CHINABOY'S car detailing guide

ok guys, seems that many of us here detail cars, and there is NO one single solution to do it... but there are many of us here on the site that have no idea what a clay bar is, or cannot distinguish the differences between many products... so I decided to make a guide on how to detail cars for you guys, ADMINS please make this a sticky please.

Now, keep in mind that I am using products that you can buy off the shelves or online and it is going to cost about roughly 80 dollars total for ALL equipment. Most of it can be found in your garage, but if not try to pick it up as soon as you can.

Today

STEP 1: WASHING

So first, use ONE wash mitt made of cotton or wool. I have moved away from using washing sponges because, of its pores, it can hold a lot of grime, and washing the car can lead to premature scratches and what not. Water down the car with the hose, and start from top to bottom. Use about a 1oz of DAWN BLUE DISH SOAP in the bucket and fill with water until foam. The reasons why we use DAWN BLUE DISH SOAP is because DAWN has a high amount of Alkaline in its chemical make up

STEP 2: CLAYBAR

The car is standing alone wet from top to bottom. Put on rubber latex gloves and open the clay bar box. Inside you will see there is a spray bottle

Step 3: DRYING


OK the car is wet and we need to dry it, so lets go ahead and take out our CALIFORNIA WATERBLADE, wet the silicon blade and start from top of the car, then work down the windshields and then hood and trunk, to lastly the side door and panels. Hold in hand, with slow strokes, the water will carry itself off your car. IF you go fast you might not pick up as much water. When most the water is off, drive your car in to the garage, and take out the SHAMMY, wet the shammy, wring it till damp, and then wipe off excess water that the water blade did not take off. NOW the car Is dry, we are now ready to begin polishing.

STEP 4: POLISHING

A lot of people ask me why to polish, when to polish and what is polish. So to answer those questions

STEP 5: WAXING

You are almost done keep it up. So now since the car is all polished out

Regular Maintenance

After a major detail, you still should wash your car every other week

Sticked.
Good informations.

thanks civicvtec1ps

here... juss for reference and creditibility of my detailing, I present to you Trisha... my TSX.

http://i.xanga.com/skylinehks/TSX%20001.jpg
fender shot, over looking the hood

http://i.xanga.com/skylinehks/TSX%20002.jpg
look ma! im in the light, but there is no swirls or scratches!

http://i.xanga.com/skylinehks/TSX%20003.jpg
she looks so nice and clean

The EP is outside... imma let my brother wash the hampster later...
but I was bored last night at 10:30PM... so I decided to detail my car... since its been about half a year

Chinaboy has mentioned P21S a few times. I use their paint cleaner and wax and they are both great. He's right in that P21S is somewhat hard to get. But, the same company that makes P21S also makes a line for motorcycles called S100. The products are identical except for the logo and the price. S100 is generally cheaper than P21S. No body knows why, but it is. And, you're not getting less product or anything like that.

The reason I say this is because most Harley dealers carry S100 products. I've heard of guys going to their local Harley dealer and buying all the S100 on the shelves.

P21S cleansing lotion = $13.95
S100 cleansing lotion = $8.95

P21S pure paste wax = $31.95
S100 pure paste wax = $14.95

By the way, nice write up Chinaboy!

hey chinaboy how much u charge for a full detail =O)
i remember u said you do it on the side.

i avoid using dishwashing soap. it's dyes and fragrances have chemicals that can damage your clearcoat. if you're that serious about cleaning cars, you really should be using a soap designed for car washing. just my .02

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Originally posted by Tenacious G
i avoid using dishwashing soap. it's dyes and fragrances have chemicals that can damage your clearcoat. if you're that serious about cleaning cars, you really should be using a soap designed for car washing. just my .02

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I agree with most parts of this post, however, I DON'T reccommend washing the car continuously with dish soap. And I only recommend using BLUE DAWN SOAP for the full detail. Zaino bros. also recommend using it... but I mean in anycase, You are washing only to clean to the bare base of the clear, the rest of the chemicals are either flushed or picked up by the claybar and the pre-wax cleaner. So its proven safe. Trust me I am serious about detailing, and this is a safe and effective way to srub bare minimum.

Try liquid Ivory. I like it better (cuts the most dirt off from what I've found). Soap won't harm your car, so don't worry. If it's safe enough for you to eat off of after you clean a plate with it, then it's safe enough for your paint. Almost all detailers will tell you that.

nice post, very informative. makes me want to go and start on mine

[QUOTE]Then use a new terry towel, fold the same way as before, once hotdog, then once hamburger style

Here is what I think. Good write up, but just wanna add a few things. Not trying to trash your thread ChinaBoy, just giving my 0.02 cents.

