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Interesting post and excellent feedback for all to learn. I have only hand washed my car at this point (bought it in April) and dried it off with an absorbent cloth but have yet to wax it. Full disclosure, all my car washing products and waxing (Liquid Turtle wax) products have been bought from Walmart and served me well across multiple vehicles. I may be alone here but it seems some of this process may be unnecessarily involved? Although, I guess each case will vary depending on the vehicles condition? Fortunate for me I have zero swirls and garage my car so spending hours on end clay baring, polishing and then waxing may be uncalled for in some cases? I'm sure opinions will vary either way and maybe I'm just being naive and/or simply don't have the eye for the level of details others do when spending this much time with paint. Then again, I can't help think that you could use toothpaste with a buffer and enough friction to polish and make a car shine.
I love to see the Pepsi challenge here with generic off the shelf products at Walmart vs High dollar stuff used by professional detailers.
You would be surprised. Most of the time it's the effort and time you put in that makes it work. Using a inferior product may just take you longer but will still do the job. I think AMMO on you-tube has a video using just water to shine paint!
I followed this thread from the beginning and my thoughts were, it's refreshing to see there are still places where you can get a fair amount of work done for a fair price. Might even be a bit on the cheap side. Not everyone is driving an Aventador and wants to spend a mansion mortgage payment for a wash n wax. In the world of vehicles, you can get beater cars for near $0, but in the car detailing world, finding an inexpensive, less involved detail, is like finding a unicorn.
I'm glad to see the Op is happy and didn't spend 4 hours sweating and now have repetitive stress injury to his hands.
That is half the battle. Eliminating swirls ( it does look great) has it's drawbacks. Every time you level that clear coat to eliminate the swirls your clear coat gets thinner. Good washing and drying techniques will keep the swirls at bay but it is a dedicated processes. How do you know you have no swirls? If you looked at my car you would say that also but they are there and you can see them quite easily in the proper light and angle of view.
I can't believe it's taken this long for someone to bring this up.
Old school, but I doubt things have changed: Any kind of polish has some type of abrasive in it, otherwise it wouldn't work. Machine polishing once or twice a year (as some here have said they do), and depending on the grit of the abrasive used -- how long can you keep doing this before the paint job is shot?
I followed this thread from the beginning and my thoughts were, it's refreshing to see there are still places where you can get a fair amount of work done for a fair price. Might even be a bit on the cheap side. Not everyone is driving an Aventador and wants to spend a mansion mortgage payment for a wash n wax. In the world of vehicles, you can get beater cars for near $0, but in the car detailing world, finding an inexpensive, less involved detail, is like finding a unicorn.
I'm glad to see the Op is happy and didn't spend 4 hours sweating and now have repetitive stress injury to his hands.
This is the place that did mine, 10 minutes from my apt and I never knew it, and I pass here all the time! It's like a big two car garage.
I think the OP did real well with this detail. as he stated if it only last a few months it was only $90 and he can do it again. Everyone has their own idea of what they expect their car to look like some are happy with a simple wash and a coat of wax every six months. Others want that deep wet look car show ready look. Some people are very content with the super stores or local auto parts store products and mix with other store bought products and other only use a specific brand and pay top dollar. I have always said the product that does the job you want.
I think the OP did real well with this detail. as he stated if it only last a few months it was only $90 and he can do it again. Everyone has their own idea of what they expect their car to look like some are happy with a simple wash and a coat of wax every six months. Others want that deep wet look car show ready look. Some people are very content with the super stores or local auto parts store products and mix with other store bought products and other only use a specific brand and pay top dollar. I have always said the product that does the job you want.
I think this post sums up what this thread is about to perfection. Did I get what I originally thought I was getting, no, those expectations were not realistic for $90 and I now realize that. But did I get $90 bucks worth, oh hell yea and then some.
That is half the battle. Eliminating swirls ( it does look great) has it's drawbacks. Every time you level that clear coat to eliminate the swirls your clear coat gets thinner. Good washing and drying techniques will keep the swirls at bay but it is a dedicated processes. How do you know you have no swirls? If you looked at my car you would say that also but they are there and you can see them quite easily in the proper light and angle of view.
Fair point, but as far as I can tell mine has been swirl free. Admittedly, I may not be the best to judge it though.
You would be surprised. Most of the time it's the effort and time you put in that makes it work. Using a inferior product may just take you longer but will still do the job. I think AMMO on you-tube has a video using just water to shine paint!
I'd believe it to a certain extent and can certainly see some products helping 'protect' the finish better than others.
In as much as my car paint is now cleaned and protected for my next wash I am going to use the new Meguires Hybrid Ceramic Wax that I just purchased. Never used it before but the results are supposed to be nothing short of fantastic. Great color depth and water beading.
In as much as my car paint is now cleaned and protected for my next wash I am going to use the new Meguires Hybrid Ceramic Wax that I just purchased. Never used it before but the results are supposed to be nothing short of fantastic. Great color depth and water beading.
You may want to check to see if you can apply that to the waxed surface. II am planning on doing the ceramic to the wife's Equinox and everything I hav read on it be it the full coating or a spray or paste ceramic it is to go on the painted surface. It goes on after the polish instead of a wax.
You may want to check to see if you can apply that to the waxed surface. II am planning on doing the ceramic to the wife's Equinox and everything I hav read on it be it the full coating or a spray or paste ceramic it is to go on the painted surface. It goes on after the polish instead of a wax.
I think you may have read this wrong. This is a wash and shine product. You spray it on after you wash your car while it is still wet. Tremendous results on you tube videos.
I don't know...... If you can't see the photographer in the reflection....... it isn't perfection.... Haha... Reflections of that Larchmont Nurseries business sign doesn't count.
I don't know...... If you can't see the photographer in the reflection....... it isn't perfection.... Haha... Reflections of that Larchmont Nurseries business sign doesn't count.
This.
In my younger days I had a Yamaha 750 motorcycle that I just repainted the tank on. I was wet sanding it to get it as smooth as possible and then went with whatever polish I had at the time. When I was finished I was so mad because my black tank looked slightly gray. I thought maybe I sanded too much and some of the primer was showing through. I rolled the bike back into the garage to find out it was just the reflection of the sky on the black tank. It was smooth as glass and looked great! Everything reflected off of it.
06-18-2019, 08:43 AM
