Detailing And Car Care De-Coded

[immacreflections]

Hi All,

As a new member offering specials to other members, i have started getting questions about what different terms mean ect so i thought i would post this which i put on another forum i advertise on and helped alot of people.

Hey Guys,

As some people or most people in general get methods, terms, and processes mixed up or incorrect I have decided to do a know all tell all post on the difference and what is what. I will post in the order that I do a car.

Wheel cleaning: This is self explanatory. I use a few cleaners, P21s, Sonax, Chem Guys, and use soft wheel face brushes and E-Z reach brushes that have a rubber coated wire and soft bristles

Degrease- This is not a “must-do” but I like to use a citrus degreaser on the lower half of the car and wheel wells. I also use a chem. Degreaser on tires to “pull” dirt out from them. DO NOT LET THESE DRY

Foaming- Most of you know what a foam is and I do this whilst having the degreaser and wheel cleaner on the wheels it allows it to dwell longer without drying.

Rinse- All of the above off and repeat wheel or tires cleaning is needed

Hand Wash- 2 bucket method, this is highly recommended though not always a must either I believe “grit-guards” are a MUST HAVE though. Wash top half of car then bottom half after preferably using a different mitt but not necessary.

Rinse- Again

Clay Bar- This is a special clay used to remove contaminants from your paint and leave it A LOT smoother and nicer. You must use a lube for this to avoid marring the paint and should only be done if you have read and know what you are doing to avoid scratches and marring.

Rinse- Yep again

Polishing- This is a term to describe the use of an abrasive medium generally in the form of a liquid to REMOVE paint from a surface. This is done to remove the scratches by levelling the surrounding paint to the lowest level.

There are many different pad and polish combinations around polishing is as much about the pad choice as it is the polish DO NOT USE MICROFIBRES OR RAGS TO POLISH!

THIS IS HIGHLY RECCOMENDED FOR A PROFFESIONAL AS TO NOT BURN YOUR PAINT OR POLISH THOUGH YOUR PAINT!

Buff- Buffing is using a cloth or microfiber to remove residue left over from polish, paint cleansers, waxes, sealants and quick details. This is not abrasive nor does it have anything to do with the surface your left with except removing residue.

Paint Cleansing- This is not a necessary step but does make a different in the scheme of things. This helps pull out any further residue, oils, and can also help “jewel” your paint or “refine” it to that next level admitably most people wouldn’t tell the difference. It also helps prep the surface for wax and sealants to bond better.

Buff- Off the cleanser

Sealant- Sealants are generally a synthetic that have a higher bonding and are longer lasting than a carnauba wax but do not have as much depth and gloss. Sealants are generally “sheet” water rather than “bead”

Buff- Off the sealant

Wax- Waxes can be synthetic, carnauba, bees. , and other waxes, always a mixture the biggest selling gimmick is 70% carnauba or whatever it is a high percentage.

Carnauba is like cement when 100% and is not workable nor can you apply it to a car. There are different grades of carnauba but I’ll leave that to another day.

Generally that 70% carnauba is 70% by volume which means 70% of the wax content is carnauba which could be only 30% of the total volume or less! Wow now we are under 30% carnauba wax already! Then again some could be 70% of the carnauba is grade 1 white the other is lower grade yellow then the total of that is only part of a mixture that is 30% of total volume so it gets lower again.

Key thing with a wax is remember 2-3 microns of wax is all a layer is, most paints from factory are 150-200microns and resprays up to 500microns but normally around 300-400 microns so your wax layer should only be 1/100 of that! That’s why you do two layers to ensure you got full coverage.

I try to apply the wax in the direction of the wind or water will bead off some say wanky but I just do.

Next step is Buff for a final time.

Then stand back review and my favourite thing is getting a bottle of nice water not ****ty mineral water if you have bad tap water use a bottle and pour it gently on the surface to see it sheet and bead off!

Any more questions just ask.

Ps I know this is a long post but I had to do it

Hopefully its left no one feeling or

Regards,

Mitch

[R.3.2.G.T.R]

good info thanks

I'm looking at doing a basic wash, clay, wash, polish/sealant and wax on my car, nothing hardcore and something readily available

between mothers and meguire range, which would be your preference?

[immacreflections]

good info thanks

I'm looking at doing a basic wash, clay, wash, polish/sealant and wax on my car, nothing hardcore and something readily available

between mothers and meguire range, which would be your preference?

