flektone

iTrader: (1)

Its an all day event when I wax the car. I clay it usually a week before Im doing the full wax job. Then my process is wash, mothers paint cleaner, then topped with meguiars ulitmate wax. All work is done by hand. Dont get me wrong there is no correction so up close you can see fine swirls and scratches. But 5ft away and beyond it looks pretty good as you can see. For me this process holds up great especially maintaining with the ultimate spray wax after car washes. My car is parked outside but is only driven on the weekends. I also run it through an automatic car wash regularly. Its been 6 months since I did this job and I can honestly say the car looks just as good. I recommend the ultimate wax.

mililani00

iTrader: (1)

I use black fire wet diamond for sealant, gets deep,wet and shines

supranyc

Agree with flektone, seems like hes got the process down. Keeping a blemish free black car is near impossible if its driven for any reasonable amount. How often you drive the car, and where its kept makes a huge difference in how you should approach keeping it clean. If you have the luxury of a garage kept, covered weekend car its a different story , but for a lot of folks handwashing is option especially during winter. In this case, I'd invest in a good filler wax to hide the swirls between waxings and do a full on detail job to tackle the swirls maybe once a year or as needed. Too much polishing / compounding can be a bad thing, itll wear your paint or clearcoat thin and that can't be fixed easily.

fishhuntnc

I would go with the Ultimate. It has the rubbing compound and black plastic treatment, both of which I like. I've tried the scratch-x. With my scratches, it helped but did not remove them completely.

larryinWA

The PC referenced earlier is a great tool. I used it for the first time with excellent results. It's a pretty gentle tool. Just choose the right pads and polish and you'll be fine. Read more threads to see what products others are using, and why. I only want to polish once a year, so i'm going to try a sealant (22ple) instead of waxing. If that works out, I won't have to deal with that issue during the winter. Hand wash, 2 bucket method. Will try some no rinse products during winter, instead of washing.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

22ple is a coating... Much more than just a sealant. Prep is key for best results with 22ple.

nowayjames

Spent almost 400$ on the equiptments..

things i ordered to work on my Black GS350 .

Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo and Conditioner, 64oz.
Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 (18-Ounce Liquid)
Meguiar's Ultimate Polish - 16 oz.
The Absorber Synthetic Drying Chamois, 27" x 17", Natural
2 of Meguiar's Microfiber Wash Mitt
Mothers 07240 California Gold Clay Bar System
Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax
Accutire MS-4441GB Talking Digital Tire Pressure Gauge
Meguiar's Ultimate Quick Detailer
2 of Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber Cloths (Pack of 3)
Zwipes Microfiber Cleaning Cloths, 36-Pack
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound

Kind of overkill if you ask me. For i am an amateur hopefully a buddy of mine who works at a body shop would teach me the ropes. Hows the list look guys?

larryinWA

I did the same thing 3 weeks ago. $400. The next week another $100. The next week another $80. Almost done for the summer, though.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

LOL @ only spending $400... I'm almost embarrassed at the amount of money I have invested in detailing supplies... almost.

larryinWA

I think the $600 i spent will do for a while, except to replace supplies. Seems like a bargain to me, since the dealer wanted $1,200 to detail the leather and basically polish and wax. With $600, I'll maintain 2 cars for a year. I should need about $400/ year after that.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

I highly doubt you will need to spend $400/yr to maintain your vehicles... I detail A LOT of cars, and you should get a lot of usage out of standard sized bottles of product, much more than 1 years worth. (except for the basic things like car wash shampoo and wheel cleaner)

larryinWA

One item I think will be helpful is a light for finding swirls. Not a lot of sunlight in the northwest. Any specific recommendations?

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

The brinkmann swirl finder light is a popular tool and/or a common dual halogen shop light set up. I think both are a must have.

supranyc

i wouldnt feel too bad about spending that much on supplies, that list will last you a long time and you'll save money over paying a professional detailer. Also your car will be looking cleaner, more of the time, as long as you put in a small amount of effort. Most people wait until the car is looking pretty shabby to shell out for a full detail.

larryinWA

For me, the 22ple was a pretty good percentage of the cost, because I bought for 2 cars. Here's a question for you experienced detailers ... After polishing and ensuring there are no swirls, do you recommend any additional steps before putting on the 22 PLE?