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05-29-2005, 01:12 AM | #1 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 85741
Join Date: Apr 2005
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: Newton, MA
Vehicle:2005 WRX OBP |
First polish/waxing obsidian black pearl
I don't need a hand with the washing, drying part of the cleaning process, just the polish/wax.
I don't want to take an orbital buffer to my new paint (never have with old cars in the past), so what is the best wash/wax, or wash/polish/wax that I can do without spening 4-5 hours doing it? Is it necessary to polish, then wax? Am I doing any harm by not polishing first? Also, I know the routines can be lengthy, but what would be a shorter (1-3 hour) routine, what do you do, and what products do you recommend? The options seem mind boggling - 1-?? steps using meguiars products, paint cleaners, polishes, waxes, swirl removers, clay bars... what is a good routine?? Thanks everyone! First new black car!!
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05-29-2005, 01:31 AM | #2 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 85741
Join Date: Apr 2005
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: Newton, MA
Vehicle:2005 WRX OBP |
I'm also seeing a lot of threads that mention Klasse products, as well as the aforementioned NXT. I'd just like to get a good routine going using good products that won't take me the whole weekend.
If anyone has any longer routines though, I'd like to hear them and consider doing it a few times a year. Thanks |
05-29-2005, 02:00 AM | #3 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 80663
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region:
SWIC
Location: Glendale, AZ
Vehicle:2005 STi |
Don't use polish on a new car...its already polished Because your car is black, yur def gonna want to use a 'spotless' type rinse. The big thing is to not use 'hard' water. If you can wash it in the shade that will help too. Also, get 100% cotton terry cloth towels that are soft. What you want is a protectant type wax with no abrasives. I use NXT. It looks great and protects fairly well, but it does not last that long. I'm the type that waxes twice a month though. The time it takes to wax really depends on how careful you are near edges/corners. This may be a good routine for you... Find a protectant-type wax that you like and do a general 'quick' wax (hour or so) every month or two (depending on how long the wax lasts) making sure to get the 'high-wear' spots (fender behind tires/hood). Maybe at the beginning of summer and the begining of winter do a good 3 hour wax that gets right up to the edges of window sills and what not. And at the end of winter (once a year) give her the treatment...wash, clay bar, rewash, good wax.
When you wash it...wash it well, especially before a wax. If you maintain a good wax layer on the car and clay bar/rewax occasionally, you'll probably need new paint before needing to use a polish...gotta love that subaru nail-polish paint. |
05-29-2005, 01:17 PM | #4 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 25428
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: East Coast
Vehicle:2005 STi |
Just waxed my car, black as well. Good luck man. It took me 4 freakin hours.
I don't have a place to hose wash my car so I have to go to a quarter wash . Well anyway, it wasn't dirty so the spray wash went ok. The spotless rinse helped a little with the spots. I used turtle wax. Call me old fashion on this one but I really like the stuff. This may soon change though. I used a microfiber cloth that didn't have enough texture and the wax "powdered" up on me as I buffed. It was a relentless attack of dust and powder. In the end I had to go wash it to remove all that crap. I think this took most of the fresh wax with it. So I get to do it all over again. In the future I will have to spend 10 bucks at the quarter wash and sneak in early in order to bucket wash. A better cloth and and maybe different wax next time too. I also plan to use that in between spray detailer pretty often. It worked nicely as an in between with my WRX. |
05-29-2005, 02:05 PM | #5 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 12368
Join Date: Nov 2001
Chapter/Region:
MAIC
Location: Pittsburgh,PA
Vehicle:2008 Infiniti G35X 2011 BMW X5 Diesel |
A Few things,
First(to odin): You can wash your car at the spray bay for probably the price it would have cost you to wash your car without even using a mit. You SHOULD have 2 buckets but 1 will suffice. The key here is SPEED! You will need to rinse your car down, fill up a bucket (put the mit in and spray into the mit so it doesnt go everywhere) and starting with the roof wash each section of your car top down with the mit ending and the lowest panels. Now that you finished that you put money back in and rinse it off. Assuming your paint is cool from you rinsing it down there should be no problems about the suds drying up. Second: Quote:
Third: Get yourself a good washmit such as the lambskin washmit from www.autopia.org as well as a WAFFLE WEAVE drying towel and I prefer to use the California Water Blade in conjuction with the towel. This will ensure no water spots regardless of the type of water because you will remove all water from the surface of your paint before it dries. Anyhow, there arte plenty of threads on this and even more at www.autopia.org I suggest you go over there if you are really serious about maintaining your cars beautiful look. they are the nasioc of detailing. |
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05-29-2005, 02:13 PM | #6 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 79493
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region:
SCIC
Location: Cerritos, CA
Vehicle:2003 WRB WRX Wagon 5 doors > 4 doors |
i keep it nice and simple, i just use all turtle wax stuff.
