Working on white

[fpalattao]

Thanks

I will follow your advice!

Two questions came up on my mind

If I do decide to clay. Do I have to wash it after I clay then put the colour x or tech wax?

After my last wash my cars paint is still smooth. I wonder if its the wax I applied 3 weeks ago. If thats the case would it be wrong to wash my car, and just apply the tech wax? Given I dont think I need to clay at this point, and my paint is not looking dull (for the colourx) at the same time the tech wax cleaners will remove existing wax I applied. I had mothers pure carnauba wax applied 3 weeks ago.

[fpalattao]

I'm still waiting on a reply.

Thanks

[fiberrich]

fpalattao,

Sorry, I've just been busy at work.

Some people re-wash their cars after they clay, some don't.

I've never re-washed the car after I clay, but then again, if I clay the car, I use a cleaner or cleaner/polish for the next step and figure the cleaner will remove any remaining residue, if any, from the clay bar.

I know Mike P. clays cars at his detail day clinics, but I don't think they wash them afterwards. Maybe a quick QD. Anyway, if you're going to clay and then go right to ColorX or NXT and not use a straight cleaner, than you may want/need to re-wash. Maybe someone can chime in on this one.

If the finish is smooth and you don't feel you need to clay, then you should be able to go right to applying the NXT Tech Wax. I can't comment if the NXT cleaners are strong enough to remove the Mother's carnauba or not and/or if there would be any incompatibility issues since they are from two different manufacturers.

Sounds like to me that you want to just do the minimum steps to protect the finish as time may be a constraint for you and there's no problem with that.

Or, you're like I was when I bought my new car this spring, wanting to do everything right and worried which product should be used or not used on a new car finish.

If in reviewing the five-step approach seems too much and you feel claying is not necessary, then I would suggest the original four-step approach (you've already evaluated the paint surface) and substitute a cleaner like D.C. #1 for the claying. Since you may have some carnauba wax on the surface from three weeks ago.

If it were I, I'd just wash the car, clean with D.C.#1 to start with a very clean, wax free surface and then apply NXT. However, this is basically where we started in the beginning of this thread with washing the car and then using ColorX (as a cleaner/wax) and NXT on top!

I hope this answers your questions. If not, just fire away with a post!