Still not happy...

[agp423]

I think that my car can still be shinier. Maybe as shiny as polished chrome. I want to do an as-thorough-as-possible detailing job on the car. I know a light blue/gray car can never be as shiny as a black one, but I believe there's still room for improvement. So I'm back here again, with the last question before I buy more Meguiar's products and spend 10 hours cleaning my car

1. Cleaning: I understand this part, mix NXT Gen Car Wash with water in the right proportions, soap up the car, wash it, rinse, dry it up. Simple enough. Will this step wash off the wax that's already on the car? If not, then how should I get rid of wax that's already on the car?

2. Clay: is 100g of clay enough for a whole car? Clay lubricant is the Quik Detailer.

3. ScratchX/SwirlX/UC: which I do I use? There are very few minor swirls on the trunk and the top, but the rest of the body is nearly perfect. Which of the three products do I use? (I'm doing by hand, if it makes a difference)

4. Polish: I don't know what to do with the step between removing swirls and waxing. What type of polish should I use? How do I apply it? Should I leave it on for a while and wipe off the excess like I do with wax?

5. Sealant: no idea what this is either, but there are articles around the web talking about applying 50 different layers of sealants after polishing and before waxing. Someone please explain what sealants to use, what it does, and how to apply it.

6. Anything else before wax?

7. Wax: I'm using NXT Gen Tech Wax 2.0. How much wax should I use per square foot? I used roughly a third of the bottle of the wax on my car, is that too much or too little?

8. Am I missing anything else? Is there another layer of sealant to be applied after wax? Or another layer of different wax to be applied after wax?

[Murr1525]

Re: Still not happy...

1. Washing - No, using a good wash like Nxt or Gold Class will not remove wax. And you really dont need to.

2. Clay - Did you buy one of the Pro Mild Blue clay? Assuming your car is in good shape like mine, I can use a quarter of one Smooth Surface kit and still have it be good to reuse.

3. Clean - SwirlX/UC. Try SwirlX first on some test spots. If not, then try UC.

4. Polish - The top of the line pure polish is #7 Show Car Glaze. SwirlX is a cleaner/polish, so this step would be optional. But if you want the best.... You would apply it like a wax, rubbing it in a little, but then remove before it dries.

5. Wax - 2 coats of Nxt 2.0 would be good.

6. No...

7. Sounds kind of like a lot, but not sure. It should spread very thin very easily. Remember the white residue you wipe off is excess, so all you need is the littlest bit of excess.

8. Maintain - You can use UQD or UQW after future washes.

[agp423]

Re: Still not happy...

1. If I don't remove the wax on my car, what about the dust and stuff trapped under the existing wax?

2. I'm not sure of the brand, just bought it at a local shop. One thing I know for sure it's 100g though! Haha. My car is in pretty good condition, so I don't need the whole thing?

3. Can I just start off with UC? I don't want to buy 2, or buy 2 and return 1.

4. Show Car Glaze? Sounds good

5. As of the 2 coats of wax, should I wax, wipe of excess, then re-wax. Or wax, (leave excess on), then re-wax? Should I use anything like UQD between the two steps of waxing?

[Murr1525]

Re: Still not happy...

1. Thats what the clay and cleaner are for.

2. The SS Kit has 2 50g bars, and I break the bar in half.

3. You can, but you wont want to use UC for every detail in the future. The goal would be to use what you need to get the paint in good shape, then keep it in good shape with milder products, like SwirlX.

4.

5. You would wax, let dry, remove. Then let it sit for at least 15 min. Then wax, let dry, and remove. You would only use a QD or UQD in between waxing if the paint gets dusty from sitting.

[Eddie6th]

Re: Still not happy...

I think Murr has helped you out there.There is a thread at the begining called wash and wax regime by akimel.That might help you too.

[agp423]

Re: Still not happy...

Yeaup, thanks Murr, and thanks Eddie, I've read that article. I'll probably have to read it a few more times because there definitely are things that I missed.

Last question:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_auto?url=search-alias%3Dautomotive&field-keywords=show+car+glaze&x=0&y=0

What's the difference between 1, 2, 4, and 6?

[Solipsist]

Re: Still not happy...

Hi agp,

I'm not an expert or anything, but thought I could offer advice on the nxt 2.0, I've only ever used yellow wax paste before, so when I recently applied the liquid nxt, it took me most of the car before I realised i'd put it on too thick, if you do a search for reviews on it, you'll find alot of people saying the same thing.

I noticed when applying mine, it doesn't feel like you've got enough on, cause it doesn't go as hazy as the yellow wax, by the time i'd gotten to the bonnet, I asked my bro to come have a look, and he told me that I used too much, which just meant wiping more off, and more time! So just a thought, when you put it on, don't expect it to look heaps covered, you can see it,but not heaps. Maybe that's why you used quite a bit before???

