oils in the trim, witch may lead to cracking.

second, if you want to wax your car every mounth go ahead, some waxes you can do this with, zaino being one, p21s, and so fourth and other high end waxes, now you might want to be carefull with over the counter waxes doing this as you may get a build up. but it also depends on where you park your car how often its out in the weather, how often you wash it, these all play a factor in how often you may want to wax your car.

third, just to clear it up you can remove swirlls by hand, it will take a long time and the polish you are using prolbey will have fillers in it. but to really polish a car and get out all the swirlls you will need a buffer, for begginers you will want the porter cable, it will do the job, or the flex is another good choice for begginers. As the rotery buffers can burn paitn and should only be used by people that know what they are doing.

 

agree 100%

 

I keep my car in a garage, and wash it once a week, sometimes twice if it gets pelted by dirt or something. The car is my daily driver.

I generally use the "center" setting on the nozzel for my hose.

What hose setting do you guys use to wash your car? Shower, Center, Flood, ...... Jet

I am hoping my wax will last about 2-3 months before water stops beading

 

when wettting my car at first i just spray it with a nice stream of water not a jet but in between a jet and a flood. spraying a jet at dirt could push it into the paint and casue damange, when im done washing i take off the nozzel and flow the stream of water over to car to make it sheet and have less water to dry off.

 

Typically, I spray the car (top to bottom) then the top until the roof is cool to touch so the car wash doesn't burn into the paint!