I recently found your site via the vwvortex's carlounge. I discovered this site 3 weeks ago and you all have shown me the error of my ways. My partner now thinks I'm obsessed with cleaning and detailing our cars. We have an '08 CTS, '06 Subaru outback, and an '01 Jeep Wrangler.
The car that I really take care of is the Black CTS. The jeep is a mud and trail rig so the swirls and scratches I don't care about. The Subie is our grocery getter so it gets dings and I sort of like it being a little rough. The CTS is so hard to keep clean looking. Before Autopia I thought I was doing a good job. I used to wash with 2 buckets, one for the wheels and bottom and one for the rest of the car. We've had the CTS for ~ 5 months and luckily I haven't caused too many swirls.
I've had black cars before and the swirls were always inevitable. Now, I know how to keep them at bay.
So up until 3 weeks ago, my routine and products looked like this:
2 bucket wash using old wash clothes. 1 bucket for the bottom of the car and wheels and 1 for the rest of the car. I used Meg's car wash shampoo (the cheap stuff in the purplish/pink bottle).
Every 2 - 3 weeks, I'd apply a layer of Top of the Line's Trade Secret Carnauba wax. I love that stuff. I've never polished my cars....maybe that was my problem.
For the interior, I've used a variety of OTC items, including Meg's, Mother's, and anything else I could buy at Autozone. I'd just pick up an item without thought or care.
So after discovering this site, I'm now ruined and going broke. This is what I've acquired in the past 3 weeks:
Now that I have all this gear, I now do a 3 bucket wash but I haven't yet polished or applied any new wax to my car yet. I also now put my air compressor to good use and blow all the water out of all the cracks and crevices
My questions are this:
1. Is there anything else I need? I don't think I'll need much paint correction because the swirls I do have are extremely mild. I put a halogen on the paint surface and there are very few swirls. One thing I'll need is a claybar. I was thinking about getting Mother's OTC claybar. It comes with Mother's QD spray.
2. I've never used a machine polisher before. I used the KAIO the other day on a friend's car as an experiment and I applied it by hand. It was very easy to use and I learned on Autopia that a little product goes a LONG way. Should I be applying this using the cyclo? If I apply it with the Cyclo, do I apply it to an entire panel e.g. the entire door, entire hood, etc... then wipe it off? Or do I apply smaller sections and take it off? I experimented with letting it completely dry and removing it and it was so easy.
3. I'm not sure what to do in this scenario: say I wash and QD the Black CTS on Saturday. We don't drive it around or only drive it a little bit. It get's dusty overnight (we only have a carport). Sunday, it's dusty or has pollen on it. Can I just blow the dust off with the air compressor and QD it or should I rewash? I really don't want swirls.
The car that I really take care of is the Black CTS. The jeep is a mud and trail rig so the swirls and scratches I don't care about. The Subie is our grocery getter so it gets dings and I sort of like it being a little rough. The CTS is so hard to keep clean looking. Before Autopia I thought I was doing a good job. I used to wash with 2 buckets, one for the wheels and bottom and one for the rest of the car. We've had the CTS for ~ 5 months and luckily I haven't caused too many swirls.
I've had black cars before and the swirls were always inevitable. Now, I know how to keep them at bay.
So up until 3 weeks ago, my routine and products looked like this:
2 bucket wash using old wash clothes. 1 bucket for the bottom of the car and wheels and 1 for the rest of the car. I used Meg's car wash shampoo (the cheap stuff in the purplish/pink bottle).
Every 2 - 3 weeks, I'd apply a layer of Top of the Line's Trade Secret Carnauba wax. I love that stuff. I've never polished my cars....maybe that was my problem.
For the interior, I've used a variety of OTC items, including Meg's, Mother's, and anything else I could buy at Autozone. I'd just pick up an item without thought or care.
So after discovering this site, I'm now ruined and going broke. This is what I've acquired in the past 3 weeks:
- Cyclo Polisher
- Top of The Line Smooth Cut Polish
- Klasse AIO
- Top of the Line Trade Secret wax (already had this)
- Pinnacle XMT 180 wax (I've been reading about it and thought I'd give it a try. I'm going to try Collinite next)
- Mother's QD spray
- Pinnacle bug remover sponge
- Sprayway glass cleaner (already had this)
- 303 aerospace protectant
- Top of the Line Grape Tire dressing (been using this for years and like it)
- Turtle wax bug remover (not sure about this one, thought I'd try it. I wash the car too often and apply too much wax for the bugs to really stick to the car )
- 25 MF towels in yellow for cleaning the inside (cheap ones from Sam's, they work ok)
- 25 MF towels in orange for cleaning wheels and windows (same as above)
- 12 Ultimate MF from detailer's domain in red for polishing, buffing, and applying QD
- 2 Cobra Supreme Guzzler Waffle Weave MF drying towels...these are simply AMAZING!
- 3 buckets with grit guards (1 for wheels and bottom of car, 1 for the rest of the car, and 1 for rinse )
- Meg's Gold Class shampoo
- 1 Mother's Sheep Skin wash mitt for the top of the car
- 1 Chenille wash mit for the wheels and the bottom fo the car..I got a different one so I could keep them separate and tell them apart
Now that I have all this gear, I now do a 3 bucket wash but I haven't yet polished or applied any new wax to my car yet. I also now put my air compressor to good use and blow all the water out of all the cracks and crevices
My questions are this:
1. Is there anything else I need? I don't think I'll need much paint correction because the swirls I do have are extremely mild. I put a halogen on the paint surface and there are very few swirls. One thing I'll need is a claybar. I was thinking about getting Mother's OTC claybar. It comes with Mother's QD spray.
2. I've never used a machine polisher before. I used the KAIO the other day on a friend's car as an experiment and I applied it by hand. It was very easy to use and I learned on Autopia that a little product goes a LONG way. Should I be applying this using the cyclo? If I apply it with the Cyclo, do I apply it to an entire panel e.g. the entire door, entire hood, etc... then wipe it off? Or do I apply smaller sections and take it off? I experimented with letting it completely dry and removing it and it was so easy.
3. I'm not sure what to do in this scenario: say I wash and QD the Black CTS on Saturday. We don't drive it around or only drive it a little bit. It get's dusty overnight (we only have a carport). Sunday, it's dusty or has pollen on it. Can I just blow the dust off with the air compressor and QD it or should I rewash? I really don't want swirls.
.