Baby steps

[libtech]

I have a few questions. I hadn't intended to do my first detail yesterday...I was going to wait and go out to my aunt & uncle's next weekend b/c they have the best, biggest, shadiest driveway for washing and waxing...but since my goodies got here on Friday of course I couldn't wait. Oh, I tried to wait, but about 3p yesterday I just couldn't stand it anymore, jumped up, moved my neighbor's car from under their tree'd over parking space, moved, Golda in, and went to work. :D

Because of my haste, however, I didn't give myself time to review any detailing procedure here, and think I might have made a few mistakes. Hence, a few questions.

1) I didn't wash between claying and applying Klasse AIO. Is this a huge no-no or a little one? I was so excited to see the shiny I got me head up me arse and forgot to do it. :(

2) I didn't do an alcohol wipe between AIO and Klasse HG Sealant. The sun was going down and I was trying to get the sealant done. In my haste, I forgot again. :(:( How bad is this? Will it mess up the protection of my paint? I didn't see any dust at all from the AIO...I was careful to apply a very thin coat.

The end result of all this is that my paint is very soft, smooth, and shiny, but a little smeary (I guess what you guys call streaky but it looks more like smears to me) if you look at it closely. Not real bad, but I wanted crystal clear. It's probably b/c I didn't do the cleaning between steps, right...? Also maybe because Klasse sealant is hard to work with. I read that today here on the board during a search but had never seen it before. :eek:

3) In order to let the Klasse sealant cure, should I have left it on for 12 hours w/o wiping it off? I looked at the "Detailing tips" for the Klasse twins on the main autogeek site and that point is not clear. I assumed when everyone was talking about "curing" here on the forum they didn't mean let your car sit in the sun with unbuffed product on it, but now I'm a little confused. I wiped it off last night...I spread a thin coat over the whole car and then wiped it all off in the order in which I put it on. It was full dark by the time I was done buffing, and for Florida it was rather a cool evening yesterday. So maybe it wasn't completely dry before I wiped it off and that helped it to streak?

4) What's the best spray-on sealant to clear up the streaks/smears?

Sorry for such an involved post with so many questions, but I figured it was better to get them all in one post rather than start a bunch of new threads.

And thanks as always for your help, everyone! :)

[abrcrombe]

1. You don't need to wash after claying, it is just personal preference.
2. You don't need to wipe before SG, AIO leaves a good surface for SG to bond to.
Streaks - most likely you applied too much SG. When applying, when you think you have applied just right, do less than that. Seriously, VERY little. Killr has the tip of putting it in a spray bottle and then wiping it. 2 sprays for a hood should do. To remove these, you need to add a little more and just wipe it off. The smears/streaks should go away.
3. Let SG cure for at least 12 hrs, but if possible 24 hrs.
4. Just reapply SG in the areas and wipe off IMMEDIATELY. Spray in one hand, towel in other and do it fast.

[libtech]

Ahhhh...spray bottle...excellent idea! Thanks, abrcrmobe!

Off to get a spray bottle... :D

[ScottB]

when you see streaking (in general) from a sealant, it is likely that you used to much. I have found a damp towel or a little qd'er is all thats needed to remove them.

As said above, Klasse SG is very finicky. Light .... very light. I use the small travel size hair spray bottle (approx 2 ounces) and only fill up 1/2 way. More than enough for an entire car and helps to regulate its use. I have also found that a quick respray of Klasse SG over stubborn spots of SG helps to immediately buff it off with ease.

[FloridaNative]

Great advice from the boys. :) But where are the pics of Golda???