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Old 05-29-2005, 01:12 AM   #1
joeyb7
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Default 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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Old 05-29-2005, 01:31 AM   #2
joeyb7
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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
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Old 05-29-2005, 02:00 AM   #3
shemoves
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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.
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Old 05-29-2005, 01:17 PM   #4
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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.
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Old 05-29-2005, 02:05 PM   #5
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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:
Don't use polish on a new car...its already polished
Unless you LITERALLY took your car off the truck, took of the plastic wrap and did not let the dealership wash your car, you have some degree of marring/scratching or swirls. These require polishing to take care of, I do not care if you bought the eleventybillion dollar paint protection ripoff that is a complete scam. If you did not take your car off the truck the dealership has already affected your paint in a negative way.

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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Old 05-29-2005, 02:13 PM   #6
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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.
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Old 05-29-2005, 02:29 PM   #7
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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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Old 05-29-2005, 04:35 PM   #8
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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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Old 05-29-2005, 05:42 PM   #9
jamesonc
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Odin
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.
PLEASE!!!! Go wash your car wish dishsoap, than put ANY meguiars product on it. NOW.
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Old 05-29-2005, 08:32 PM   #10
twotacosfor99cents
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My OBP STi post orbital buffer.
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Old 05-29-2005, 09:21 PM   #11
eltrouble
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^^ *drools* ^^

i want that kind of shine on my baby.
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Old 05-30-2005, 01:42 AM   #12
Gunther Mango
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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.
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Old 05-30-2005, 02:10 AM   #13
eltrouble
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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.
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Old 05-30-2005, 06:15 AM   #14
909
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Quote:
Originally Posted by twotacosfor99cents


My OBP STi post orbital buffer.
OBP = 05. You have 04 headlights there? What gives?

Oh yeah, amazing paint!
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Old 05-30-2005, 08:26 AM   #15
Gunther Mango
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eltrouble
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.
Paint clay is sort of like sticky silly putty. You use it after you've washed your car but before you polish or wax. You can use it by hand (like buffing wax) or you can put it on a special pad that goes on a random orbit polisher (never use a non-random orbit machine). Because it's sticky it physically pulls stuff out of your paint when you go over it. I know it sounds a little crazy, but you can actually feel the difference when you run your fingers over the paint.

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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Old 05-30-2005, 09:23 AM   #16
paultg
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boost junkie
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.
This is what I use now on my silver car and also on my previous Black wrx:



Quote:
Originally Posted by boost junkie
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.
I find the Klasse product lasts a very long time (I'll do the car before the harsh New England winter, salt just comes right off when I run the car through the touchless wash during winter months, and water still beads come springtime). I also find it easy to get bugs/tar off the car with a good application of Klasse All-in-one protecting the paint. It also goes pretty quick to apply (a little product goes a long way too) and wipe off.

Paul G.
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Old 05-30-2005, 09:49 AM   #17
Quack
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunther Mango
I agree. The Porter Cable random orbit polisher is the way to go (Amazon has a good price).
got to your local Lowe's and get the Porter-Cable 7336 (~$100). it the same as the 7424, but the 7336 has a 6" counter balance.
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Old 05-30-2005, 11:17 AM   #18
Gunther Mango
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OMGHi2U

Quote:
Originally Posted by Quack
got to your local Lowe's and get the Porter-Cable 7336 (~$100). it the same as the 7424, but the 7336 has a 6" counter balance.
When I was buying mine, I saw that one at Lowe's but they were out of stock and I wasn't sure if it was the same. Just digging into it, it looks like the 7424 comes with a 5" pad counterweight, which is what they recommend for a 6" foam pad because of its light weight.

It looks like the counterweights can be changed. Good tip -- around $100 is a good price.
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Old 05-30-2005, 11:21 AM   #19
Quack
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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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Old 05-30-2005, 12:01 PM   #20
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Good to know, thanks. I'll try swapping the counterweight.
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Old 05-30-2005, 01:49 PM   #21
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Quote:
Paint clay is sort of like sticky silly putty. You use it after you've washed your car but before you polish or wax. You can use it by hand (like buffing wax) or you can put it on a special pad that goes on a random orbit polisher (never use a non-random orbit machine). Because it's sticky it physically pulls stuff out of your paint when you go over it. I know it sounds a little crazy, but you can actually feel the difference when you run your fingers over the paint.

And yes it adds another pass to the process (just what you wanted, right?). That's the reason I got the machine.
so should i strip off my wax first before i do it? like wash the car with dish soap, dry it, use paint clay on the car, wash it again, dry it, wax it again, wash it, dry it, and then polish until sparkly?
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Old 05-30-2005, 08:50 PM   #22
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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
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Old 05-30-2005, 08:59 PM   #23
eltrouble
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Quote:
BTW that OPB buff job looks tits
i assume that word is 'tight'?
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Old 05-30-2005, 10:41 PM   #24
joeyb7
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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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Old 05-30-2005, 11:07 PM   #25
Gunther Mango
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eltrouble
so should i strip off my wax first before i do it? like wash the car with dish soap, dry it, use paint clay on the car, wash it again, dry it, wax it again, wash it, dry it, and then polish until sparkly?
I would remove the old wax if it contained silicone or paint sealants. If it's a good carnauba wax, then you shouldn't have to remove it. Use a good car wash soap. After washing, run your fingers over the paint and feel the surface. It'll probably feel rough or like there are there are little bits of grit on the otherwise smooth surface. This will be a good "before" comparison. Dry your car. Use the clay as directed by hand or with a machine and special "clay pad." The sticky clay will pull the little contaminants out of the paint. After the clay, the surface will feel perfectly smooth.

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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