Try not to use dishwasher liquid. It will damage your clearcoat. Eventhough you're not using it all the time, but each time you use it, damage will be done. Minor, but still. Try to use soap that is made for car which would remove previously waxed coat. Read the labels.

When washing your tires, using mitts ain't enough. Use a bristle scrub u can buy at Walgreens or something. It gets more dirt out of the tires than using a mitt. Tires get brown from brake dust, using mitts to wash tires won't remove alot of it. As a scrub, it will. Tried and done it before.

As for the washing with mitts, I prefer using sponges. Not your 0.99 cents for two. But Natural Sea Sponges. They don't hold dirt like normal sponges or washing mitt do. When I use natural sponges or washing mitts, they get dirty after I wash the body of the car. As for a natural sea sponges, it stays clean. The uneven surface of the sea sponge doesn't hold dust/sand when you are washing. Washing mitts and normal sponges do. They are flat, therefore if the car still has dirt on it, you're basiclly sanding/scratching your clearcoat when washing. I got my sea sponge from a paint store, retails at 20 bucks a peice, but I got it for free. Just for reference, I used washing mitts before and they get dirty after a few car washes. Dirty mitt = bad. After I dry my sponge, I place it into a zip lock bag.

Bring your car to the garage to clay bar? Good idea. I've been doing that also. I might have missed it, or ChinaBoy forgot to mention. After you clay bar the car, rinse it, drive back to the garage, THEN dry it. When the car is wet, there is a higher chance of dirt sticking to the body. When waxing, I would leave the car in the garage. Before taking out the wax, I use a static dust remover, made by Swifer, and sweep the area I am going to remove. Reason is because your garage ain't free of dirty paticles. If you don't do so, you're buffing swirl marks on your car when removing the wax.

Is your plastic looking dull after your car is shiny? Well, I use the product to make your tire shine on the black plastic also. I spray some on body shop towels (blue color) and wipe it on. I don't put alot, but enough to make things shine. I use Tire Shine and it doesn't attact to much dust.

My car looks like shit, cuz I'm lazy to wash it. But when I do, I do it correctly. Good write up ChinaBoy.

Nice detail guide and nice TSX! I just got a TSX & loving it. :)

Here is my (jaydub's) detail process:
1) Clay Bar
2) 3M Swirl Mark Remover (for dark cars) - this will help your swirl marks or water spots IMMENSELY
3) Klasse All-In-One
4) Klasse Sealer Glaze
5) Blitz One Grand Carnuba
6) After washes I use Eagle1 Wax-as-u-Dry

I need to use my current supply before trying something new. ;)

I have to agree with Raiyo on a couple things, but sponges I still don't agree with... and in all acutallity, I really don't have a problem with washing with DAWN... Ive been doing that on many cars... and they still stand strong after a full detail, and none of them have lost their clearcoat or anything. and I think i said to bring the car back into the garage before we do anything else! hehe :D

Also I couple things more...

Exhuast tips... WD40 will do the trick, will shine and clean, makes grim and rocks harder to stick onto hot metal exhaust tips and drums.

As for the Interior... I DO NOT, and I REPEAT... NO ARMORALL in ANY part of the car... You will thank me for this... If you guys can find... PermaPlate product... I had a 94 Volvo that came with this stuff still works!! It is a Leather and Vinyl Cleaner... This stuff works, or creams and lathers... wipes and such should be stayed away from.

Use Air spray can to get into small cracks that you cannot reach, don't attemp to wipe it or whatever, cause if you wipe it there is a chance of you digging it in deeper, so spray from one end of the crack, and then have a vaccum sucking, in standby and catch all the suckers!

Floor mats... take it outside and hang it somewhere, BEAT it with a tennis racket or whatever you can find that has a big flat headed end... baseball bats don't work well... I know :p Then when you finish beating it to hell... you can use any meguairs carpet cleaning solution (recommended), and then spray a small amount of Lysol on the mats... leave it out for 30 minutes and proceed to put it back into the car.

Im gonna do one section on emergency situations and precautionary elements

Bad Weather (california, bay area)

In bad weather, I do have certain elements that I use to fight the elements

I do use rain-x
I do change my mats

Rain-x should only be used on front and rear windsheilds... not on the passenger or driver windows... the reason why is the rubber weather seal on the doors will rub against the window when it goes up and down, creating a fiction between the rain-x residue and the rubber... causing streaks and weird sounds from the friction. Even tho the windsheild will streak if you use the wipers too much with the application of rain-x, we rather be able to see in extreme weather conditions than to crash a detailed car...

