Nxt Tech Wax Advice

[california legend]

What my ultimate goal is to get that wet/shiney look you see on new cars today or back to the showroom look of my car 18 yrs ago.

My paint is in excellent condition, some swirls, but not bad. I just want my car to have that mirror shine. So which process will help it to get there the best? The look of just applying the Tech Wax is good, but I want my paint to look wet and glossy.

1. Wash
2. Clay as needed
3. ColorX or Cleaner/Wax
4. Tech Wax - Nxt

Or:

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Scratch X
4. Polish - DC#2
5. Tech Wax - Nxt

Or:

1. Other advice besides listed above


BTW: Steelers Rule!! But I don't know about NOT chosing a RB in the first round to replace The Bus.

[Murr1525]

For the best results, you will want a PC. You just cant get the same results by hand. I dont know if you are looking to make that kind of investment though?

Just by hand though, the best results will come from using single-step products, not multi-step like a cleanerwax.

I would look at this for now by hand:

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Clean - Scratch for swirls, then a mild cleaner like DC#1 for future cleanings.
4. Polish - #7 Show Car Glaze
5. Wax - Nxt - remember, two thin coats are best.

and:

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

If you are interested in the PC, and detailing that way, we can certainly help you with that as well.

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

And I am not worried about a running back in the first round, only 1 guy was remotely a Steelers type. But I dont know what is so bad about Cedric Humes. 7th round guy, big back, but no one has said anyting good or bad about him. Its like he is forgotten, and I dont know why.

[california legend]

Where are the Meguiars employees/experts on this message board to answer people's questions? Is this board only for public discussion? Where can we get responses from the comany reps?

[tguil]

Originally posted by california legend
Where are the Meguiars employees/experts on this message board to answer people's questions? Is this board only for public discussion? Where can we get responses from the comany reps?

Mike Phillips, one of the moderators for this forum is a Meguiars employee. The other moderator, "2hotford" aka. Tim, is an expert when it comes to polishing paint. Both of these folks offer tons of advice. The rest the rest of us who offer advice also know a bunch about detailing, especially when it come to using Meguiars products.

I check out several other detailing forums daily. This is the one that I go to for a good and usually conservative answer to my questions. Conservative is good when you are discussing removing paint from your vehicle.

Tom

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by california legend
Where are the Meguiar's employees/experts on this message board to answer people's questions? Is this board only for public discussion? Where can we get responses from the company reps?

As for myself, I've been kind of busy today... As to your question/problem.

ScratchX works if you work it, but it will never give you as good as results as a machine.

Also, from my years of experience using the product and the last 2.5 years teaching up to 50 people at one time how to apply and work it into the finish, I'm here to tell you most people don't apply it the right way and thus don't get the results they're looking for.

Depending non how hard your car's paint is, it may take anywhere from 1-5 applications to remove the swirls. I've seen paints so hard only a machine will remove the swirls and I've seen paints so soft one application did the job, you just don't know what you can do until you go out into your garage and try for yourself.

Most people don't work the product hard enough or long enough
Most people try to work on too large of a section

Removing swirls by hand or machine is all about using the right technique but it also requires a gentle touch, you can't just go rub on your paint like you would sand a peice of wood, it might remove the scratches, but it might leave scratches behind because the person doing the rubbing was just too careless.



Note the word in bold...

GENERALLY speaking, modern clear coats are harder than traditional single stage finishes. This means they will last longer with less maintenance. This doesn't mean they will "LOOK GOOD" over the life of the car, it just means the paint will last over the service life of the car. Often times people confuse the two issues.

Harder paints mean it will be more difficult for you and I to remove defects because removing defects means removing small particles of paint surrounding the defects.

This increase in difficulty is not anything Meguiar's did, you can thank evolving technology driven by the EPA and their Government mandates, regulations as well as other Government entities.

We do our best to make product that Enable you, but that still doesn't make it easy and it doesn't make car care fool-proof.

If you want a show car shine on your 18 year old paint, you should seriously consider purchasing a dual action polisher, or accept the fact that you're going to have to dial in a system to remove, (not fill in), the swirls and scratches by hand and this will take some experimenting with both products and your skill level and then after you figure out how to make one small area perfect, (This is called a Test Spot and is about 12" square), then you can duplicate this successful procedure over the entire car.

