Newbie - Advice needed

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AudiFlyGuy

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I joined the forum and purchased a new car today and would like to keep it clean and shiny. I have
always used Meguiar products for interior detail and Mother’s Spray Wax for quick
exterior detail. Honestly, I’ve taken my cars to automated drive thru car washes mainly. I’d like
to get into washing and detailing my new car from the start. I would appreciate any
recommendations for products for my car. Thank you
 
Welcome to AGO!

First, and most importantly..... NEVER go the auto "swirl-o-matic" car wash.

Secondly, you will get a TON of opinions about products, processes, etc.

What are you looking to do exactly?
 
Thank you.
My car has Teflex treatment from the dealer.
Not worried about that or expecting it to be great.

I’m looking for a good wash product, paint protector, detail product in between washes, wheel and tire cleaner/shiner and leather protector for interior as well as a matte finish retailer (no gloss). Glass cleaner would be great too.

Advice on cleaning supplies is appreciated also (polish pads, towels, etc). Thanks!
 
Again, you will get a ton of opinions.

My opinion is to do a lot of reading here on AGO, and on the AG store.

Me? I would look into Griot's. I have, and use a ton of their products, and they are all top notch. McKee's is another line that is outstanding.

Start with those. IMO.
 
You can’t go wrong with anything from Meguiars or Mothers. They are products that work exactly as advertised and produce excellent results. The Ultimate line is really good.
So...what kind of car did you get?
 
AudiFlyGuy said:
I’m looking for a good wash product, paint protector, detail product in between washes, wheel and tire cleaner/shiner and leather protector for interior as well as a matte finish retailer (no gloss). Glass cleaner would be great too.

Advice on cleaning supplies is appreciated also (polish pads, towels, etc). Thanks!
Click to expand...

My rough list

Optimum Car wash and CarpRO Reset for shampoo.
Optimum ONR for rinseless
Sonax Polymer Netsheild,Collinite845, Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint sealant, Optimum Gloss Coat(13CC left than no more) and CarPro CQuartzUK for paint protection.

Meguiars D143, Zep505 and soon 303 tire and rubber for wheels and tire. Still working off Turtle Wax Black Endure shine for tire coating.
Optimum Protectant Plus for interior everything(leather and vinyl). It has a low sheen, if any
Stoners invisible glass for glass.

Meguiars all purpose cleaner D101 and Blackfire APC.

The RagCo towels mainly with some Autogeek Cobra purple and yellows.
And my all time favorite is the Costco Kirland yellows. What a deal,36,16x16 for $16. I beat the snot out of these, mop up the garage floor when too dirty and toss em.

Like Paul said read and re-read.
You tube videos generally suck as do Amazon reviews.
Ask questions to save money and cut to the chase.

All the members reviews are invaluable.
Mike Phillips is a given for the "word"
 
spazzz said:
You tube videos generally suck as do Amazon reviews.
Ask questions to save money and cut to the chase.

All the members reviews are invaluable.
Mike Phillips is a given for the "word"
Click to expand...

This, for sure.
 
Tip : The biggest enemy of detailing is swirl marks. Avoiding them requires extra attention and additional details when washing.

The two-bucket method would be a good place to start (2x 5 gallon pails, each with a grit guard at the bottom). One is used to rinse your wash mitt (rub it against the grit guard to release dirt). The dirt should fall at the bottom of the rinse bucket and most of it should stay the bottom because of grit guard. From there, ring most of water out and bring your mitt into the wash bucket in order to get some suds.

Wash from top to bottom, rinsing your mitt through the 2 buckets every few panels (depending on how dirty car is). Thorougly wash your mitts after each wash (I do a full load of microfiber stuff in the washing machine after every wash).

Wash the vehicle in straight lines (no circular motions). Straight lines micro-scratches are hard to see as the scratch only catches light from specific angles - circular swirls can be spotted from every angle.

Do not skimp on auto shampoo.


Dry with a clean microfiber drying towel. Try to blot instead of dragging the towels across the paint with pressure. The Rag Company for microfibers!
 
nvestr said:
Tip : The biggest enemy of detailing is swirl marks. Avoiding them requires extra attention and additional details when washing.

