Finally I got the time to detail my car-- it needed it.
Steps:
Wash: Dawn Dishwashing Soap
Clay: Mother's Claybar (lubricated with Mother's Instant Showtime QD)
Polish: Meguiar's #7 Showcar Glaze
Poly: Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax
Wax: Meguiar's #26 High-Tech Yellow Wax
Wash:
The wash was easy enough, but the Dawn Dishwashing Liquid didn't seem to clean as well as the Gold Class Shampoo I'm used to using. Pretty straight-forward wash, but the wheels took a long time.
Clay:
I was happy and dissapointed at the claybar experience. It seemed to pick up a bunch of stuff, but it left my paint streaky and not good looking in general. I'm not sure if that was because I wasn't using it right, or I was using too much lubricant, but I expected it to pretty much not leave any residue. The claybar process took about 60 minutes to do, and I got every nook and cranny in my paint.
Polish:
I think this is where I screwed up, because it took me a really long time and a lot of effort to get the #7 off my paint. I used some 100% cotton terry cloth applicator pads, and went to work with the SCG. It was pretty easy to apply, but the removal of the product after I was done was not easy in the least. After a painful removal process, the car looked great, but still had a few steps to go before it was ready.
Poly:
My first though was that this product smells awesome, but then I realized how hard that this product was to remove as well. I opted to just do one coat due to lack of time (and somewhat lack of willpower), but I figured that if I didn't like the end result, I could strip it to the bare paint in a month or so and restart. I applied this with a Meguiar's gold applicator pad, and removed with a microfiber towel-- the towel made it much easier. This process was completed well after the sun set, so this was the ideal time for me to park it in my friend's garage and give it about 12 hours of curing time.
Wax:
Extremely easy-- wax on wax off. The product wasn't too difficult to remove, but because I messed up somewhere in the process of detailing my car, I had to buff out many streaky imperfections. The buffing of my entire car was a long process in itself, but it finally looked decent, so I was ready to take pictures.
PICTURES:
The part you've been waiting for. Hell, you probably skipped my explanation of each step and went right down here. That's ok.
Keep in mind that this is my first time detailing a car. (Never used polish, wax, claybar, etc). Click for high-res pictures.
Steps:
Wash: Dawn Dishwashing Soap
Clay: Mother's Claybar (lubricated with Mother's Instant Showtime QD)
Polish: Meguiar's #7 Showcar Glaze
Poly: Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax
Wax: Meguiar's #26 High-Tech Yellow Wax
Wash:
The wash was easy enough, but the Dawn Dishwashing Liquid didn't seem to clean as well as the Gold Class Shampoo I'm used to using. Pretty straight-forward wash, but the wheels took a long time.
Clay:
I was happy and dissapointed at the claybar experience. It seemed to pick up a bunch of stuff, but it left my paint streaky and not good looking in general. I'm not sure if that was because I wasn't using it right, or I was using too much lubricant, but I expected it to pretty much not leave any residue. The claybar process took about 60 minutes to do, and I got every nook and cranny in my paint.
Polish:
I think this is where I screwed up, because it took me a really long time and a lot of effort to get the #7 off my paint. I used some 100% cotton terry cloth applicator pads, and went to work with the SCG. It was pretty easy to apply, but the removal of the product after I was done was not easy in the least. After a painful removal process, the car looked great, but still had a few steps to go before it was ready.
Poly:
My first though was that this product smells awesome, but then I realized how hard that this product was to remove as well. I opted to just do one coat due to lack of time (and somewhat lack of willpower), but I figured that if I didn't like the end result, I could strip it to the bare paint in a month or so and restart. I applied this with a Meguiar's gold applicator pad, and removed with a microfiber towel-- the towel made it much easier. This process was completed well after the sun set, so this was the ideal time for me to park it in my friend's garage and give it about 12 hours of curing time.
Wax:
Extremely easy-- wax on wax off. The product wasn't too difficult to remove, but because I messed up somewhere in the process of detailing my car, I had to buff out many streaky imperfections. The buffing of my entire car was a long process in itself, but it finally looked decent, so I was ready to take pictures.
PICTURES:
The part you've been waiting for. Hell, you probably skipped my explanation of each step and went right down here. That's ok.
Keep in mind that this is my first time detailing a car. (Never used polish, wax, claybar, etc). Click for high-res pictures.
