Need Beginner Help

[frustrateddetailer]

Re: Need Beginner Help

I DO appreciate the advice man I'm not looking for a 1 step procedure though. I've used cleaners before although not Meguiars and they tend to strip wax and that's not what I'm after unless things really go to **** and I have no choice and that won't be happening. So it's between say DC#1 and clay. I'm thinking clay here mostly because the contaminants are going to be pretty close to the surface and I'm thinking now that that might be the gentler way - you tell me though.

cleaner wax is used to remove SOME swirls and scratches from surface of the car. it is also used to remove contaminants BELOW the surface paint, one that has penetrated because of negligence. waxing without this cleaning step will not adhere the wax to the car properly. although you will see sime swirls are gone, this is just FILLING UP the scrathes and swirls, not removing them.

claying on the other hand will remove ABOVE the surface contaminants like overspray. this will not fill up the scrathes or remove them in any way. it will only clean and make you're paint prepared for polishing & waxing.

both are the same cleaning/preping product of meguiars but with different agenda. both can be used at the same time and it is recommended and it will work perfectly. now it is up to you what are you going to do. i hope my answer helped you in anyway.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need Beginner Help

That's interesting. I've always found that up to a certain point your shine will improve each time you wax.

Actually, if you do everything right, you, or more accurate would be to say "your paint" will reach a plateau, that is it will be at 100% of it's maximum potential to look beautiful, that is clear, rich in color, glossy, reflective swirl-free etc.

At this point, adding more and more wax will not keep making the paint look better and better because you've reached a plateau. Now it's time to stand back and admire the results and drive the car. As you drive the car, wear and tear will begin to diminish this plateau. You can then re-wash and re-wax and restore the paint to this plateau.

It's like glass, once you clean glass to make it 100% clear, cleaning more and more will not make it 101% clear.

There's a thread in Hot Topics on the topic of Layering that addresses this in detail, no pun intended...

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Need Beginner Help

It seems to me that if you allow any length of time to pass between applications of a pure wax, a fairly sizeable portion of the previous coat will be gone before you apply subsequent coats. Pure waxes just don't last that long, so I seriously doubt 15 applications means 15 coats.

Plus, after a couple years of doing this I just can't imagine anyone's technique is good enough to completely prevent swirls from happening.