First REAL Detail

G

Ghaleon0721

New member
Ok, I was raised to believe that a coat of turtle wax in the spring and again in the fall is all you need to keep your car's paint looking good. And I have to say, it doesn't look bad. But after discovering this, and a few other sites over the last few days it seems I am missing out on so much.



Winter is coming and I usually like to give my cars a good, thorough, wash, wash, wax, and interior detailing before the rough weather hits. This weekend is supposed to be sunny and 60 degrees. I have plenty of shade and a garage to work in, so it's perfect detailing conditions. I've decided to dedicate the next two days to my cars and give them a REAL detailing. This will be my first time going into this much depth so I'm anxious to see the results. After reading posts and articles here all week, I think I have a good idea of what I'm going to do. I'm just going to put it up here and let you guys critique it and let me know if I'm missing anything or should try anything different.



Let me start by saying that I know that there are many products mentioned on here that are superior detailing products. And if I had a show car, I would probably invest in them. But I've spent about $200 on stuff this week, plus I had a pretty good collection of detailing products already. I may not have the best arsenal, but it's what I got, and I don't think its bad.



Ok, the cars: My wife drives a 2006 Toyota Sienna Minivan and I drive a 2006 Infinity G35. Both are relatively new. We got the van in July and I got the G last week. So both cars are in pretty good shape as it is. Here is the rundown of what I plan to do.



1. First rinse the car (obviously)

2. Apply some wheel cleaner to the wheels and agitate it with a spoke brush

3. Rinse the wheel cleaner off the rims.

4. Apply soapy water to the tires using a tire brush (I will not put the brush back in the bucket)

5. Rinse the tires and wheel wells.

6. Using a soft bristle brush clean the wheels again and the car body below the door line.

7. Rinse the brush and then use it to clean up inside the wheel wells. (Now the brush is done, it will not go back into the bucket)

8. Wash the car with Mothers California Gold Car Wash - This is where I need some advice. I have a microfiber sponge or a wash mitt. Which is the best to use?

9. Dry the car - I have two 22 x 40 inch microfiber drying towels.

10. Clean the paint - Again I have two options. I have mothers pre-wax paint cleaner which I have used before and had good results or I have clay. I'm thinking that I will go with clay, but I'm not sure if it is worth the effort since both cars are very new.

11. Repair any paint damage. I have meguiars Scratch X to repair some scratches and light swirl marks in my wife's van.

12. Then, using a random orbital buffer, I will apply Mother's paint polish (Labeled Phase 1 on the bottle)

13. Again, using an orbital buffer, I will apply Mother's California Gold Sealer & Glaze (labeled step 2, I don't know why the language changed from "Phase" to "step" but I couldn't find "Step 1" or "Phase 2" in the store)

14. Lastly, I will apply Mother's California Gold pure Carnauba Wax by hand (for some reason the orbital buffer makes it come out crappy)

15. When the tires are dry I will spray them with Armor all tire foam

16. Once the foam is gone I will apply Armor All tire dressing Gel

17. I will liberally spray the wheel wells with vinyl protectant and wipe them down.

18. The wheels will also get a coat of the mother's three step process outlined above (painted wheels)

19. Under the hood, I will cover all wires and hoses with aluminum foil and spray liberally with black magic engine cleaner, scrub with a brush, then hose off.

20. Vacuum inside the car

21. Wipe down dash and seats with MF towel. I also have a collection of detailing brushes to do the vents and seams.

22. Apply Armor all protectant gel to the dash and console using a foam applicator (I know I will probably get flamed on this board for using armor all on my dash. Everyone seems to hate it, but I've used it before and I REALLY like the wet glossy look. Also I think the gel looks sharper and lasts longer than anything I've ever used)

23. Apply Armor all leather conditioning gel to the seats and armrests

24. Wash, dry, and buff the windows with Stoner's Invisible Glass and a MF towel

25. Use Mother's Back to Black on exterior door and bumper trim.

26. Clean headlights and taillights with mother's plastic polish.

27. My G has some chrome trim around the doors so I will use Turtle wax chrome polish on that as well as the exhaust.

28. Apply Rain X to the windows (I know everyone says that it leaves streaks, but I love the stuff. I use the mothers power ball to buff off the excess and it NEVER leaves streaks)

29. Install a new air freshener



That's my plan. I know I jumped alot between the interior and exterior, I'll put it in order when I actually do it, I just don't want to retype anything. Please let me know if I missed anything or if I'm doing something I shouldn't be. Like I said above, I've done thorough cleanings of cars before but I've never gone into this much detail.