Kind of what we show ever Saturday here at Meguiar's like this,


How To Remove Swirls By Hand


The below write-up was taken from page three of this Saturday Detailing Class at Meguiar's where approximately 25 people witnessed the products shown below, applied and removed using the correct techniques to remove the gross rotary buffer swirls and restore a swirl free finish by hand.

San Diego Mercedes-Benz club at Meguiar's!


After selecting two Mercedes-Benz automobiles to work on, one being Tom's, we broke for a pizza lunch. After everyone had their fill of pizza and something cold to drink, it was time to re-gather in Meguiar's Garage to see what we could do with the gross swirls in Tom's recently painted hood.




Often times when the topic of removing swirls is being discussed on our discussion forum, or some other detailing forum, it centers around the dual action polisher, foam buffing pads and somebody's compound or polish. Yet many people don't own a dual action polisher. So here at Meguiar's Garage, we like to show people how to use the what they already own... their hands!



Like most detailing enthusiasts, I personally love a challenge, and with Tom's car, I believe most people would agree, his car's finish presents a challenge!

BEFORE - 700 Pixel-wide cropped out section from an un-touched, original photo of rotary buffer swirls in a clear coat finish.





Using some painters tape, we taped-off a section of the hood to separate the before and after results. Then, we applied three, well worked in applications of Meguiar's ScratchX all applied by hand using Meguiar's High-Tech Applicator Pad






The secret to removing swirls by hand using Meguiar's ScratchX is all in your technique. You see in order to remove swirls out of your car's finish, you need to remove a little bit of paint. If we we're to look at a horizontal view of what gross rotary buffer swirls look like in the paint, it would look something like the diagram below. In order to remove these below surface defects, (swirls), you need to remove enough paint from the finish to level the upper surface with the *****t depths of the swirls until you've restored the finish to a flat, level surface.




To do this by hand with ScratchX, you need to,

• * Apply to a small section at a time
  * First spread the ScratchX evenly over the area you're going to work (before working it in)
  * Work the microscopic diminishing abrasives against the finish applying a little passion behind the applicator pad
  * Repeat this process with multiple applications after first removing the residue from each application after working it against the finish

Remember that Meguiar's paint cleaners, like ScratchX do not need to dry before removing. Drying adds no benefit. The only Meguiar's paint products that need to dry before removing are Meguiar's waxes.

Technique Tip

The question is often asked,

"Which direction should I move my hand when applying a Meguiar's paint cleaner?"

A common mis-conception, often espoused on other discussion forums, or by some car care product manufactures, is the technique of only rubbing a product in a certain direction to keep all of your scratches going in the same direction.

Meguiar's teaches that if the products you're using are non-abrasive, that is they are not instilling scratches into the finish, as such, it shouldn't matter which direction you move your hand!

If the products you're using are inflicting scratches into your car's finish, the correct thing to do is to stop using the product! Don't try to camouflage the scratches to your eyes by instilling them in straight-lines as determined by the movement of your hand.

ScratchX can be applied using straight-lines or circular motion and for this particular demonstration we used a combination of both.

Removing ScratchX using Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber after working the product against the finish until the product has broken down, turned somewhat clear and begun to dissipate.




At Meguiar's Saturday Detailing 101 classes, we go through a power point presentation that covers a wide spectrum of detailing topics, one of which is Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle , which includes;

• Step 1 Wash
  Step 2 Clean
  Step 3 Polish
  Step 4 Protect
  Step 5 Maintain

After cleaning the paint with a paint cleaner like ScratchX, we then apply a pure polish, in this case, Deep Crystal Polish which is a non-abrasive pure polish.



In Meguiar's line, we offer two types of polishes, cleaner/polishes, which contain a diminishing abrasive, and pure polishes, which are completely non-abrasive and are used solely for the purpose of creating brilliant gloss. Deep Crystal Polish is a pure polish.



The way you apply a pure polish is akin to applying a skin lotion to your skin. That is you apply the polish to a small section at a time, work the product in thoroughly.



