Clay or Polish?

OK, The car came Waxed from the dealer....

\ I have been washing my Black LGT weekly for 2months... I am carefull and Use a Cotton Mitt, 2 bucketts, and a Synthetic Chamois (Just ordered Micro)... I polish with a spray-on and use 100% cotton to remove. I am noticing some slight Swirl Marks all over! I want to do a Full detail/Wax this week. I want to remove the swirls; however, I have never used a PorterCable" and dont want to chance messing up. Is there something I could apply and remove by hand, that would reduce the swirls I have? (Not extreme swirlling) ClayBar?> Mild Polish>? Mcguires NXT>?

If you use an orbital buffer, it shouldn't be a big deal. But you could try using a mild polish/cleaner wax like Zymol. I think if you tried the NXT that might help too. I have some swirl marks I need to buff out this spring when it's warmer.

A clay bar may actually contribute to the swirls. Anything that picks crud out of your paint is bound to drag it across the surface. That is why polishing is always the next step after clay. Clay only removes contamination. It does nothing for swirls.

 

A PC is idiot proof. The only way you can damage your car with it is if you dropped it on the hood or something. I suppose you could be using something really agressive with a really abrasive pad and operate it on setting 6 and possibly burn some paint off the edge of the scoop or something, but I really doubt that is what you are going to be doing. A PC and something mid range like Meguair's #83 (DACP) will do the trick. The second day I had my LGT I spent 5 hours polishing it and getting the swirls that just come with the car off. I couldn't have done it without the PC.

 

Swirls are tough to get rid of by hand. The muscle it requires to move you arm that fast is far more than I possess. The best you can hope for by hand is to use a product like Meguiar's #9 or even NXT. #9 has more abrasives than NXT, but they will both fill some of your more minor swirls and make the appearance a little more pleasing. It is still very very difficult to remove swirls by hand. It really is a job that requires a machine. Nothing short of a PC will do the trick either. Those El Cheapo $49 buffers at WalMart will only speed up waxing the car. They don't work to remove swirls. Considering what an investment your car represents to you, I think the $130 bucks it may cost you to get a PC ($200 to be properly equiped with the right pads and polishes) is well worth it.

 

Check out www.ocdetails.com for some detailng information that I think might be useful. I am in the process of writing an article that deals only with products you can get off the shelf for the fellow who only wants to wash the car and take care of it once in awhile. Not everybody wants to have a show car and spend a couple hundred bucks on detailing products. You can still get a very respectable shine by using off the shelf products.

Thanks, I think I will try a hand applied, like NXT first and see what results I get. Thing is I find alot of different products that clim to be for "swirls... McGuire alone has:

Scratch X, Swirl Remover, Medalion Premium Paint cleaner, NXT, Body shop profesional swirl free. My swirl is barly noticable, Im just obbsesive like you OC.

This will be my first full detail and wax. What should my routine be>?

Just remember that paint cleaners are not swirl removers. Neither are scratch removers. ScratchX is for when someone leans on your car and scratches it a little with their zipper or for when you open your door into a bush and scratch it. As long as the scratch isn't through the paint then you can usually rub it out. ScratchX is not meant to be used for the whole car though.

 

Generally the process is:

 

Wash

Clay

Polish

Wax

 

Since the car is new, I wouldn't expect that it needs clay. The dealership usually takes care of the rail dust prior to you picking up the car. Stick your hand in a plastic sandwich bag and run it over the car just to check and be sure. If you feel bumps, then its time to clay. I don't know why the baggie thing works so well, but you can feel them better that way.

 

I would go the NXT route. I've seen it do some nice work on swirls when used with a PC. I am sure it is effective by hand to a certian degree. Don't expect them all to come out by hand, but you can probably expect an improvment. NXT comes with a nice large applicator, so all you really need to have on hand are a couple microfiber towels to buff it off with. That is the best thing about NXT. It buffs off really easily. It smells pretty good too.

 

This is my routine generally. Obviously a little over the top for your weekly detail, but it is a process that I use every time I do a full detail. Generally just washing the car works well enough. Do the wash and dress the tires and call it good. I've found that with the LGT there is a lot of water that gets in the door frames. So I usually wipe those down to avoid waterspots or any buildup of crud. The water in the canals of the trunk seem to drain out without the use of a leaf blower or anything. You might want to designate a towel specifically for soaking up the water left in there if you are concerned about water drips on your back bumper when you drive off. I usually have to use some Quick Detailer after I wash the car and drive it around the block just to clean up all the hiding water that drips everywhere.

 

I would also suggest opening your hood when you dry the car. That way all the water pours out of the hiding spots there too. It sucks to have a nice clean car and then when someone asks to you pop the hood you end up with a nice little waterfall all down your fender. You can avoid that if you drain the water out as you dry the car. The LGT seems to like hiding water in places like the hood.

 

Hopefully that helps. If you are just going to wash and wax your car then I think I've given you some good information. Don't forget to treat and protect you dash when you get a chance. Also, you should condition your leather as soon as you can. Just because the car is new doesn't mean its protected. Your dash and leather will look so much better once you take care of them. Mine looked grey and dusty until I got the right protectants and conditioners out. Now my leather is rich and black and the dash is dark and protected. The inside of my glass still needs to be cleaned, but I hate doing windows so I'm procrastinating that part.

I just picked up a porter cable 7424 a month ago with a wide assortment of pads. Thing is amazing. Never could achieve the same results by hand. Easy to learn. My arms are thanking me.

I've had my 7424 for years and it has never failed me. I'm thinking about finally getting a new one just to see if there is any difference in the vibration. After a few hours with mine I can't feel my fingers anymore. lol I think that is normal though. I definitely think it is the best tool in my garage and I would most certianly be out of business without it.

Ok, talking Wax by hand.... How do you keep wax out of all the little cracks and crevises and off of plastic/rubber?

 

What are your waxing tecniques?

Being careful is really the only way to do it unless you want to mask all that area off. If its an area I know I can't really avoid, then I will mask it with blue painter's tape. Areas like the sunroof are a good example. Its textured and a pain to clean if you get polish in it. So I just mask it off and forget about it. Generally if you wipe the wax off right after you get it on then it won't stain. Keep some something handy to do that with. I use a trim and rubber restore product that I can get in bulk from www.autoint.com. I'm sure there are a lot of other options out there too. Armor All will work if that is all you have access to. Just spray some on a towel and wipe the area that got wax on it.

 

Unless your paste or liquid wax is loaded with fillers, then there really shouldn't be much of a problem with staining trim anyway. Waxes like Pinnacle Souveran/Signature/Paste Glaz, P21S/S100, Trade Secret, Zymol Estate waxes, or other high quality paste waxes don't have fillers in them. They are safe to use without stressing that you will mess up the rubber or plastic. Its usually the liquid waxes that cause problems. Meguiar's Gold Class has fillers that will stain rubber for example. But like I said, if you are careful or just mindful to wipe it off right after it gets on, then you shouldn't have much of a problem.

 

Keeping it out of the cracks is impossible. I just sort of 'floss' them out with a microfiber towel when I am finished to make sure I got them all. Some seams can't be flossed, so I just use something pointy and put a towel over it and run that down the seam. It does the trick.

OMG offthaclif... what ever you do.... DO NOT USE AN ORBITAL BUFFER ON YOUR BLACK CAR..... YOU WILL HAVE SWIRLS THAT U CANNOT GET OUT.... TO BUFF USE NOTHING BUT A RANDOM ORBIT BUFFER... TRUST ME!!

do both.

 

Keefe