Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

[joesmithf1]

Hi,
I just bought a black obsidian G35, without thinking about the amount of headache to have to prevent swirls. Can someone please advise the couple of questions that i have listed below?

1) What is the best AND safest Meguiar product for my paint?
2) How often should i apply the Meguiar product?
3) Do i use polish or wax? What is the difference between the two, anyway?
4) Is it better to use 100% cotton or micorfiber for washing and drying?

Thanks in advance!
Joe

[Fischer]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

Welcome to Meguiars online!

1.) Do you have any experience using a PC or rotary? There are so many products meguiars offers with so many different results.

2.) I use meguiars almost every day, just from quick interior detailer to rub down my interior to the quick detailer for the exterior. What product do you plan on buying?

3.) Polish in a nutshell removes scratches and swirls, there are a wide variety of polishes, all of which have different degree of cutting power (how strong the polish is)
So you always want to polish and then wax

4.) Again, everyone has their own way but I use a waffle weave type cloth to dry the car, and then go over it with a microfiber towel and quick detailer.

*edit*
I would suggest browsing through the forums, you will learn sooooo much on here.

[Murr1525]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

Maybe it is best to start with some basic articles, then we'll go from there. Here are some for hand and machine use.

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle
Step 1 Wash
Step 2 Clean
Step 3 Polish
Step 4 Protect
Step 5 Maintain

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

How to Wash Your Car Show Car Style

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

How to correctly apply ScratchX to remove swirls and scratches

Rotary vs. PC vs. Regular Orbital Buffer

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

Each one, teach one... Ferrari Fiorano 355 F1 Spider

As far as your questions well...
1) All of them?
2) Well, once every few months at least.
3) Both, the polish adds oils to make the paint look better, and the wax protects and seals in the oils.
4) Microfiber seems quite nice, though there are different kinds and qualities.

[akimel]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

Joe, the single best thing you can do to limit the instilling of swirls in your black paint is to wash your car properly. See this video:

How to Wash Your Car Show Car Style

Wash your car regularly. Wax your car periodically. Claybar your car as needed. If you want to try to remove swirls, either by hand or by D/A polisher, then avail yourself of Meguiar's new consumer line of polishes, particularly, SwirlX and ScratchX 2.0.

Check out these suggestions for a simple wash & wax regimen.

Black cars are indeed a challenge to maintain, but they sure do look purty, don't they?

Cheers,
Al

[Mikejl]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

Hi Joe, Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

Since you are so close to Meguiar's in Irvine, I recommend you sign up for their Detailing 101 class. There are still spots open for this coming Saturday's class. The class is free to registered members of MOL.

This class will answer all your questions and more.

Mike

[joesmithf1]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

Thank you everyone! sorry, i am a newbie when comes to detailing a car. I have always heard that if you polish or wax your car too often, you can acutally do more harm to your paint. The reason, i was told, is due to the chemicals contain in polish and wax. This is the reason i am asking for the 'saftest' product and 'how often' to to polish and wax. Anyway, i will definitely read the articles you guys have suggested. So just to make sure i get it right, i should ALWAYS polish AND wax?

Thanks again.
Joe

[Fischer]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

If you have the proper washing technique there isnt really a reason to polish all the time. But when it comes to waxing, its always good to wax once a month, but for those who are addicted, it turns into once a week type deal. Hahaha.

[Murr1525]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

A lot of the old products were very strong, like the old rubbing compounds. But Meguiars products, esp the ones you would be using, arent like that at all.

Polishing is optional, but on a black car it would likely look good. As i said, do a little reading before we get too tied up in products, but here is what a "full detail" and a "quick" detail would look like:

1. Wash
2. Clay if needed (your first time it will be)
3. Clean
4. Polish - Optional
5. Wax
6. Wax - 2 thin coats are best

1. Wash
2. Clay if needed
3. A cleaner/wax can speed things up
4. Wax - A coat of a regular wax will finish it off nicely

Then in the future, you would wash and follow up with the Ultimate Quick Detailer or the Ultimate Spray Wax to get that fresh look back, inbetween details.

[Mikejl]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

i should ALWAYS polish AND wax?
Joe

No. You don't need to polish if you don't have any swirls and scratches you are trying to remove and if you have a new car with new paint it wouldn't be worth your time to add a pure polish to enhance the shine before waxing (IMHO).

Mike

[ronniejay]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

Do you know about the free clinics that Meguiar's puts on close to you? Try to go to the next one. It is posted here some where, or give them a call. Spots are open for this Sat. class - http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28500

[joesmithf1]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

yes. Mike from previous post did mention about the free class offered by Marguiar. I just thought i could get some answers from this forum instead of having to attend the class.

