swanicyouth
11-07-2014, 12:10 PM
I've come off with a few observations I've made over the past few years that make detailing for the enthusiast (me) easier, faster, and less headaches. I'm mainly concerned with the last statement: less headaches. I really can't see detailing my car as anything that could cause me stress or irritation. So, while most of these things are "faster" - some are just "easier".
1. Skip coatings on your personal car. Coatings have been fraught with headaches since they first arrived. Difficult application, sensitivity to water spots, questions about polish-ability, coating failures, mysterious disappearing beading, lack of any real world scratch resistance, and screwy maintenance products that can be expensive/difficult to use at best - are just a few things that come to mind.
Do use a long lasting easy to use LSP. These products are cheaper, readily renewable, easily renewable, headache free, and are virtually idiot proof. The term "readily renewable" is more important to me than "lasts forever". It's easy to lay down a coat of wax/sealant every two months and you have all the looks and water behavior of day 1. Products that come to mind are PBMG sealants, Collinite, Bilt Hamber Finis, NaviWax Ultimate, and Sonax PNS.
2. Do use a spray wax with good hydrophobic properties after every wash or two as a drying aid. This simple step can make your LSP last almost indefinitely and really doesn't take any longer (your drying the car anyway). Don't bother with anything finicky or streaky.
A few good ones that come to mind are: Sonax BSD, NanoSkin Hydrophobic Polymer, Dodo Red Mist Tropical, Prima HydroMax, and DG Aquawax. I'd also recommend using a waterless/rinseless product that enhances beading - not something that is touted as "leaving nothing behind". I find Pinnacle WW/RW, Gary Dean's IUDJ, & UWW+ work nicely for this.
3. Do coat all your black plastic trim with CarPro Dlux. Forget dressing trim. It's a waste of time, can look fake/oily, attracts & holds onto dirt, and doesn't last. Coat all your black plastic with DLux once a year and it will look fresh and new after every wash. You also won't have to worry about dealing with greasy trim dressing applicators ever again.
4. Do use a tire coating for your daily driver. I like Tuff Shine, as I've pretty much mastered the product. TS will make your life so easy - you will never have to scrub a tire again. Topping it off is just applying another coat when you feel like it. It's not really affected by rain and you won't have to dress your tires after every wash or deal with messy applicators.
Plus, no black sludge comes off the tires - so you can clean them with a rinseless or waterless wash product. While it may look only 95% of quality conventional dressings - those dressings will loose most of their look after the first rain. TS looses none. Your tires will always look dark black, new, and fresh.
5. Do use a water based or polymer based tire dressing on your garage queen, if not a coating. If you have a special car that only sees nice weather and want to stick with conventional dressings - skip oily/silicone based dressings.
These dressings are not necessary for a garage queen, attract a ton of dirt, and are difficult at best to clean off the tire. Water/polymer dressings are much easier to clean off - making them easily renewable. Actually, skip oily dressings period anywhere on your car. I like PB's Bold and Bright and Prima Infinity.
6. Do use low dust / ceramic brake pads on your car. Cleaning wheels is a PIA. Just switching from factory semi-metallic dust monster pads to low dust ceramics will give you the ability to forgo wheel cleaners and just use soap for the most part. I like PBR/Repko ceramic pads. They are cheap, rotor friendly, make almost zero dust, and don't squeal. See # 7.
7. Do use some type of coating / spray sealant hybrid on your wheels. Skip "wheel wax". Apply an easy to use / readily renewable coating to your wheels as needed, like Permanon or Hydro2. Wheel wax products are tedious to apply, don't last long, and don't repel / release dirt like these other products.
Actually, I like Permanon because it's readily-renewable wheels, highly dilute-able, very hydrophobic, doesn't streak, and costs less than Hydro2. Permanon can be applied to anything including exhaust tips, convertible tops, interior/exterior trim, wheel wells, and dressed tires - making all of it repel dirt/water & easier to clean.
You can instantly return to a super hydrophobic surface by just spraying your clean wheels down. Using this stuff means most of the wheel dirt can be just pressure washed off and the wheel cleaned with soap. While these products aren't cheap - neither are dedicated wheel cleaners. Use a pH neutral wheel cleaner and the Permanon will last a longer time before reapplication. I like car wash soap or Griot's standard wheel cleaner.
8. Skip layering different LSPs for durability. Layering for a look or for your own entertainment is fine if you have the time and desire. IME layer a wax over a sealant does nothing for durability - and may even lessen the durability of the sealant.
Consider this. Waxes contain solvents, stuff like turpentine and mineral spirits. While soaps / detergents may not degrade sealants, solvents easily do. So, your rubbing a solvent laden product all over your sealant when you top it with a wax. IMHO it's much more beneficial to use one durable product and reapply as needed.
9. Pressure wash any car before you wash it by any method. This is something I have said so many times on this forum. In the past I have dealt with wash induced marring, and found this is the secret weapon to avoid it.
IMHO a hose doesn't cut it. Pressure washing knocks off most of the dirt that can scratch before you even touch the vehicle. Wiping dirt off surfaces cause scratches, pressure washing it off doesn't. I've proven this to myself my keeping my cars virtually defect free for years.
