What to do?

[Moose308]

Hey all,

I have been looking into all the products and techniques to keep my brand new truck lookin good for a long time to come and am trying to figure out what to do. All i have done with my past vehicles is used meguiars cleaner wax, i talked to a couple touch up painters and a local shop and they said that all i really needed to do was a cleaner wax and that should be good, they said dont mess with the carnubas because they just keep layering wax on top of itself and if you do hit it with cleaner wax after it causes streaking, and that the silicones in it are not good for paint, is there any truth to this? I am looking into getting a D/A polisher when they become availibe from meguiars again or possibly the porter cable and was wondering if it was ok to apply the cleaner wax with the polisher, right now i have the consumer brand and was wondering if its ok for use with a polisher or should i upgrade to the professional mirror glaze( also would like to know if one cleaner wax is better than the other).

this is what i had in mind for my truck-
1. wash (gonna change to gold class wash or ultimate wash/wax)
2. the occasional clay and most likley a coat of swirlX(is the swirlX a one time deal or as needed and will it eventually go through the clear coat?)
3. cleaner wax
4. touch up detail with #34
I dont use the liquid wax every wash but plan to at least use ultimate quick wax as a substitue. Thinkin about occasional polish but not sure if the paint color is dark enough to really benefit

does this seem good enough, will take any suggestions. The truck in question is my avatar pic.
Thanks alot for any advice

[Moose308]

Re: What to do?

anybody out there??

[greg0303]

Re: What to do?

Welcome to MOL !!!


Cleaner waxes are excellent choice for daily drivers. They offer cleaning ability, polishing oils and protection all in one. Usually they are not so aggressive (except D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream) allowing 1-step detailing. Many detailers however still prefer to put a coat of wax on top of a cleaner wax for better, longer protection.

Meguiar's offers several cleaner waxes (from most to least aggressive): D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream, M66 Quick Detailer, ColorX, M06 Cleaner Wax and A12 Cleaner Wax. So if you need a quick 1-step detailing they all do so.

SwirlX is a cleaner wax. There's no wax, no protection in it. You still need to do a second step after it - apply wax.

After you wash your vehicle (and clay if needed) do a surface evaluation. Check any visible defects (some may be only visible in a direct sunlight or xenon light): swirls, scratches, paint oxidation, water spots, etc.
After the evaluation it's time to choose the right tools for the correcting step(s). For serious defects you would normally use an aggressive paint cleaner/ compound, like Ultimate Compound. For medium to small jobs you can go with a cleaner polish, like SwirlX or Ultimate Polish, or if your paint surface needs just a quick refreshment then a cleaner wax would do the job.

It's definitely worth to get a machine polisher. Dual action (random orbital) polishers offer the best deal: good correction ability and safety. There's a very short learning time using those machines.

[Murr1525]

Re: What to do?

Sorry, guess you fell through the cracks there. But we're here.

1. Wash - Gold Class, etc. Two buckets, Grit Guard, quality towels, etc.
2. Clay - Smooth Surface Clay kit, extra QD bottle
3. ColorX - I like this over the Cleaner/Wax.
4. Wax - Nxt 2.0, Ultimate Wax, etc that is your favorite.

And yes, you would use SwirlX or stronger paint cleaner as needed. It can certainly be used more than once.

[Murr1525]

Re: What to do?

I have been looking into all the products and techniques to keep my brand new truck lookin good for a long time to come and am trying to figure out what to do. All i have done with my past vehicles is used meguiars cleaner wax, i talked to a couple touch up painters and a local shop and they said that all i really needed to do was a cleaner wax and that should be good, they said dont mess with the carnubas because they just keep layering wax on top of itself and if you do hit it with cleaner wax after it causes streaking, and that the silicones in it are not good for paint, is there any truth to this?

That sounds kind of goofy. Yeah, all you need is a cleaner/wax. The rest is nonsense.

I am looking into getting a D/A polisher when they become availibe from meguiars again or possibly the porter cable and was wondering if it was ok to apply the cleaner wax with the polisher, right now i have the consumer brand and was wondering if its ok for use with a polisher or should i upgrade to the professional mirror glaze( also would like to know if one cleaner wax is better than the other).

You can use most products with a DA, Cleaner/Wax or ColorX included.

