Newbie to detailing, am I doing anything WRONG?

T

TFin04

New member
First some background:



I'm 19, I'm big into cars, trucks, snowmobiles, motorcycles, and anything else with a motor.

Cars I've owned:

95 Burgandy Buick Century

95 White Jeep Cherokee

00 Dark Blue Ford Explorer Premium Package XLT

02 White Ford Explorer Sport Premium package

I also have:

01 Arctic Cat ZR600 Snowmobile

95 Kawasaki Ninja Streetbike



I've always kept my cars clean and washed, but it wasn't until I bought the 00 Explorer that I started waxing and polishing. Now that I have my white 02, I really like to keep it looking good. What I would like to do is describe my cleaning procedure to you guys just to be sure I'm not going to hurt anything in the long run.



I know that the products I use are not the absolute best you can buy, but keep in mind I'm a college student on a budget. I still can create a very good shine with these methods.



- Wash/rinse at the local hand wash power car wash. I know power washers can cause damage, and I'm very careful with it.

- Drive home and clean interior while outside dries. I just use the basic Armor All stuff inside.

- Clean wheels/tires with Mothers Mag polish and Armorall Gold Tire Foam

- Wax the outside. I use Mothers Cleaner Carnuba Paste wax and apply it with a craftsman buffer and craftsman bonnets. I know a lot of you do not like the Craftsman buffer or bonnets, but keep in mine my bold line above.

- Wax again using Mothers Liquid Pure Carnuba wax for the final shine

- Clean windows with Stoners Invisible Glass



Now my car always looks good using these methods, and I do not have any swirl marks that I can see as of yet. Just looking for tips or advice if I should do anything different. Again, I like to use products available locally and I'm not in the market for a new buffer (new pads maybe).



Thanks for any help, I just like to keep my ride shiney. I'll get some pics up soon.
 
Your first mistake is using Mothers mag polish on your wheels. I highly doubt that any of the above vehicles have non-clearcoated, bare-metal wheels. Mag polish is not meant for use on clearcoats.



I'm a college student too, but I'm really serious about keeping my car looking as good as possible. That typically means that I have to order most of my stuff online. You can get decent results with locally-available products, but the real nice results come from seeking out the best products, and using those.

Also, many of the cheaper products in the stores will stain trim, or just be an overall PITA to use.
 
Ahh yes, the poor college student epidemic...haha

I'm really struggling having my car sit outside all the time. Thankfully, thanksgiving break is in less than a week, where I will AIO and SG x 4+ and make the exterior looking good again. My car hasn't even been washed in the month it's been out here - we get a lot of rain and the slickness of the SG seems to allow the stuff to just fall off the car. Either way, I cannot wait to get home and detail again.
 
White95Max said:
Your first mistake is using Mothers mag polish on your wheels. I highly doubt that any of the above vehicles have non-clearcoated, bare-metal wheels. Mag polish is not meant for use on clearcoats.
Click to expand...



The very top of the lip on both X's is bare, the spokes are painted/cleared, and the cap on the 00 was chrome-like plated plastic. I use the mothers on the lip, clean/wax on the spokes, and Nevrdull on the cap.



Thanks for the info though. The mothers paste wax doesn't stain trim, I already tested that.



Thanks.
 
You should think about drying the outside at the car wash. with you letting it air dry, there's bound to be a bunch of waterspots that form. and then you seal them in with a wax. I wouldn't think that that is a good thing.
 
He is using a cleaner wax first, which would probably remove the fresh water spots, but I agree with that. I'd dry it off myself at the car wash too.
 
Yeah, the cleaner wax really does do a good job of removing any water spots or oxidation from it. I also hop right on the freeway from the carwash to my house, about a 3 mile trip. All the water usually blows off before it gets a chance to dry. I also perform all of this in a garage, so the sun isn't beating down on it.
 
Big mistake # 1. Driving home 3 miles on the freeway then waxing your car.

Do you know how much grit you pick up on your paint during that trip?
 
