So I have never really been into detailing my own car. I pay attention when I wash it and use a quick detailer spray between washes. Other than that it gets waxed two times a year with Meguire's Deep Crystal Canuba wax. Until now. Once again, IS is to blame for my interest in the next level in exterior car care. About a year ago I switched over to Turtle ICE products.
After washing and drying, my first product was just the quick detailer. I'd use it for touch-ups in between washes. More recently I bought the Turtle ICE liquid wax to use in-between my bi-annual wax. Most recently I bought the Turtle ICE liquid clay cleaner along with clay bar and lubricating fluid kit because I had never cleaned the paint with anything other than a soapy mitt and microfiber towels.
Last Saturday morning I spent five hours doing my own detail. I'm pretty sure this is the longest amount of time I have ever spent on cleaning my car. I started off with a rinse and then the Turtle ICE carwash and washing mitt. Rinsed off all the soap and used a leaf blower to dry off the car.
Then was the Turtle ICE liquid clay solution. Used on a rag and worked over the paint to remove anything the wash missed. You can tell by the feel that this stuff has a little grit to it. Nothing harsh, but it dries to a haze on the car. Rinsing it off was relatively easy, but you need to use a microfiber to lightly wipe down the surface to get everything off. The force of the water by itself is not enough. Once again, I used a leaf blower to chase off beaded water.
I've never used a clay bar before, but I have done my research. I also made sure to follow the directions on the kit! Even when my car has been washed and waxed, you can still see paint swirls and watermarks in direct sunlight. In the past I spent some time trying to get these spots out of one area and had very little success. Using the clay bar and the lubricant, the clay glides across the paint very easily. I was surprised to do about 12 square inches and see how dirty the bar was on the bottom! I ended up kneading the clay often and I would pass over the same area several time until the bar stopped getting dirty. I'd use a microfiber to dry off the section I just clayed, then move on to another section. After finishing up and looking at the paint under direct sunlight, the watermarks were visibly less - maybe 75% smaller and lighter than they used to be. I can still see faint paint swirls up close, but standing back just a few feet it looks great.
Finally I layed down a thick coat of the Canuba wax and let it dry. It was tough work buffing it off. It really stuck to the car in a few places, or maybe I let it dry too long. After all the wax was wiped down the watermarks and swirls became even less visibile. I was pretty proud of my work since it was my first time and I could totally see the benefit off all that work.
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Fast forward to yesterday. I met a guy that used to work for a speed shop and he also details cars for shows. He has had three magazine covers and a bunch of show winner credits. He offered to do an agressive polish, seal and wax, as close to a paint correction as he could get with the products he uses. He used tape on all the trim so that the products wouldn't stain it. He was working on ONLY the paint. No trim, no wheels, no windows, no clear bra. All of his time was concentrated on the 2004 laser red paint with 102,000 miles of Texas road punishment imedded in the surface.
Since my intial work, it has rained and the car needed to be washed again. The detailer used a soap to wash and strip off all the wax, then went over every inch of the car with a wet-sander, looking for damage. Any place I had touched up in the past, any rock chip or scratch, he wet sanded till it felt completely smooth to the touch. I would NEVER have had the balls to do this to my car. After taking the sandpaper to the clearcoat, it was completely hazy, obiously scratched up and had zero shine. I trusted the guy, but it was scary to see this. He cleaned up the whole surrounding area with a quick detailer spray. These steps took him about 2 hours.
He then used a variable speed buffer and a polishing compoud to go over the entire car, to shine up the clearcoat and to buff the sanded areas. They lightened a bit, but were still visible after the polishing compound. Some areas were polished more than once. He wiped off left-over compound with the quick detailer. The whole car took another 3 hours for this step.
Next up was a lighter cutting pad and polish with sealant. Again he went over the whole car with the buffer. Now the wet sanded areas had mostly dissapeared. There are two or maybe three areas were there is some sanding work still visible, but the damage in those areas was bad and it now looks a lot better than it did before. He did some areas twice or three times to get the shine. About another 90 minutes to buff the whole car again. He told me if I go get touch up paint, he can make those areas look like new again.
Finally was the wax. This was the fastest step since the car was completely clean and smooth. The wax glides on and wiped off very easily. The tape on the trim made the wax go even more quickly, since there was no worrying about getting it on the trim. The wax took about 45 minutes.
While he was finishing up the wax, I wiped down the windows, wheels and the clear bra. By the time everything was finished it was dark, so no chance to take pictures. I plan to dust the car, maybe hit it with some quick detailer if needed, then snap some shots this weekend for posting to this thread.
He recommended I wax every time that I wash, for protection. I'm looking into three different types of wax - each one a bit more time consuming than the one before it. The most time intensive will still be twice a year, but I will now wax with the mid-level products monthly and the fast, easy liquid waxes after each wash. My wash-wax will be the Turtle ICE liquid wax. My monthly wax will be Mequire's NXT, and my bi-annual wax will be the Mequire's Deep Crystal system.
