Corvette up keep ???
02-06-2009, 12:46 PM
#21
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Location: Lake Mary Florida
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Honestly for the interior i don't use any chemicals. I use a micro fiber towel with a spray bottle of water. It clean all the dust great without leaving any oil's or stuff like that.
For the seats I have tried many differnet products and I am stuck on Zaino Z10 Leather in a bottle. Its by far the best product I have used on my leather seats and it leaves a great leather smell in the car too. Highly recommend it.
For the exterior I use the same thing as the interior. Water spray bottle, and Micro fiber towel for in between waxes.
Tire Care - I use Zaino Z16. It is NOT oily at all, it does not attract or hold dust or dirt at all. It is not really a high gloss look, but it gives the tire a very clean semi gloss look. More of a natural gloss but not like its wet like the oily products out there. One big thing I like about it is that it actually "dries" on the tire and it does not hold the dirt in the tire like the other oily products. VERY easy to clean weekly !
For polishing my car I use Zaino again. Z2 or Z5, then Z-CS, then Z8. I also use the Z8 for in between waxes just to dust off the car.
My wife opened the garage door a few months ago right after I cleaned the outside of the door with a hose. Some water spilled on the back of my car. My wife grabbed a micro fiber towel to dry it off. Her first comment to me was "Is that what Zaino does to your car ???". She was absolutely floored at how smooth the paint was. She said its smoother than anything car paint she has ever felt before. I told her if she would let me, i'd polish her smooth like that too
I guess I just got hooked on the Zaino products. I just can't find anything I like better (not for lack of trying others).
I use Adam's #1 and #2 Metal polish on my polished CCW wheels. They do an amazing job !
Toque
For the seats I have tried many differnet products and I am stuck on Zaino Z10 Leather in a bottle. Its by far the best product I have used on my leather seats and it leaves a great leather smell in the car too. Highly recommend it.
For the exterior I use the same thing as the interior. Water spray bottle, and Micro fiber towel for in between waxes.
Tire Care - I use Zaino Z16. It is NOT oily at all, it does not attract or hold dust or dirt at all. It is not really a high gloss look, but it gives the tire a very clean semi gloss look. More of a natural gloss but not like its wet like the oily products out there. One big thing I like about it is that it actually "dries" on the tire and it does not hold the dirt in the tire like the other oily products. VERY easy to clean weekly !
For polishing my car I use Zaino again. Z2 or Z5, then Z-CS, then Z8. I also use the Z8 for in between waxes just to dust off the car.
My wife opened the garage door a few months ago right after I cleaned the outside of the door with a hose. Some water spilled on the back of my car. My wife grabbed a micro fiber towel to dry it off. Her first comment to me was "Is that what Zaino does to your car ???". She was absolutely floored at how smooth the paint was. She said its smoother than anything car paint she has ever felt before. I told her if she would let me, i'd polish her smooth like that too
I guess I just got hooked on the Zaino products. I just can't find anything I like better (not for lack of trying others).
I use Adam's #1 and #2 Metal polish on my polished CCW wheels. They do an amazing job !
Toque
Ensure you buy high quality towels. Nothing like introducing swirl marks from less quality towels.
If you have swirl marks consider using a PC DA random orbital buffer and Zaino Z-PC. The results will astound you.
Short story, a few weeks ago while I was putting an extra quart of Mobil 1 on a shelf near my vert, it accidently bumped the GM Clutch fluid container which took a brake fluid container with it do the ground. When they hit the plastic bottles broke up and shot these fluids onto the hood and fender. After I sucked all the air out of the garage from shock, I immediately grabbed one of my good towels that was damp from just washing the vette and wiped it all off. Rolled the vette back out and re-washed it with Zaino car wash several time to ensure all the material was off. The Zaino did an excellent job of protecting the finish from these destructive fluids. Afterwards I put another coat of Z5 Pro just to ensure it was protected again.
