How Often......?

[SX4DUDE2013]

I was wondering if doing a full detail once a month is good? When i say detail i mean, wash, clay, shampoo carpets, mabey M205 (if needed) and then finally some NXT 2.0 with GC on top (for excellent coverage)? Maybe every week and a half do a quick wash with ONR followed by Pinnacle Mist to add some protection and shine? Thats not too often to "detail" is it??? Is there a such thing as "detailing" a car too much??? Thanks

[Murr1525]

Re: How Often......?

Well, cant really detail "too much", but I am sure if you do a full detail, and then wash inbetween and use your Pinnacle, or one of the Meguiars spray waxes, you will find you wax lasts and looks good longer than a month.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: How Often......?

As Murr eludes to you may find you can keep the appearance up equally well with less work on a routine basis. But what you're describing sounds fine - if you've got the time and inclination.

It's nice to see you qualify the M205 use with the "(if needed)" statement. We're often asked how often you can machine polish a vehicle, or if it's safe to do quarterly or once a month even. Our response is always along the lines of "if you need to machine polish that often then you need to review your washing and drying process as something isn't quite right there". Sounds like you've got that part figured out already!

[Bunky]

Re: How Often......?

You should not need to polish that often. If needed, you probably have some issue such as wash technique (mitt, soap, drying) or microfiber. The more you touch the paint the higher chance of marring.

You should be able to maintain that just waxed look by just simply washing and applying a spray wax on every wax. Polishing should not be needed.

[Clutch34]

Re: How Often......?

Since M205 is a light abrasive polish and it shouldn't be needed that often as long as washing/drying techniques are ok, can a glaze be used to add the extra shine? (ie. #5 or #7) Meaning, can I use one of these pure polishes often without any negative effects on my car in the long run?

I'm not sure if #5 or #7 remove any paint or if they are just fillers or neither..

[Murr1525]

Re: How Often......?

You can certainly use a pure polish before waxing, nothing wrong with that.

[Tuck91]

Re: How Often......?

Since M205 is a light abrasive polish and it shouldn't be needed that often as long as washing/drying techniques are ok, can a glaze be used to add the extra shine? (ie. #5 or #7) Meaning, can I use one of these pure polishes often without any negative effects on my car in the long run?

I'm not sure if #5 or #7 remove any paint or if they are just fillers or neither..

None of the pure polishes remove paint, they may only fill in to some degree however.

[Clutch34]

Re: How Often......?

Ok cool, and these fillers only last through one or 2 car washes right? then the swirls re-appear?

[Murr1525]

Re: How Often......?

Yeah, oils left on the surface will wear off very quickly if no wax is put over them.

[Clutch34]

Re: How Often......?

Ok, that was another question I had. Since wax/sealants protect and maintain all layers underneath it, doesn't that mean that a layer of pure polish (even with fillers) will stay on the car and shine real well through several washes (maybe about a month or 2)?

and a different way of looking at it, once I have fully detailed a car (cleaner, polish, wax/sealant) and let's say 2 weeks later I wash and only re-polish the car over the wax with #5 or #7, THEN the polish will come off after one or 2 washes?

Right?
(if something doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to explain again lol)

Sorry, didn't mean to jack this thread!!

[Murr1525]

Re: How Often......?

Well, it is all related. Many folks don't like to do swirls removal every time, esp on a daily driver, so making something look good for a few months is worth it.

1. Yes, you wax over the polish to keep it on the paint.

2. If you were to put a pure polish over the wax, you would likely mess up the wax protection. Even though a polish has no "cleaners", rubbing a liquid over a surface with an applicator will have some cleaning ability And since a wax/sealant is basically some kind of dried oils and a polish is liquid oils, you can imagine there will be some interaction.

[Clutch34]

Re: How Often......?

Yea, I have a black car and it's swirl heavy right now. I've heard it's near impossible to get rid of swirls and KEEP them off of a daily driver. I figured I'd do one good detail to remove as many swirls as possible then just go ahead and use a pure polish to fill in the rest. If it's inevitable that swirls will return on my finish due to it being a daily driver and exposed to the elements 70% of the time, then I'll be ok with some fillers that will help make my car "pop" for a few months until I can re-apply the polish.

And since polish messes with the wax/sealant, when I later decide to re-polish would I just wash, pure polish, then wax/sealant the car, or is there another step to remove the current application of wax?

[Murr1525]

Re: How Often......?

You would wash and then polish/wax, or clean/polish/wax. Or cleaner/wax then wax....

I tend to use the cleaner/wax then wax route for inbetween details.

[akimel]

Re: How Often......?

Question: Does your car's paint surface really need to be clayed once a month? Only you can determine that through inspection of the paint. My guess is that most MOL members do not clay their cars that frequently, but perhaps your car is exposed to a higher degree of environmental pollution.

The important point is to construct a detailing regimen that is workable for you in the long term. If I were to do full details on my car on a monthly basis, I would soon lose my enthusiasm for detailing. As much as I adore her, I do not have the time and energy to invest two full days every month into washing, claying, taping (I hate taping), polishing, and waxing my Luthien. But that's just me.

Good luck and have fun!

Al

[Clutch34]

Re: How Often......?

You would wash and then polish/wax, or clean/polish/wax. Or cleaner/wax then wax....

I tend to use the cleaner/wax then wax route for inbetween details.

Sounds good. So basically pure polishes like #5 and #7 are only used when doing the 3 step process and having individual cleaner, polish, and wax?