Detailing After Winter?

[Lazzman]

I have a question on which method to use when detailing cars from northern states that experience harsh winters, with snow, road salt etc...



After a harsh New England winter, usually in May I wash, clay and polish my vehicle with a light cut polish like Menzerna PO106 using a white pad and then use a sealent to top it off. I do this because my thinking is that since I polish every spring I do not need to use a two step polishing method.



I am wondering what procedure detailers on the board do after a long winter? For me winter leaves a harsh covering of dirt, new scratches and swirls on the paint, that needs to be worked somewhat aggresively.



I just recently finished detailing my vehicle with Menzerna PO106 and a white pad on my Flex machine. I did notice that the black vehicle I own, did not come out as great as it should have, with some blotches and swirl marks still in the paint. I am thinking of changing my method to a two step polish method and then a sealer top coat. Say MG 105 on a yellow pad then going over again with MG 205 on a white pad and sealer on top of that.



Is this common practice for paint care in harsh climates or is it overkill? If so what would be a better method? I don't want to burn away all of my clearcoat polishing every year.



Thanks for any advice...

 

[GoudyL]

I am wondering what procedure detailers on the board do after a long winter? For me winter leaves a harsh covering of dirt, new scratches and swirls on the paint, that needs to be worked somewhat aggresively.

My attitude is the opposite. Winter is harsh on the clearcoat, therefore you want to leave as much of it on the car as possible. A non-garaged daily driver is only going to look so good, so I'm not going to fight for perfection on it.



To me the main question is if you'll have the car in better shape if you regularly wash it in an automatic wash, and apply spray wax, vs just letting the get really dirty and washing it rarely.

I don't want to burn away all of my clearcoat polishing every year.

In that case, you know what to do. :spot

 

[STSInNYC]

My thinking is similar...I use multiple coats of a tough sealant, Collinite or FK1000P, as winter protection. Try to wash at least once every several weeks, self-was stall at car wash locations, keep as much salt and sludge off the paint as possible (also try to wash thoroughly underneath, where salt and crap accumulates). With soft Honda paint, I do limited and light polishing in the spring, Meguair's Paint Cleaner and then spot polishing.

 

[Lazzman]

Thanks for the tips



I own two vehicles both are black, my wife's is the newer one, a 2007 Camry. One thing I can say about the paint on that car is that it is really thin, as are the sheet metal body panels. So it scratches very easily and in turn those scratches are very tough to buff out because they go deep.



On the other hand my 1998 Explorer has harder paint and a solid clear coat, it can be polished in a a two step process that will last many seasons, not so with the Camry.



German cars are a detailers dream, that ceramic clear coat is awesome!!! My parents have a silver, 2006 E350 and it was a dream to detail, not much scratches that paint. Though you do have to use a Menzerna Ceramic clear coat polish.



Thanks for the suggestions on washing in the winter and the Collinite. I am going to look into it. At the moment I have been using about 5 coats of Black Fire sealent for protection and it has worked good, still a solid gloss after 8 months.



My reasoning for asking this questions was from several posts I have seen about board members detailing vehicles, most procedures always use a heavy cut polish followed by a fine cut polish and sealer.

 

[GoudyL]

My reasoning for asking this questions was from several posts I have seen about board members detailing vehicles, most procedures always use a heavy cut polish followed by a fine cut polish and sealer.

So what? Those folks are probably reducing the lifespan of the clear coat by 10% or more each time they do that. That may be ok if you are dealing with a garaged car, but otherwise :nono:



IMHO the trick is to exploit the fact that disrupted clear coat is much softer than intact clearcoat, and that much of the visual appearance of the scratch is due to reflections/light blockage off of the edges of the scratch.



A very light polish will dull the edges of the scratch :waxing: thus making it less noticable and more amenable to being filled by the wax. IMHO I'd just clay, use mothers pre-wax cleaner on a white pad, and then go directly to whatever wax I happened to like at the moment.



If there is anything that needs more agressive treatment, I go after it by hand with KIT scratch out.