i wash the car down with this huge sponge that has like white furry hair on it...not sure what it's called, it was just lying around in the garage one day and it works fine for me. and i use a leather chamois to dry it down. after it's washed/dried, i just get an old bath towel and slap on the wax. it's not a very clean method, i end up getting blue wax (my car is WRB) all over my hands, and the towel gets pretty soaked cuz i use quite a bit of wax. i start from the roof, then start from the driver side panel, and work my way clockwise. waxing every millimeter of the car that's blue. then afterwards i usually slap on another coat of wax. wash/dry the car again and then i get a soft towel and clean my gas cap, and the any part of the inside of the car that has water drops. then i get some armor all wipes and clean the dashboard, center console, arm extension, cup holder, steering wheel, shift knob. then i use simple green and clean the seats and carpet, don't forget the trunk! then i get more simple green stuff and clean every part of the engine that i can reach and see. then i do maintenance checks on the car to ensure that all fluids are at the proper level. as you can see, it takes me a good 4-5 hours to do all of this. but i think i may be a bit too fanatical when it comes to cleaning my baby. she's a spoiled lil wagon. |
05-29-2005, 02:29 PM | #7 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 49895
Join Date: Dec 2003
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: Connecticut
Vehicle: 09 Forester 06 Legacy 2.5i Wagon |
Don't shy away from the random orbital polisher - it can be your best friend. If the paint is in good shape but you want to put a quick nice shine on it, try this out: Use the Porter Cable random orbital with a Meguiar's finishing pad and Meguiar's paste cleaner wax. It works great and is fairly quick.
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05-29-2005, 04:35 PM | #8 |
Top Scoob 009
Member#: 68273
Join Date: Aug 2004
Chapter/Region:
MAIC
Location: IAG Performance
Vehicle:2012 WRX GD Race Car |
first of all, if it's a new car, clay bar it. this will remove any rail dust, dirt, etc. that has worked its way into the paint during shipping. After that, I am a huge supporter of klasse products. If you use all-in-one, followed by a coat or 2 of sealant glaze, you will be amazed at the smoothness and shine in your paint. for a black car, you might try a coat of a nice carnauba wax (I use pinnacle souveran) to add some depth. The klasse will last for a few months, maybe even longer. if you wash regularly, your car will stay looking great, although it wouldn't hurt to throw on a coat of carnauba wax once every few weeks. I know you want to save time, but doing it the right way can take quite awhile.
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05-29-2005, 05:42 PM | #9 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 49629
Join Date: Dec 2003
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: Southern Maine
Vehicle:'87 Dodge Ram 50 Black |
Quote:
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05-29-2005, 08:32 PM | #10 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 14997
Join Date: Feb 2002
Chapter/Region:
International
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My OBP STi post orbital buffer. |
05-29-2005, 09:21 PM | #11 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 79493
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region:
SCIC
Location: Cerritos, CA
Vehicle:2003 WRB WRX Wagon 5 doors > 4 doors |
^^ *drools* ^^
i want that kind of shine on my baby. |
05-30-2005, 01:42 AM | #12 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 88103
Join Date: May 2005
Chapter/Region:
TXIC
Location: Austin, TX
Vehicle:2005 WRX STi Silver |
I agree. The Porter Cable random orbit polisher is the way to go (Amazon has a good price). I was a huge skeptic -- swearing that I would only wax by hand (insert worn-out joke here) -- until a friend who owns a detail shop talked me into it. Just be sure to get the 6-Hole Hook and Loop Standard Pad so that you can use the velcro-backed pads with it.