This is what i like:

Wash Shampoo- Bowdens Own Body Gel or DODO Juice Born to be Mild

Wheels- Bowdens Wheel Cleaner, Sonax Full Effect Cleaner

Clay Bar- just make sure you use the right bar they come in soft medium heavy for varying levels of contaimination, the heavy will marr your paint and is used prior to a paint correct of a extrmely soiled paint.

Polish/Sealant- I dont believe in this polish/sealant polish/wax, get a polish and a sealant not a "one product all jobs" thing. I dont believe in hand polishing because it way to labour intensive and also you will never get the same finish, well within reason, as you do with a machine due to automatically pushing hard. When machine polishing you only apply around 6-8kg of force including the weight of the machine approx 2-3kg push on a scale and see how much pressure that is to get an idea.

Wax- Bowdens Own Wax quick easy and great, for a paste wax i love Naviwax which you will find on UK ebay its one of my favorite and also reasonably priced it comes in dark light and ultimate for different paints

Hope that helps you.

Also i would strongly reccomend visiting waxit.com.au for a microfibre chamois and cloths bowdensown.com.au for their products all can be shipped to your door at a low cost $10 flat fee i believe you save that in fuel and time easily.

Regards,

Mitch

[Sunkist]

will definitely be getting mine done with mitch!

[Jonno34]

Mitch I'd get my car detailed by you just so I could meet the models on your site .. LOL

but good info

why are all the good detailers in melbourne! I don't think perth has anybody that does really professional detailing .. I do all my work from home even though I work at a detailer and we can do our cars there for free whenever we want ... although i do do my $700 sexcel there

[immacreflections]

will definitely be getting mine done with mitch!

Nice meeting you yesterday, look forward to detailing the Stagea

Mitch I'd get my car detailed by you just so I could meet the models on your site .. LOL

but good info

why are all the good detailers in melbourne! I don't think perth has anybody that does really professional detailing .. I do all my work from home even though I work at a detailer and we can do our cars there for free whenever we want ... although i do do my $700 sexcel there

Thanks, Im doing a trip in a couple months for a few Muscle car owners, 57 Chev, 69 Camaro, Firebird and a couple others over in WA. Could always squeeze another in .

Regards,

Mitch

[immacreflections]

will definitely be getting mine done with mitch!

Nice meeting you yesterday look forward to detailing the Stagea

Mitch I'd get my car detailed by you just so I could meet the models on your site .. LOL

but good info

why are all the good detailers in melbourne! I don't think perth has anybody that does really professional detailing .. I do all my work from home even though I work at a detailer and we can do our cars there for free whenever we want ... although i do do my $700 sexcel there

Im doing a trip in a couple months for a few Muscle car owners, 57 Chev, 69 Camaro, Firebird and a couple others over in WA. Could always squeeze another in

[jez NF]

Nice meeting you yesterday look forward to detailing the Stagea

Im doing a trip in a couple months for a few Muscle car owners, 57 Chev, 69 Camaro, Firebird and a couple others over in WA. Could always squeeze another in

hey man....

COUNT ME IN IF UR "ANOTHER" BECOMES "ANOTHER TWO" also Jonno is a friend of mine...so im sure we cud get together to do both cars etc.

[immacreflections]

LOL send me a an email so I can contact you when the actual date is set.

[email protected]

Regards,

Mitch

[jez NF]

sent thanks

[89CAL]

Rather then starting a new thread thought I'd ask in here

Whats your best method of removing overspray from paintwork?

I have pretty bad overspray on my car and it costs an arm and a leg to get it removed by local detailers, would rather do it myself

Clay bar doesnt seem to get it all off, so maybe I need to clay bar then give it a light polish?

Thanks

[immacreflections]

Rather then starting a new thread thought I'd ask in here

Whats your best method of removing overspray from paintwork?

I have pretty bad overspray on my car and it costs an arm and a leg to get it removed by local detailers, would rather do it myself

Clay bar doesnt seem to get it all off, so maybe I need to clay bar then give it a light polish?

Thanks

Hi Callan,

A claybar is the best way, I will make the assumption you bought a kit from a local autoparts store?

Claybars come in various levels fine medium heavy generally, try a heavier bar, this will have a tendancy to marr the paint so you will need to follow up with a polish to perfect it again.

What sort of prices are you getting for a claying?

