Questions Before a Full Detail

[Zaris]

I bought my first car, a black 2003 VW Golf, well over a year ago and I'm just getting around to wanting it to look its best. For a long time, I've only been washing it, always thinking about waxing it, but now I'm discovering that there are more steps I need to go through prior to waxing... and I probably should. The hood feels grainy and there are swirl marks, scratches, and holograms galore -- none of which have ever been addressed for as long as I've owned it.



Better late than never, I suppose. But I do have several questions largely related to product, tools, application, and time. I am completely new to this and I don't want to goof up by accident and waste an entire day. So I appreciate your patience with all the questions I have to ask and hope to have your answers better help me understand the process and technique.


Cleaning
I understand that I want to clay away the above surface bonded contaminants before working on the below surface defects. One of the how-to videos explained that the Smooth Surface Clay Kit is the right tool to do it and another video said that claying one entire car should only take one piece of clay and about half an hour. I hope my having a small-sized vehicle will work to my advantage, but I imagine that my first time doing this will also take a bit longer than suggested. The questions I have about the claying process are:

- Since this will be the first in a long time removing bonded contaminents off from the car, should I use the provided Quik Detailer very liberally? Like, empty the whole 16oz or use about most of it? Will I need another bottle? Helpful for future maintaining purposes, but will 16oz be enough for just claying a small hatchback?
- I assume that claying is for the paint only - not plastics like the air intake grille (see above picture), not glass, and not the rubbers between the electric windows and the door panel. But will accidentally running the clay on any of these parts during the process harm or scratch it? Should I get some tape and seal these areas over? What about the VW logo branded in front and back of the car; can those be clayed as well?
- How big of a section-at-a-time should I be working on? A lot of the how-to videos showed people working a small part of the hood as a demonstration. Should I/Can I apply the clay on one panel at a time (hood, fender, door, roof, trunk, bumper, etc.) before wiping it down with the provided microfiber cloth?
- Will one microfiber cloth (the one provided) be enough for wiping the whole car during the claying process? Videos say to use a clean cloth each time you wipe (one side to absorb the excess, flip it over and use the dry side), so I got to wondering how quickly I'll be absorbing the Quik Detailer liquid...

Three products in one of the how-to videos for below surface defect removal are favored: SwirlX, ScratchX 2.0, and Ultimate Compound. It is also mentioned under Meguiar's 5-step Paint Care Cycle that this part is best applied in small areas at a time (smaller the more problematic the area is). Questions I have regarding below surface defects include:

- Can Ultimate Compound alone do the job for me that SwirlX and ScratchX 2.0 are set out to do? Or is there a big enough difference that merits having two or all three?
- If all three products are needed, am I correct in assuming I need a separate foam applicator pad for each applicant?
- I'm under the impression that this process can be a relatively dirty and/or greasy one since I'm told to wipe off immediately. How many microfiber towels do you think I should have in hand to apply and wipe off an entire car? I don't think one will be enough - especially so if I'm told to use all three recommended products.


Polishing
Thanks to akimel's post about black paint and claying, I'm even more convinced to go through the polishing step. Unfortunately, this is one step I'm having difficulty finding information on. But it seems like Deep Crystal Polish would be the best choice for me since the product description specifically says "forumlated for dark-colored cars." Questions I have about the polishing step are:

- Do I/Can I apply Deep Crystal Polish by hand with a foam applicator pad?
- How quickly do I have to wipe off the polish (although I'm sure the bottle label will have it)?
- Are there other recommended polisher products besides the one mentioned?


Waxing
The choice of product I think I'm going to go with is NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0. From images I've seen and read already, this step is about the same as the removing below surface defect step except on a larger scale - apply by hand with a foam applicator pad and wipe off with a terry or microfiber towel after it dries. The only question I really have about waxing at the moment is:

- Like claying, I assume wax is for paint surfaces only - no glass, plastic, etc. Should I tape off sections like the headlights to protect them from getting wax on them or is it completely safe? And should I wax the VW badges as well?


Miscellaneous
I imagine this will take me an entire day to do, that each step is best done in succession as quickly as possible. Too bad that, where I live, shade only becomes available after 6:30pm and only lasts no more than an hour. Washing my car during that one hour window is already a rush. I could dry, clean, polish, and wax my car under my garage afterwards but then it gets so infested with mosquitoes that I get uncomfortable. So these final questions are a bit personal, along the lines of "what would you do?".

