My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

[searle]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

Ah, interesting. two quite different but very typical starting points. On the first (newer) car, one or two passes with SwirlX may well be sufficient for paint-cleaning, especially with your orbitor. DC2/M07 glaze/polish is always "optional", but never hurts and I always use it.

On the older car, you might be surprised and SwirlX may also be enough if there are no nasty imperfections. Try it first, and only step up to ScratchX and then to UC if you really have to (which would not be surprising). I suspect you may be really delighted with how wonderful many cars will look with two passes of SwirlX, followed by DC2/M07 and 2 coats of wax.

For the wax in both cases, use NXT2.0 for the first coat to seal in the glaze. For the 2nd coat, use NXT2.0 or possibly (if a red or dark car) a Carnuba like DC2 or GoldClass or #26 on top of that NXT2.0

[searle]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

which is better? Swirlx or Swirl Remover 2.0? are they the same?

SwirlX is the older/discontinued product. It is *much* milder than SwirlX-2.0 (the newer replacement). I that what you meant? or were you referring to the Swirl Remover in the professional line?

[Murr1525]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

No, there is no SwirlX and SwirlX 2.0.

Swirl Remover 2.0 is a much older product, and milder, and you would want to use SwirlX.

[searle]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

very sorry, yes. this typo was before my morning coffee.

ScratchX is the older, milder product and ScratchX-2.0 is the newer more agressive product. SwirlX is just SwirlX, and is (confusingly) more agressive than the older ScratchX but milder than the newer ScratchX-2.0. SwirlX is also the replacement for the discontinued DC-1 cleaner. Swirl Remover is from the professional line, but is an older and VERY mild cleaner/polish.

So all the earlier comments remain the same. In consumer line you start with SwirlX and that may be enough for light work, and it does contain some polish glaze. If that is not enough, step up to ScratchX-2.0 (which has no polish/glaze), and if that is not enough step up to Ultimate Compound. Similar routine for the professional line.

If the defects do need UC, you should plan on inspecting the result and possibly finishing up with SwirlX. If your orbitor and UC are not enough for the job, you should seriously consider some professional help.

After the cleaner(s), polish/glaze then wax (and Ultimate-Quick-Wax boosters after weekly washes).

[shortshifter]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

very sorry, yes. this typo was before my morning coffee.

ScratchX is the older, milder product and ScratchX-2.0 is the newer more agressive product. SwirlX is just SwirlX, and is (confusingly) more agressive than the older ScratchX but milder than the newer ScratchX-2.0. SwirlX is also the replacement for the discontinued DC-1 cleaner. Swirl Remover is from the professional line, but is an older and VERY mild cleaner/polish.

So all the earlier comments remain the same. In consumer line you start with SwirlX and that may be enough for light work, and it does contain some polish glaze. If that is not enough, step up to ScratchX-2.0 (which has no polish/glaze), and if that is not enough step up to Ultimate Compound. Similar routine for the professional line.

If the defects do need UC, you should plan on inspecting the result and possibly finishing up with SwirlX. If your orbitor and UC are not enough for the job, you should seriously consider some professional help.

After the cleaner(s), polish/glaze then wax (and Ultimate-Quick-Wax boosters after weekly washes).

GREAT! Many thanks to all of you! Will give you upate upon testing my first detailing project.

By the way, my first car (2 year old) is Majestic Red, while the older one (10 year old) is thunder green in color...

[searle]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

...my first car (2 year old) is Majestic Red...

I had a Bright Red 96-Camaro-SS. Your Majestic Red car will love the glaze/polish. Try using #26 "Yellow Carnuba Wax" as the top wax, on top of first-coat NXT20. You will not be disappointed. You will have a wonderfully deep red you will love, just be prepared for neverending complements.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

OK, let's see if we can condense things down a bit here and come up with a plan of attack for both cars.

First, both cars are going to benefit from a thorough paint cleaning following your clay step but obviously you're likely to be up against two potentially very different situations. After just two years, the red car is most likely going to need less correction than the green, 10 year old car that has never been detailed. Unless of course the 10 year old car has just been sitting in a garage while the 2 year old car has been used and abused. Sounds as though both have been used in similar fashion, other than their age.

