I started checking out the Auto Detailing 101 forum and looking for the following information/advice:
new paint - what should be done to keep it looking great (annually, monthly, weekly)
Wash or wipe clean as needed. Some people wash or wipe down their car on a daily basis. Just depends on the environment your car is exposed to and your expectations balanced with your time.
There are rinseless washes and waterless washes and spray detailers, you can use one or all of them depending upon your preferences and how dirty the car gets.
See this article,
The difference between a Normal Car Wash, a Waterless Car Wash, a Rinseless Car Wash and a Spray Detailer
Most waterless washes, rinseless washes and spray detailers will also impart gloss and shine after wipe off. You can also hit the car with a spray-on wax after you finish cleaning the car and this will give the paint that "just waxed look" fast.
interior surfaces and leather - saw a review of Ultima Interior Guard Plus and it appears to be a perfect AIO product to treat and preserve my interior.
That's a great option and there are a number of products you can use, another would be
Pinnacle Leather Cleaner & Conditioner or
Optimum Opti-Clean.
spot cleaning - exterior (bugs, bird do, etc.) and interior
Opti-Clean or any premium quality spray detailer and keep some clean microfiber towels in a sealable plastic bag in the trunk or behind the seat.
How To Build Your Own Emergency Car Care Kit
wheels and tires - brake dust!
Get yourself some brushes and a goo wheel cleaner, you can also apply a wheel wax or even a paint coating to the wheels to make brake dust wash off easier...
From this project just last week...
Autogeek's Car of the Week - 1994 Porsche 964 Turbo 3.6
First up... wash the wheels and tires... soft Boar's Hair Brush, lug nut brush and Wolfgang Tire and Wheel Cleaner
The Lug nut brush works really well for cleaning the barrels
Bristles are flexible to get into intricate areas and agitate cleaner with roadgrime and brake dust
Daytona Speedmaster Wheel Brush for getting behind the wheel and into tight areas...
First wheel cleaned and rinsed...
Sprayed on Iron X and let dwell, as you can see the wheels were actually pretty free of any iron contamination... that's a good thing although I know everyone wants to see a lot of color running off the rim... (that would mean the wheel was in fact embedded with iron filings.
After agitating I rinsed...
Perfectly clean and contamination free... I repeated the same procedure to the other three wheels and tires...
I have some Klasse AIO and high gloss sealant and Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner I purchased 4 years ago to care for my Pilot. Is this stuff still good, are there better products out there for a white car?
Thanks in advance and I will keep reading!
Roy
A general rule of thumb is 3-5 years as long as a product has not been exposed to extreme heat or cold.
If you can shake the products up and visually you see a uniform consistency in the product, then they're probably safe to use.
I'm sure others will chime in with some of their favorite product recomendations...
