Newbie Question

[Pizzaguy]

Well, I'v had my car for 16 months. It sits in the garage 99% of the time and was well detailed when I brought it home.

I wash it with Meguiar's Gold car shampoo using the two bucket/two mitt method. I always follow that with Mequiar's Ultimate Detail spray.

Anyway, it's time to shine it up, should not have let it go so long. I have the Mequiar's Clay kit - tried using it and am impressed with how "slippery" it makes the finish!

But here is the thing: I have some "clouds" in the finish that the clay isn't removing. They are in various spots on the car and I'd like to clean them off. But how? Obviously car shampoo doesn't do it, and the clay isn't doing it.... should I EXPECT the clay to do it? Should I wash the car with Dish Soap - that is, is it just old wax? And how could it be wax since I haven't waxed the car since I bought it 16 months ago?

Any input welcome and appreciated!
Thanks.

[Murr1525]

Re: Newbie Question

Car was new when you bought it?

Could be dirt, swirls, any number of things. Clay wont work on those kind of things.

You'll need some kind of paint cleaner. Is there any chance of pics so we can tell better? How much effort are you thinking of putting in to this? We ca ntry to keep things simple, or go all out....

[Pizzaguy]

Re: Newbie Question

I'll try to get pictures, but not sure MY camera is going to be any help.
Car is an 05 that was detailed VERY WELL when I bought it!

However, may not be all that hopeless..

I tried one area on the hood.... went over and over the rib where the smudgyness was.... it's almost all gone now!

I guess I gave up to quickly, or expected "Miracles".

Anyway, it looks like a cloud in the finish, best as I can explain it ...

Again, I'll try to get a picture of it, but by being gentle and going over and over the area with a well lubed clay, I'd say 75% of it is gone!

EDIT: And I HATE to pay someone to detail my car, may not be a bad idea ... but I should be able to do this myself!

Please stay tuned - and thanks!

[Murr1525]

Re: Newbie Question

Well, it is a good sign if you can remove it with a litte rubbing, always best for it not to be cloudiness from clear coat failure.

These are the two details we would look at for 'general' detailing:

1. Wash - Gold Class, 2 buckets, etc
2. Clay - Smooth Surface Clay Kit
3. ColorX
4. Wax - Nxt 2.0

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Clean - SwirlX if just mild cleaning is needed
4. Wax - Nxt 2.0
5. Wax - Nxt 2.0

[Pizzaguy]

Re: Newbie Question

Ahh, I was already thinking of

Wash
Clay
NXT 2.0


In fact, I bought the Mequiar's Clay kit and NXT Tech Wax 2.0 three days ago.

I understand that step 3 in both of your choices is an anti-swirl step. I don't see much in the way of swirls in the finish at this time. HOWEVER, I think maybe I'll consider that step anyway.

[Murr1525]

Re: Newbie Question

It isnt just swirls. Think of it this way:

Wash - To remove big loose dirt

Clay - Removes bonded on dirt from the surface

Paint Cleaner - Removes dirt from the pores/imperfections of the paint, and if strong enough, removes swirls.

The 2 products mentioned above are both fairly mild cleaners. But if the clay was removing dirt from the surface, one could think there would also be dirt in the pores/imperfections.

[Pizzaguy]

Re: Newbie Question

I will be buying paint cleaner on the way home!

[Murr1525]

Re: Newbie Question

Your store should have one of those 2 products listed above, if not both.

[Pizzaguy]

Re: Newbie Question

I ended up getting Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

THIS STUFF COMPLETELY CLEANED THE blemishes/smudges/cloudiness up without any effort at all! Just to be sure, I did the whole car with it! AWESOME STUFF!

NEXT is a coat of either Mequiars' Cleaner Wax that came with the Clay kit OR NXT Tech Wax 2.0 - which I also bought.

I could polish first, but don't think I need to. Car looks AWESOME right now - all those filmy-looking clouds are GONE!

[f86sabjf]

Re: Newbie Question

i would recommend the NXT . No need for cleanerwax at this point from what your describing

[Murr1525]

Re: Newbie Question

I ended up getting Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.

THIS STUFF COMPLETELY CLEANED THE blemishes/smudges/cloudiness up without any effort at all! Just to be sure, I did the whole car with it! AWESOME STUFF!

