Hand washing sugestions - products? process? Options

[gts4]

I have my own process for detailing the inside of my celica, but have no clue about what to use on the outside. All I have is glass cleaner. What do you recommend for the body, lights, rims, tires, and everything else? What about caring for rust? What about waxing? Thanks.

[njccmd2002]

when you wash your hands, sing the happy birthday song. Use soap.

[Galcobar]

Do NOT use dish soap. It will do a great job stripping away any wax, but it will also pull oils out of the paint.

What you use depends upon how thorough you want to be. Just get it clean and keep it from deteriorating? Keep it looking like new? Restore lost luster? Repair faded/oxidized paint?

A full job is a multi-step process:
Wash
Claybar
Paint Cleaner
Correction Polish
Restoration Polish
Sealant x 2

You can combine the cleaning and polishing steps to some extent, depending upon the polish you choose.

There's three levels to cleaning.

The first is removing unbonded contaminant such as dirt or dust. Use a good natural wool or chenille mitt paired with a gentle soap. Avoid microfibre or terrycloth, as the knap of the cloth is too short and rather than picking up particles and hiding them, it will drag the particles across the paint inflicting damage. Using two buckets (one to rinse the mitt, the other to fill it with clean soap), a grit guard, or just rinsing the mitt with the hose between panels is advised. Working in straight lines rather than circles makes swirl marks less likely.

The second level is removing mechanically bonded contaminants, such as brake dust. These won't come off with soap and water. Here, a clay bar is used. After washing the car, use a lubricant such as final inspection product and gently scrub the car with the clay bar.

The third level is removing chemically bonded contaminants, or stains. The usual means is a paint cleaner product. Cleaner waxes and many consumer waxes include paint cleaners, but only in small amounts. Cleaner waxes also don't last as long as a dedicated sealant. A foam applicator is your best bet here, but microfibre or terry cloth towels for application and removal will work. The same goes for the polishing steps.

To correct flaws such as swirls or scratches requires using an abrasive polish which contain both abrasives to smooth paint and oils to restore its chemical composition. Sealants and pure polishes (those which contain only polishing oils but not abrasives) will hide paint defects but only temporarily, and only partly. These abrasive polishes will level the paint to match the scratch -- which means their ability to correct is limited by the depth of the scratch relative to the thickness of the paint. Generally if you can catch a fingernail in a scratch it's too deep to completely remove with a polish (or their much more aggressive, levelling-only cousins the compound) but you can improve its appearance. Using circles here is a good idea, as when rubbing in a straight line your fingertips tend to leave deeper impressions when you switch direction.

If your paint is already clear of defects, you can use a pure polish. This restores oils lost by the paint to exposure, keeping it from drying out or oxidizing. This is also the product to use on brand new paint finishes, as it provides a small measure of protection while still letting it breathe enough to finish hardening.

A sealant is your last step product. Traditionally this has involved carnauba waxes, which are the best way to get a deep wet look but do not last as long as more modern products. Sealants also come in the form of acrylic or polymer formulas. These tend to last longer and give a higher shine or reflectivity, though of course this varies by product.

---------------------------
My personal process is based around Meguiar's products. The company is good about making clear what is in each product, what it can and cannot do, and therefore makes it easy to choose the right product for my application. It also helps that they make their professional line available at the retail level and it's only somewhat more expensive than the usual consumer-level stuff. It also helps that their products have little smell or have pleasant smells, seeing as I can spend a whole day using them.

Car wash: Meguiar's Deep Crystal. Good price, does the job, easily available.
Claybar: I actually tend to buy whichever of Mother's or Meguiar's is on sale. Note they use different sizes. Also hels that they include the lubricant for the clay when you buy a kit. Twice a year is enough for me.
Compound: once a year I do the whole car with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. It's the same formula as their professional version but meant to be used by hand or with a random-orbital polisher. Can clear out wetsanding marks and still leave a nice finish
Polish: Meguiar's 80, Speed Glaze. Mildly abrasive polish from the professional line. Takes care of the paint cleaning, abrasive polish and restoring polish steps. I use this regularly to keep the paint looking good before I wax.
Sealant: Meguiar's NXT 2.0 sealant. Polymer, excellent durability which is useful since my car sits outside and doesn't really get waxed in the winter. Planning on switching to Ultimate Wax when this runs out, as UW polymer formulation gives more depth and less shine which should work better on my metallic red paint.

If you're looking for a simpler process, at a minimum wash, polish, wax. Use a combination product for the middle step, such as Meguiar's Ultimate Polish, to get cleaning, correction and restoration in one application.

[gts4]

Thank you for the detailed response! Cheers.

