Getting better and better

[Harper55987]

Been getting closer and closer to a full detail on my car and still have a few more questions...

My process:

Wash tires with griot tire cleaner

Wash car in sections. Top down. oNR two bucket with grit guards

Once washed. Clay the car

Then polish with hd cut and polish



Questions:

1. How do you keep your mitts clean? They are always black it seems. Is this because i am doing a rinse less wash with my car to dirty? I don't see many threads on cleaning mitts



2. After you clay, you have the residue left which is kind of dry and sticky. Do you just QD this off? Or just HD Cut over it?



3. How long does a full detail (exterior) take? Wash. Clay. Cutting compound. Swirl removed. And sealant

 

[Accumulator]

Been getting closer and closer to a full detail on my car and still have a few more questions...

My process:

Wash tires with griot tire cleaner

Wash car in sections. Top down. oNR two bucket with grit guards

Once washed. Clay the car

Then polish with hd cut and polish



Questions:

1. How do you keep your mitts clean? They are always black it seems. Is this because i am doing a rinse less wash with my car to dirty? I don't see many threads on cleaning mitts..

IF your mitts are getting soiled you must be doing a rinseless wash, like...with ONR or somesuch. I'd check out the Garry Dean Wash Method.



But then I don't really wash that way very often so I'm the wrong guy to address such stuff. To me, if a mitt looks dirty, then it *is* dirty, and I don't touch my paint with dirty things :nixweiss



Oh, and the Griot's Rubber Cleaner (is that what you meant by "tire cleaner?) is *VERY* gentle...expect to do it a few times and scrub well while it's dwelling (don't scrub so hard that you scratch up your tires if they're soft-compound).

2. After you clay, you have the residue left which is kind of dry and sticky. Do you just QD this off? Or just HD Cut over it?

I usually do a quick wash, panel-by-panel, after claying each panel. Only takes a moment. I wouldn't compound/polish without cleaning it off.

3. How long does a full detail (exterior) take? Wash. Clay. Cutting compound. Swirl removed. And sealant

At the risk of sounding like a complete smart-@$$, it just takes as long as it takes, and that's usually a *LOT* longer than people ever expect. I myself wouldn't want to do it in a single day, and I've been doing this stuff since the '70s.



Wash and clay the car. Do a representative test-spot with all processes from compound through polish. Inspect inspect inspect under good lighting to make sure everything's going OK.



If you can, do the above in one day and finish it the next.

 

[Harper55987]

Thanks for the help. Yes they look filthy and I am doing a rinse less. I actually stopped the last one I was so worried. I implore the two bucket method but even when rubbing against the grit guard I get nothing out... Maybe I need to rinse more thoroughly before hand or add more ONR? What is your preferred way?

I usually do a quick wash, panel-by-panel, after claying each panel. Only takes a moment. I wouldn't compound/polish without cleaning it off.







At the risk of sounding like a complete smart-@$$, it just takes as long as it takes, and that's usually a *LOT* longer than people ever expect. I myself wouldn't want to do it in a single day, and I've been doing this stuff since the '70s.



Wash and clay the car. Do a representative test-spot with all processes from compound through polish. Inspect inspect inspect under good lighting to make sure everything's going OK.



If you can, do the above in one day and finish it the next.

So you. Wash,clay,then wash each panel again? Or wash,clay, the QD each panel after?

Timing makes sense. I did my hood and it took an hour or so. Nice to confirm

 

[Accumulator]

Thanks for the help. Yes they look filthy and I am doing a rinse less. I actually stopped the last one I was so worried. I implore the two bucket method but even when rubbing against the grit guard I get nothing out... Maybe I need to rinse more thoroughly before hand or add more ONR? What is your preferred way?

Heh heh, my preferred way is to do a conventional wash with a foamgun



With the rinseless, I'd do an even more paranoid version of the Garry Dean Wash Method; I'd use a folded and saturated (with ONR/etc.) MF to clean a very small area, refold it and do another small area, switch it for a fresh one after maybe half a panel or even less. Yeah, I'd use up many, *MANY* MFs to wash a single vehicle. If the wash medium has gotten dirty, I won't rub it against my paint. So none of this "rinsing it out and redunking it" for me, I'd want a fresh, clean saturated MF each time.

So you. Wash,clay,then wash each panel again? Or wash,clay, the QD each panel after?

Wash, clay, rewash. The second wash goes *very* fast since you're only washing off the soapy lube residue (hopefully there's not much "clay residue" on there, just lube).

Timing makes sense. I did my hood and it took an hour or so. Nice to confirm

Yeah, don't try to rush it, too easy to mess things up. Just let it take as long as it takes and in time you'll get quite a bit quicker.