- Should I wash my car in the early morning so that I have the entire day to do the remaining steps? Or can I wash it one afternoon, let it sit in the garage overnight, and proceed to clay, polish, and wax the following morning? I'm leaning towards the latter, since common sense tells me whatever dust that settles onto the car during the night will just get clayed and Quik Detailer'd away anyway.
- My current arsenal of wipes include 3 terry towels, 3 blue microfiber towels for drying, 3 green microfiber towels for interior cleaning, and 3 yellow microfiber ones not yet used as I was saving them for when I got around to polishing and waxing. All are a little more than one square feet of area (15"x12", except one drying towel). My guess is I should get more yellow towels. Because even if I reserve just one for waxing, one for wiping the Ultimate Compound residue, and one for Deep Crystal Polish, they'll probably get dirty and fast. And I'll need more if I need to apply SwirlX and/or ScratchX 2.0. Is my logic sound? How many towels would you have ready for each step?
- Any final suggestions, steps, or products you would do or use differently?


Once again, thanks for your patience and time.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Questions Before a Full Detail

Most of your questions can probably be answered by reading through the 5 Step Paint Care Cycle but we'll touch on a few specifics here.

Claying - normally a single bottle of Quik Detailer is sufficient, but if your car is really badly contaminated it may not be enough. Really hard to say without touching the car though. You can clay any hard, smooth, glossy surface - that includes chrome, glass, shiny plastics. Any textured plastics like the cowl at the base of the windshield are not suitable surfaces for claying. Don't try to clay an entire panel at once - keep things confined to a smaller area just so that the QD doesn't start drying on its own.

Paint cleaning - Ultimate Compound should be all you need as far as the major defect correction goes. You certainly don't need to pick up that, SwirlX and ScratchX 2.0. It's quite common for VWs to have fairly hard paint, so stick with the UC. If you do decide to follow it up with a second product such as a pure polish or even a light cleaner/polish like SwirlX as an option, by all means use a clean, fresh pad rather than the one you used with the UC.

If you do go with a pure polish like the Deep Crystal Polish, then you don't want to let it dry on the surface. As with the UC above, apply it in small areas at a time and wipe off before it dries. The biggest difference between using UC and DC Polish is the application itself. Since UC will be correcting defects, it needs some power behind the application, meaning some serious elbow grease if you're working by hand. The DC Polish is a simple wipe on, wipe off process and requires very little pressure or elbow grease. But application should be to the typical 2' x 2' area you've probably seen a dozen times in demos for both products.

Waxing, like claying, can be done to virtually any smooth, glossy, non textured surface (although we don't recommend waxing the glass). The wax is the only product you want to let dry on the surface, and you want it totally dry. It should be applied in a very thin coat to all the painted surfaces of the car and then given sufficient dry time before wipe off. Pasadena generally presents low enough humidity during the day that NXT should dry pretty quickly. But if you don't apply it until the sun goes down and humidity starts to rise, the drying time will be extended. Late in the day you want to give it at least half an hour dry time.

One other thing you might want to consider since you're not that far from us - our Saturday Clinics are free of charge and will load you up with a ton of information, including spending some time in our garage working by hand and with a G110v2. You can check out the full schedule here.

[Zaris]

Re: Questions Before a Full Detail

I saw the forum where you offered free "lessons" right before I signed up. I've gone ahead and registered for the June 12 event. Whether the detailing goes smoothly or not for me this weekend, I'm sure there is still much to learn besides what I've asked already.

I've found an excellent thread about taping off sections of the car before waxing. This is something I did not think about and will be picking up some differently sized painter's tape (as well as newspapers and aluminum foil) before I start so that I don't get residue on any unwanted cracks and surfaces like indicator lights, keyholes, and the rubber and plastics around the door windows, for example.

The only question I have to ask about taping is: should I cover up the areas for the entire post-wash process? In other words, should I tape before I clay, polish, and wax? Though, thinking about it, there may be one or two swirls or blemishes that may be borderline along the cracks, and I would need to untape if I'm gonna get at it with UC or something.

And thanks, Michael Stoops, for your answers and clarification. The process is starting to make more sense to me.