Polish Or Wax

[jomo]

I did this Thursday to my is200,

Pre wash with snowfoam, left too dwell on car while i did badges and door shuts with detailing brush.

Rinse with p/washer

wash car using two bucket metherd with Meguiers gold shampoo

Rinse with p/washer

clayed the whole car with Meguiers clay and using stardrops and water mix for lube

snowfoamed car again nodwelling time

rinse with open ended hose pipe to remove 85%of water

dried with large soft drying towel

polished with Auto Glym super resin polish with my rotary machine and polish removed with several microfiber cloths

then sealed with Dodo Juice Rainforest rub wax! (5hrs worth of arm bashing)

[sprinter2012]

What you have to remember is that polish is an abrasive compound made for removing swirl marks, and actually takes off the surface layer of paint. If you polish your car every time you wash it eventually you will have no paint left.

What you need to do is polish it properly the first time, then get a couple of good layers of wax on there to protect it. Then every time you wash it, re apply the wax. That way you should only have to polish your car once or twice a year, and it will make cleaning much easier as dirt doesn't stick to wax very well.

[Noreen is200]

All I've ever done is just wash and dry the car. I've never polished or waxed the car since I bought it just over a year ago so thought I better get round to it at some point! Lol

[jomo]

OMG!!!!!!! a year without polish or wax, you fecking heathen barsteward!!!!

[Noreen is200]

I know I know, the intention was always there...now it looks like we might have a decent summer, I need to get my act together lol

[panya]

Here is my advices, got yourself a whole case of beers and spend whole day doing it, makes sure is a nice sunny day tho! :)

Ps: if u can get hold of machine polish ie: dual or rotary polish machine, would make it a lot less work and the result is amazing but make sure u practice first tho, cos its can damage ur paint work if u a first timer.

[panya]

Here was I done today.

[graham8370]

Very nice Panya, looks professional.

[panya]

Thank you graham.

[KentIS300]

Most of the things I do is the same with the guys here...

First of all the most important thing is the Shampoo you are using. Make sure you use one that can maintain and build up a coating and preserve the wax/sealant you might have applied previously. This will make your wax/sealant work to go a long way before you neeed to reapply.

I use Nanolex Reactivating Shampoo my self I found it brilliant but it is expensive. (mind you, you only need to use 10ml of the product for about 5lt of water.)

Never use a sponge to wash you car .... it is the worst enemy. Only use a micro-fibre tower or a wash mit.

-- First wash the wheels with old materials ... ie an old micro-fibre or an old wash mit. put that bucket away... and forget about it once the wheels are done. :)

-- Now use two buckets one with plain water and the other with the shampoo/water. (one is to rinse the mit) and the other is to soak and put on the car.

-- Always soak the car / rinse off loose dirt before you start applying the shampoo on, be gentle ... and do not rub hard ... let stains soak.

-- Rinse thoroughly.

-- Now to dry (DO NOT USE a chamois leather ... it is as lethal as the sponge is.) Use a Micro-Fibre towel and some detailing spray... that will help you not tto leave any water stains behind.

-- The car now is ready to be clay-bared .... becareful as there are a few different grades of clay-bar out there and you do not want to get anything agressive. Generally ... you only need to clay bar the car once or twice a year. Depends on the area you live in, how often you wash it etc ... and the materials you use.

Clay-bar does not need to be rubbed or forced on the paintwork .... spray a lot of detailing spray aka lubricant and then float the clay bar on the surface until you are happy with the result. Again do not persist on one are ... and do not do large portions at a time just small portion of a panel ie 5"x5".

-- Once clay-barring is finished your car is ready to accept machine polishing, if you want to remove any haze or ghosting on the paintwork, which was caused by "automatic car washes etc etc ...) If you are going to machine polish ... best it to wash the car again as the detailing spray lubricant still has some oils in it and covers some imperfections, therefore you want the most exposure of the defects as possible. Some even use a tower with IPA (Alcohol) to remove all the waxes/oils or some use a good wash with a plain fairy liquid to remove all the waxes as well.

-- After machine polishing a wash is adviced to remove dust etc ...

-- Apply Sealant if you want ... and you will see what works best for your car and colour by trying things to be honest everyone has a favourite... if you have a red car ... ie a sealant might make the red a bit red/orange tint .... but a sealant works great for dark colours (ie my blue works mirracles on it and makes it look wet and deep bringing out the metallic sparkle). I use Zaino Z2 and usually apply 2-3 coats (as the manufacturer says the more the better and deeper it shows). Easy to apply and such a tiny amount needs to be used, also very easy to removy by hand.

-- Now if you have applied a sealant and you want a bit of more shine and more water repel ... then use wax on top of the sealant ... I used Autoglym HD Wax ...brilliant for the price you can find it on eBay for under £30 some times ... and again you can do the car several times. it has applicator pads and micro-fibre towel in the kit so with the all set to go.

Now your car is all set to go for 6 months lol :)

until then ... wash and clean like the first two steps (wash and dry) and no need to do anything else... if the water is not repelling like it was when everything was applied then apply a coat of the wax ... and it will be topped up on the car.

I do know it is a longgg process but the results will be stunning trust me.

I hope I did not forget something. ... I know it was a long post sorry.

Cheers

Vasilis.

--

[Maduggo]

Here was I done today.

I see you replaced the car you had at the Lexi meet then with this shiny clean one

Seriously though, very well done, looks good

[panya]

Thx muduggo, gotta to be done after many miles of drive covering in insects.