I'm overwhelmed

S

Suzanna

New member
This site was suggested, since I was asking questions about car care.

I've spent every evening this week going over the different forums and I am absolutely fascinated.
Obviously, I have alot more reading to do.

I have done some searching, but wondering if someone could lead me to a thread that may have been a check-list of basic, beginner, how to, instructions?

And secondly, is there a way to search for members/businesses by geographic area?
Would like to hire someone skilled to do my vehicle, since I am obviously not capable and my new car needs wax now.
And after reading here, I'm not sure I'll ever be capable!

Suzanna
 
Welcome to DC! Dwayne, the site owner, has a bunch of great how-to articles located here:

http://www.detailcity.com/detailing-how-to.html

There is a thread in the DC sponsored forum about geographic location. Here is a map of all of the members that have decided to add their location to it:

http://www.detailcity.com/wheres-your-detail-city.html

This site has a ton of information and it is all at your fingertips. If you have any questions, please try a search first, because it has most likely been discussed a few times before. If you can't find an answer or get confused by the answers given, please feel free to ask away. I hope you enjoy your stay!
 
go to Jngrbrd(sp) web site i think its on his personal page thing. neway you can read all you want which i did, but u need to make the plunger. Go out buy ourself som megs soap (a good otc) and wash your car. Start small and work your way up. I read and read and then read some more and learned lots but until i actually made an order and did a detail i knew very little. The best teacher is experience, And the one thing to remrber is it should be fun, if its not, its not worth it. Enjoy and welcome to DC
 
I've got a couple articles on ocdetails.com that might help you. I think most of them have been reposted over here, but if you are looking for beginner information then check out the basic detailing guide first. Once you have read that then you'll probably have more specific questions that you can do a search here for. There is tons of stuff here. I learn something new every day reading the forums. :bigups Welcome to Detail City!
 
Thanks for the links.
I read and made a shopping list.

Last night I went to Target, Home Depot, AutoZone, Discount Auto and Walmart.
No store had a decent selection of products.
Where do you all shop?
I saw the mail order, but I need something today.

I have had my car one week and want to properly clean it.
Still feel uncomfortable about what is after wash.
I've never really waxed my own car before (did a couple of times years ago, think I did more harm than good.)
What's the difference between sealant and wax?

I am in central Florida, without a garage, with an assigned parking space under a tree so am looking for good protection.
That lasts as long as possible.
I can't guarantee my schedule to be able to wash and wax regularly.

That's why I thought I should hire someone.

Did I mention overwhelmed?

Suzanna
 
Welcome to DC! Dwayne, who runs this site and the store at Detail City.com is located in Sarastona and has all of the porducts that you would need. PM or call him and he'll hook you up. This site has a wealth of information and within a few weeks you'll feel like your a pro.
 
Well it sounds like you are in need of a good detailer and perhaps you may be able to wax or seal your car every 3 months say? Then you really want to read about how to wash and dry your car with the proper items.
SUCH AS:good soap,plenty to pick from just read and shop.You will need couple 5 gal. buckets you can read about the two bucket method. Wash mitt,sheepskin or your choice,drying towels,chamois,waffle weave your choice
and probably a sealant if time is a problem for you,again ask or read ,you will need polishing applicator and micro fiber towels to take sealant off. This just sounds to me what you will need adter you get your car detailed.. good luck!
 
Hi Suzanna, welcome :howdy

You can pick up car wash and clay (the step after wash) at your local Auto Zone. It sounds like a brand new car, so hopefully you won't have to remove any swirls. There are a number of new OTC LSP's (last step products) on the market that seem to be getting good reviews. If you are looking to purchase online, I'm partial to poorboy's EX and Wolfgang's paint sealant.

I hope you check out jngrbrdman's thread http://www.detailcity.org/forums/detailing-general/3136-detailing-according-jngrbrdman.html
there is a nice list of products there as well


Don't forget that there are discounts from some of our sponsors here to take advanage of.

HTH
Enjoy your stay and congrats on the new car
"J"
 
For the time being it sounds like she would rather have it done by a DCer if someone is near by.
 
Yikes Jay, that link was similar to some of the other articles I have read!
Interesting but now I am getting so many opinions, I can't assimilate.

I went to AutoZone last night, the cleaning stuff they had didn't match the stuff I was reading about, that's when I went to the other stores too.

My past was using dishwashing soap, some black tire stuff, some white wall stuff (really long ago), ArmorAll and Windex, with an occassional wax that was a pain to get off.
I used the car wash detailer every year or so.

So now I want to:
1. wash safely/properly
2. seal/wax (which is better?) but am afraid I will do it wrong

Clay really scares me.