Mats... you can buy weather mats from auto stores or you can cut your own, you can buy the plastic linolium clear mats and cut to your own preferance.

Next...

Scratches...

Meguairs Scratch X is a good item to apply... it is good to use for beginners... it is not tough enough to eat paint like 3M compound or anything that should be use with care.... but if you are bumped into or a light scratch... use scratch X on the effected area, and then only use a PEA size drop to apply... use terry cloth on the tip of finger and apply using fast equal pressure, going back and fourth from the area. Then apply a coat of wax again to cover the area.

If the scratch is deep, we are gonna have to goto operation.

Tools needed:

Touch Up paint
Small application brush
Hose with running water
2000 grit Sanding paper
3M Rubbing Compound

All these items can be obtained in a dealership and car shop. I learned this trick from autopia and it does work well, so kudos to them and their site!

So here we go... clean the effected area with soap and wash... then use the touchup paint and with the application brush that YOU buy seperatly, fill in the area. Wait 15 minutes before applying another coat. Do up to three coats... after an hour, it should all dry up enough to touch. Feel it, should feel like a scab on your car. Now I know the bottle says 5 to 15 minutes to cure... but let is stand for 24 hours. Now take out the standing paper and fold it only the size that is usable... so lets say or scuff mark is 2 inches... use only about a 2x4 size paper. So now here is the tricky part... have water run freely around that area... so flush it lightly... like juss make like a waterfall hugging the area. Use the sandpaper and rub gently... you can see the difference by the sab comming down in size and apperance. YOU will sand some small part of the clearcoat on the paint that is not effected... and it will haze ONLY a bit... but the last step should take care of it all... now as you can see the scab is not big anymore, but there should be SOME left... like you can feel with your finger that is is juss a like a small bump out of the ordinary. use the 3M rubbing compound... BEWARE! TOO MUCH or Mis Use, and you will shoot your paint to death... use about a pea size on a terry... ONLY apply to the effected area... so the scab and the hazing that is appearing around the area... lightly start rubbing... you should see imeadiate touch up color on the terry towel... because it is sanding down the remainding scab... think of compound as liquid sand paper... do the effect area, and it should start to look like brand new... clean it up by wiping with a clean terry to prevent spreading of the compound... and then wash... wax... and you are done. This proceedure will or could not help at all... deep deep scratches, or misuse of items in this description can make it worse. But if done correctly, the paint should look BETTER than it was before, or even like brandnew.

Thanks for the step by step process. I was wondering for the Dawn Blue Dishsoap, are other dishsoaps okay like Palmolive or something?

Can a mod please re stickie this thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ep3 604

Thanks for the step by step process. I was wondering for the Dawn Blue Dishsoap, are other dishsoaps okay like Palmolive or something?

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even though this is an old thread. i will leave it up because it is useful.

to answer your question, DO NOT use dish soap. it can take clear coat off in the long run. just buy something specifically made to clean your car.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by player757

Can a mod please re stickie this thanks

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i stuck this but leave it to other mods to do what they would like.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tnhatch03

even though this is an old thread. i will leave it up because it is useful.

to answer your question, DO NOT use dish soap. it can take clear coat off in the long run. just buy something specifically made to clean your car.



i stuck this but leave it to other mods to do what they would like.

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thank you :)

Actually I believe it might be Zymol I think that say use dish soap to strip the wax off. Of course don't use dish soap all the time but maybe when your going to do a full detail like clay,compound,polish,sealant/wax

if they wanted the soap to be used on cars, they would have called it car soap and not dish soap...

lol...sorry, i had to.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Canuck Civic

Actually I believe it might be Zymol I think that say use dish soap to strip the wax off. Of course don't use dish soap all the time but maybe when your going to do a full detail like clay,compound,polish,sealant/wax

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If you increase the concentration of car soap to higher then the bottle states then you can strip off the wax too.

the point of using dish soap is to remove the wax from the vehicle. While it WILL NOT hurt your clear coat it doesn't make sense to use it every time you wash your car, only when you want to "start fresh". I use denatured alcohol on cars all the time, don't worry about dish soap.

hm i would like to add something to carpet cleaning , i take my carpets out hose them down put dish soap on em and scrub the hell out of them with a hard broom then squeejy most of the water out and let them dry in the sun idk if that damages them but they come out lookin great

I'm so glad this post is still here, I love chinaboys detail guide :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tnhatch03

if they wanted the soap to be used on cars, they would have called it car soap and not dish soap...

lol...sorry, i had to.

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haha. never thought of it like that

V yeah did we?

it is a 6.5 year old thread.