Anway....so since my car is still new(no swirl for now), i just need to clean it with Marguiar's gold glass car wash and then dry; NO polish or wax is necessary(UNLESS i start seeing swirl)? i am not too tied up in which product now; i just want to know if i need to do anything(such as apply polish, wax, detailer, etc.) after my first couple of car washes.

[Fischer]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

I would be worried more about have a proper washing technique. Most swirls are caused because of improper cleaning tools and technique. I would wax atleast once a month. Wax protects the paint.

[akimel]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

Thank you everyone! sorry, i am a newbie when comes to detailing a car. I have always heard that if you polish or wax your car too often, you can acutally do more harm to your paint. The reason, i was told, is due to the chemicals contain in polish and wax. This is the reason i am asking for the 'saftest' product and 'how often' to to polish and wax. Anyway, i will definitely read the articles you guys have suggested. So just to make sure i get it right, i should ALWAYS polish AND wax?

After you read through the articles cited by Mat, I think you will find that your questions will be answered.

Within the Meguiar's linguistic universe, the word polish, both when used as a noun and a verb, enjoys a couple of meanings, which can be somewhat confusing. Meguiar's offers two different kinds of products to which the word polish gets attached: cleaner polishes (e.g., Deep Crystal 1, ScratchX, SwirlX, M80) and pure polishes (e.g., Deep Crystal 2, M07). The former contain abrasives which gently clean the paint. They remove swirls and scratches by removing paint. The latter do not contain abrasives and therefore do not remove paint. They enhance the gloss of the paint through the application of oils to the paint surface.

Hence when you ask whether one can damage one's paint by excessive polishing, it all depends on which polish one is using. Pure polishes will not damage your car's paint because they are nonabrasive. Cleaner polishes, on the other hand, theoretically can damage the paint surface, if they are used improperly or excessively. But realistically, this is not a problem folks like you and I have to worry about. The guys who use rotary polishers sometimes have to worry about removing too much clearcoat; but the rest of us have more important things with which to concern ourselves, like how to wash our cars without instilling new swirls and asserting sufficient self-discipline to wax our cars on a regular basis.

Waxing your car often will NOT damage your car: it will protect your car. We do not wax our cars too much; we do not wax them enough. If we drive our cars on a daily basis, we should be waxing them at least every two to three months. The majority of MOL members like to wax their cars at least once a month.

You ask if you need to always polish the car when you wax. The answer is no. The answer is no no matter which meaning of polish one intends. If by polish one means the application of a cleaner polish, one will want to restrict such application to a couple of times a year. The majority of MOL members "clean" their paint two or three times a year. One easy way for you to do this is to use one of Meguiar's cleaner waxes (Cleaner Wax or ColorX), either exclusively or as a supplement to one of Meguiar's regular waxes (NXT, Gold Class, or HiTech Yellow Wax). Meguiar's over-the-counter cleaner waxes are gentle and can be safely used on a regular basis. Pure polishes, on the other hand, are completely safe and can be used as often as one wants, but their use is optional; they need never be used. Many people wax their cars without ever applying one of Meguiar's pure polishes.

Joe, you need to decide on a workable schedule for maintaining your black car--and then stick to it. Keeping to the plan is the toughest part. Keep it simple and keep it fun.

I encourage you to attend one of Meguiar's classes. You are fortunate to live so close to the Meguiar's offices. Most of us do not have this opportunity.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Al

[Nappers]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

Check out the List O' Links on the home page, great articles. I find myself in them still for reminders

Thanks to Ryan L. for putting the list together

[Murr1525]

Re: Meguiar's Product For Black Car?

If you want to learn a lot about car care, definately go to the class. It isn't fluff and a waste of time.

I think Al hit the point that you might be a little confused with other companies terms/older terms.

To focus in on Meguairs terms:
1. Wash - Removes big loose dirt
2. Clay - Removes bonded surface contaminants
3. Clean - Removes dirt from pores/imperfections of paint, and with a strong poriduct, can remove swirls
4. Polish - Adds oils to help the gloss/clarity of the paint
5. Wax- Protects and seals in the polishing oils

So you can see that if the paint is dirty, you might want a mild cleaner to remove dirt, but you wont need a strong one to remove swirls since you dont have any.

The cleaner/wax + coat of wax method is a nice way to cover a mild cleaning, get a little polish, and get two coats of wax quickly.
Also, since a new clear-coat should be relatively clear/glossy, the polish would be optional.