where to start again?

[kaikohe808]

I applied all the 5 steps about month ago I think its time to reapply all of them again. Where do I start? I know i need to wash before all of the steps.

[BillyJack]

Re: where to start again?

Let the finish be your guide.
After a thorough wash, inspect the finish (the baggie test) for contaminants to decide whether or not you need to clay .
If claying is not needed, look for any newly-acquired defects, such as swirls or scratches. If none that need attention, you can skip right to the wax step or do an optional polish step to refine the finish prior to your finishing wax. Another possibility is to use your choice of cleaner waxes such as White Wax, Black Wax or Color-X and incorporate two steps into one process.

Bill

[kaikohe808]

Re: where to start again?

so what i did is this
1. looked for scratches and marks and any swirls sorta like what you said and then went in with Ultimate compound removed them. 2. I'm working on polishing the whole car again. 3. then a wax just to seal it i guess. I shouldn't have to start at step 2 or whatever the compound step is for the whole car because the finish is looking great still after a month or so.....gotta love California.....it helps also that its only rained like twice in this month or so. I don't know much of the science behind the 5 steps but this seems like the logical road to take....what do you all think?

[The Guz]

Re: where to start again?

Wash and clay. You can then evaluate the paint. If you are using a DA start with the least aggressive product as your test spot. If you are doing this by hand using UC would not be a problem. That will remove defects. You could follow up with a polish to add gloss and refine the finish and wax. It is all possible that you may only need to polish and wax and not compound.

If you are looking for simplicity you can wash, clay, wax.

[Jarhead0754]

U dont have to do the 5 steps every month. U do it once then it's just a matter of maintaining. Maybe once a year u may have to do all 5 steps but usually it's just touch ups here and there. But start with a wash and then look the car over. If it needs clay then clay, swirls hit those spots with compound or a polish like 205. It all depends what the car looks like after ur wash.

[Selectchoice]

Re: where to start again?

U dont have to do the 5 steps every month. U do it once then it's just a matter of maintaining. Maybe once a year u may have to do all 5 steps but usually it's just touch ups here and there. But start with a wash and then look the car over. If it needs clay then clay, swirls hit those spots with compound or a polish like 205. It all depends what the car looks like after ur wash.

^ agreed.

If you only performed the five steps last month a wash should be all you'd need, barring something outside the realms of normal stepping into play.

[kaikohe808]

it turned out pretty good

So finished most of the car. I really had to ultimate compound the bumper. There was a lot of bug guts. But I mainly only polished the rest with a coat of wax afterwards. It looks great now again. I'm total believer in the act early and be consistent to keep up the good look of the finish. Thanks for the suggestions and thoughts everyone.