Anyway, this is what I do. I encourage you all to add your own.
1. Skip coatings on your personal car. Coatings have been fraught with headaches since they first arrived. Difficult application, sensitivity to water spots, questions about polish-ability, coating failures, mysterious disappearing beading, lack of any real world scratch resistance, and screwy maintenance products that can be expensive/difficult to use at best - are just a few things that come to mind.
Do use a long lasting easy to use LSP. These products are cheaper, readily renewable, easily renewable, headache free, and are virtually idiot proof. The term "readily renewable" is more important to me than "lasts forever". It's easy to lay down a coat of wax/sealant every two months and you have all the looks and water behavior of day 1. Products that come to mind are PBMG sealants, Collinite, Bilt Hamber Finis, NaviWax Ultimate, and Sonax PNS.
2. Do use a spray wax with good hydrophobic properties after every wash or two as a drying aid. This simple step can make your LSP last almost indefinitely and really doesn't take any longer (your drying the car anyway). Don't bother with anything finicky or streaky.
A few good ones that come to mind are: Sonax BSD, NanoSkin Hydrophobic Polymer, Dodo Red Mist Tropical, Prima HydroMax, and DG Aquawax. I'd also recommend using a waterless/rinseless product that enhances beading - not something that is touted as "leaving nothing behind". I find Pinnacle WW/RW, Gary Dean's IUDJ, & UWW+ work nicely for this.
3. Do coat all your black plastic trim with CarPro Dlux. Forget dressing trim. It's a waste of time, can look fake/oily, attracts & holds onto dirt, and doesn't last. Coat all your black plastic with DLux once a year and it will look fresh and new after every wash. You also won't have to worry about dealing with greasy trim dressing applicators ever again.
4. Do use a tire coating for your daily driver. I like Tuff Shine, as I've pretty much mastered the product. TS will make your life so easy - you will never have to scrub a tire again. Topping it off is just applying another coat when you feel like it. It's not really affected by rain and you won't have to dress your tires after every wash or deal with messy applicators.
Plus, no black sludge comes off the tires - so you can clean them with a rinseless or waterless wash product. While it may look only 95% of quality conventional dressings - those dressings will loose most of their look after the first rain. TS looses none. Your tires will always look dark black, new, and fresh.
5. Do use a water based or polymer based tire dressing on your garage queen, if not a coating. If you have a special car that only sees nice weather and want to stick with conventional dressings - skip oily/silicone based dressings.
These dressings are not necessary for a garage queen, attract a ton of dirt, and are difficult at best to clean off the tire. Water/polymer dressings are much easier to clean off - making them easily renewable. Actually, skip oily dressings period anywhere on your car. I like PB's Bold and Bright and Prima Infinity.
6. Do use low dust / ceramic brake pads on your car. Cleaning wheels is a PIA. Just switching from factory semi-metallic dust monster pads to low dust ceramics will give you the ability to forgo wheel cleaners and just use soap for the most part. I like PBR/Repko ceramic pads. They are cheap, rotor friendly, make almost zero dust, and don't squeal. See # 7.
7. Do use some type of coating / spray sealant hybrid on your wheels. Skip "wheel wax". Apply an easy to use / readily renewable coating to your wheels as needed, like Permanon or Hydro2. Wheel wax products are tedious to apply, don't last long, and don't repel / release dirt like these other products.
Actually, I like Permanon because it's readily-renewable wheels, highly dilute-able, very hydrophobic, doesn't streak, and costs less than Hydro2. Permanon can be applied to anything including exhaust tips, convertible tops, interior/exterior trim, wheel wells, and dressed tires - making all of it repel dirt/water & easier to clean.
You can instantly return to a super hydrophobic surface by just spraying your clean wheels down. Using this stuff means most of the wheel dirt can be just pressure washed off and the wheel cleaned with soap. While these products aren't cheap - neither are dedicated wheel cleaners. Use a pH neutral wheel cleaner and the Permanon will last a longer time before reapplication. I like car wash soap or Griot's standard wheel cleaner.
8. Skip layering different LSPs for durability. Layering for a look or for your own entertainment is fine if you have the time and desire. IME layer a wax over a sealant does nothing for durability - and may even lessen the durability of the sealant.
Consider this. Waxes contain solvents, stuff like turpentine and mineral spirits. While soaps / detergents may not degrade sealants, solvents easily do. So, your rubbing a solvent laden product all over your sealant when you top it with a wax. IMHO it's much more beneficial to use one durable product and reapply as needed.
9. Pressure wash any car before you wash it by any method. This is something I have said so many times on this forum. In the past I have dealt with wash induced marring, and found this is the secret weapon to avoid it.
IMHO a hose doesn't cut it. Pressure washing knocks off most of the dirt that can scratch before you even touch the vehicle. Wiping dirt off surfaces cause scratches, pressure washing it off doesn't. I've proven this to myself my keeping my cars virtually defect free for years.
Anyway, this is what I do. I encourage you all to add your own.