The two-bucket method would be a good place to start (2x 5 gallon pails, each with a grit guard at the bottom). One is used to rinse your wash mitt (rub it against the grit guard to release dirt). The dirt should fall at the bottom of the rinse bucket and most of it should stay the bottom because of grit guard. From there, ring most of water out and bring your mitt into the wash bucket in order to get some suds.

Wash from top to bottom, rinsing your mitt through the 2 buckets every few panels (depending on how dirty car is). Thorougly wash your mitts after each wash (I do a full load of microfiber stuff in the washing machine after every wash).

Wash the vehicle in straight lines (no circular motions). Straight lines micro-scratches are hard to see as the scratch only catches light from specific angles - circular swirls can be spotted from every angle.

Do not skimp on auto shampoo.


Dry with a clean microfiber drying towel. Try to blot instead of dragging the towels across the paint with pressure. The Rag Company for microfibers!
Click to expand...

While I agree on swirls being the enemy, I much prefer the "One bucket, many mitts/towels" method.

No dirty mitt/towel ever goes back into the wash medium.

As far as drying, Nothing........And I mean NOTHING beats the Griot's PFM towels. Just glide it over a wet surface to be amazed. I was, and continue to be.......:xyxthumbs:
 
Many mitts is the way to go. I’m a foam gun/many mitt guy and I’ve enjoyed being marring free for years.
Those PFM towels are indeed the ultimate!
 
Bill D said:
Many mitts is the way to go. I’m a foam gun/many mitt guy and I’ve enjoyed being marring free for years.
Those PFM towels are indeed the ultimate!
Click to expand...

Do you foam first, rinse then multi mitt, rinse or
Rinse, foam along with multi mitts then rinse?
 
I foam the car first then foam the panel I am working on While making a constant flow of soapy water to the paint, I wisk the panel with the mitt gently. You can fill the mitt with soapy water and it hold it closed by the cuff. I repeat this per panel as I go over the car top to bottom. It’s the constant flow of soapy water from the foam gun that provides the barrier of lubrication to work in unison with the mitt to safely purge the paint of contaminants that can mar the paint. I monitor my mitt and switch to a new one as often as per panel if necessary. All depends on how dirty the car is. I never let mine get that dirty though

It’s admittedly a long, extreme process that uses plenty of water and soap but the reward is little chance of marring the paint and no need to have to polish as much if it all later on down the road.

I learned this technique from Accumulator over on Autopia and have been using it for quite a while now. There can be a little bit of a learning curve at first but I now never wash without a foam gun using it this way.
 
Welcome to the forum!

You will most likelly get recommandations for 50 different products so I will not make any. Instead I will give you recommandations based on processes, these are what is most important, not the exact product you use.

First of all, if you have not done so already, get a pressure washer. Any of them will do to wash a car. Your target should be between 1400 and 2000 PSI. The higher the GPM (gallons per minute), the better. In that category, it usually varies between 1 gpm to 1.8 gpm. The one with the lowest flow will simply take more time to do the work so it's not catastrophic if you have a unit with low flow. You want to use a spray nozzle between 25 degrees and 40 degrees if you can. A 15 degree nozzle on a low PSI machine is also ok. NEVER use a turbo nozzle or 0 degree nozzle. Those can strip the paint off the car.

Ok... so processes...

1. By pressure washing the car before doing any kind of wash will remove most of the dirt without touching the car. And that is what you want. When you wash a car, any dirt on the panel will act as sandpaper when pushed around the panel by a wash mitt, so all you can remove before doing so will make the wash a lot safer.

2. The actual wash itself can be done in 3 ways: Old fashioned wash with a car shampoo and a wash mitt, doing a rinseless wash with a product like Optimum No-Rinse and either a wash mitt, or microfiber towels, or doing a waterless wash using a product like CarPro Echo2 and a microfiber towel. I would strongly recommend you do the second. Rinseless washes are much faster to do, and because of it, you will be more likelly to do it. When something is not a shore and doesn't take a lot of time, there is much less reasons to procrastinate.

