Order microfiber cloths here if you really care about your ride:

Waffle Weave for drying after washing, unbelieveable quality clothes that makes a traditional chamois look ancient:
http://www.prestostore.com/cgi-bin/s...etail&ct=29280

 

The way I do mine is apply the wax with a little foam sponge that has cotton cloth wrapped around it, then I use the black wheel to wax the car, then remove the dust and wax you missed with a microfiber rag. Turns out perfect =D I use Vesco waxes that we have at the dealership I work at. I don't know if you can get them in stores.. haven't seen em anywhere. =(

 

That is a good method to wax your car, but it does not polish the paint if you have defects.

Most dealerships use off brand products like Presta and Vesco(they are the same company !) due to cost, but they do not provide the techincal specs, research and support compared to the two real companies 3M and Meguiar's that provide 99.9% of the car care products for OEM car plants like GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Mitsu, BMW and Mercedes Benz. Presta polishes usually uses Kaolin clay as an abrasives in their polishes which does not break down, while Meguair's uses a trade secret diminishing abrasives that breaks down after working in the product.

3M products is the benchmark for all car plants and Meguair's however strong in the retail sector is only starting to get into the OEM sector since 1999. I'am a big fan of Meguair's products since they have a vast selection of products and the support and know how for both the retail and commercial sectors now. For example, Meguair's even have a different scent for each of their polishes so you can even determine which grade it is just by smelling it.

Just remember the real McCoys in the industry are 3M and Meguair's, the rest are just marketing companies with little interest in technical development of their products. The average Joe Blow goes for a fancy color glossy packaging more than anything else.

 

^--Yes very true.. usually the cars we wax like that at the dealer just came off the truck with no defects in the paint and are going to a customer who just purchased it. I remove all the defects in my paint or cover them up before waxing with the method I posted earlier.

 

There are always defects in the paint, just depends who is loooking at it, most of todays new cars have horrible paint jobs with orange peel effects everywhere that would have not been acceptable 10 years ago, but is accepted as passable today due the a less educated public who normally leases their cars and don't care a darn about the paint job. I have known people who bought new BMWs and had their cars polished the next day to get rid of the orange peel effects, just goes to show that even the Germans don't care about paint anymore. In the past at Mercedes-Benz was "Quality at Any Cost" and 1/4 of cost goes into the paint job,every car is polished to perfection after its painted to assure that the same gloss and texture is even throughout the car, today Mercede's slogan is "Quality at the Lowest Cost"

What do you guys use at the dealer to wax the cars, rotary or DA polishers ? and how much training do they get before they start to work on new cars ?

 

So the microfibre bonnets work better than 100% cotton ones? I wasnt too sure because all the microfibre cloths I saw were all advertised to be drying cloths.

Also when they say that its used for 'removing' wax do they just mean buffing it out?

 

First off all there are different types of microfibres for different applications, generally, a waffle weave cloth is for drying and the regular weave is for removing residue, buffing and cleaning. If you use a machine, the machine would have done all the buffing work and you just wipe off with the microfibre. One of the biggest mistake people make is that they buff the paint until the product is dead dry which is a NO NO, just buffing it till you see a semi wet/dry haze and then just wipe off with the microfibre cloth.

I have seen one study of how cotton terry cloth leaves scratches on the paint when magnified with a 8x eye loupe and the microfibre does not.

 

When applying the Cleaner wax with the Orbital buffer, should we put more than enough on the pad, or just a little spot and put some more every so often?

Cause if it's just a spot, it dries out very quickly when applying. How long should I wait before removing the CleanerWax after applying it with the Orbital Buffer? Right away, 10 mins later?

EdT... you seem very knowledgeable in that domain so let me ask you this. What about calcium residue on the carpet? You live in Montreal... so you know what I'm talking about.

 

You need to prime the pad first, meaning you will need a bit more product on the pad in the begining and then you will require less as you go along when the pad is saturated with product. I like to apply half a bead or semi circle around the outer edge of the top and bottom of the pad and then touch the buffer at four spots of the car before I turn on the polisher, this will help distribute the polish evenly without causing splatters. You can remove the cleaner wax right away after you worked it in with the buffer, you will see a semi wet like haze. Normally when I use a cleaner wax the product just leaves a little residue and a wipe with a microfibre and its done.

Apply polish or wax in a round bead on the outer edge of the pad


Touch the buffer on 4 spots starting from the furthest spot of your 2x2 feet grid


I like to use a little CLR mixed with water and brush to remove calcium stains, they come off in a jiffy. Just rinse the area with water afterwards andyour done.
I'am trying to look for a product call Woolite which is sold in the US for this purpose.