Like I said i'm new to this,but thought I'd just mention it, so you don't use up all this product so quickly, oh, and take some before and after shots! Cause I wish I did with my car, it's 16 years old, teal coloured, I put it on and was like WOW!!! It's a really fantastic product!!

[agp423]

Re: Still not happy...

I noticed when applying mine, it doesn't feel like you've got enough on, cause it doesn't go as hazy as the yellow wax, by the time i'd gotten to the bonnet, I asked my bro to come have a look, and he told me that I used too much, which just meant wiping more off, and more time! So just a thought, when you put it on, don't expect it to look heaps covered, you can see it,but not heaps. Maybe that's why you used quite a bit before???

That's really true, I always thought a thoroughly waxed car should look like this:

So that's probably why I kept pouring the wax onto the pad... Thanks for the tip though!

[Murr1525]

Re: Still not happy...

Yeah, thats a wee too much.

[CieraSL]

Re: Still not happy...

Hmmm, wonder how many bottles of NXT 2.0 it would take to wax the whole car that way?

[Eddie6th]

Re: Still not happy...

Yeah, thats a wee too much.

Are ye a fellur scotsman,murr1525?

or, Aye,'ats a wee tad tae much ye've got there laddie!...ye ken?

[Eddie6th]

Re: Still not happy...

Hi agp,

I'm not an expert or anything, but thought I could offer advice on the nxt 2.0, I've only ever used yellow wax paste before, so when I recently applied the liquid nxt, it took me most of the car before I realised i'd put it on too thick, if you do a search for reviews on it, you'll find alot of people saying the same thing.

I noticed when applying mine, it doesn't feel like you've got enough on, cause it doesn't go as hazy as the yellow wax, by the time i'd gotten to the bonnet, I asked my bro to come have a look, and he told me that I used too much, which just meant wiping more off, and more time! So just a thought, when you put it on, don't expect it to look heaps covered, you can see it,but not heaps. Maybe that's why you used quite a bit before???

Like I said i'm new to this,but thought I'd just mention it, so you don't use up all this product so quickly, oh, and take some before and after shots! Cause I wish I did with my car, it's 16 years old, teal coloured, I put it on and was like WOW!!! It's a really fantastic product!!

Thanks for that sol.,I've not tryed the techwax 2.0 yet.It's difficult to get a hold of meg's products here.I see some of you guys/gals over there have the same problem,fromwhat i've read in other threads.

[akimel]

Re: Still not happy...

3. ScratchX/SwirlX/UC: which I do I use? There are very few minor swirls on the trunk and the top, but the rest of the body is nearly perfect. Which of the three products do I use? (I'm doing by hand, if it makes a difference)

Begin with the SwirlX. Do a TEST SPOT. Inspect the paint. How does it look? Did it effect sufficient paint correction. If not, then move up to Ultimate Compound. Do a TEST SPOT. The test spot both allows you to determine which product is right for your paint and to refine your technique before attempting to polish the entire car.

4. Polish: I don't know what to do with the step between removing swirls and waxing. What type of polish should I use? How do I apply it? Should I leave it on for a while and wipe off the excess like I do with wax?

To be honest, you probably will not see any real improvement by the application of a pure polish on your light blue car. You can try it, of course; but you and your car might be better served by focusing your energies, time, and money on the actual paint cleaning/swirl-removal step.

5. Sealant: no idea what this is either, but there are articles around the web talking about applying 50 different layers of sealants after polishing and before waxing. Someone please explain what sealants to use, what it does, and how to apply it.

You are not alone in your confusion. Terminological confusion reigns throughout the detailing world, and no agency to enforce a standard of linguistic usage. See this article: Is it a wax? Or a paint sealant? Technically, NXT is a sealant (see below), but it is popularly referred to as a wax, because most folks have no idea what a sealant is.

6. Anything else before wax?

Nope.

8. Am I missing anything else? Is there another layer of sealant to be applied after wax? Or another layer of different wax to be applied after wax?

For purpose of this discussion, let's define "sealant" as a protectant composed exclusively of man-made or synthetic ingredients, and let's define a "carnauba wax" as a protectant that includes carnauba as one of its ingredients (it might also include other natural elements, as well as synthetic elements, too).

Many people prefer to use a synthetic sealant as their protectant (e.g., NXT); others prefer to use a carnauba wax (e.g., HiTech Yellow Wax [M26] or Gold Class) as their protectant. And some people like to use both. The general rule is that if one decides to use both synthetic and carnauba protectants, then the synthetic is applied first and the carnauba wax is applied on top of it. It's all personal preference. I typically stick to one or the other.

There's only one way to figure out which protectant or combination of protectants will look best on one's car--you have to experiment. And that's the fun of it!

[agp423]

Re: Still not happy...

The test spot both allows you to determine which product is right for your paint and to refine your technique before attempting to polish the entire car.

Refine my technique? I thought applying SwirlX is just like applying liquid wax?

[Solipsist]

Re: Still not happy...

ha, no worries agp,