After washing and drying, my first product was just the quick detailer. I'd use it for touch-ups in between washes. More recently I bought the Turtle ICE liquid wax to use in-between my bi-annual wax. Most recently I bought the Turtle ICE liquid clay cleaner along with clay bar and lubricating fluid kit because I had never cleaned the paint with anything other than a soapy mitt and microfiber towels.
Last Saturday morning I spent five hours doing my own detail. I'm pretty sure this is the longest amount of time I have ever spent on cleaning my car. I started off with a rinse and then the Turtle ICE carwash and washing mitt. Rinsed off all the soap and used a leaf blower to dry off the car.
Then was the Turtle ICE liquid clay solution. Used on a rag and worked over the paint to remove anything the wash missed. You can tell by the feel that this stuff has a little grit to it. Nothing harsh, but it dries to a haze on the car. Rinsing it off was relatively easy, but you need to use a microfiber to lightly wipe down the surface to get everything off. The force of the water by itself is not enough. Once again, I used a leaf blower to chase off beaded water.
I've never used a clay bar before, but I have done my research. I also made sure to follow the directions on the kit! Even when my car has been washed and waxed, you can still see paint swirls and watermarks in direct sunlight. In the past I spent some time trying to get these spots out of one area and had very little success. Using the clay bar and the lubricant, the clay glides across the paint very easily. I was surprised to do about 12 square inches and see how dirty the bar was on the bottom! I ended up kneading the clay often and I would pass over the same area several time until the bar stopped getting dirty. I'd use a microfiber to dry off the section I just clayed, then move on to another section. After finishing up and looking at the paint under direct sunlight, the watermarks were visibly less - maybe 75% smaller and lighter than they used to be. I can still see faint paint swirls up close, but standing back just a few feet it looks great.
Finally I layed down a thick coat of the Canuba wax and let it dry. It was tough work buffing it off. It really stuck to the car in a few places, or maybe I let it dry too long. After all the wax was wiped down the watermarks and swirls became even less visibile. I was pretty proud of my work since it was my first time and I could totally see the benefit off all that work.
------
Fast forward to yesterday. I met a guy that used to work for a speed shop and he also details cars for shows. He has had three magazine covers and a bunch of show winner credits. He offered to do an agressive polish, seal and wax, as close to a paint correction as he could get with the products he uses. He used tape on all the trim so that the products wouldn't stain it. He was working on ONLY the paint. No trim, no wheels, no windows, no clear bra. All of his time was concentrated on the 2004 laser red paint with 102,000 miles of Texas road punishment imedded in the surface.
Since my intial work, it has rained and the car needed to be washed again. The detailer used a soap to wash and strip off all the wax, then went over every inch of the car with a wet-sander, looking for damage. Any place I had touched up in the past, any rock chip or scratch, he wet sanded till it felt completely smooth to the touch. I would NEVER have had the balls to do this to my car. After taking the sandpaper to the clearcoat, it was completely hazy, obiously scratched up and had zero shine. I trusted the guy, but it was scary to see this. He cleaned up the whole surrounding area with a quick detailer spray. These steps took him about 2 hours.
He then used a variable speed buffer and a polishing compoud to go over the entire car, to shine up the clearcoat and to buff the sanded areas. They lightened a bit, but were still visible after the polishing compound. Some areas were polished more than once. He wiped off left-over compound with the quick detailer. The whole car took another 3 hours for this step.
Next up was a lighter cutting pad and polish with sealant. Again he went over the whole car with the buffer. Now the wet sanded areas had mostly dissapeared. There are two or maybe three areas were there is some sanding work still visible, but the damage in those areas was bad and it now looks a lot better than it did before. He did some areas twice or three times to get the shine. About another 90 minutes to buff the whole car again. He told me if I go get touch up paint, he can make those areas look like new again.
Finally was the wax. This was the fastest step since the car was completely clean and smooth. The wax glides on and wiped off very easily. The tape on the trim made the wax go even more quickly, since there was no worrying about getting it on the trim. The wax took about 45 minutes.
While he was finishing up the wax, I wiped down the windows, wheels and the clear bra. By the time everything was finished it was dark, so no chance to take pictures. I plan to dust the car, maybe hit it with some quick detailer if needed, then snap some shots this weekend for posting to this thread.
He recommended I wax every time that I wash, for protection. I'm looking into three different types of wax - each one a bit more time consuming than the one before it. The most time intensive will still be twice a year, but I will now wax with the mid-level products monthly and the fast, easy liquid waxes after each wash. My wash-wax will be the Turtle ICE liquid wax. My monthly wax will be Mequire's NXT, and my bi-annual wax will be the Mequire's Deep Crystal system.