Also, I don't know if any of you guys can help with this, but I also want to clean up my John Deer tractor before winter. The hood is plastic, but the fenders are metal. The whole thing has got fine scratches from driving through bushes and low tree limbs. I know it's not gonna shine like my car, but would the above system also work on a plastic hood and metal fenders that may or may not be clear coated?



Sorry for the long post, I will definitely post pictures when I'm done.
 
Step 1 : I wouldn't rinse the car down before you start the wheels, the water will probably dry before you get to the actual washing and cause some water spotting. I know its not serious water spots, but it never hurts to try to prevent it.



Steps 2-7 : You have a lot of steps in cleaning the wheels that seem excessive, IMHO. You will be fine just spraying the wheel cleaner on the tires and rims, scrubbing with a brush, then rinsing the residue off. Your process for scrubbing the wheel wells sounds OK.



Step 8 : The wash mitt would probably be best, as long as it has some nap to it. The biggest problem with MF sponges and mitts is that they don't have enough nap to keep dirt away from the surface, they just hold the dirt on the surface of the paint.



Step 10 : I would use the clay in conjunction with the pre-wax cleaner, even brand new cars have rail dust, etc... from shipment and storage that the clay will take care of and the cleaner will give you a clean surface for the wax to bond to. Although the prewax cleaner is meant to be used as the step right before the wax, not before polishing as its main purpose is to removing the oils left over from the polishes, etc...



Step 11 : The scratch-X will be good for normal scratches and heavier swirls because the Mother's Paint Polish probably wont be abrasive enough to fix those. Everything else sounds good.



Step 15 : Spraying the Armor-All tire foam will work fine, but a foam applicator would IMO be better. It applies the product more evenly and controlled giving a more even shine and helps prevent the product from slinging. You can find a tire swipe at almost any place that carries detailing products for less than 2 dollars.



Step 16: Why apply more tire dressing when the spray foam is already on there?



The rest of your process sounds good to me. Over the course of time you will find a process and system that works best for you, I just figured I would help give you some pointers based on my personal experience.



All your products should be just fine on your tractor, though I would test most of them in an inconspicuous area just to make sure.



Good luck with your detailing and don't be surprised if you catch the bug just like most of us have!!
 
Thanks for the help. That's exactly the kind of advice I needed.



As far as applying more dressing to the tire in addition to the foam, In my experience, that seems to work better. I find that as a tire dressing, Foam is pretty crappy. If I use only foam, my tires end up looking blotchy with some spots looking shiny and others looking dull. Though it makes the tire look clean and smooth. In my experience, I've found that applying one of the wet look tire dressings on top of the foam helps it last a little longer and makes the tires really pop. Maybe it's all in my head, it's just the system I've used since I was sixteen and I've never been dissatisfied with the condition of my tires.
 
focus what mitt would you prefer ?? i've been using a m/f mitt with some nap to it and didn't experience any scratching, but that might be because of a clean car... anyway, what mitt(s) do you use?? thanks
 
I really started to get away from using all my Adams products except Adams Wash Pad. I have 30+ washes on mine and it isn't even beginning to show deterioration nor do I ever have any wash induced marring. The Wash Pad and his Detail Spray are the only 2 products I am truly 100% satisfied with.
 
WOW, what a difference. Thanks to this board these are the results I've achieved. And I'm assuming that they will only get better with time and practice.



Here are some before pics









And the results







 

Attachments

Looks awesome, good work! The most annoying part of detailing a car to me is drying it. I don't know if it has to do with Florida weather or if it's like this everywhere, but I can almost never get the car completely dry even using 3-4 clean dry MF towels. I wanted to add that removing the nozzle on your hose and running water over the entire vehicle and allowing it to "sheet" off greatly reduces the work in drying the car after the initial wash. Useful tip for the future.
 
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