mikecamp

I'm sure this has been covered but I couldn't find it so I will ask again. I have a new paint job on my car and it is the blackest black I could buy and I need to know how to care for it without getting the swirls in the paint that is so common with black paint. If someone could tell me what products work best and how to apply them it would be greatly appreciated. I know most products tell you how to use them but most people who love their cars have figured out a better way of caring for them. Thanks in advance.

Joz132

Best advice I can give is to spend some time on the AutoGeek forum. There is a ton of info, along with some very knowledgeable, very helpful members.

Good luck with the new paint job.

You know what they say - a black car is a full time job.

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

Study good washing and drying techniques as this is were the swirls and marring come into play.

Black cars look extremely well when properly detailed ..... wash, clay, polish, protect


http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html

12zo

Good advice above mikecamp. I am a big fan of the Autogeek site, you can learn a lot there.
The main issue with black is most folks don't get to the final polish stage which uses a swirl remover.
If you pay attention to the cleaning and such and are doing a decent polish process, just add a final swirl remover polish stage. That means a swirl remover product on a dedicated pad.
I can't show my black here. It's a Tundra and a Harley.

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

Polishing should be further explained because there is no official chart or representation used by all companies designing polishes. Polishes come in varying degree's of abrasiveness. A compound is the harshest of polishes. A swirl remover is commonly used on many polishes with many different degree's of abrasiveness and often fall in the middle of the abrasive scale. Finally there are finishing polishes which are very light in abrasive qualities and best used to finish up and best used to amp up reflection and gloss after all the correction is finished.

trm 84

As others stated, proper wash techniques are vital.

PS. You don't own a black car. It owns you!

yamabob

As has already been stated proper products and techniques. avoid car washes at all costs. invest in a quality wash mitt( I love the CarPro Merino wool mitt). 2 bucket wash with git guard with a quality car shampoo( high lubricity and gentle on the LSP). Touch the paint as little as possible. I like to dry with a leaf blower. A nice D/A polisher (the PC 7424 is a decent machine for the enthusiast).

Street Rat

You can use the best products and techniques to care for the black finish but invariably you will come up with some defects over time. It's the nature of the beast. Call me outdated but I like to use the Meguiar's M105 and M205 products followed up by some Menzerna SF 4500 applied with a Flex polisher and Lake Country Hydrotech pads. Finally I use the Zaino line of sealants to top it off.

Welcome to the world of black. A clean black car is beautiful. It's unfortunate that they only stay clean for about 5 minutes after they have been cleaned.

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

sounds like you may be open and ready to commit to a coating versus a paint sealant. Longer protection and they do appear to help reduce some marring.

Raze

In a word "VaporWax APC 360ID acrylic paint conditioner
Spray on wipe in.