New to the forum and planning on using sealant for the first time!

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honda.crz.nsbp

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Hi, all. I've been reading forum threads for a while now. And after my first purchase from Autogeek, I'm looking forward to using a sealant on my car for the first time. It'd be great if I could get some opinions on my plans, though.

Just some background first. I purchased a Honda CRZ 4 months ago (prior to my purchase, the crz sat inside a show room the entire time it was at the dealership and had only been test driven once). A week after purchase, I clayed the paint surface and applied a layer of Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax. I reapplied another layer of Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax 2 months ago. Since then, I've been washing my car once a week and following up every wash with Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax as a booster. And I started visiting this forum about two weeks ago.

I think that more or less brings everyone up to speed. After some thread reading, I decided to give sealants a try. So I ordered Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 (WGDGPS) from this website this past weekend. I'd like to use it when I receive it at the end of the week, but I had two questions first.

1. I plan on washing and claying my car again prior to using the WDGPS. I've read a lot of conflicting things about the ability of clay to remove LSP. Based on what I described above, do you guys think I'll have a lot of LSP remaining on the surface of my car? And more importantly, will this approach interfere with the WDGPS bonding to the surface of my car?

2. I haven't polished my car yet, mostly because I didn't believe I would need to polish a four month old car. I wasn't planning on polishing my car prior to WDGPS application. Do you guys think it's necessary to polish? I've read a lot about the importance of surface prep, but I'm not entirely sure it's necessary for me since the car is only four months old and I plan on claying again prior to WDGPS application. Of course, I could be wrong.

Any suggestions you guys can provide would be great. Thanks in advance, all!
 
If you don't have any washed induced swirls and are pleased with the condition of the surface without polishing then I wouldn't. You will be taking a little bit of clear coat off when you polish and if that isnt necessary then I wouldn't.
As for the question of the prep, and clay removing the lsp, it will probably remove some but not all. I like to start with a clean slate when applying lsp. You could just do a dawn wash, clay the wash with dawn again, and you should be left with a bare surface. Don't recommend washing with dawn all the time but just to prep you will be fine.


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Welcome to Autogeek Online! The Deep Gloss Paint Sealant will work fine if you just clay your paint. But the best way to remove your previous wax or sealant is to use a non abrasive paint cleaner. A product like this will chemically clean your paint without removing any clear coat. You can also wash your car with Dawn but it won't be as effective as a dedicated paint cleaner polish.

Some pre wax cleaners are Wolfgang Paint Work Polish Enhancer, Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish, Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion, Poorboys Pro Polish, and Sonax Paint Cleaner.
 
honda.crz.nsbp said:
Hi, all. I've been reading forum threads for a while now. And after my first purchase from Autogeek, I'm looking forward to using a sealant on my car for the first time. It'd be great if I could get some opinions on my plans, though.
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Welcome! Congrats on the CR-Z purchase! Those are neat little cars.

honda.crz.nsbp said:
1. I plan on washing and claying my car again prior to using the WDGPS. I've read a lot of conflicting things about the ability of clay to remove LSP. Based on what I described above, do you guys think I'll have a lot of LSP remaining on the surface of my car? And more importantly, will this approach interfere with the WDGPS bonding to the surface of my car?
Click to expand...

As was already stated, gentle clay will remove some, but probably not all previous waxing unless you use an aggressive clay bar and method which can induce some light marring. I wouldn't worry about a dawn wash to remove it, because this can also induce light swirling/marring on its own depending on your wash setup and your methods. You're probably better off just doing a through wash / clay / wash with a good soap. I prefer Poorboy's Super Slick Suds, but one of the forum favorites are from Chemical Guys. They make awesome washes as well.

honda.crz.nsbp said:
2. I haven't polished my car yet, mostly because I didn't believe I would need to polish a four month old car. I wasn't planning on polishing my car prior to WDGPS application. Do you guys think it's necessary to polish? I've read a lot about the importance of surface prep, but I'm not entirely sure it's necessary for me since the car is only four months old and I plan on claying again prior to WDGPS application. Of course, I could be wrong.
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I've seen brand new cars in showrooms that could use it, but whether or not to polish the car is up to you. How does it look in the sun? How does it look under florescent/halogen lighting? If you're happy with its overall appearance, then protecting it should be all you're worried about. Also, polishes can leave residues of their own behind, so if maximum durability with minimal work is your goal, then stick with a paint cleaner like rider mentioned above.
 
Thanks for the advice/suggestions, everyone! It's much appreciated.

In order to remove any residual LSP, it appears that a non-abrasive paint cleaner is the best bet. The products suggested all sound great, especially the Wolfgang Paint Work Polish Enhancer; unfortunately, I don't think I can order any of them from autogeek and have them arrive this Friday without paying a heavy fee for expedited shipping. Can you guys recommend any non-abrasive paint cleaners that are more readily available in retail stores (e.g., Advance Auto Parts)? I'm a little leery of doing a dawn wash, if only because I would prefer to use a dedicated product for removing LSP.

I've seen brand new cars in showrooms that could use it, but whether or not to polish the car is up to you. How does it look in the sun? How does it look under florescent/halogen lighting?
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Fortunately, since I started detailing my new car, I've been very careful to avoid swirl marks when washing/drying/waxing. I wash/dry my car using the two bucket method and pooling (I've also seen it described as sheeting) of excess water after the wash. I use all Griots Garage microfiber products when washing/drying/waxing. All in all, I'm very happy with the appearance of my surface under direct lighting. No swirl marks at all, except for some extremely light scratches on my side mirrors (no idea why there).
 
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