How Long Should I Wait?

[Grand Am GT]

I did the wash/clay/swirlx/polish/wax etc., yesterday and basically have to do it over again.

How long should I wait before doing so?

[Alex C.]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

Ouch, what brought you to that conclusion? Whatever the case, you can go at it now if you wanted to. Any pics of the situation?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

I did the wash/clay/swirlx/polish/wax etc., yesterday and basically have to do it over again.

How long should I wait before doing so?

Here's the answer as to how often you need to use detailing clay, it's in our Hot Topics forum group because it's a regularly asked question or i.e. hot topic...


How often do I need to clay my car's finish?


As for polishing and waxing, how often you do this depends upon the environment the car spends most of it's time in and your expectations.

If the car is kept in a covered garage most of the time and your expectations are high then not very often.

If the car is a daily driver, parked outside at least part or most of the day and your expectations are very high then you'll have to polish and wax often.

It's really about these two factors, what's happening to the paint over time?
You're expectations for the quality of the finish.


Also, check out this thread for our How-To Articles forum group...

How to maintain your car's finish in-between polishing sessions

[Grand Am GT]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

It was my first time doing a full detail, and I'm just not satisfied with the results. I know I can do better.

Thank you.

[CieraSL]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

It was my first time doing a full detail, and I'm just not satisfied with the results. I know I can do better.

Thank you.

You should have done a test spot and made sure you were completely happy with the test spot before you completely did the whole car.

[Grand Am GT]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

Live and learn. And it's not that anything is wrong, but like I said - it can be better.

[stangone50]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

i just did all that to my car also for the first time and was not thrilled with the results ..i did it all by hand took my time but there is still tons of scratches ..im thinkin the clear coat is just too hard to buff it out by hand .. looks like im gonna have to do it again by machine .. perhaps you had the same problem

[Grand Am GT]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

It's certainly possible.

I wish you better luck on the second try.

[Grand Am GT]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

Thanks, Mike.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

For everyone that reads this into the future... before going over the entire car, first do a Test Spot. Check your process to a small area before going over the entire car.

Your process is each step you plan on doing to the entire car not just the cleaning step.

Before we buffed out this entire car, we did a test spot to a small section on the hood, and after proving our system would work we did the entire process to one half of the hood to captures a dramatic before and after.

So in this picture, the driver's side of the hood is completely finished, that is it's been cleaned, polished and is sporting a coat of wax.

1960 Ford Ranchero - Extreme Makeover - M105/M205 Tag Team





After making sure our process would work to one small section we were assured and even guaranteed the rest of the paint on the car would look the same way if we simply duplicated the process over the rest of the car.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How Long Should I Wait?

TEST SPOT

Doing A Test-Spot

Before going over the entire car, see if you can make just one small section look good, that is apply the product you're planning on using over the entire car to just one small section about a foot squared or so. Work it in and then wipe it off, then apply the polish, work it in but not as much as the compound because now you're not trying to remove paint, just spread the product out, then immediately wipe it off, then apply the wax and let it fully dry and then wipe it off.

Now inspect our results. Make sure you can make one small section look GREAT before going over then entire car. If you can't make one small section look GREAT you won't be able to make the entire car look GREAT.

Make sense?

It should look like this,




And if you're having any problems, the post back here after the test section and we'll help you tweak your technique to insure you get it right.