NEXT is a coat of either Mequiars' Cleaner Wax that came with the Clay kit OR NXT Tech Wax 2.0 - which I also bought.

I could polish first, but don't think I need to. Car looks AWESOME right now - all those filmy-looking clouds are GONE!

The UC is pretty strong stuff... You'll want to keep an eye out for one of the others along the way.

You can go right to Nxt. Or Cleaner/Wax then Nxt.

[Pizzaguy]

Re: Newbie Question

Thanks Murr!

Ok, I just posted this on Crossfireforum.org:

PIZZA'S NEWB CLAYBAR THREAD

Ok, the last time I waxed a car, we didn't have the term "Detail" in use as a verb, and no one had heard of a "Clay Bar" other than the kind the rototiller would hit in the garden (oh, wait - no one knows what a garden is anymore, either - should I go into that?) Anyway, it was 1979 and my Yellow CJ5 sure looked nice when I got done with it.

Then came marriage, kids, divorce (the first one) and life in general.

So, I bought the Roadster in July of 2009. By the fall, it was time to think about detailing it... but *something* or *someone* else came into my life and .... well, divorce (the second one) came here recently. So...... for various reasons, this weekend was my first detail job on the Roadster.

I started off with Mequiar's Gold Car Shampoo - which is all I use anyway. I use the "Two bucket - two mitt" method. But this time, I also went over all the surfaces down low (in the path of the debris the tires kick up) using extra effort and care to clean these areas very well in preparation for a wax job. In some places, I used Turtle Wax's Bug and Tar Remover. Not all that impressed with this stuff. It sure leaves behind a GREASY surface that is somewhat a challenge to clean up - but it DID remove some tar-oil **** from the rear bumper.

Then, I grabbed my Mequiar's ClayBar kit, wondering just WHAT I was about to do with IT.

THE CLAY BAR?

Ok, this whole idea of dragging something called "clay" in the form of a "bar" across my car's finish bugged me right from the start. Yea, I watched all the videos, read all the stuff I could and talked to many of you - but it still just didn't sound right to me.

But, so many of you just swear by it... so... after watching Mequiar's instructional video (which really only says what the box says - but who cares? I wanted to SEE someone use this thing) I tried this myself.

I was, of course, PARANOID about lubrication - so I ended up using 90% of the detail spray in the process of going over my car! I also was worried about contamination, I ended up using BOTH bars in the process as well.

I had some stains (best term I can come up with) in the finish - probably from spraying Mequiar's Ultimate Quick Detailer on the car after every wash. (I think the stains were residue from the Detail Spray. What else could they be? The car sits in the garage all the time!) These stains, blemishes, clouds or whatever were not noticeable unless you got right up to the car - but they had to go! The Clay Bar did remove about half of them, but I started to worry I was expecting too much from the Clay Bar and MAYBE coming close to working the bar too hard on the finish... so I continued to go over the car ignoring the stains. The ClayBar DID smooth the finish as advertised. My fingers would squeak as they were run over the finish until I got to a ClayBarred area - then silence!

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE STAINS?

After talking to Mike-in-Orange and reading their website, I bought some Mequiar's Ultimate Compound. I tried applying it with a microfiber applicator from WalMart. What did I get for my dollars and effort?

I'll tell you - I got a clean finish with almost NO effort! What ever the stains were, (and I think I know as I wrote above) the Ultimate Compound was made to remove them! The car looked fine to me after going over it from end to end!

TIME FOR WAX

I skipped the polish step - right or wrong - and moved on to wax. Bases on posts in this forum, I ended up with Mequiar's NXT Tech Wax 2.0. (I used the applicator that came with the wax.)

CONCLUSION?

I just finished the first coat, that is, just wiped it off. AGAIN, I cannot believe the finish. I remember dragging my finger over the finish of a Black Coupe at the 09 Fall Dragon and feeling how smooth the owner had made it - she told me of "the Clay Bar". I'd never heard the term before.

Well, my car feels as good as I remember her's feeling! I am now a firm believer in the ClayBar, no matter how many people look at me funny when I tell them about it. IF I can find a model to sit on the car for a photo shoot, she'll probably just slide right off before I get my camera ready!