detailing tomorrow. need advice

[Spidey]

Hi guys,

For the first time in approx 2 yrs I am going to detail my car beyond the regular wax every 6 months. my only plans right now are to
wash, polish & wax. But I noticed that alot you guys go with
wash, claybar, & then wax.

Do I even need to polish the car? I have looked over my car and the
paint is still in good shape. No big scratches or anything like that.
I know that clay bar is a good idea but frankly I'm worried that I'll
wreck the paint. Any suggestions on what I should do?
:)

[03SiGuy]

yea man polishing is good. just dont use a very abrasive polish and you will be fine.

this is what i did to my car and its so....... Smoooooth:)

you should only need to clay your entire car like 2 times per year if that much. i just did my car for the first time since i bought it.
4 step process
step 1. wash car with dawn dishwashing detergent. using dawn stripps off any old wax and just really cleans the paint of any contaminates. also clean inside of wheels and under the fender wells as best as possible.
step 2. clay magic the entire cars paint surface and then rinse off the clay lube which was auto magic body shine.
step 3. dry the car well and buff the entire cars paint surface with the step 2 meguiars paint polish with a meguiars foam polishing pad with my meguiars cordless polisher and then let that sit for about 20 min then remove.
final step 4. i used my meguiars finishing pad to apply some meguiars NXT Wax. then removed with my new concourse microfiber buffing towel.

link for the towel

and im now using a california water blade and a Viking Microfiber Drying Towel to dry the car.
my car is now slick as a babys ass.

[oogy-boogy]

Nice write up Dan :).


Another thing I do at times is mask off some of the black/rubber trim with masking tape. Keeps it from getting wax stains (white).

I usually throw a coat of wax on all the windows. Also, be sure to put an extra coat or 2 on the headlights and hood/bumper. I makes it easier to get bugs off in the summer.

[DrtyTexan]

is there any solution to wax stains....i got some on the black part of my side view mirror :(

[oogy-boogy]

Originally posted by DrtyTexan
is there any solution to wax stains....i got some on the black part of my side view mirror :(

Try a 50/50 mixture of Dawn dish detergant with water and a soft bristled tooth brush ;)

[Spidey]

thanks for the advice guys. car looks great.
I washed the car with dish detergent then clay bar'd, which by the way worked great, polish & wax. I could not find the NXT wax so I just went with Turtle wax. Oh well.

I have a question about removing the polish & wax. I wanted to use a
buffer/polisher but I find that it wouldn't completely remove it all and kind of worked it in more. Do you have to use a lot of bonnets over and over to get the polish or wax completely off? I ended taking it off manually but it's quite tiring.