Wax ? or Polish ? Washing habits?

[Sympathy For The Devil]

Hey, Just wondering if I could get some feedback on peoples methods of cleaning the exterior and interior. Like Temp of Paint, cold car, warm car, just run, in sun, in shade, colour additive polishes and wax, any thoughts on tips or helpful aspects from experience, or even MacGyver'ed' tools to assist, and most of all views on good and bad brands of anything would be very much appreciated. Though, its not going through the auto-wash so that tip may not be helpful. Please if you could include any of the "oh ****, shouldn't have done that"... when I was cleaning" that would be very cool too.. thank you.. I just have the stock paint job --San Marino (if that matters). thanks again...

[maximus108]

i try to wash it every week. I was told that all of those yellow spots, (don't know what they are) and water spots will eat your clear coat if left for a long time. I was also told that if you wash your car every week you'll wear out the paint - - i still wash it every week.I got lots of swirl marks,(dark color, i got the same color as you)There's this thing called Scratch X that is supposed to eliminate all this,i got it but haven't tried it yet-been kind of busy.

AND- when you have dust on your car don't use a dry towel or anything to get rid of the dirt - it'll leave swirl marks.

I heard of that red California car dust thing, i never tried it - lots of people have it though. I heard that works.

[samej82]

when i first got my z i washed and waxed it with using meguires gold carnuba wax.. the shine is really amazing...i use a chamois when i wash my car so they don't leave swirl marks. Those marks even on a clean car will dull the finish. scratch x i think is used to clean up minor deep scratches.. to get rid of swirl marks u need a polish compound. then buff that off and then apply a regular wax..

i wash every week to two weeks.. but that's not strict the soaps i use aren't harsh on paint but strong enough to get through grease and grime.. i found that a wash mitt picks up dirt better than a sponge so i used on of those

on the interior when i first got the car i scotch guarded the seats head liner and sprayed a bit on the carpet..it helps to repel liquids and oils and keeps that new car smell for a while as long as the fresh air vent is closed.. dunnointerior plastics get protectant spraayed on it from the very beginning ... theres something called back to black for the outside trim that gets faded by the sun... vacuum the inside whenever u wash ... all the trapped dirt in teh carpets n seats will allow for odors to develop... the leather gets a a conditioner and protectant n that's it..

i found it's easier to stay ahead that to play catch up with the car.. if u stay ahead from the beginning u'll have a showcar like finish all the time.

it's a cali-duster... and it's great!

[TunerTrifecta]

the california dusters really do work great for small stuff: pollen, lint, etc...

As far as waxing/washing goes, a lot of people swear by Zaino products. Too rich for my blood.

I use Meguiars gold class wash/shampoo and liquid wax with a meguiars microfiber. For the interior I ONLY use Meguirs quik interior detailer. Leaves a nice shine with no residue and doesn't smell funny. Every now and again I'll follow up with some Wurth carnuba wax on the dashboard for a nice slick look that smells good.

I usually keep my carpets fairly clean, so I've never had to do anything other than a vacuum. In my old truck however, a household carpet shampooer worked great while using the "stairs" attachment.

As far as glass goes, my work has this stuff that is absolutely amazing, and we have lint free paper towels. Coffee filters work great, too. Newspapers are another good solution, but they leave print all over your hands. (EDIT: the name of the glass cleaner is Johnson Wax Professional Glance RTU--white bottle blue labeling.)

Remember to never use anything that leaves a residue on your steering wheel or shift knob...consequences are obvious.

For wheels I use meguiars hot shine all wheel cleaner. Spray on, let soak for 30 seconds, rinse off. If you need to get into small cracks a soft bristle tooth brush is the way to go; spray some hot shine on the tooth brush and scrub away. Do not let this stuff sit for too long or it will bake on the wheels--ask me how I know .

For tires I use meguiars hot shine WET. The can has an adjustable sprayer for low profile, standard profile, or high profile tires making things very easy. No rubbing or scrubbing necessary.

Chrome trim always gives me trouble, and I've never found anything that works "great".

As far as black plastic exterior pieces, I have a Wurth product specifically for this, and it works GREAT. Metal or plastic, dull or shiny, it spruces it up very nicely.

[alexpang87]

I try to wash mine every week and wax every other week. I use this stuff and it gets rid of the swirl marks.

http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

[samej82]

wax every other week?? wow.... switch your car soap cause it's really harsh if it's doing that.

[NSRsheets]

As for washing the car. In ther spring and fall I clay bar and three step my cars. For the rest of the summer I just wash it whenever I can and wax it about every other month. I For waxes i use turtle wax color wax, meguiars cleaner wax, and the Liquid ice wax. For the inside ijust sweep it and try to keep it clean. For leather I use the armor-all wipes.

