Detailing Spray/Z6

[RedJade]

I am a zaino convert......love the stuff and love what it does to my car. I have a question, though. I use Z6 after washes and between coats of Z2, but the bottle says that it removes dust and soil between washes. I hear mention of people wiping their car down with Z6 without washing it first, but won't that scratch the paint? Doesn't every bit of dirt need to be off the car (i.e. wash it) before you can rub towels against the car with just a spritz of spray? Can someone offer me "Detailing Spray 101"? Oh, and as a second question, I know I am using wayyyy too much Z6 between coats.......I had to order another bottle and I have only had my car a little over 2 months. Does this make the car more prone to smears? (I noticed some this last time I detailed the car.) How do you use only 1 oz and spray down the whole car? I would appreciate any advice/information. Thanks!

This ad is not displayed to registered and logged-in members. Register your free account today and become a member on RX8Club.com!

[oosik]

I hear ya and feel your pain, here's my take.

Z6 will work fine on an unwashed car provided it's not heavily soiled. For instance, ever noticed that a day afer you wash your car or even that evening there is a light layer of dust on the car? To me that is okay to just clean with Z6. The other side of the deal, IMO, is right now, my car has sort of a heavy layer of that dust/dirt that I can almost write words in it with my finger(give it another couple of days then I could), that might be too heavy and could possibly scratch it if not careful.

When they refer to dirt they are not talking about heavy amounts of dirt around the wheelwells and such.

Z6 will also clean off hard water spots.

Z6 works great on windows too.

As for the amount, I had that problem also of going through it pretty quick, I think part of the problem we may have is that it is hard to tell how far the Z6 will go; how much of an area you can cover, but you can't see, too clear. So we end up using more than we need to. Well i have forced myself to use much less, here is how I do it.

(1) Dish towel, for application.(DT)
(1) Bath Towel, for buffing.(BT)

I typically fold up the DT as much as possbile to hold it in one hand. Z6, small squirt for small area, i.e. area just in front of sunroof, wipe it down in back/forth strokes covering good size area, then flip DT over and use clean side over area, unfold DT to the inside unused part, wipe with one half then the other. Then grap the BT for the final buff!

Initially, the the time you get to the BT, it's pretty much buffed out until you get far enough that the DT is tainted. As one section of the DT gets dirty, move on to the next used spot for application.

Spray and wipe, don't let it sit!

[oosik]

...forgot....

all towels are 100% cotton as per Zainobros.

[B-Nez]

I, too use the Z6 constantly. For a while, I was even using it twice a week to keep the car looking A++. As oosik surmised, I would also think that using it on extremely light soiling wouldn't be a problem. That's what I've done - and the occasional bird crap (have to be carfeul not to drag it over the paint, though). Funny thing is, I'm only a little more than half-way through my original bottle I got back in July.

My technique:
1) Open the spray valve just past the closed point.
2) Give a short, quick, half-squeeze, while sweeping across an approx. 1-foot area (this puts only a little misting on the car).
3) Immediately wipe with towel to spread and smooth.
4) Immediately buff with a dry side of the towel.

I had to buy new towels, because I cheated initially. I had bought 100% cotton, USA towels at Wal-Mart, and after 4 months of Zainoing with them, the swirls started to appear. I should have known better, since they were never as soft as the towels I use in the bathroom. I went to the Mall and found some really nice, really soft, 100% USA cotton towels by Ralph Lauren on sale for $15 a piece. Bought 3, and they make a huge difference. BTW, I wash my towels and applicators with Dreft.

[Genom]

My suggestion for the Z6 (it goes on just as sparse as the Z2 guys!) is get a small fine mister. This way you use one of your ZFX vials to measure out 1 ounce and use that to spray it on and wipe off. This way the bottle goes farger, you can cover the car better and it looks real nice.

If the dust is very light (1 or 2 days worth in your average city) it's OK. Anything more and it's time to wash the car. Remember that you have a layer of Z2 on the car (or Z5 or whatever your using) already that helps make the dust slide right off, but ya dont want to push it.