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I am 55 year old woman who last washed a car by hand 30 or 40 years ago, so clearly not a 'car guy'.
My 2001 Mazda had been garaged until a year ago when my daughter got a new car and I let her take the garage. My car sat outside in the sun, directly in the path of the neighbor's nightly sprinklers. I saw all the water spots, but did not think they were damaging the car (as I said, I'm not a car guy). Instead I thought, why bother cleaning them off when I'll just get more tonight....so the car got a year's worth of water spots, baking in hot CA direct sunshine.
Finally decided to wash them off when I could no longer see through the windshield - and quickly learned that washing doesn't work. I tried all the advice from friends and neighbors - vinegar and worse, with hard scrubbing and abrasive products - but nothing worked. Then I started reading the internet and became thoroughly panicked when I realized that I might have totally ruined my car - the windshield and windows were bad enough, but my entire car was completely covered with millions of non-removable spots. A car parts store sold me some glass stripper, but I was hesitant to use it for fear I would strip the tinting off and perhaps ruin the plastic and car paint in the process.
I somehow found this site (although I thought Meguiars was pronounced 'Meg-u-ars') and started reading and watching the videos. Then I bought Soft Wash Gel, Smooth Surface Clay Kit, Ultimate Compound, SwirlX, ScratchX 2.0, Cleaner wax, Quik Detailer, Quik Interior Detailer, Gold Class Rich Leather Spray, Quik Out, Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner, and NXT Generation Glass Cleaner. I also bought a boatload of Supreme Shine MF towels, MF wash mitt, and MF and Soft Foam applicator pads. And got to work.
My, times have changed! I can't believe just how much better and easier these products are to use than the last time I washed and waxed a car!
I'm sorry I don't have pictures to share, but I was able to remove about 95% of the water spots by claying and using SwirlX and ScratchX. The only spots left are very faint outlined etches deep into the glass - all the marks are gone from the car body! And I am just really amazed at how much the claying made a difference to the feel and look of the finish, as well as the SwirlX and Scratch X. I didn't even need to use Ultimate Compound. I did neglect to use them on the wheel rims, so the spots are still there to remind me what my entire car used to look like. Overall, my car looks nearly brand new - it would look totally brand new except the body style is dated.
The strangest thing is that all this was actually very fun and I have become a complete addict to washing, washing and perfecting my car every weekend. I have since added ColorX, NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 and Ultimate Quik Wax to my Meguiars products, and will add Hot Shine Tire dressing next. Both the ColorX and Tech Wax were just great!
My car is not really worth all this attention, so now I am eyeing my kids' cars to fix up for them. It is crazy how much I now see all the cars outside and want to wash, clay and wax all of them - I'm even thinking of how I can turn this new obsession into some extra money for my time. Maybe you will see me at a car car seminar in Irvine this fall!
So I just wanted to say 'thank you' for the products and all the information provided here. In case anyone ever wonders whether this website gets new customers for the company, just give them my name.
My 2001 Mazda had been garaged until a year ago when my daughter got a new car and I let her take the garage. My car sat outside in the sun, directly in the path of the neighbor's nightly sprinklers. I saw all the water spots, but did not think they were damaging the car (as I said, I'm not a car guy). Instead I thought, why bother cleaning them off when I'll just get more tonight....so the car got a year's worth of water spots, baking in hot CA direct sunshine.
Finally decided to wash them off when I could no longer see through the windshield - and quickly learned that washing doesn't work. I tried all the advice from friends and neighbors - vinegar and worse, with hard scrubbing and abrasive products - but nothing worked. Then I started reading the internet and became thoroughly panicked when I realized that I might have totally ruined my car - the windshield and windows were bad enough, but my entire car was completely covered with millions of non-removable spots. A car parts store sold me some glass stripper, but I was hesitant to use it for fear I would strip the tinting off and perhaps ruin the plastic and car paint in the process.
I somehow found this site (although I thought Meguiars was pronounced 'Meg-u-ars') and started reading and watching the videos. Then I bought Soft Wash Gel, Smooth Surface Clay Kit, Ultimate Compound, SwirlX, ScratchX 2.0, Cleaner wax, Quik Detailer, Quik Interior Detailer, Gold Class Rich Leather Spray, Quik Out, Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner, and NXT Generation Glass Cleaner. I also bought a boatload of Supreme Shine MF towels, MF wash mitt, and MF and Soft Foam applicator pads. And got to work.
My, times have changed! I can't believe just how much better and easier these products are to use than the last time I washed and waxed a car!
I'm sorry I don't have pictures to share, but I was able to remove about 95% of the water spots by claying and using SwirlX and ScratchX. The only spots left are very faint outlined etches deep into the glass - all the marks are gone from the car body! And I am just really amazed at how much the claying made a difference to the feel and look of the finish, as well as the SwirlX and Scratch X. I didn't even need to use Ultimate Compound. I did neglect to use them on the wheel rims, so the spots are still there to remind me what my entire car used to look like. Overall, my car looks nearly brand new - it would look totally brand new except the body style is dated.
The strangest thing is that all this was actually very fun and I have become a complete addict to washing, washing and perfecting my car every weekend. I have since added ColorX, NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 and Ultimate Quik Wax to my Meguiars products, and will add Hot Shine Tire dressing next. Both the ColorX and Tech Wax were just great!
My car is not really worth all this attention, so now I am eyeing my kids' cars to fix up for them. It is crazy how much I now see all the cars outside and want to wash, clay and wax all of them - I'm even thinking of how I can turn this new obsession into some extra money for my time. Maybe you will see me at a car car seminar in Irvine this fall!
So I just wanted to say 'thank you' for the products and all the information provided here. In case anyone ever wonders whether this website gets new customers for the company, just give them my name.
and welcome to mol.
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