Waxes, cleaners and polishes

[John69RR]

OK, what brands are recommended and is a DA really the only one to use or will an orbital work for the "average" guy without the paint/body experience? Can we get a little tutorial from Mystic?

 

[Big John]

 

[Mystic]

Yeah! I think I can give ya some pointers :wave:


We corvette guys are pretty anal about our rides but I'm sure no more than you guys are. What I know is really focused on factory paint jobs and I know most of you if not all have custom paint. regardless though, paint is paint and shine is well...different. Let me explain.

There are really two kinds of shine, people have different ideas of what is best.

1. Bright shine, piercing, take no prisoners glare.

2. Soft and defused, very warm and gentle to the eyes when seeing reflections.

Myself personally? I like to hurt people! I like to watch em bring their hands to their eyes like they just witnessed a nuclear flash.. That's cool, I love that!

On the other hand, some people like a subtle 'glow' to the finish, this is fine, most people go for this, most likely because they don't know how to turn their finish into an optical weapon. We will get into this in a moment.

The basics of a good shine is preparation, getting the finish ready for some new makeup! First thing is, get rid of the old, if you have years of old wax on your car, each time you apply a new coat, you are covering up old road grime and brake dust, bug splatter and rodent refuse, whatever, its there, you can bet on it.

You say you washed it clean?? try this. take a piece of cellophane put it around your finger then 'lightly' drag it across your 'clean' car finish, you will feel the pits and bumps. How does this work?? beats the crap outta me but it just works.. Your finger is more sensitive with the cellophane. :loco:

Ok, what do we do??

First, lets claybar the car, this will piss you off so make sure you have something or somebody to beat on while you clay the car.

The object of claying is to remove all embedded debris that is stuck in the paint. It's there, you just can't see it.

Keep water going on the area you are working on, I do about 2 sq ft at a time, lightly drag and push the claybar with the water from a hose trickling over your work area at all times, you will feel the clay grab, keep doing this in that area until it quits grabbing. Lightly please.. (think hocky puck) Ocasionally, look at your clay, you will now see the dirt it is pulling up.

( if you drop the clay, you're screwed, it will pick up gravel too-- Throw it away and be more careful next time.)

Once you've finished claying the car and said a few curse words your neighbors never heard before it's time to clean up your mess.

The clay leaves parts of itself all over the paint, as well as the old wax, some of that is still there too. You've seen the commercials about Dawn Dishwashing detergent being hard on grease?? Well its equally hard on old wax too! Suds up the car really good with this stuff and let it sit for a few minutes, not in direct sun though.. Rinse it off and do it again.

If we did this right, your car will now look like crap!! That's exactly where we want it!

Now depending on what shine you want, we will start with the common shine-the 'soft glow'
This is achieved by using a good grade of carnauba wax.. McGuires, Mother's whatever you like the smell of best. To me, I can't see much difference since i don't use it anyway.

First thing you might want to consider is a good swirl remover, especially on black. Also, if you are going to do it by hand or orbital. I find that as fancy as 'by hand' sounds, its also uneven and will cause more swirls if you don't know whatchrdoin. Although, with careful technique and expensive product, you might want to do it by hand.

A couple light coats is best as opposed to one heavy coat. I wouldn't do more than that rigt away on the first day, it needs time to cure, more coats it begins to get in its own way.

Given the proper time to cure, remove it. I've been using Fieldcrest towels for years for drying and removing wax- Today, many peeps are using microfiber cloth. I'm sure its good these modern microfiber cloths but I haven't found one I like yet, maybe I need to quit buying from Wal-Mart??

I'm going to break from this right now, I will come back later and talk to you all about Zaino products and some other 'non-wax' car polishes that give you the 'in your face' shines..

till then!!
Ciao!! :cheers:

 

[Big John]

My :cents: about different brands of claybar.

After trying a couple, my personal favorite is Meguiars "Mirror Glaze" C2000 Mild blue clay bar. This is one of their professional products and not the stuff you buy at Wally World. You'll need a bottle of #34 detail spray to use as a lube.

 

[Mystic]

John, You can spend the money on the spritz but to me, its a waste i get as good or better with plain old water from the hose-- the trick is keepin a flow so that it washes off what it doesn't trap. But to each their own.

I also tried puttong a garbage bag or plastic dropcloth on the ground in the work area to catch my claybar when I drop it.. That worked well until I tripped on it and fell on my ass. I'm just more careful now.. I really need to do it again, I have three cars, I like to clay them every 2 years.. I haven't clayed the magnum yet.. I don't think it needs it, only got 11k miles on it..

 

[Big John]

Mystic and I go back and forth on the subject of claybar lube all the time. One time he sent some of his relatives over to "convince" me I was wrong, but I don't scare that easy.

I tried using water.. then soap and water on claybars with limited sucess. Using soap helped some, but by the time I got enough soap into the water to lubricate it, the claybar started to crumble. That was with the Zaino clay.

It may be the type of water I have. The stuff that comes out of my hose is from the Finger Lakes.

 

[Mystic]

I've heard some guys make their own spritz with 1:10 where one part is dawn detergent.

