i am hoping to wax mine this weekend. has been beautiful the last 3 weeks straight and i have washed my car every week as well. have been planning on wax my baby real soon. and from this i thinkin bout going and trying the Meguiars. you really can wax your car all the time?

it is getting that time of year!

 

Step 1 - Pre-Cleaner, you're right. It removes oxidation.

Step 2 - Sealer/Glaze, WRONG-O!. It is highly necessary, as this is the item that protects your paint, and makes the car shine. (Ask me - I drive a BLACK car!)

Step 3 - Pure Carnuba. (Check out your M&M's, betcha didn't know that this is what keeps them from "melting in your hand"!)

 

so does step 2 do a good job of getting all the swirl marks out? i want to make my car look like it has a perfect glass coat on it.

 

today i went to buy some car cleaning products..and in the wax section i was confused by zymol,eagle one nano wax,and other such as meguiars next generation or clay bar.I ended buying the nano wax,and its dark so i cant see results,but i think most(i said most)waxes out there are the same thing,except the nanowax,i dont leave that white powder other do.

 

If Im not mistaken step 2 does not have to be done however it adds that extra shine to the car. It's considered a polish so if it will also help to remove very minor scratches and swirls. I would recommend doing step 2 though if you are doing the other 2 steps. Doesnt take that much longer and it will make your car stand out from the rest.

For the wax I would suggest the new Meguiars NXT wax because from what Ive read on other forums it seems to be very good and easy to get in the U.S. Not available yet in Canada or I would have tried it.

Also a couple other tips. When washing it is a good idea to either use 2 buckets or use 1 and when you get to the lower section of the car dump out the first bucket and make another one. Always start from the top, then go to the hood and the trunk.

For cleaning windows one thing I have learned to get streak free windows with no lint is to use newspaper with whichever glass cleaner you use. (EagleOne 20/20 is great). The newspaper has no lint and the ink in the paper acts as a polish.

I've been reading a lot about detailing. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

ok i have question..went out and was looking at the waxes...now i was at walmart so bear with me
you guys are talking about the 3 step stuff.... does it all come together...i mean i saw the stuff in the bottle and the stuff in the round container...should i just go to autozone and get it there?? or does walmart just not carry it all

 

Not sure if it comes in a kit or not. Basically they label the bottle Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3. Also make sure you get good soap for washing the car. Mothers makes a good one as does Meguiars.

If your looking for a good wheel cleaner EagleOne's A2Z is very good. All you have to do is spray on, rinse it off and then just wipe dry.

 

those spray on tires clearner i dont like...they dont get it completely clean in my view..always end up going over them anyway...i will go to autozone on friday and go shoppong for the wax..going to try it and see...
as for a wash i grabbed the rainx wash and wax with the beads in it....stuff is pretty good, leaves a good shine! also need to get a new shammy

 

Having had my front end totally repainted by a local body shop TWICE now due to accidents, and the hood repainted once from chips (prior to the accidents) I'll pass on that they have cautioned me to NOT wax the car for at least 90 days after I've picked it up.
they also HIGHLY recommend 3m Hand glaze as the best stuff on the market to keep the paint looking its best (they don't sell it BTW so it's not a sales gimmick).
That, and a good clay bar to take the crap off of the fresh paint before you can lay a coat of wax down. then they recommend that every 3-4 months you clay bar to get everything off the car (wax and all) then reglaze and then immediately re wax.
the only recommendation they had on wax was to avoid any "cleaner/wax" combos and anything that has silicone in it- so a pure carnuba or most of the higher end waxes should be alright.

I do all of my applications with cotton covered sponges or cotton diapers that have been washed cold and fluff dried... even then I'm worried that they're not soft enough...

I do a 2 bucket wash (soapy and rinse), and I always wash twice. Mostly because I then go into clay bars and glazes. How purpose defeating would it be to rub glaze onto a car that's still slightly dirty because I missed a spot? I also spray my rims first and then wash the car- no sense in stripping the wax off, and potentially harming the paint around the wheel wells, with some brake-dust disolving rim cleaner overspray.

Anybody else use the water blade? Best $20 I've spent! Super fast drying. Although I still follow up with a chamois to get the droplets the blade misses.

Sure, this may be a ressurection, but I think with spring coming along nicely, it's timely

 

I bought a water blade about 4 weeks ago. Its very good at drying however its best to always clean the blade after every pass you make. I've heard of some horror stories with this. If you drag something across the paint with this it can leave some bad scratches so just be very careful.

Also some people cant stand the noise. lol. It just sounds like its destroying the paint however if used properly it saves a lot of time.

 

Engineerboy, they cautioned you not to do anything for 90 days--but remember that you're not looking for the date of sale when it comes to these cars, you'll be looking for production date for the paint. 3 months, 6 months, most of the cars won't even hit the shores for 90 days (that's how long it takes parts to reach me, direct from Japan so...). Keep these things in mind.

 

rain x is a great product,but the soap of the autodry one(dont remember the name too well,i think its mr.clean)or whatever,its awesome,i didnt bought the whole kit,just the refill soap,and used it as usual,and i didnt used the chamois for nothin

 

r u kidding? I couldnt stand that soap....it left a real milky film behind....nasty

 

thats because it has to leave the car like that so the water slips,and the car dries itself..btw its just my opinion

 

hey, engineerboy how often do you recommend waxing the car.