Afterwards I had to order some new microfiber towels to replaced the ones used and a new wash mitt. Nothing was reused and was thrown out.
02-06-2009, 05:30 PM
#23
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I use Adam's Polishes for most of my cleaning needs.
02-06-2009, 08:01 PM
#25
Melting Slicks
I've used Adams on all my previous Vettes and my torch red C5 now. Check out his website for a demo adamspolishes.com. The trick is to take the necessary time and use micro giving fiber towels. Adams reps are usually at the Vette shows giving demos.
02-06-2009, 08:53 PM
#26
Safety Car
Just what I do, and yes, mine is black also.
Exterior:
+Diswashing detergent, then claybar, then Zaino a couple of times a year.
Regular washing/waxing:
Washing:
+Spray it down with water
+Hit the wheels and tailpipes with Windex (just spray it on over the water and leave it).
+Use a big (at least 5 gal pail, lets the dirt/grit sink to the bottom) I use Mothers Car Soap, but any decent one will do (but use car soap so you don't remove the wax).
+Use one sheepskin mitt to do the body and another (probably the older one when you replace it) for the wheels and tailpipes.
+Rinse, rinse, rinse the mitt often . . .did I mention you should rinse the mitt often?
+After you finish washing it (still wet) Windex the outside of the windows and use a squeegee (sponge side) to clean the outside of the windows.
+Spray the whole car off with water. You might want to try using the spray tip to rinse the car and as a last step, taking the tip off and letting the open hose run off the car from the top down. That will leave a lot less water on the car when you are done and make drying easier.
Drying:
I used to use a chamois, and it does work perfectly, but lately I have started using the leaf blower to blow off most of the water, I have to tell you, it works great. Most of the scratches we get on our cars are self inflicted during washing/waxing. The leaf blower will never add to those, and it gets all the water out of the doorhandles, mirrors, fog cutouts, side markers, rear tail light s and the rear plate recess :-)
+Then touch up the outside of the windows with the squeegee (rubber side).
+Then go over the car with the chamois to grab the remaining few drops of water.
Waxing:
Yup although I use and like Zaino, I also wax it, and heres why:
We have black cars :-) this is a totally different beast than any other color. Most dark colors show small scratches and swirl marks more than lighter colors, and then there is black :-) Not even close, its like a mirror, you will see every single blemish.....think of keeping a black car looking good not so much as a job....but a religion :-)
Zaino and other polymers, do an outstanding job of putting down a hard, long lasting shine, but they do not fill in small blemishes as well as a good carnuba wax will. I find that the finish they put down is excellent, but thin, so at least in my case, I can still see some of the small blemishes. You could use a buffer and get all the marks out, but I like doing it by hand, so a little help in covering the ones I don't get out with the myriad of other things we do (paint cleaners, mild abrasive waxes) I find that regular use of a good wax fills them in better.
I use P21S, it comes in a small white plastic container with a blue cap. All the hoopla and lab tests aside, studies show that carnuba is all you need. Its a hard, lasting surface. The P21S has two (count em...two) ingredients, Carnuba and beeswax. No abrasives, no colors, no scents, just wax. I have found it to be the best for my application. (there are a ton of other products, many of them great products with great results, this is just what I do and I'm not detracting from what ever anyone else does).
Start from the top and move down. As long as you make sure there is absolutely nothing on the applicator but wax (that means it was never used on a car that wasn't immediately washed before the waxing, and you never dropped the applicator on the ground) it doesn't much matter how you apply the wax. Although they say that you should end up with long front to back strokes on the horizontal surfaces (like the hood and rear deck) and vertical (up and down strokes) on the vertical surfaces (like the sides and doors) so thats the way I do it now. Its supposed to reduce the likelihood that you will see the inevitable small marks you may make later if they are made along the lines as stated.