This of course is my opinion but if you lube it too well, ie, dawn or some other slippery chemical you are defeating the purpose of the clay 'grabbing' the debris. It just slips thru like crap thru a goose. (I always wanted to say that! )

However, I don't want to get into a pissing match of what is best lube for the clay when the ultimate gain and goal here is to get a shine.

The most important thing is to get rid of the old wax.. :brickwall:

 

[Plymouthfan]

Wow, great info Mystic!

That being said, let me add I HATE WAXING CARS, PERIOD! My Scamp has so much imbedded dirt it's not funny, you can feel the grit. I've been needing to try a clay bar for a while. I'd like to get to it before the winter if possible. I like washing cars... just hate the polishing part, so I rarely do it. I know it's bad for the paint.... maybe I'll feel different if I go electric...

A few questions. What exactly is "wax cleaner" and how is it used? What's the difference between "rubbing" and "polishing" compounds?

 

[Mystic]

A few questions. What exactly is "wax cleaner" and how is it used? What's the difference between "rubbing" and "polishing" compounds?

Wax cleaner usually has some slight abrasive grit to it. Some have a chemical cleaner but basically its a polish wax.

Rubbing compound and polishing compounds are pretty much the same where rubbing compounds are not for the faint harted, it is grittier than polishing compounds.

I would see no reason for you to use a 'rubbing' compound. Body shops use that to bring the paint down-- good for ridding of orange peel etc.. The basic car dude should not need this stuff.

Polishing compound, usually white and creamy but dries gritty.. Sometimes it is handy when removing bird poop etchings in the paint, or any thing that washing and the cleaner won't work on. also good for erasing fine scratches-- fine meaning, it won't catch your fingernail.

Carefully working a scratch lightly with this and water will usually do the trick.. then of course you will need to finish off the area with wax..

You really shouldn't use this stuff unless you know what you are doing since it actually removes a layer of paint, It doesn't shine old paint, it removes it exposing a new layer-- You can only do this so many times.

Professional polishers will use this stuff with their high speed rotary polishers-- This is the kiss of death for the novice. Stick with the simple stuff

 

[toms69rr]

Thanks
Nice info.
How that work on a clear coat job?
I know they don't put allot of clear coat on factory paint jobs.
will the clay bar take some of the clear coat off?
Tom

 

[Big John]

Thanks
Nice info.
How that work on a clear coat job?
I know they don't put allot of clear coat on factory paint jobs.
will the clay bar take some of the clear coat off?
Tom

Clay bar can be used on clear coat and non clear coated paints. It won't do anything to the paint as long as you use it corrrectly.

 

[Skidz]

This is good stuff. Thanks Mystic! :cheers:

 

[Plymouthfan]

I also restore antique electric fans. I mostly use the rubbing compound to remove 100+ years of grease and grime before polishing (when the original paint can be saved). Since I have it nearby, it works great to remove scuffs and scratches in the cars. The ONLY time I use compounds on the cars are to remove scuffs and scratches.

 

[John69RR]

Please clear up a mis-understanding about Carnuba wax. I've heard that it melts easily and that down here in Houston, with the heat it can "run". Is this true? During the summer, the inside of my garage will be 85-90º at NIGHT! It has been over 100º during the day in the garage.

 

[droptop]

"We corvette guys are pretty anal about our rides" :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

 

[69hemibeep]

"We corvette guys are pretty anal about our rides" :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Can't be as bad as the A12 mopar owners, Oh wait BigJohn has both. :leaveid I just say that out loud :huh: :stab:

 

[Mystic]

Please clear up a mis-understanding about Carnuba wax. I've heard that it melts easily and that down here in Houston, with the heat it can "run". Is this true? During the summer, the inside of my garage will be 85-90º at NIGHT! It has been over 100º during the day in the garage.

John,

I have heard the same thing; I can not verify this but told enough times you tend to believe its so.

Carnuba is wax , it heats and becomes sticky. It attracts dust.. I don't know if this is true but it sounds good.

 

[Mystic]

Thanks
Nice info.
How that work on a clear coat job?
I know they don't put allot of clear coat on factory paint jobs.
will the clay bar take some of the clear coat off?
Tom

Hi Tom!

The clay doesn't remove the clear coat or paint, it rides across the surface and 'pulls-out' debris that is stuck in the clear.

When new cars are delivered, many of them are delivered by rail, when dealers get these cars, they are supposed to 'prep' them for the customer. These cars pick up 'rail-dust' slivers of metal in tiny microscopic shards that are embedded into the paint. Most dealers today just wash em and put a coat of wax on em if you're lucky.

You pick up all kinds of debris from the road, also from disc brakes.

 

[Basketcase]

"We corvette guys are pretty anal about our rides" :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Can't be as bad as the A12 mopar owners, Oh wait BigJohn has both. :leaveid I just say that out loud :huh: :stab:

anyone wanna guess who the first Banned memeber's gonna be? :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

 

[Skidz]

I'm going to break from this right now, I will come back later and talk to you all about Zaino products and some other 'non-wax' car polishes that give you the 'in your face' shines..

till then!!
Ciao!! :cheers:

:toetap: