ghuns

All my prior detailing experience entailed:

Blasting mud of my 1986 chevy truck with a high pressure sprayer. I always new the time was right when it shook violently at 40 MPH from the tires being out of balance from the caked on layers of mud.

Driving the wife's mini-van through the local car wash for 3 bucks every other fill up.

Backing my 97 Bonneville out of the garage when it was raining really hard.

Since the mini-van is gone() and has been replaced by a RX350, I though it was time to broaden my skills. I read through this forum and am a bit overwhelmed by the amount of info.

I decided to use my old Bonneville as a guinea pig. It is dark cherry metallic, so it shows scratches and dings badly and has a lot of both. I bought a Meguiar's combo pack that contained their quick detailer spray, a micro-fiber cloth and clay bars. I washed the car with dawn, dried it, and though, boy she looks bad. Pulled it into the garage and started claying the rear spoiler. I added a little dawn to a bottle of water with a hole poked in the cap for lube. I was immediately blown away by the difference it made. I haven't yet decided what kind of polishes/waxes I will use on the RX, so I dug out all the old crap I could find in my Dad's car care collection. He lives across the road and will never miss it. I settled on a no-name bottle of scratch/haze remover that had a Coast to Coast price tag. It's been 20+ years since we had a Coast to Coast in our area. It did a great job on the spoiler so I did the rest of the car, except for under the door trim. It's too scary down there to even try. Followed up with a bottle of Turtle Wax(with Teflon). It made me feel a little bad when I think about how good the car would look if I had done this kind of thing all along. My wife came in the house after she got home and said, what did you do to your car! It looks amazing! Three guys came into work this morning with the same reaction and the sun wasn't even up yet. I can't believe the difference in the glass. After claying it, I hit with Invisible Glass window cleaner inside and out and it's pretty much invisible. It took about 3-1/2 hours and was much easier than I expected. If it wouldn't have been 90 degrees, I would have actually enjoyed it.

Now I just need to decide what products to use on the RX. I'm leaning towards the Meguiar's line mostly because it's easy to come by. While it might not last as long as some of the really good stuff, I don't really mind having to apply them more frequently. That, and I haven't found a thread yet saying they suck

Thanks for all the great info that everyone has contributed in here.

TCKeyz

Meguiars products are usually good enough and are very user friendly, there are many better brands out there for sure but they will also come with a cost. Just a few tips, from now on don't ever drive the car through the touch less car wash, they use hard chemicals which will strip wax. Same as dish soap, only use car shampoo. Also for lube when claying, I never heard of using dish soap but I would definitely use car shampoo next time. Use the 2 bucket method when washing, and I would invest in a foam cannon if the budget is right for you. Good luck!

ghuns

I have always heard to use Dawn for washing at the start as it strips away any old waxes, sealants, etc. As for a clay bar lube, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I have been eyeballing the foam guns over at Amazon. They have a Gilmour one with a 1 quart bottle and 5 mix setting for around $40 bucks. Add a gallon jug of Chemical guys foaming shampoo and I should be ready to go. I have bought a ton of Gilmour hoses, connectors and such for around the farm. It seems to be good stuff and gets good reviews.

I have also thought about picking up a Klasse kit that contains a 10oz. bottle of the AIO, a 16oz. bottle of the sealer glaze and a couple applicators. Any idea you much of this stuff you actually need per application?

OutlawTita

iTrader: (1)

The Klasse twins are great and extremely durable. 16 oz of the sealant glaze should last years if you apply correctly which means that you use so little that you can't possibly believe it is enough. It can be finicky and some people hate it for that reason.....they are using way too much. I would recommend using Duragloss shampoo and sealant. You can buy enough to last you years for what the foam gun will cost you. The shampoo is as good as money can buy and the sealant is a great value for low cost and looks good and extremely durable....but best of all is super easy to apply and remove.

If you can afford it getting OptiCoat put on properly and then all you need to do is wash regularly for the next few years.

TCKeyz

Dish soap such as dawn should only be used if you are doing a new wax job or polish, so just like you said, it will strip away old waxes / sealents. But normal washes should always use a car soap. You don't want to strip away wax when you aren't going to wax the car afterwards. Also, make sure to check out the differences between a foam gun and foam cannon, foam cannon is connected to a pressure washer therefor producing more foam using less water. In my opinion, it's worth the upgrade.

ghuns

I cheaped out and went with the foam gun. If it's a total POS I'm only out $40 and it had decent reviews on amazon. The thought of dragging our monster pressure washer out every weekend to wash the car just doesn't appeal to me. It's mounted to a small trailer with a 50 gallon tank and a 7HP Briggs and Stratton engine. I really need a much simpler portable one.

Went ahead and got the Klasse kit as well. Now, if we just didn't have baseball double-headers to attend every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for foreseeable future, I could actually use the stuff.

dandg

I am kinda of a noob to the better wash and detail systems myself.Learned a lot here,great forum!

I bought a CG foam gun (actually the kit) and have used it three times. Works great,I suspect you will like it.
I wash off the foam-after dwell, and then go to the two bucket system just to insure I have as much off of the dirt off the car as possible before I use the MF mitt.

I was going to use Zymol like I had been on the wifes RX for years but ended up trying the CG Blacklight/V7 combo on my Black Onyx GX and I am really impressed.Did the two application of the BL ,then the V7 and so far I like it.
Next will be getting up to speed on clay,the wifes Flint Mica RX needs it-I can feel it in the hood paint.Who knows I might even step up to a PC buffer and attack the swirls.