Help Me Build My First Detailing Kit

A

AikenForJeff

New member
Hey all,



I live in Rhode Island, park outside, and am buying a new car in 6 weeks. I'm coming from a Subaru which has the softest paint on the planet and it's pretty mangled from sand on the highway after only 20k miles. This will be my fourth vehicle so I've learned the basics of amateur detailing by hand.



Here's the catch: everything has to be able to be applied by hand. I have:

Meguiar's Deep Crystal Wash

Two Buckets

MF Wash Mit

Great set of about 20 MF towels

Mothers Clay Bar Kit (the one that comes in the box with Showtime Detailer)

Meguiar's Quick Detail

Rain-X (don't laugh, I like it)

BlackMagic Tire Wet

Mothers Back To Black

Meguiar's Gold Class Wax





So, I need:

Paint Shampoo

Wheel Cleaner

New Mitt

Interior Products (new car will have cloth and plastic interior, not leather)

Sealant

Bug & Tar Remover** This one is important as bugs and bird dirt tend to be my biggest problem.

Any other products I need but don't know about. P21s total auto for the engine bay?



My budget is reasonable, nothing too crazy but you get what you pay for. I wash at least once a week and I prefer paint longevity and protection over appearance.



Thank you in advance.
 
Um I posted about a shampoo and AutoGlym 901 seems to be fav of Scott (forum celebrity) Accum also has his favs but he's got a few selections--normally ONR seems to be the new THING (though ionno if it's a shampoo per se)



Wheel cleaner, pretty much the soap and soft feathered brush (i think they say nylon) OR you can use a degreaser--I plan to try DP engine degreaser--but i think onr can work



interior--i mean off the top of my head--i'd use the search function up top--but maybe meg's interior? ionno here

bug & tar if wash and clay bar doesn't do it umm... ionno...i suppose any auto bug/tar remover should do? (i mean you're ganna wax and all that anyways)
 
It's all about the prep ... the rest is personal preference.



Hand polishing is a challenge, but with some effort you can get decent results. Do a search on "hand polishing".



I've had good results by hand with #80 and FPII ... I believe 1Z polishes are recommended too.



Sealants, hybrids including FK1000P, and Collinite products will offer the most durability.



What color is your new car?
 
AikenForJeff- Here's how I'd do it (by hand).



Shampoo- At least Meg's Gold Class, preferably DuraGloss. If ordering online, I love Griot's Car Wash but Optimum's shampoo is cheaper and supposedly similar.



Bug & Tar- I almost always just use Sonus Green Clay.



I used the Klasse twins on my Subies, worked great including on the exterior plastic/rubber trim. I do not use dressings or B-2-B on such surfaces as a general rule.



If you're not using Klasse, I'd use Autoglym Super Resin Polish (but not on the aforementioned trim, sometimes it's OK but other times it's not) topped with FK1000P. OR...Zaino's AIO also topped with FK1000P. OR...1Z Paint Polish topped with Collinite. OR...M80 or anything else topped with Collinite.



All those would blow the Gold Class away IMO, by a long shot.



The P21s TAW is great (if somewhat pricey) stuff, but you shouldn't need it if the new vehicle is, well, new. Easy enough to keep things tidy with just sorta-strong shampoo mix or ONR. If it's used and nasty, the the TAW is a fine choice, but any other citrus-based engine/etc. cleaner would probably be almost as good and a lot cheaper.



Wheel Cleaner- I use Griot's, but there are probably cheaper OTC options.



All I usually use on the interior is Griot's Interior Cleaner and Meguiar's Interior QD. Surfaces in there don't really need much "treatment" these days IMO.
 
Alexshimshimhae said:
so from 1z paint polish i can just hand apply/ buff off and then go straight to collinite? and there are no bonding problems?
Click to expand...



Correct. If you're pooped after doing the polishing, the wax in the 1ZPP will last a week or two on its own, so you could just do the Collinite after the next wash.
 
NHBFAN said:
It's all about the prep ... the rest is personal preference.



Hand polishing is a challenge, but with some effort you can get decent results. Do a search on DVD Headrest "hand polishing".



I've had good results by hand with #80 and FPII ... I believe 1Z polishes are recommended too.



Sealants, hybrids including FK1000P, and Collinite products will offer the most durability.



What color is your new car?
Click to expand...



Yea hand polishing is definitely tough but once you get it down I feel like you can do it better then if you paid someone too. At least thats how I feel now that I have gotten a lot better at it -=)
 
I really appreciate the feedback everybody. I've been practicing a lot of my techniques and testing out some products on my Subaru now that my lease is almost up.
 
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