Hand Detail Suggestions

[tguil]

Next weekend I'll be detailing my daughter's 2002 Silver Tacoma. Up until last year it was garaged at night, but for the past year it has been outside 24/7. Also up until this past year it was detailed regularly and the finish was in great shape. She lives in Minneapolis so there is bound to be some of that industrial crud and also tree sap.

I'll be doing the detail by hand rather than with my pc or rotary. No garage or electricity.

First I'll do a thorough wash followed by clay. I'll have 3M Adhesive Remover available if the clay doesn't remove the tree sap. Now for the minor scratches and marring -- ScratchX or #83 or #80. Heck, I have #82 too.

When the major stuff is off, I plan to apply one coat of ColorX and if there is time a coat of NXT paste wax.

Because the car has been sitting outside for a year, should I use cotton or microfiber pads rather than straight foam pads to apply these products? I'll use microfiber cloths to remove all of the products.

I want to get this job done with as little effort as possible. In this case "pretty good" will be good enough.

Tom

[Murr1525]

Sounds like a good plan.

I think the foam applicator will be fine. While using a terry ca nhelp give a product some bite, it also can leave a bit of its own marks sometimes.

For instance, you might need to follow up terry cloth+ScratchX with a coat of foam+ScatchX.

However, if you spend a lot of time with SCratchX, you might never finish the car.

Claying will be the big thing that will make a difference, and ColorX well worked in can remove some marks. Might be better for you to focus on that + Nxt, and then worry about swirl removal next time you get it at home.

[tguil]

Thanks.

A good reminder about fiber pads. I scratched the s--- out of the hood on my black Hemi using ScratrchX and a terry covered pad. I also marred the gas tank on one of my black Harleys using #80 and a microfiber covered pad.

Tom