After thoroughly, (but gently with care and passion), remove any excess polish with a clean, soft premium quality microfiber polishing cloth or 100% cotton towel.



Like ScratchX a paint cleaner, it is not necessary to let a pure polish like Deep Crystal Polish dry before removing it. Allowing a polish to dry will not add anything beneficial to the process, so after you work it in well, go a head and remove it.


At this point, we have cleaned and polished the finish. The cleaning step removed the swirls and the polishing step restored optical clarity, depth, reflectivity, richness of color and brilliant gloss. Next we're going to apply a coating of Meguiar's new NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste



NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste is identical to NXT Generation Tech Wax Liquid except that it comes in a paste form. There are two types of paste waxes, the difference is in their consistency. The practical application difference is in how you remove them from the can and then apply them.

With a cleaner/wax (paste), like Meguiar's A12 Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax you can scoop out a small amount and with your applicator pad and then apply it to the finish and work it in.



With paste waxes like Gold Class Clear Coat Wax Paste, M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax, and NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste, instead of scooping wax out of the can, you can twist, or spin your wax applicator against the wax while it's in the can and this little bit of agitation will help to liquefy the wax and enable it to seep, or penetrate into your applicator pad whereupon making it easier to apply to the finish.





Paste waxes like NXT Tech Generation Wax offer good gliding action and tend to apply very easy. Remember a little bit goes a long ways and it's important to try to apply a uniform, thin coating.



After applying the Tech Wax Paste and allowing it to dry, we removed it using a Supreme Shine Microfiber polishing cloth and the Tom backed his Mercedes-Benz out into the sun where everyone could look at the results and see with their own two eyes what can be accomplished by hand with the right products and the correct techniques.







Here's the owner Tom inspecting closely!



And here I am capturing the results with our Sony Digital which does an excellent job of capture swirls in the sun.




Before



After
















Perfect? No.

dramatically improved? Yes!

Most importantly, we fixed by hand what someone else inflicted with a rotary buffer.

Meguiar's products, applied and removed using the correct techniques will outperform the competition hands down and give your car a swirl-free show car shine!


Hope this helps...

[tguil]

Mike,

So what are your plans for tomorrow?

And now that I'm retiring if I learn to type fast can I be a moderator? On second thought -- no way. I have a Harley to ride and some serious hunting to get caught up on

Tom

[california legend]

First, Thanks for the quick and in depth response. Great feedback and info.

Second, I just read about your Wednesday Open Garage classes. Is that open to the public and is there a fee? Also, I would like to learn how to use a dual action polisher. Is this lesson available on this night? Does everyone complete detailing their whole car that night?
If I can learn how to do what I want to do in restoring my paint to its optimal condition, I would love to attend this workshop.

Last, do we bring our own products or do we have to buy them from you to use?

[Mike Phillips]

I'll let someone else answer...

(See the irony)

[california legend]

I don't get it. (The irony)

[Mike Phillips]

Guess it's up to me?

Originally posted by california legend
First, Thanks for the quick and in depth response. Great feedback and info.

No problemo... would have answered sooner but I was busy.

Second, I just read about your Wednesday Open Garage classes. Is that open to the public and is there a fee?

Classes are open to Registered Forum Members that "Reply" to the sign-up thread

Also, I would like to learn how to use a dual action polisher. Is this lesson available on this night?

Of course, look at the pictures in this forum...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=118

Does everyone complete detailing their whole car that night?

Not always. Sometime you only have time to [b]Dial in the correct procedure and the product to use plus learn the techniques, but this is enough to finish the job at home and do it right the first time.

If I can learn how to do what I want to do in restoring my paint to its optimal condition, I would love to attend this workshop.

Last, do we bring our own products or do we have to buy them from you to use?

All you have to do is sign-up for the event and bring along an enthusiastic attitude.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by california legend
I don't get it. (The irony)

My reply brought the thread full circle to this post...

Originally posted by california legend
Where are the Meguiar's employees/experts on this message board to answer people's questions? Is this board only for public discussion? Where can we get responses from the company reps?

My humor wanes and waxes cold...

(Oh... that's bad...)

[Mobilejoe]

Oh to be young again !

BTW Great response Mike