+Don't use too much wax, it is a waste and also builds up when you take it off and can add scratches. All you need is a very thin coating. If you pile it on, no more will adhere than what would have adhered if you applied it in a thin coat. If you want it to cover more or look "deeper" there is only one way to do that ==> wax it more than once :-)
Always take the wax off with a decent (read that expensive) terry or most any microfiber towel. Five dollar cotton towels may mark the surface where the better ones probably wont. I haven't found any microfiber that hurts anything, even the cheap ones seem to do fine. Whichever you choose, make sure you:
+Remove any edging that is not made to not scratch the car (the edging on bath towels and some cheaper microfiber ones will scratch the surface you just waxed) if they are decent car towels it shouldn't be a problem.
+Turn the towel frequently and change it when its full of wax. On a C5 it usually takes two (small 18 x 18 microfiber) towels to remove the wax I put on. Your mileage may vary depending on how much wax you apply and what the surface was like before you started.
My rims and tailpipes are chrome, so all I have to do is Windex them although I do Zaino them when I do the rest of the car. A short word here. Don't polish things that aren't tarnished :-) A polish is not a protectorant. Metal polish is to remove tarnish, if the metal is already clean you need to wax it to protect it. And you pretty much never need to polish chrome.
So just to recap:
+Most of the marks we get on the car are self inflicted :-)
+Try not to ever wipe down the car unless its very clean already (and you are just using a quick detailer to dust it off) or you wash it first. Yes, I now, its a pain and means a lot of washing but there are no little scratch faries that visit us in the night, we put a lot of that down when we wipe a car with dirt on it.
+Never (and yes, this is the one and only time that never applies) use something you dropped on the floor (wash mitt, towel, wax applicator) on the car until you have absolutely cleaned it. If you ever drop a claybar ==> throw it away and get another one.
+Use a big pail (at least 5 gallons) to wash the car. A lot of the problems people run into are from reapplying the dirt to the car from the small concentrated wash pail.
+Use a separate wash mitt for the rims and tailpipes. Brake dust is a particularly abrasive substance by nature :-) Its hard, and cuts into clearcoat very well.
+A regular squeegee will clean the windows better than most other methods.
+Try the leaf blower for drying
+Make sure whatever towels you use don't scratch the surface (microfiber or edges/tags removed) and change them often.
Thats it, my had is empty (if you feel it was empty when I started this post, remember, I'm just saying what works for me, there are a ton of ways to do this.......enjoy your car 
)
Exterior:
+Diswashing detergent, then claybar, then Zaino a couple of times a year.
Regular washing/waxing:
Washing:
+Spray it down with water
+Hit the wheels and tailpipes with Windex (just spray it on over the water and leave it).
+Use a big (at least 5 gal pail, lets the dirt/grit sink to the bottom) I use Mothers Car Soap, but any decent one will do (but use car soap so you don't remove the wax).
+Use one sheepskin mitt to do the body and another (probably the older one when you replace it) for the wheels and tailpipes.
+Rinse, rinse, rinse the mitt often . . .did I mention you should rinse the mitt often?
+After you finish washing it (still wet) Windex the outside of the windows and use a squeegee (sponge side) to clean the outside of the windows.
+Spray the whole car off with water. You might want to try using the spray tip to rinse the car and as a last step, taking the tip off and letting the open hose run off the car from the top down. That will leave a lot less water on the car when you are done and make drying easier.
Drying:
I used to use a chamois, and it does work perfectly, but lately I have started using the leaf blower to blow off most of the water, I have to tell you, it works great. Most of the scratches we get on our cars are self inflicted during washing/waxing. The leaf blower will never add to those, and it gets all the water out of the doorhandles, mirrors, fog cutouts, side markers, rear tail light s and the rear plate recess :-)
+Then touch up the outside of the windows with the squeegee (rubber side).
+Then go over the car with the chamois to grab the remaining few drops of water.
