I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

[SwedishCanadian]

I generally **** working with my hands, but my jet black car is starting to have quite a few swirls and holograms and something has to be done. I don't feel like paying $$$ every year to have the car detailed so I will attempt doing it myself. For various reasons I won't be able to use a machine so it will
all be done by hand. I will work with Meguiars Gold class foam applicators and high quality microfiber.

Wash
Clay
Scratch X
(Ultimate Compound, only on certain areas where Scratch X doesn't cut it)
Ultimate Polish
Ultimate Liquid Wax

Any advice? Anything is appreciated! I will go slow and do it over 3 days or so. I will wash and clay the entire car but after that work one panel at a time. The car is a little over a year old - I hope I don't mess it up!

[davey g-force]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

Your process is generally fine.

Have you done a test spot to determine that ScratchX will work? Make sure you do a test spot first to see if your process will give the results you're after, then you can repeat over the whole car.

I personally wouldn't hesitate to just go for UC on the whole car, especially seeing as you're working by hand; i.e.substitute your ScratchX above for UC. But a test spot will tell you what to do.

The only other thing I'd say is to watch how you hold the applicator pad. You want to spread the pressure evenly, so don't use just your fingertips. A search for "Cheetah Spots" should tell you more.

[gmitch23]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

Like Davey said, if you're working by hand, go ahead and go with UC. It will save you a little time with an already long road ahead.

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

Your process is generally fine.

Have you done a test spot to determine that ScratchX will work? Make sure you do a test spot first to see if your process will give the results you're after, then you can repeat over the whole car.

I personally wouldn't hesitate to just go for UC on the whole car, especially seeing as you're working by hand; i.e.substitute your ScratchX above for UC. But a test spot will tell you what to do.

The only other thing I'd say is to watch how you hold the applicator pad. You want to spread the pressure evenly, so don't use just your fingertips. A search for "Cheetah Spots" should tell you more.

Like Davey said, if you're working by hand, go ahead and go with UC. It will save you a little time with an already long road ahead.

Isnt that a pretty risky move though? Considering i am a rookie and has never done this before, isn't it more likely I will mess it up with UC since it's more abrasive?

[Top Gear]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

Your process is fine. Without pictures it's hard to guess how much work this will take. Sometimes swirls can be very difficult to remove, other times, easier. I think you should do a test on the hood/trunk, since that's often a "tabletop" surface you can check with the Sun. Just for that section or panel, do your whole process and see how the paint responds. It may be that a cleaner-wax (not UW) will do the work for you, or it may take ScratchX, or it may take UC in some areas, and it may take many "passes". It's hard to know at this point.

[Mr Miyagi]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

take pictures…before, during, after and post them here

[gmitch23]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

Isnt that a pretty risky move though? Considering i am a rookie and has never done this before, isn't it more likely I will mess it up with UC since it's more abrasive?

Like you, I came here when I was learning. I normally say start with least agressive to most. But my first try with UC by hand made me almost quit detailing all together. Seemed like no matter how hard I rubbed, the swirls stayed. I finally invested in a DA and couldn't be more happy. That's why I think UC by hand should be safe. If you're still uncomfortable, then try a small test area.

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

Like you, I came here when I was learning. I normally say start with least agressive to most. But my first try with UC by hand made me almost quit detailing all together. Seemed like no matter how hard I rubbed, the swirls stayed. I finally invested in a DA and couldn't be more happy. That's why I think UC by hand should be safe. If you're still uncomfortable, then try a small test area.

I did a test area tonight and I user UC! Sealed it and everything. Will bring car out in daylight tomorrow and look. Will also put do an area with compound and bring directly out in sun tomorrow without sealing, to make sure I am not getting marring etc. Its really hard to see in the garage, but it looks like swirls was removed, but far from all. I did three applications, used lots of elbow grease on the second and third, then did polish and wax...still several swirls. I worked a small area on hood. Used from what I can tell right technique. I just don't understand what to do. Seen several videos where people remove swirls with Scratch X or UC no problem. I clayed it before so it was smooth. Used good quality microfibre from Chemical Guys, Megs applicators, all right products and the right (I believe) technique. Hmm

Any help guys? :O maybe I will see more of a difference tomorrow in the sun. Well hopefully. It's a mazda 6 2014 Jet black if that matters. I live in a condo building and cannot use a machine. Doing all of this in the parking space.

[The Guz]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

You can only do so much by hand. Ultimate polish will hide some of the swirls.

Good article to read.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/20257-man-versus-machine.html

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

You can only do so much by hand. Ultimate polish will hide some of the swirls.

Good article to read.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...s-machine.html

So ultimate polish will help hiding swirls that UC didn't remove? It's just really strange to me that an abrasive product like UC won't remove some swirls that looks very minor.

[Top Gear]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

Polishing oils and waxes will hide a lot of things, for a time. As they wash away, though...

Depending on the ambient light in your parking space, you might find an inexpensive LED light will be invaluable in being able to see various things in the paint you might only otherwise see in the Sun.

[Spazzz]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

You can only do so much by hand. Ultimate polish will hide some of the swirls.

Good article to read.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...s-machine.html

Only so much by hand is true.

UC by hand on a white car might be a cake walk but on an entire black car,.....come on... you will need a prescription of Xanax after you see the results.

Clean the paint with Ultimate Polish....nice and smooth....don't try and abrade....and seal it up. It will still look good.

Maybe next year a bay rental or garage spot you can get into for a couple of days will open up. Of course that is hoping Santa got you a MT300 for christmas.

[davey g-force]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

So did you end up doing the whole car, or just the test spot?

It may be a matter of trying again slowly. By that I mean do one panel at a time. So wash, clay, compound, Polish, wax one panel, then the next day or next week do another panel etc.

That way you can Shrink your work area right down and focus when compounding.

What applicator pad did you use?

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

Yeah, doing the whole car with UC was really bad advice. I used the right equipment and in my opinion proper technique. On the test spots it removed maybe 70% of swirls marks. I used lots of elbow grease and did it 3 times. After that I polished and waxed. Still, some minor marring. It's really, really, really hard to get it done right. Maybe its easier on a complete flat area but anywhere it's not completely flat, you're likely to mess up a little bit no matter how careful you are. Ofcourse this is all extra hard on a black vehicle. I've seen videos where people use UC on a smaller area with amazing results. Id like to see if anyone, even a pro, can get amazing results like that all over a black car, by hand. Even if it's technically possible, I doubt a human could actually pull it off. Bad advise.

I will do entire car with ultimate polish and ultimate wax. I've done about half as far. It won't look amazing or anything but will atleast look better I guess. A little bit bummed out.

[davey g-force]

Re: I will detail my car for the first time ever this weekend - advice?

I'm not sure if you're referring to me when you say 'bad advice'?

Regardless, if anything was going to remove those swirls by hand, it would be UC. You can't really get too much more aggressive by hand.

I'm sure me or anyone else here who suggested UC would have said to do a test spot with it, not the whole car. That's what we constantly preach around here, and for good reason. That way, you can dial in what works first, before repeating the process over the entire vehicle.

Maybe your expectation was just too high. Even Guz said above "you can only do so much by hand".

It would be good to see some before / after pics to see what you're dealing with. Did you try a test spot with just UP?