Paint care...

[Steve V]

Ok since I have freshly painted bueaty,lets hear how you guys take care of yours.Shop said no bath towels,microfiber or terry cloth, wipe in the same direction to avoid swirlies. No wax just poilsh. I can use a california car duster. My car mainly gets dusty,I try to keep it out of the rain. It's very hard to wipe in the same direction. Let' here it.:smile:

My favorite is spray detailer and micro fiber towel.

 

[TurboRegal84]

When you wash the car use two buckets.

1 with clean soapy water with a Grit Guard (Keeps dirt at the bottom of the bucket) in it and another bucket as a rinse bucket. After you do a section of the car dip the mitt into the rinse bucket to get the dirty suds and dirt off and then get the suds and water from the clean bucket...this way you always have clean suds and you are not just wiping dirt all over your car causing scratches which looks like spiderwebbing.

When you hose off the car pull of the 'spray' nozzle and just use the end of the hose in a stream it will cause the water to bead up and be easier to dry.

With microfiber towels and the California car duster you should never press down on them...they should only glide over the surface of the car with little to no resistance.

Just remember anything that touches your car really scratches it....so the less pressure you put on it and the less you touch it the better it is!

 

[Boston GN]

Black cars are brutal

Two bucket method as stated above.

If you need to clay the car, any of them work fine. You can pick these up at any Autozone

Wash in a straight line how the wind would flow over the car will help prevent some swirls. Wash from the roof down. Then again, as stated above, sheet the water off the car with the end of the hose, not using the spray attachment. By doing this most of the water will come off the car leaving much less to "dry"
I lay the waffle weave on the wet spots on the car and let the towel absorb it, then I remove I rarely if ever "wipe"

To dry I use a waffle weave microfiber towel
Can get them here along with you microfiber polishing towels: Microfiber/Waffle Weave Drying Towels

For polishes I use Poorboys. Love them because, not only do they do a great job, you can use them in the sun: poorboysworld.com
To apply polishes I use a porter cable. Nice kits sold here: Dual Action Orbital Polishers and pads: Porter Cable 7424 : Lake Country Buffing Foam Pads

I also love Poorboys trim restorer for the front air dams and actually the tires and weatherstripping too. Makes them black but not a wet shiny black like with some tire foams and treatments: poorboysworld.com

Another product I love to use after I polish is a glaze. Glazes typically help fill in swirls you can't remove and deepen the paint.
RMG is my all time fav. Makes the paint look warm and buttery AWESOME!
ClearKote Red Moose Machine Glaze

Finally is one of my most versatile and useful products and that is the quick detailer!
This is one of the most important products as it limits the times I need to wash the car.
The best IMO is Finish Kare's FK425
Finish Kare FK1 Consumer Detailing Products You'll have to scroll down

Also, I'm not sure why you wouldn't wax the car. Just helps to maintain that nice finish longer and to help prevent frequent polishings (which technically removes clearcoat)

I love how a carnuba wax looks on a black car. Finish Kare has a nice one that is really resiliant in their Pink Wax (same link as above)
But when I'm going for that super warm jaw dropping wetness in my paint I use S100 (similar if not the same as P21S). Doesn't seem to last as long as pink wax, but it looks better IMO:
S100 Carnauba Wax is a hand-poured blend of German waxes, proprietary ingredients and pure Brazilian Carnauba wax. motorcycle wax, bike wax, s100
This can be found locally at any Harley shop too (usually)

I usually apply this with the porter cable and a grey/black finishing pad then wipe off with the usual microfiber.

Hope this all helps. Keep in mind these are just my fav. products. Others may have different opinions

 

[Steve V]

Great tips,keep them coming.:smile:

 

[MSDGN]

My GN has the original factory paint...here's how I've kept it nice for 21 years now...keep the car covered in the garage...before I take the car out use California Duster...then spray detailer with micro fiber towel...the car never sees water...when I wax I use Zymol with micro fiber towel...here's a pic...

 

[Dabigguy]

Most paint shops say do not wax for 6 months to allow the paint to breathe and allow the chemicals to escape from the paint.

I use a microfiber wash mitt from Advance auto on my black Expedition. It is green and looks like this one Chenille Microfiber Wash Mitt - Free Shipping. It works GREAT and no swirls......if you keep it clean. I have 2, just in case I drop one while I am washing my car. I just throw them in the washer on a gentle cycle to clean them.

Swirls are small scratches from dirt in your wash cloth, dirty water and washing the car with a "figure 8" pattern. Wash in a back and forth pattern, that way all the "scratches" are going in the same direction and doesn't reflect light in all different directions. Always use clean water to rinse your sponge in clean water before dipping it into the soapy bucket. The two bucket system works and invest in the Grit Guard for your buckets.

Taking the nozzle off of your hose for rinsing uses surface tension to pull water off of your car. I use my leaf blower to dry my car. It is great for getting water out of the nooks and crannies.

I am not sure why they say not to wax, to use polish???? Polish is just a very fine abrasive that removes very fine imperfections. Wax will help protect the clearcoat from UV rays. I would ask your painter why no wax. Let us know.

Your car looks GREAT Steve !!!! Maybe you can get mine painted with your employee discount.....you can tell them I'm your brother....we look just alike.

 

[Steve V]

LOL..still cost you and arm and a leg:smile:

 

[turbo39151]

A buddy of mine told me about Buffalo Milke (http://www.buffalomilke.com/). He and his Chevelle friends use it on their classic Chevelles (he's got the 1970 SS 454...) So he's pretty anal. The other guys have the 396 versions. All nice rides...
It's a spray on/wipe off wax with UV protectant in it. I don't use water on my cars since they sit in the garage under a cover. I usually just dust and apply some of the buffalo milke and wipe them dry with a microfiber towel. They look like mirrors.

For my drivers, I'm kinda lazy. I use any cheap soap to clean off old wax and dirt. Then I'll go over the paint with a claybar till everything is nice and smooth and then I'll just apply some Mothers... Nothing fancy, could probably be better but I'm not a fan of taking 3 days to detail a car that's going to get dirty almost immediately. I will probably eventually break down and get a nice Dewalt or Porter Cable buffer though.

Check out this site:

Detailing and Car Care Forum

Those guys are fanatical about detailing...
HTH