I'm confused!! what do I need?
 

My paint is pretty dirty (rough spots and stuff) even though I just washed and waxed my car with the armor-all gel system (I don't think I like the wax part very much, the wash is good though no buckets) anyways I think my paint is a candidate for a clay bar from what I'm reading. And I'd like to try a different wax. Heres whats confusing me I'm hearing wax, polish, sealant being thrown around and I'm not sure if I need all three or just pick 1 or 2 to use?

Also what would be the proper way to wash and "wax"

wash, clay bar, wash again?, wax, polish, and then seal

For the wax I think I'm going to go with Turtle Wax Ice or Maguires NXT my car is black...I'm leaning towards ICE since u can use it in the heat correct?? What about polish and sealant would should I get for those...if I even need them. thanks

first, stop using shit products like armorall, they use the cheapest shit they can.

go get meguiras/mothers
car wash, and polish/wax

or i use zaino, but its real $$$$$$


wash car
clay car
wash car
polish/wax car

Please use a bucket!!!!! if not your just pushing dirt on your paint, and scratching the hell out of it.


DONT USE ARMORALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ice dose not last long at all. get a paste wax like nxt


ofcoarse you still wont get the best you can.
if you want the best go to zainobros.com
or poorboys
or ardex


get the clay kit from meguiras.

use meguairs or mothers 3 step program


paint cleaner, polish, wax





or go with zaino.


(i love zaino)

RG, our taste in car cleaning seem to be the same...

I'm a huge freak on keeping the car clean and clean of swirl marks and scratch marks. For the average car owner a simple wash and wax would be fine if you are not worried about scratch and swirl marks which you would need to get a Porter Cable or Rotary (not the engine!) with the proper polish and pad to clean the paint and keep it shiny. You're going to need some really good supplies. First let's start with towels. NEVER use bath towels like our parents used to use back in the day. You want to get some nice high quality microbfiber towels. There are different MF for different purposes. I suggest checking out pakshak.com and chemicalguys.com for towels and products. Also danase.com has some really good deals. And of course the almighty zainobros.com :) So if you're going to wash your car in your driveway you want to start off with this: A good MF mitt or good sheepskin mitt. 2 wash buckets. One for soap and the other for the rinse bucket. Make sure you get a good foaming wash as the more foam the more lubricity you have so that you aren't inflicting more damage into your paint. After each panel wash the mitt off good in the rinse bucket. This will make sure you get all the dirt off and are not putting it back on. Next we want to rinse the car off. After it is rinsed and if you didn't have protection on the car before the water will not bead off so you wanna force it off with the nozzle. For drying, I prefer a nice waffle weave microfiber which you can purchase from any of the aforementioned stores. If you washed the car right there will be no dirt to get on the WW. When that is done you can then clay the car. Make sure you get a quick detailer to use because you can not use the clay dry. After doing a section take a MF towel, a different one than before, and wipe off the residue. When all is said and done with the clay, wash again with new rinse and soap bucket. Repeat drying steps. This is where having multiple drying towels come in handy. You can then proceed to wax or polish your car. There are multiple products you can use. Just remember, if you use Zaino, only used Zaino top, you can't top with a wax because then you can not use Zaino again unless you strip the wax off. Zaino will not adhere to wax.

Wow that was a long post and thats not even all of it. Go to autopia.org for everything car cleaning related.

-Brett

+100

exactly what i do.
its like grooming yourself. if you use all dollar store soap, shampoo, razors, shavingcream, hair product, deodorant, cologn, tee shirt, underwear, socks, cheap pants, ect. . . . yea you will look and smell clean.

but if you use top of the line everything above, yea you spent a lot of money, but look in the mirror. you look like a million dollars.

cleaning a car is the same thing. it takes a lot of work to wash a car, and if you think not, you are probly doing it wrong.

Yeah, well said. It's just like grooming yourself twice. But it's definitely worth it when people take notice of how shiney and reflective my 8 is =)

It's so worth doing it right. Though I really can't say what you need without actually seeing and feeling the car, I suggest checking out the links in this section to where you can buy cleaning poducts. There's a ton of helpful info.