So Joe, yes, I would like to hire/watch someone do it.
For the immediate care of the car and for me to learn.
I understand alot by reading, but would like to take the course too.

My boss said his son would wax my car.
He does his mom's BMW using some wax that starts with "X".
Should I be afraid?

My (late) father, brother and husband are not role models.
My dad never waxed the car, my brother owns an auto/self-service car wash and my husband washes his truck every week - but spends no more than 10 minutes doing it with Dawn and the bucket and cloth that sits outside all week.
Don't you think I need help?!

Suzanna
 
Don't expect to get one opinion on detailing. There are as many ways to do it as there are products on the shelf. Sometimes you just have to experiment and form you own opinion if none of the other opinions available work for you. Don't get too worried about this though. Detailing is something that 16 year olds are out there doing and they aren't screwing up cars. I'm sure that you are more than capable of handling it. However, if you are still worried about everything after all you research, then it might be better to just hire someone to do your detailing.

Here is something on waxes and sealants. I thought I posted that somewhere around here, but I can't find it.
 
willing to pay an airline ticket and hook me up with some housing??? my Bro in law lives down there in st. pete's so i could do his cars also..
 
Welcome to the forum and I think Jngrbrd has a great site and so do a few of the sponsors sites. If you start small and then take the time to begin learning and reading coming here and reading the forums you will begin to learn what steps are needed to do what you want. Like many here have said there are so many different ways to do things and we all have variances on them. We all use a lot of the same products yet at the same time one of us will love one thing and the next person will hate it. So a lot of it is personal preference. As long as you get the basic skills down you will be fine.

My suggestion would be to simply learn the proper washing skills first and then once you have that mastered and are comfortable with it move onto the next area.


Richard
 
97F1504x4 said:
Welcome to the forum and I think Jngrbrd has a great site and so do a few of the sponsors sites. If you start small and then take the time to begin learning and reading coming here and reading the forums you will begin to learn what steps are needed to do what you want. Like many here have said there are so many different ways to do things and we all have variances on them. We all use a lot of the same products yet at the same time one of us will love one thing and the next person will hate it. So a lot of it is personal preference. As long as you get the basic skills down you will be fine.

My suggestion would be to simply learn the proper washing skills first and then once you have that mastered and are comfortable with it move onto the next area.


Richard
Click to expand...
Good advice.
Not everyone wants to become a detail addict. Many just want to have a nice looking vehicle.
Several of my friends have discussed car care with me and it's soon evident if they want to really get into it or just have a nice looking vehicle.
For those people, I suggest a good wash mitt, use only car shampoo, use a safe drying medium.
Then for the wax part. I usually just suggest a good one step cleaner/wax that is easy to apply and remove. The best products in the world won't do much good if they don't get used.
Most people will wash their car and even wax it a few times a year, but buying a polisher, pads, polishes, etc., is just not their thing.
And there's certainly nothing wrong with that.
Friday, I polished (Meg's #80) and waxed (Meg's NXT) a friends SUV. I gave him the bottle of NXT to use himself and I think he will. I don't think he will ever polish it himself. In fact it will most likely just get drive-thru touchless car washes. Like I said, it's just not his thing.

Charles
 
I feel safe in washing.

I finally found some stuff.
Got the Meguiar pink wash and wheel cleaner, wanted the NXT but can't find it locally.

Thought about washing this evening, but it got dark and windy.
Is washing in wind bad?

Charles, was the NXT liquid or paste?
What is #80?
I've read articles when #20 and other numbers are mentioned.
I click to DCstore to see the products, but don't find the same name/number.

Actually thinking about ordering a Wolfgang Concours kit.
All the pieces included.
Think I can handle it?

Suzanna
 
Suzanna said:
I feel safe in washing.

I finally found some stuff.
Got the Meguiar pink wash and wheel cleaner, wanted the NXT but can't find it locally.

Thought about washing this evening, but it got dark and windy.
Is washing in wind bad?

Charles, was the NXT liquid or paste?
What is #80?
I've read articles when #20 and other numbers are mentioned.
I click to DCstore to see the products, but don't find the same name/number.

Actually thinking about ordering a Wolfgang Concours kit.
All the pieces included.
Think I can handle it?

Suzanna
Click to expand...
Suzanna here is an acronym list this will help you decode some on the abbrevations you see.http://www.detailcity.org/forums/detailing-general/16180-updated-acronym-list.html#post159838
 
Washing in the wind isn't the best thing in the world. The dirt in the wind will just make it hard to dry the car before the water gets all muddied up.
 
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