I do hose it off once getting home, but yeah, probably isn't the best idea. I'm sure a regular old garden hose isn't the best way to remove that grit either, but its all I have right now. Thanks, maybe I'll look into a small pressure washer.
 
Get some QEW, 2 buckets, 2 mitts, 4 towels large plush. Wash it at home with the QEW and then proceede to wax the paint. Protectall has 2 bottles on sale for $10.
 
OK, TF. I didn't see any mention of a rinse after driving so I wanted to give you that warning.

Really you should be OK with a garden hose rinse and then dry.

I'm not a big fan of using pressure washers on paint. in fact I think in a few years pressure washing painted surfaces will be frowned upon. Kind of like the one bucket wash is today.
 
Hello.



If you hose it off when you get home, why dont you just hand wash it at home? The pressure washer is a waste of your money and time. Take that money and buy some good products online.





Good luck,

Sellncars





TFin04 said:
I do hose it off once getting home, but yeah, probably isn't the best idea. I'm sure a regular old garden hose isn't the best way to remove that grit either, but its all I have right now. Thanks, maybe I'll look into a small pressure washer.
Click to expand...
 
I probably should have provided more background.



I live on a dirt road (not really out in the sticks, but somewhat). My girlfriend also lives on a dirt road with a loooong driveway. I get a lot of dried mud on the car and the only way I've found to get it off is by a good pressure wash. With a garden hose, there's no way in hell that stuff comes off. I hate the idea of using a mit on it and just grinding all that dirt into the paint.



I dunno, just my theory on it. Maybe I'm wrong.



I do know to be careful with the pressure wash, and I only use it if there is a lot of caked on mud. We've gotton a lot of rain here recently, so I only get to wash my Explorer really well every few weeks. I like to hose it down in between those times just to keep the road grime off, so the drive thru carwash seems to work out for me.



I appriciate all the help.
 
TFin04- Welcome to Autopia. Those are some challenging conditions you're dealing with there!



A few things come to mind: After doing the carwash thing, you could use the QEW to better clean the vehicles after you get back home. Probably a lot better than just the rinse. And I'd try to dry it at the wash place too. Probably make lest dust/dirt stick to it after the trip up the dirt road.



Also, you could try some products that don't let stuff stick to them as much as what you're using now. A slick LSP (Last Step Product/wax) might make stuff wash off better than the Mother's, not that it's a bad choice or anything. Maybe just a topper with something like Collinite's wax.



Something sprayed on the underside, like Griot's Undercarriage Spray, might keep mud from getting too hard to clean off under there.



Oh, and I'd take it easy with the Nevrdull on that plastic wheel center cap. I'd probably use a nonabrasive (chemical cleaner) cleanerwax on it instead. Better safe than sorry and Nevrdull isn't nonabrasive (at least mine isn't, but it's pretty old).
 
Thanks for the info, I'll try that out.



The Nevrdull seemed to work really well for me to remove the old oxidation and stuff. I only had to use it once. After that, I kept it clean enough not to need it anymore. The new can I have is just a big bundle of swabbing with the chemical on it. I wouldn't consider it "nonabrasive," but I wouldn't call it "abrasive" either. It works well for my purpose. I've since sold that Explorer, and my new one has a painted plastic cap on it, so no worried there.



Thanks for the sympathy, it is really hard keeping this thing as clean as I like it. Damn you dirt roads!! :)
 
White95Max said:
Your first mistake is using Mothers mag polish on your wheels. I highly doubt that any of the above vehicles have non-clearcoated, bare-metal wheels. Mag polish is not meant for use on clearcoats.



I'm a college student too, but I'm really serious about keeping my car looking as good as possible. That typically means that I have to order most of my stuff online. You can get decent results with locally-available products, but the real nice results come from seeking out the best products, and using those.

Also, many of the cheaper products in the stores will stain trim, or just be an overall PITA to use.
Click to expand...





mag polish is for bare aluminum isnt it? :think:
 
SVT - yes it is for bare metals. Clearcoated wheels require a paint polish. Treat clearcoated wheels just like you would treat your paint.
 
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