Waxing:
Yup although I use and like Zaino, I also wax it, and heres why:
We have black cars :-) this is a totally different beast than any other color. Most dark colors show small scratches and swirl marks more than lighter colors, and then there is black :-) Not even close, its like a mirror, you will see every single blemish.....think of keeping a black car looking good not so much as a job....but a religion :-)
Zaino and other polymers, do an outstanding job of putting down a hard, long lasting shine, but they do not fill in small blemishes as well as a good carnuba wax will. I find that the finish they put down is excellent, but thin, so at least in my case, I can still see some of the small blemishes. You could use a buffer and get all the marks out, but I like doing it by hand, so a little help in covering the ones I don't get out with the myriad of other things we do (paint cleaners, mild abrasive waxes) I find that regular use of a good wax fills them in better.
I use P21S, it comes in a small white plastic container with a blue cap. All the hoopla and lab tests aside, studies show that carnuba is all you need. Its a hard, lasting surface. The P21S has two (count em...two) ingredients, Carnuba and beeswax. No abrasives, no colors, no scents, just wax. I have found it to be the best for my application. (there are a ton of other products, many of them great products with great results, this is just what I do and I'm not detracting from what ever anyone else does).
Start from the top and move down. As long as you make sure there is absolutely nothing on the applicator but wax (that means it was never used on a car that wasn't immediately washed before the waxing, and you never dropped the applicator on the ground) it doesn't much matter how you apply the wax. Although they say that you should end up with long front to back strokes on the horizontal surfaces (like the hood and rear deck) and vertical (up and down strokes) on the vertical surfaces (like the sides and doors) so thats the way I do it now. Its supposed to reduce the likelihood that you will see the inevitable small marks you may make later if they are made along the lines as stated.
+Don't use too much wax, it is a waste and also builds up when you take it off and can add scratches. All you need is a very thin coating. If you pile it on, no more will adhere than what would have adhered if you applied it in a thin coat. If you want it to cover more or look "deeper" there is only one way to do that ==> wax it more than once :-)
Always take the wax off with a decent (read that expensive) terry or most any microfiber towel. Five dollar cotton towels may mark the surface where the better ones probably wont. I haven't found any microfiber that hurts anything, even the cheap ones seem to do fine. Whichever you choose, make sure you:
+Remove any edging that is not made to not scratch the car (the edging on bath towels and some cheaper microfiber ones will scratch the surface you just waxed) if they are decent car towels it shouldn't be a problem.
+Turn the towel frequently and change it when its full of wax. On a C5 it usually takes two (small 18 x 18 microfiber) towels to remove the wax I put on. Your mileage may vary depending on how much wax you apply and what the surface was like before you started.
My rims and tailpipes are chrome, so all I have to do is Windex them although I do Zaino them when I do the rest of the car. A short word here. Don't polish things that aren't tarnished :-) A polish is not a protectorant. Metal polish is to remove tarnish, if the metal is already clean you need to wax it to protect it. And you pretty much never need to polish chrome.
So just to recap:
+Most of the marks we get on the car are self inflicted :-)
+Try not to ever wipe down the car unless its very clean already (and you are just using a quick detailer to dust it off) or you wash it first. Yes, I now, its a pain and means a lot of washing but there are no little scratch faries that visit us in the night, we put a lot of that down when we wipe a car with dirt on it.
+Never (and yes, this is the one and only time that never applies) use something you dropped on the floor (wash mitt, towel, wax applicator) on the car until you have absolutely cleaned it. If you ever drop a claybar ==> throw it away and get another one.
+Use a big pail (at least 5 gallons) to wash the car. A lot of the problems people run into are from reapplying the dirt to the car from the small concentrated wash pail.
+Use a separate wash mitt for the rims and tailpipes. Brake dust is a particularly abrasive substance by nature :-) Its hard, and cuts into clearcoat very well.
+A regular squeegee will clean the windows better than most other methods.
+Try the leaf blower for drying
+Make sure whatever towels you use don't scratch the surface (microfiber or edges/tags removed) and change them often.
Thats it, my had is empty (if you feel it was empty when I started this post, remember, I'm just saying what works for me
, there are a ton of ways to do this.......enjoy your car )