[89CAL]

Hi

Last time I ha it done my work payed for it as it was there fault. The time before from memory was about $450 for overspray removal and a full wax (I think)

I've used the mothers and Maguires clay bar kits and they work well but dont quite get everything off and was thinking maybe I should be doing a light polish after this

Thought all clay bars were basically the same so thanks for clearing that up

[immacreflections]

Hi

Last time I ha it done my work payed for it as it was there fault. The time before from memory was about $450 for overspray removal and a full wax (I think)

I've used the mothers and Maguires clay bar kits and they work well but dont quite get everything off and was thinking maybe I should be doing a light polish after this

Thought all clay bars were basically the same so thanks for clearing that up

BAHHH $450! I do a basic detail for $350 plus $50 for clay bar Thats full wash interior polish and sealant and wax!

Call Antonio at Waxit as said above and speak to him about a heavier clay bar. Id reccomend that first.

[89CAL]

Not a problem

Yeah prices for anything where I live are pretty rediculous lol

Will check out Waxit, been looking at some of there products lately, looks like they stock some good stuff

[immacreflections]

Not a problem

Yeah prices for anything where I live are pretty rediculous lol

Will check out Waxit, been looking at some of there products lately, looks like they stock some good stuff

And heaps that isnt on their site I reccomend giving them a call.

Plus 12.50 flat rate for shipping makes it well work while on larger orders and over 150 I think is FREE well worth it

[Brandon]

Hi Mitch,

From reading the thread, I've gathered that the steps are

1) Wash

2) Clay

3) Wash

4) Polish

5) Sealant

6) Wax

I have some Mother products which I do not know if they're what I think they are.

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/05701-05500.html ====> Cleaner Wax, Can this be step 6 or could be a replacement for step 4? On the Mother website it looks like this is the first step following sealant and Carnauba wax. If so, I'm missing the final Carnuaba wax.

http://www.autoglym.com/enGB/product-proddetail.asp?v06VQ=HD ====> Auto Glym Resin Polish, step 4?

Does it mean I have a double up for step 4 due to the resin polish and cleaner wax? I'm just trying to work out what I am missing for a proper full detail. Cheers.

[Jonno34]

hey mate, by "polish" it means cutting compound!

sealant and wax are interchangable or can be used together, generally people put the sealant down for long term protection followed by wax for extra gloss but you can use one without the other.

im not much of a fan of carnauba, for gloss i generally just use a quick detailing spray like gloss boost from final inspection. no doubt mitch will provide some good advice in terms of products as well though!

imo if you really want to detail your car, start purchasing products from places like final inspection or waxit.com.au, the products you can get are generally far superior than off the shelf products, and are generally not too much more expensive!

[Brandon]

hey mate, by "polish" it means cutting compound!

sealant and wax are interchangable or can be used together, generally people put the sealant down for long term protection followed by wax for extra gloss but you can use one without the other.

im not much of a fan of carnauba, for gloss i generally just use a quick detailing spray like gloss boost from final inspection. no doubt mitch will provide some good advice in terms of products as well though!

imo if you really want to detail your car, start purchasing products from places like final inspection or waxit.com.au, the products you can get are generally far superior than off the shelf products, and are generally not too much more expensive!

Cool. Looks like I cant do the polish bit then. I've heard bad stories about trying to do them if you're unsure (making more swirl marks rather than getting rid of them!). I've got another product from Mother which is a pre wax cleaner which I use prior to sealant.

Sounds like the process which I have been doing with the products I have is correct. I'm pretty happy with the results all along but just wasnt sure if the steps were right. Only downside is the swirl marks are kinda still visible but cant really complain since I having done the cutting step. My last question is can that cleaner wax I have be used after the sealant or should it be before...?

Cheers for the explanation dude.

[immacreflections]

Jonno is correct, just remember you can top a sealant with a wax but you CANT top a wax with a sealant as sealants need to bond tou your paint and can onyl be layered if done within a flash time say 10-15 min depending on the product.

the mothers cleaner wax can be thrown in the bin its no good, use the AG SRP (super resin polish) as step 4 applied via hand is fine. I would reccomend a product called Prima Banna Gloss though instead, this is a glaze with carnauba in it also and is fantatic at hiding swirls as per Prima Amigo. see here keep in mind they will come back as they are filled not removed but makes a big difference. http://www.detailparadise.com.au/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3447 see the difference.

Then you can top that with a wax not a sealant, such as DP max wax or another wax you have.

I reccomend STRONGLY Naviwax IONCOAT from ebay.co.uk it last ages and looks great if you use bannana gloss and top with that it will appear swirls free for ages! if you use a cheap wax that doesnt last long it means its wears off and then the bannagloss will also as it wont be "held in".

Regards,

Mitch

Ps as Jonno said I strongly reccomend checking out www.bowdensown.com.au and www.waxit.com.au Support the people that support you.