New Car Prep

[boywonder]

This is a little something I am currently writing up for another detailing forum I moderate. I hope this can be of some help to those who bought a new car.



http://www-new.nissanx.com/f0rums/thread.php?threadid=3394&boardid=54&page=1#6

 

[boywonder]

Items needed for the initial interior treatment



a) Vacuum cleaner: I personally have a shop vac I paid $32 bucks for and it's good for general vacuuming of vehicles.



b) Terrycloth wax applicators: Those are excellent when applying leather cleaner and conditioner as well as protectants.



c) Protectant: If you get one, make sure it has a high UV rating to protect the vinyl on the dash. I recommend Lexol's Vinylex for that purpose. I also may use the Vinylex to treat the tires as well.



d) (For Leather Interiors Only) Get a good leather cleaner and conditioner. Recommendations are Lexol, Zaino, Pinnacle, Einszett and Leatherique.



e) Microfiber Towels or newspaper for glass cleaning. You can get Microfibers at Wal-Mart for a reasonable price or order from the links I have listed above.



f) Glass Cleaner: I try to stay away from ammoniated glass cleaners because of tinted windows. Ammonia tends to interact with the mylar in a negative way by ruining the coloration and (sometimes) the material itself. Recommendations: Eagle One 20/20, Stoners Invisible Glass, Sprayway.



g) Plexus Plastic Polish. Use that for the gauge windows and the radio windows. I also recommend that if you have a wood dash kit.

 

[Jesstzn]

Items needed for the initial interior treatment





e) Microfiber Towels or newspaper for glass cleaning. You can get Microfibers at Wal-Mart for a reasonable price or order from the links I have listed above.



f) Glass Cleaner: I try to stay away from ammoniated glass cleaners because of tinted windows. Ammonia tends to interact with the mylar in a negative way by ruining the coloration and (sometimes) the material itself. Recommendations: Eagle One 20/20, Stoners Invisible Glass, Sprayway.

Re the glass cleaning.. After years of trying everything including Stoners I was still never able to get the windows "perfectly in the direct sun" streak free untill I ran into this.



1) Clean all the windows with an ammonia free product then wipe dry with a paper towel. Do this only "ONCE" to get of any crud if your windows have been neglected. Not a necessary step if your windows have been kept clean.



2) Take 2 "new" cheap MF towels ( The Turtlewax brand works great for this) and dampen one and wring it out, the other .. fold it in 1/4's.



3) wipe the window down with the damp MF and immediatly follow with the dry MF. Your windows will be clean and "In the sun" streak free.



Eventually you will want to replace the dry towel with a new one. Move the dry towel down to wet towel duties and the wet one on to other things. I get a year out of my dry towel .. a smoker may get less.



This method is also environmentally friendly.