So, one might assume that the less aggressive SwirlX is right for the 2 year old and UC is right for the 10 year old. Those are probably good starting points and odds are UC really is the right choice for the older vehicle. In fact, we'd recommend you go with UC there. The newer car, depending on how hard the paint is and how severe the defects are, may or not benefit from SwirlX. How aggressive you're able to apply it will further impact its effectiveness. If you already own both products then by all means do side by side test spots using both and see which one yields the better result. If it turns out SwirlX does the job, then there's no need to step up to UC. But if it does not do the job, you won't be happy to discover this after spending time on the entire vehicle!

Let's say you determine that UC is the right choice for both vehicles. Do you need to follow with another product? Again, that may very well depend on the paint and how you applied the UC in the first place. You may find that you're ready to go straight to wax after UC, but you may well want to do a test spot with SwirlX as a follow up. You may discover a nice refining of the finish when using SwirlX after UC - very much depending on how the paint responds to the product.

You should look at your plan of attack being not so much "use this product first and this one second" but rather "compare these two products and/or processes and chose the one that gives the best results". To get an idea of how this process works, and potentially how frustrating it can be, check out Snake Bitten and read the description of product evaluation following the first series of images. We had a heck of a time getting this paint to cooperate, but once it did it was very easy to work on. Fortunately not all paints are this frustrating, but every now and then ......

[shortshifter]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

Many thanks Searle and Michael. I now know what will be my steps for these cars. Really learned a lot. Let me just ask a follow up question. SwirlX or UC will be best matched with what? foam or wool pad? I have both with my orbital polisher. i will try both as soon as I get my products. But Just want to hear any recommended combination. I've read the wool cuts better. But in the video about using SwirlX, i think the guy there was using foam pads both when by hands or DA polisher.



thanks

[Murr1525]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

Yeah, I'd go foam.

Wool can cut better, but also leave more marks behind. People using a rotary will use wool when needing a lot of cut, but I do not know if it would even be worth using on a less powerfull machine.

[searle]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

^ +1 Keep with foam, especially with SwirlX but also in general. Dont overdo it.

[tato20vt]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

I use the same machine that you use, I only have to do UC and NXT Wax after wash/clay and the car is 90% swirl free

[shortshifter]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

^ +1 Keep with foam, especially with SwirlX but also in general. Dont overdo it.

alright. thanks.

though I understand why foam, it makes me wonder when will I ever use the wool pad? or I don't need them at all for consumer product lines?

[searle]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

It is more appropriate to ask if you will have paint with serious problems and hence needing more aggressive work. Pad selection is just one of the variables in changing aggressiveness of finish correction. See Michael's excellent article Lets talk total cut. That thread is aimed at the professional products, but same concept applies to consumer products. Stepping up to more aggressive pad is one option, stepping up to more agressive product is another, etc, depending on the problem you are trying to correct.

[Murr1525]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

Some manufacturers will put what the average consumer wants to see in the box.

As mentioned above, if you dont need it, you dont use it, which is a good thing.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: My Consumer line Product Detailing strategy inquiry

alright. thanks.

though I understand why foam, it makes me wonder when will I ever use the wool pad? or I don't need them at all for consumer product lines?

Wool pads are reserved for use with a rotary buffer, and none of our consumer products are designed for use with that tool. You certainly won't use a wool pad on a D/A.

A wool pad provides a lot of cut, but rarely does it leave the paint in LSP ready condition. Wool is mostly used in heavy compounding, such as the removal of sanding marks. It is also used on very heavily oxidized or swirled paint (we're talking seriously hammered paint), especially when the paint is very hard. Again, a rotary buffer will be employed for these situations.

For the vast majority of consumer use, Ultimate Compound with a foam polishing pad is going to suffice for defect removal. You may need a couple of passes sometimes. If the paint is extremely hard or severely marred, you may need to step up to M105, but in most cases you really shouldn't need to.