3. Learn how to wash the car safelly. There are gazillion of videos on youtube that will show you how. Learn a safe method, there are a few of them, and simply stick to it.

4. Drying the car is important. If you don't, the water will leave water stains on the car and those are hard to remove. So the things you need to know about drying the car is that you never want to use a shammy. Those can scratch the car badly if any dirt was missed during the wash, and there is almost always some dirt somewhere you did not get. What you want to use instead is a microfiber drying towel. Those are bigger than standart microfiber towels and are designed to absorb a lot of water. Also, you will want to use a drying aid. This is a product used during the wipe down to lubricate the surface. You can use a quick detailer, a quick spray wax or an actual spray wax to do this. My weapon of choice for this is a quick wax. But all 3 will work.

5. Last thing is the frequency of washes. So in essence, you want to touch the car as little as you can, while making sure it is clean. So if it's not dirty, don't wash it! And if it is dirty, wash it. Dirt on a car is dangerous because if you rub against it, it will scratch the paint. So you don't want it there if you can help it.

Last thing, you should decide on a paint protection regimen. You have 3 options: You can use a wax every month, a sealant every 3 to 6 months, or a ceramic coating that is a permanent product and is gonna provide excellent protection for 2 years or more depending on the product you choose. Once you have chosen, make sure to apply the protection when needed. So if you go with a wax, mark your calendar for a day each month to wax the car. If you go with a sealant you can do one in the spring and one in the fall, or better yet, once every season. For ceramic coating, I suggest you ask a pro to do it for you, unless you want to spend a lot of time learning how to prep the car correctly and apply it correctly.

Hope that gives you a good idea.
 
my advice to you as a newbie is to not get in over your head. A lot of guys here are pros. Like they do it for a living or to earn money. You can get buy without investing a ton of money and the auto washes aren't the worst thing in the world tbh. But you should try to find a touchless one if you can.

my starters list would be some megs gold class. 2 buckets and some good mf towels/sponges and a wheel brush. You can get advanced with foam cannons and stuff, but you don't need to just yet. megs hot wheels/rims is good too.

from there you get into polish and protect. I like the porter cable starter kits and a good all in one like hd speed to cut your teeth. and from there the sky's the limit, but I will add a good entry level trim protectant is a good idea like wolfgang exterior trim sealant (WETS).

but I'll stress that you don't need to jump into the deep end. Start basic and build in the areas you're looking to grow in. This site is great and the search feature can solve 90% of your questions.

edit to say that claying is important but that you don't have to overthink that either, while expensive a synthetic mit is a great solution. Not as messy, and no special sprays, just use the soap suds.
 
Bill D said:
I foam the car first then foam the panel I am working on While making a constant flow of soapy water to the paint, I wisk the panel with the mitt gently. You can fill the mitt with soapy water and it hold it closed by the cuff. I repeat this per panel as I go over the car top to bottom. It’s the constant flow of soapy water from the foam gun that provides the barrier of lubrication to work in unison with the mitt to safely purge the paint of contaminants that can mar the paint. I monitor my mitt and switch to a new one as often as per panel if necessary. All depends on how dirty the car is. I never let mine get that dirty though

It’s admittedly a long, extreme process that uses plenty of water and soap but the reward is little chance of marring the paint and no need to have to polish as much if it all later on down the road.

I learned this technique from Accumulator over on Autopia and have been using it for quite a while now. There can be a little bit of a learning curve at first but I now never wash without a foam gun using it this way.
Click to expand...

WOW, pretty obsessive Bill.

Wouldn't it be better to rinse off loose dirt first?

Do you have a dwell time for the initial foam before you start hitting it?
 
Yes you do rinse off the loose dirt first before using the foam gun. :D

I don’t have a specific dwell time for the initial foaming;maybe 5 mins? When I wash with the foam gun and mitt, that is the process that gets rid of the contaminants.
 
Thanks Bill.

I switched to your multi mitt method after Edo2K kept talking about his approach.
Way too easy without 2 buckets(i still use one for dirty mitts and not a rinse bucket), a little time saver.

I will have to break out the foam gun next time I do a suds wash.
 
You might never turn back once you use the foam gun. :D
 
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