Question After 1st 5-Step Treatment

[Hook]

So, this past Saturday I put my new (1.5 month old) car thorugh my first compelet 5-step treatment:

- wash
- clay
- DC #1
- DC #2
- Tech Wax (2 applications, 12 hours apart)

Car looks great & I'm quite happy with the results

From browsing posts, it appears that most people do the entire 5-step process from 2-4 times/year. I figure I'll do the same. I wash the car weekly & boost with Quik Wax (love this stuff).

I'm trying to figure out when it is ok to just go directly from wash -> wax. In other words, can I skip the middle 3 steps for the next few months? How do I know if it's ok to just wax when I have the time after washing? Should I sometimes be doing just 1 or 2 of the middle steps (clay, clean, polish)?

Hopefully you can where I'm coming from.

--
Hook

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Question After 1st 5-Step Treatment

Originally posted by Hook
I wash the car weekly & boost with Quik Wax (love this stuff).

Me too. Once you get the technique down it's a fast way to restore that just waxed look without having to actually apply a real coat of wax.

Quik Wax by the way is the number one selling spray-on wax in America.

I'm trying to figure out when it is ok to just go directly from wash -> wax. In other words, can I skip the middle 3 steps for the next few months?

Yes. I do all the time.

How do I know if it's ok to just wax when I have the time after washing?

If you've done a good job of maintaining the finish, washing and using a quick detailer), then simply draw the palm and fingertips of you clean hand over the horizontal surfaces and fell for above surface contaminants as you never know what's in the air .

If you don't feel any bonded contaminants then go a head and wax after washing, if you do discover bonded contaminants, you should remove them, but if it's real light, for example a little bump here or there, then if you like you can go a head and wax and maybe clay the next time. I know there have been times that I have felt the Pilot hood and felt a few little bumps here and there, but for the most part the hood is smooth and I go ahead and wax the entire car.

Should I sometimes be doing just 1 or 2 of the middle steps (clay, clean, polish)?

Sometimes after washing, you can just clay and go to wax. Sometimes after washing you might want to polish and go to wax. Both of those decisions are based upon what the paint needs, (the first one), or what you want to see visually, (the second one), as on darker colors polishing can make a big difference.

Sometimes you may just want to wash and wax, as we discussed a little further up this thread. And it's perfectly okay to use a paint cleaner like ScratchX or Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner and after removing the excess product to go right to wax.

All of the above combinations are acceptable, sometimes which ones you perform is going to be based upon what the paint need and sometimes what you decide to do is going to be based upon what you want to do.

Probably the biggest deciding factor as to what the paint needs is going to be how the car is parked and washed. If you always park your car in a garage when you're not at work that's going to go a long way towards keeping you paint in excellent condition. If you car is always parked outside, then it's going to be under attack all of the time and require more frequent attention and more steps to maintain the finish you have previously achieved.