As for clay, polish, wax, pads, etc., I'm a big fan of the Griot's Garage stuff. Get their detailer's handbook and live by it. |
05-30-2005, 02:10 AM | #13 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 79493
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region:
SCIC
Location: Cerritos, CA
Vehicle:2003 WRB WRX Wagon 5 doors > 4 doors |
i should probably learn to polish and clay my car...whatever the hell 'claying' your car means.
might as well add an extra hour or so to the 4-5 hours of quality time i spend washing my lil wagon. |
05-30-2005, 06:15 AM | #14 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 18776
Join Date: May 2002
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Quote:
Oh yeah, amazing paint! |
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05-30-2005, 08:26 AM | #15 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 88103
Join Date: May 2005
Chapter/Region:
TXIC
Location: Austin, TX
Vehicle:2005 WRX STi Silver |
Quote:
And yes it adds another pass to the process (just what you wanted, right?). That's the reason I got the machine. |
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05-30-2005, 09:23 AM | #16 | ||
NASIOC Supporter
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Join Date: Oct 1999
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Location: Londonderry, NH
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Quote:
Quote:
Paul G. |
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05-30-2005, 09:49 AM | #17 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 57264
Join Date: Mar 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Aurora, OH
Vehicle:2004 18g Wagon - WRB PDX Tuned - 329whp/315wtq |
Quote:
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05-30-2005, 11:17 AM | #18 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 88103
Join Date: May 2005
Chapter/Region:
TXIC
Location: Austin, TX
Vehicle:2005 WRX STi Silver |
Quote:
It looks like the counterweights can be changed. Good tip -- around $100 is a good price. |
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05-30-2005, 11:21 AM | #19 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 57264
Join Date: Mar 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Aurora, OH
Vehicle:2004 18g Wagon - WRB PDX Tuned - 329whp/315wtq |
fwiw, on www.meguiarsonline.com a detailer compared the 7424 (5") vs 7336 (6") and noted that the 7336 handled slightly better at higher speeds.
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05-30-2005, 12:01 PM | #20 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 88103
Join Date: May 2005
Chapter/Region:
TXIC
Location: Austin, TX
Vehicle:2005 WRX STi Silver |
Good to know, thanks. I'll try swapping the counterweight.
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05-30-2005, 01:49 PM | #21 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 79493
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region:
SCIC
Location: Cerritos, CA
Vehicle:2003 WRB WRX Wagon 5 doors > 4 doors |
Quote:
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05-30-2005, 08:50 PM | #22 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 88093
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Virginia, MN
Vehicle:2004 STi Black |
I use The NXT line of cleaning,
I also used a little tutle wax at first cause mom's big turtle wax person but I'm a maguire's When I was stationed in Germany there was this stuff a colnel had for his Mercedes and I put it on my porsche and it looked absolutely gorgeus (spell) it was a liquid so you just had to wipe it around till it disapeared did it all by hand no pre polish needed absolute mirror job I have friends still over there and once and a while I ghet them to send me a couple of bottles I can't pronounce it I just tell them where to go in Berlin to get it big white bottle with bue lettering BTW that OPB buff job looks tits |
05-30-2005, 08:59 PM | #23 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 79493
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region:
SCIC
Location: Cerritos, CA
Vehicle:2003 WRB WRX Wagon 5 doors > 4 doors |
Quote:
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05-30-2005, 10:41 PM | #24 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 85741
Join Date: Apr 2005
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: Newton, MA
Vehicle:2005 WRX OBP |
can Klasse all in one be used alone? In other words, simply wash my car, dry it off like usual, then apply the Klasse Product? Or, should this be used in conjunction with a carnuba wax after applying it?
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05-30-2005, 11:07 PM | #25 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 88103
Join Date: May 2005
Chapter/Region:
TXIC
Location: Austin, TX
Vehicle:2005 WRX STi Silver |
Quote:
Polishing is usually an overloaded or misused term. Most people think polishing is used to "shine" the car -- it's not. Polishing is done to remove an extremely thin layer of paint. Polish is abrasive and comes in different levels of abrasion. The most aggressive polish will remove the most paint. Why would you want to remove paint? Well, you only want to remove a microscopically small amount to eliminate scratches or swirl marks. So use polish only when you see scratches or swirl marks, and use the least aggressive polish that will get the job done (usually the least aggressive). Once the polishing is done, wax using a good carnauba wax. I avoid synthetic waxes and paint sealants. Stand back and admire your car and the fact that you've just blown a day cleaning it. Sean |
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