Do NOT use dish soap. It will do a great job stripping away any wax, but it will also pull oils out of the paint.

What you use depends upon how thorough you want to be. Just get it clean and keep it from deteriorating? Keep it looking like new? Restore lost luster? Repair faded/oxidized paint?

A full job is a multi-step process:
Wash
Claybar
Paint Cleaner
Correction Polish
Restoration Polish
Sealant x 2

You can combine the cleaning and polishing steps to some extent, depending upon the polish you choose.

There's three levels to cleaning.

The first is removing unbonded contaminant such as dirt or dust. Use a good natural wool or chenille mitt paired with a gentle soap. Avoid microfibre or terrycloth, as the knap of the cloth is too short and rather than picking up particles and hiding them, it will drag the particles across the paint inflicting damage. Using two buckets (one to rinse the mitt, the other to fill it with clean soap), a grit guard, or just rinsing the mitt with the hose between panels is advised. Working in straight lines rather than circles makes swirl marks less likely.

The second level is removing mechanically bonded contaminants, such as brake dust. These won't come off with soap and water. Here, a clay bar is used. After washing the car, use a lubricant such as final inspection product and gently scrub the car with the clay bar.

The third level is removing chemically bonded contaminants, or stains. The usual means is a paint cleaner product. Cleaner waxes and many consumer waxes include paint cleaners, but only in small amounts. Cleaner waxes also don't last as long as a dedicated sealant. A foam applicator is your best bet here, but microfibre or terry cloth towels for application and removal will work. The same goes for the polishing steps.

To correct flaws such as swirls or scratches requires using an abrasive polish which contain both abrasives to smooth paint and oils to restore its chemical composition. Sealants and pure polishes (those which contain only polishing oils but not abrasives) will hide paint defects but only temporarily, and only partly. These abrasive polishes will level the paint to match the scratch -- which means their ability to correct is limited by the depth of the scratch relative to the thickness of the paint. Generally if you can catch a fingernail in a scratch it's too deep to completely remove with a polish (or their much more aggressive, levelling-only cousins the compound) but you can improve its appearance. Using circles here is a good idea, as when rubbing in a straight line your fingertips tend to leave deeper impressions when you switch direction.

If your paint is already clear of defects, you can use a pure polish. This restores oils lost by the paint to exposure, keeping it from drying out or oxidizing. This is also the product to use on brand new paint finishes, as it provides a small measure of protection while still letting it breathe enough to finish hardening.

A sealant is your last step product. Traditionally this has involved carnauba waxes, which are the best way to get a deep wet look but do not last as long as more modern products. Sealants also come in the form of acrylic or polymer formulas. These tend to last longer and give a higher shine or reflectivity, though of course this varies by product.

---------------------------
My personal process is based around Meguiar's products. The company is good about making clear what is in each product, what it can and cannot do, and therefore makes it easy to choose the right product for my application. It also helps that they make their professional line available at the retail level and it's only somewhat more expensive than the usual consumer-level stuff. It also helps that their products have little smell or have pleasant smells, seeing as I can spend a whole day using them.

Car wash: Meguiar's Deep Crystal. Good price, does the job, easily available.
Claybar: I actually tend to buy whichever of Mother's or Meguiar's is on sale. Note they use different sizes. Also hels that they include the lubricant for the clay when you buy a kit. Twice a year is enough for me.
Compound: once a year I do the whole car with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. It's the same formula as their professional version but meant to be used by hand or with a random-orbital polisher. Can clear out wetsanding marks and still leave a nice finish
Polish: Meguiar's 80, Speed Glaze. Mildly abrasive polish from the professional line. Takes care of the paint cleaning, abrasive polish and restoring polish steps. I use this regularly to keep the paint looking good before I wax.
Sealant: Meguiar's NXT 2.0 sealant. Polymer, excellent durability which is useful since my car sits outside and doesn't really get waxed in the winter. Planning on switching to Ultimate Wax when this runs out, as UW polymer formulation gives more depth and less shine which should work better on my metallic red paint.

If you're looking for a simpler process, at a minimum wash, polish, wax. Use a combination product for the middle step, such as Meguiar's Ultimate Polish, to get cleaning, correction and restoration in one application.

[ILoveMySilly97]

Also try your best to stick with one brand. Don't mix match. I'm pretty sure the company's spend countless hours and money to make their products all work together. I myself us TurtleWax products. Except for the interior and tires. I use BlackMagic.

This post has been edited by ILoveMySilly97: Mar 10, 2013 - 11:42 PM

[b22ri22an]

when you wash your hands, sing the happy birthday song. Use soap.

according to the Dept of Health FSS you are supposed to sing happy birthday twice