I have over 30 years of hands on detailing experience. For those here on the forum that have questions about products or a process. Feel free to ask and I will do my best to help!

 

Thanks for the generous offer. Detailing is a pretty deep subject, as I'm just discovering.

Here's a question. I recently bought a foam cannon and about $250 of detailing supplies. Shampoo, microfiber mitts and towels, etc. My newly painted car sparkles and shines for two days, maximum. I live 3 miles from the beach and many mornings, the dew and condensation flow off the car in steady streams. By the time the sun comes out, the paint (white) has streaks, spots and dirt which stuck to the wet surface.

For years I've used car covers. I'm told by Beverly Hills Motorcar Accessories that their Noah series covers has a semi-permeable membrane that prevents condensation. But if I take off a cover that is dripping wet, what the hell do I do to stow so it will dry until I use it again?

Another question. What soap or cleaning product do you use to wash MF cloths and Mitts?

 

The Noah covers are some of the best on the market IMO I've had two. As for letting it dry off, do you have a place to hang it up?


For care on your MF towels, any good laundry soap will work, I add a 1/2 cup of all purpose cleaner APC while they wash. If they are real dirty, soak them in a bucket over night with some APC

Wash them in hot water (no bleach) then air dry or in the dryer on low heat with no fabric thingy

 

Hi dboy - thanks for the offer. I just bought a new camry, dark blue. After a few washes I'm already noticing those superfine scratches in the clear coat you can notice in direct sunlight. I'm using the 2 bucket wash system, and drying with a micro fiber towel. If I use a swirl remover it seems to work, but that just fills the scratches right?

I saw Poorboys has a polish combined with wax. Will that work? I'm basically looking for something to fix the problem and prevent it from happening. I don't want it to look like the cob web scratches you see from incorrect washing on dark vehicles.

Thanks for the help!

 

The marring that you are starting to see is very common on all cars, you are just seeing it more in the darker color. Its also something that we all live with at some level with clear coated cars.

Assuming that you are doing this all by hand, the Poorboys polish with carnuba and polish with sealant are both excellent choices. I've been using his products for years. The swirl remover you are using might have a filler in it. That's not always a bad thing, as long as you know what it is doing. I use a glaze that has a filler in it to help mask the minor marring that is left after polishing stages. Then I top that off with a sealant to lock the paint down, makes the car look new again.

For the application with polsihing use a cotton applicator not micro fiber, cotton gets a much better bite on the paint, work in small areas, about 12x12 inch areas, with a dime size amount of polish. Work this into the paint until it start to disappear this means the polish has broken down and done its work.

What car soap are you using? what wash mitt are you using

I use the poorboy super slick and suds, I like its lubricity of it. Helps to take the dirt off with out using a lot of rubbing. I also use a giant real lambs wool mitt, that I wash every few washes in the machine. This helps to keep the mitt from gathering dirt that embeds itself and reduce the marring.

Micro fiber towels are also important buy good quality ones. The Costco / Sams clubs are not always the best choices. The ones that I use are from Poorboys, for drying the car I use waffle weave they work really great.

 

I'm no expert, but forums on detailing also mention the importance of a Microfiber Wash Mitt. $12 at auto parts stores.

You could be putting in those scratches as you wash. But you are way ahead of the game using the 2-bucket system. Good for you!

 

The micro fiber wash mitts are very good I had one, gave it to the neighbor for his new ride.

I prefer wool or natural sea sponge just preference and that's about it

 

thanks for the advice dboy. This is my first dark colored car so I know I am going to have to get used to it.. just want to avoid making it worse over time. Setup a good wash and wax program and stick to it. I plan to keep this camry for a long time.

I'm using a turtle wax car wash soap and the lamb skin mitt sponge. Is the poorboys polish/wax safe on a new car finish? Do i really need to put a sealant on over it? I'd rather just do poorboys polish/wax a couple times a year and call it day. Figured the wax will help protect in between applications and its less work and less times touching the surface without doing the sealant.

on the topics of sealants: my neighbor recommended griots paint sealant... i tried it on an area of the car with a orbital buffer (with micro fiber bonnet)... went on great, came off great, but saw those pesky scratches in the sunlight. Since then I've been reading up polishes. People usually wash and wax, but forget the polish part.

speaking of buffers.. do you recommend applying the poorboys polish/wax by hand or buffer?

thanks!

 

yessir! I learned about the 2 bucket system about a year ago. Cracked me up when I first saw it. I was what the hell is that for? then it all made sense!

 

how would you make 10 years old car look brand new?