What order to go in?

[sectachrome]

I plan on doing a full detail soon. I went and got the Megs clay kit ( Ive never clayed before) and NXT 2.0 to try instead of the GC Ive been using. I also want to use Scratch X. Should I also use a cleaner wax? What order should I apply them? Obviously I know the wax goes last...

[Murr1525]

Re: What order to go in?

Even for experienced detailers, cleaner/waxes are a great way to get a quick detail. Since they contain cleaners/polishes/and wax, it can also cut some steps out to speed things up. Using a dedicated product for each step will tend to give best results, but sometimes the trade off is worth it.

Clay + ColorX + Nxt would be a great quick detail.

Will you be trying to ScratchX the entire car? If so, dont try to do it all in one day. A great thing to do would be to wash and clay, then ColorX the entire car to goet some protection on. Then come back and do a panel a day with ScratchX, polish, and 2 coats of Nxt 2.0.

Using ScratchX takes some energy and effort, so rushing will just hurt your results. It can take 2-3 applications per area, and the car should almost be rocking on the springs as you work it in. Obviously, not something to rush.

Have you seen these links:

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle
Step 1 Wash
Step 2 Clean
Step 3 Polish
Step 4 Protect
Step 5 Maintain

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

Rotary vs. PC vs. Regular Orbital Buffer

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

Each one, teach one... Ferrari Fiorano 355 F1 Spider

[sectachrome]

Re: What order to go in?

Thanks man. I have tired Scratch Xing the whole car before and it didnt really seem like it did anything. I didnt realize it needed that much elbow grease. I just applied it pretty much like a wax. It definitely needs it though, theres lots of scratches/swirls. Its also a Miata, so it shouldnt take to long to do. Could I use some quick detailer in place of the Color X (I dont have that) ? Thanks for the links also, Ill give them a read.

[Murr1525]

Re: What order to go in?

To remove swirls, you actualy have to remove a little bit of paint. Obviously your paint doesnt just wipe off, so you actualy have to work the product in to remove the paint.

Which Quick Detailer do you mean? Do you mean the #66 from the Pro-Line? If so, then yes.

If you mean the spray bottle, then no, that is a completly different product.

[Sydster]

Re: What order to go in?

Clay + ColorX + Nxt would be a great quick detail.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: What order to go in?

Besides putting some passion behind the pad when applying ScratchX you also want to only tackle small sections at a time when you're trying to remove swirls and scratches, this would be about a 12" square section or so.

If you're just doing light cleaning of paint you can tackle larger sections at a time, but when you're removing swirls and scratches, like Matt said, you're trying to remove paint and removing small particles of paint can be difficult because...

"Generally speaking, modern clear coats are harder than traditional single stage paints, what this means to you and I is that when we go to remove swirls and scratches it can be more difficult because of the hardness of the paint"

Of course you never know how hard or soft your paint is until you actually go out into your garage and do a Test Spot to see how difficult or easy it is to remove small particles of paint.

Just so you know, this is why tools like our new G110 Dual Action Polisher have become so popular over the last 15 years and that's becuase car owners want a nice looking finish, they can't trust most detailers to do a good job without instilling swirls and they find out by trying that it's hard to remove swirls and scratches by hand thus the increase in popularity in the DA Polisher as it will always outperform the human hand when it comes to removing swirls and scratches.

This is also why our Thursday and Saturday classes are so popular as people want to learn how to use these tools the right way so they can get what they want... a swirl and scratch-free surface.

[sectachrome]

Re: What order to go in?

Yeah, one day Ill invest in DA polisher. For now I have to use what God gave me haha. My paint really wasnt that bad, but I went and washed it in the detailing bay at the dealership I work at, and wow did something ever swirl the hell out of my paint. Im guessing it was the "wash mitt". I knew washing it in there was a bad idea. Oh well, never again. This weekend Im dedicating an entire day to detailing, so well see what I can get done

[Murr1525]

Re: What order to go in?

Dont rush it....

When you apply the ScratchX to the 12x12 section, work it in with some passion as I mentioned, and it will go to like a greasy clear color when it is completly worked in.

[sectachrome]

Re: What order to go in?

Ok so my car looks awesome. There are still lots of fine scratches and imperfections when you look at it up close but it doesnt really bother me because its a daily driver and 15 years old. The only thing is, after taking off the wax, it looks smeary, like you can see where I buffed it off. The paint is black. I used some quick detailer stuff to get some dust off today and it left the same smeary effect. Again from a distance it looks great but up close and from certain angles you can see the smears. What am I doing wrong here?

[Murr1525]

Re: What order to go in?

Sounds like the wax may have been applied to thick in spots, or not let fully dry in spots.

It is very easy to start off applying thin, and start working your way thicker as you go. Even I still do it a bit. And you also tend to remove wax faster than you apply it, so if you swipe the first part you did and it is dry, you might catch up to where it is still moist.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: What order to go in?

The only thing is, after taking off the wax, it looks smeary, like you can see where I buffed it off. The paint is black. I used some quick detailer stuff to get some dust off today and it left the same smeary effect. Again from a distance it looks great but up close and from certain angles you can see the smears. What am I doing wrong here?

Usually when there is a smearing problem it can be caused by one or both of these two things,

Too thick of a coating of wax was applied
Wax was not completely dry before wiping off.

The second one is in part caused by the first one because a thicker coat of wax takes longer to dry.


UQD works really well to even out any smears left by the wax, another thing you can try is to re-apply a thin coating of wax and make sure it's completely dry before removing it.

Use your softest, plushest microfiber to remove the wax and for the final wipe try this,

Final Wiping Techniques

[sectachrome]

Re: What order to go in?

Ahh, I suspected that might be the culprit. I was planning on putting another coat of wax on next week anyway, so hopefully that will take care of it. Thanks guys! I really wish I could come and take some classes.

PS - I just got some Gold Class vinyl/rubber/plastic protectant and I like it a lot. I shouldve gotten some sooner. Ive hated Armorall for a long time but I have a lot of it so I just kept using it. Yuck!

[3Fitty]

Re: What order to go in?

Okay... I think I have a similar question which wasn't exactly addressed here.

I just got a brand new car. The finish seems pretty good although the car does not have that "show car" smooth finish.

I'm waiting for the weather to improve a bit before I detail it (I've had the car for 5 days), but I hope to get to it in the next week or so.

So, my question is this... I have my usual regimen that I go through (which follows the five step plan), but I'm a bit confused on the "cleaning" phase.

Depending on the car, I have Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner, Scratch X and the Cleaner Wax along with a clay bar (I use clay magic). Assuming I'm going to use the Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner (which I think it the most appropriate for my new car), do I use it before I clay or after or both?

I recently read that I should do it after claying which removes some surface particles and opens areas for the Cleaner to get into. However, I thought I remembered reading (in the past) I should use the cleaner first, then clay.

Advice?

[Murr1525]

Re: What order to go in?

Clay, then ScratchX for any bad spots, then DC#1.

What you likely read was a discussion where someone was working on a car in very very bad shape, where the clay would load up extremely quickly, almost wasting the clay. So cleaning first would help get some "gunk" off, then clay, then clean again. But that is only for rare, very very bad cases.

[3Fitty]

Re: What order to go in?

Thanks Murr! I did a pretty good "once over" and I think I can probably get away without the ScratchX this time around, but I'll definitely use the DC#1 after I clay.