I tend to choose ColorX as my cleaner/wax of choice.

[BS MXRacer]

Re: What to do?

Given that it is a new truck (very nice by the way ) I would plan on claying it before putting down your first coat of wax, this just insures the surface is as clean as possible.

I will second the recommended M66 Quick Detailer for your All In One (AIO) step (though you can continue to use cleaner wax if preferred) as it can be applied either by hand or D/A. From what I've heard from reputable sources it is easier to use by hand than D151 Paint reconditioning cream. M66 is more cost effective being in the professional line as it is available in bulk and is usable by rotary buffer if you ever get one. As previously mentioned many people like to top an AIO product with a dedicated sealant or wax.

You tend to get better results from individual products versus an AIO. Individual step products I would recommend:
1) Ultimate compound (severe defects)
2) Ultimate polish (mild defects, polishing oils)
3) Ultimate wax (liquid or paste)

To remove any defect one must remove paint from the surrounding surface to level out the surface, but the amount you remove with a paint cleaner is small enough that it has no real impact on the thickness of the clear.

Remember that surface prep is far more important than the Last Step Product (LSP) that you choose to use as most of the gloss and depth is in the prep work.

Murr1525 beat me to it.

[bmrfan]

Re: What to do?

I'm a big fan of Cleaner Wax for Daily Drivers - I use A12 Cleaner Wax and Color-X on my DD '91 Ford Ranger (single stage Red). Since I park my Ranger outside all the time, I find cleaner waxes helps minimize minor paint imperfections while adding paint protection.

Highly recommend using Ultimate Quick Wax after every wash - really helps boost the life of wax and easy to apply.

BTW - Ultimate Quick Wax is not a substitute for a "proper" wax (i.e NXT 2.0 or Gold Class) but is meant to be a wax booster than can be applied between applications of "proper" wax.

[Shawn T.]

Re: What to do?

I am not a fan of D151 at all. Way too thick for me and is not very easy to use IMHO.

[Moose308]

Re: What to do?

thanks for the advice everyone. I think im leaning towards M06 cleaner wax since its available in 1 gal jugs( 4 vehicles to do between me and my parents). do i have to use a dedicated wax/sealant (lookin at M21) and a cleaner wax each time i wax or can i just use the cleaner wax each time and every so often throw on some M21 (or use M21 each time and use M06 occansionaly)?

[Murr1525]

Re: What to do?

#66 may be the better choice I believe, but still a gallon size.

The cleaner/wax on its own is fine. Dont have to do a second coat of wax every time.

[Moose308]

Re: What to do?

i see on the picture of the #66 that it has a scale that shows the cut (light to heavy) and it is a 4, also that greg0303 listed it as the second most aggresive cleaner/wax meguiars makes. what is meant by the "cut" of a product and is #66 too agreessive to use as a primary wax, #06 does not have a "cut" scale on the bottle(so im assuming that its "cut" is realativly low).(as you all can probably tell i know absolutly nothing about paint and i just want to make sure im not going to use something that will eventually go through/hurt my paint/clear coat from use for many years to come)

[greg0303]

Re: What to do?

Some cleaner waxes (all in one products) offer more cleaning/ paint cutting ability due to more aggressive cleaners/ abrasives.

When you do a paint evaluation, after you wash/ clay your vehicle, you check for paint defects. Then you choose the right tool(s)/ product(s) to correct them. If you have deep scratches, heavy swirls, heavy oxidation you need more aggressive approach. Yellow polishing pad, M66 Quick Detailer or D151 PRC and proper speed settings on your polisher would be your products/ tools of choice.
If however you deal with only small/ minor defects (like lack of gloss, small swirls) then milder products like ColorX, M06 Cleaner Wax would provide enough power.

It's always very important to do a test spot. Different paint systems react completely different way. There's also a big difference between original factory paints and re-sprayed surfaces. Furtermore single staged paints are easier to work on than base coat/ clear coat systems.

Once you successfully complete some test and you're happy with the results you just expand it to the entire vehicle.

[Murr1525]

Re: What to do?

I doubt you will see much of a difference between ColorX, M06, and M66, so I would say go with the one that feels best to you.

None of them are like old fashioned rubbing compounds to wear through the paint.