Newbie looking for help

[dougbthom]

As a new member to your forum, I'm overwhelmed with all the info. I'm just starting out to laern something about detailing. I've been searching various sites and all state that they have the "best". Great, I'm looking for the best polish/wax to detail my own vehicles. Also looking for a good quality leather cleaner and protectant.
I have a 2006 Honda Pilot ( just got ) and took it in and had a "MING" treatment done to it to remove a lot of fine scratching in the black paint. The job came out 100% and they told me not to apply anything to the paint as the finish should last from 3 to 5 years at which time most people have it re-done.
The other vehicles I have and would like to detail myself are a 2006 Toyota Matrix (had since new) with is silver in color and in excellent shape. Also have an older 1995 Buick Lesabre, tan in color and also in top shape.
My plan is to order the new Porter Cable unit but have no idea as to what pads to order.
Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Doug

[Alexandre]

Re: Newbie looking for help

Are you planning on working by hand?

[dougbthom]

Re: Newbie looking for help

I'm planning on purchasing the PC 7424XP very shortly.

[Shawn T.]

Re: Newbie looking for help

Here is a lot of the information you will need in order to choose the correct products for a detail. If I miss anything or misrepresent an item please correct it.

Pads: at least 2 polishing pads and at least one finishing pad. You may use more than one polishing pad for the whole car depending on the extent of the damage and the amount of product used. I would eventually have 2 or 3 of each though so that you do not have to wash the pad when you switch products during the detail. Many people only use one product with each pad even after washing.

Paint Cleaners: Swirlx and Ultimate Compund; possibly Scratchx but not totally necessary. Order of aggressiveness from least to greatest: SwirlX, SctratchX 2.0, Ultimate Compund. Be sure to use ScratchX 2.0 and not the original formula as the original is weaker than SwirlX.

Polishes: Either Deep Crystal Polish or M07 show car glaze. They are both very good and will add great depth to the paint.

Microfibers: YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY!!!!! I would recommend about 12 to begin with. Walmart has decent quality ones but you could always go with the incredible Supreme Shine Microfiber from Megs.

Wax: I like Gold Class, only tried NXT once and it was very good also. It really comes down to a personal preference. If you plan on applying the wax by hand, I recommend the paste but for machine application I suggest the liquid. The differences in the paste and liquid versions come down to a personal preferences.

Cleaner Wax: Cleaner Wax (A12), the consumer version, is very good and does a nice job of providing a little more muscle to remove slight oxidation and very mild swirls. Colorx is a much stronger cleaner wax, comparable to M06 Cleaner Wax. I have yet to use it but I have heard nothing but good reviews. These can be used if you are running low on time and still want to mildly correct, polish and wax the car.

Dressings: I like M40 Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner Conditioner for tires and some exterior trim. I also like Supreme Shine Protectant for tires and outdoor trim. Natural Shine Protectant is great for interiors and for people who prefer a low gloss on their trim pieces.

Quick Detail Spray: Quik Detailer is great and does a fantastic job. Ultimate Quik Detailer is equivalent to M135 as it utilizes the hydrophobic technology (the product is “afraid” of the water and therefore the water will either bead or sheet off the car).

Spray Wax: Quik Wax is a good product but Ultimate Quik Wax is even better. You can use these after you wash the car in order to boost the already established wax. This should really be used as a booster wax more than the base layer but it will work great either way.

THE NECESSITIES TO DETAIL A CAR
· 2 polishing pads, 1 finishing
· Swirlx, Ultimate Compund
· Choice of polish (optional, but I like it)
· Microfibers (at least 12)
· Gold Class or NXT 2.0 Wax
- Dressing of choice

[Alexandre]

Re: Newbie looking for help

If the scratches are really deep you may need to use Ultimate Compound, people say it do wonders, and it can be used by hand or D/A. But since as a rule of thumb you should always start from the least abrasive product, you may want to give it a shot with Swirl X.

Now since you are getting a D/A soon, you may consider these great products I am going to tell you about.

Now I am detailing my sister' s car, it has lots of fine swirls and hologram marks, since the dealer where she got it ruined it with a very bad buffer job. What am I doing? Well, I am using 83 (you may get haze) followed by 205 (ultra finishing polisher - it' ll fix the haze caused by 83), and it works great. Oh since 205 is very expensive, you may use 82 instead.

Now listen, I am also getting my D/A, but the reason I am using 83 and 205 by hand is that I live in Brazil and we don' t have Swirl X, Scratch X, Ultimate compound, among others (you should consider them).

And don' t forget to do a test spot first, work in small areas, and choose wisely the right foam pad for the job, "always going from the least abrasive". Here in Brazil most professional don' t care or know enough about the various foams and products, do you believe that a "PRO" used a wool pad on my brad new car to remove swirls and water spots? God I was ignorant few months ago...

[dougbthom]

Re: Newbie looking for help

Now that's giving me something to mull over for sure. Thank you for your replies. Your info should help me get off to a great start.