[Mr. Music]

You can try Turtle Wax Zip Wax (soap). I use it on my Altima, and it keeps water beading off between waxes... I try to wash when the car is cool and in the shade, to keep the sun from drying the car, ESPECIALLY when waxing; chamois to dry it. I use Meguiars' Quick Detailer (which is a spray-on wax) every time I wash a car, and don't really wax it all that often. As far as the interior (cloth), I sprayed Scotch Guard on it the same day I got the car, and just vacuum it and armor-all the plastic...

[Sympathy For The Devil]

Cool, thank you ALL ---for the feedback. Tomorrow, I am going to make a list and head over to a few stores to find a few items listed. I want the rain to let up in Northern California. - I want to enjoy the work put into it for at least 1 day.

[TunerTrifecta]

If you want some INSANE water beading wax, try the DuPont wax with Teflon. The shine isn't quite up to par with Meguiars, but the water beading properties are far superior. The shine is still close.

[BlackSmoke]

Meguiars for everything by a landslide. Their R & D is above anyone else in the industry.

[z33nismo12]

i would try to wash it every week too, because what happens is you get sap and stuff from the trees and it can ruin your paint. Its hard to see it on there too, unless you have the color white. I had a civic and had a custom paint job on it, and it was white and yellow spots showed up. I couldnt get it off..

[Sympathy For The Devil]

I took everyones advice. Since I haven't washed and waxed a car in almost a decade I tried out everything I bought on the other car first. The other car is a 2003 Mercedes ML. I figured if a really screwed it up might as well be that car first. Because nothing seems to harm it. Please excuse the spelling and absolute lack of grammar- my hands are beat - just finished the Z"-- literally. After reading everyone advice -- thank you --

I went out and got the following at Walmart:

Maguires car wash Zymol wax ( smells all nice and fruity (rolls eyes). works none-the-less)Turtle Wax - Liquid Clay bara 15 dollar - MVP - 6" Rotating buffer/wax applier thing ( comes with 3-6"pads)

6 -6" Microtex Pads for the buffer thing ( 2 each) (synthetic wools, microfibers, and terry cloths)Mother wheel polishMaguires Leather cleanerArmor-all wipes

In the process of doing the Benz I noticed if I mixed the zymol wax and the liquid clay bar stuff onto the pad then waxed -- the end result was actually a deeper shine then in the places that I didn't do that to begin with. So, I did those parts over. The Benz took about 45 minutes to apply a nice thin coat on and another 45 minutes to remove it. The pads that you can get in Walmart are not worth spit. Though, if you apply the wax with the foam applicator it doesn't come off to easy. If you use a microfiber pad to apply the wax with it comes off pretty effortlessly. So armed with this knowledge.

I went to Kragen auto parts and for a about $1 more then walmart they have VASTLY better 6" pads ( they are made by Viking. If you can't find them email them for the local distributor [email protected]) . I am sure any auto parts place would have something better then walmart for the pads. Do what I did - squeeze the packages together to open and examine them first If your are unsure. I bought a 2 synthetic wool ones, and 4 Microfiber ones and a 10-pak of "diaper rags" The wool I used for buffing after the wax is taken off. The Microfiber ones work decently for about 1/2 of the "Z" each. Which is comparitively better then ¼ of the car per Microtex pad. The same for the Wool. The "Z" took about 20 minutes to apply the wax and another 20 minutes to remove it. The most difficult part was keeping the electric cord over my shoulder so it wouldn't bang against the car (a nice lesson to learn on the other car first) . Other then that - wax-on wax-off was not difficult at all.

The mothers wheel paste polish was applied the same way. I basically took the old wool pads after I was done buffing the wax and buffed the wheels. They turned out pretty good for about five minutes work each.

That little $14 dollar rotating pad waxer thing is well worth it. It took a 2-3 hour job and knocked into about 45 minutes. It really does a great job- it doesn't have enough torque to burn the paint and it is not really difficult to control. The only thing really I can recommend is that turn it off and on when its on the car surface- either that or your going to wear and splatter nearly everything within 10 feet.

It's says you can clean the pads to use again- I am still working that out. I might take them to a laundry mat and wash them there. Because, they are really not something you want to wash at home

[simplewon]

I found the best stuff. Mr clean from Walmart. I had a new black company car back in 87, noticed how quickly it was scratch by washing it. Black shows scratches easy. My wifes 2006 limited commander is black. I wash it myself to prevent others from scratching it. The water spots have to be buffed off or dried with a micro fiber towel and it was still scratching the paint. Saw the ad for the Mr clean and went after it. You have to use the soap and filter for it but it works great, just rinse with the filtered water and no spots, no scratches. Love it. Oh, my black roadster loves it too.