Am I Detailing correctly?

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brig2221

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Hello,

I ran into this forum when searching for detailing equipment. I am not a pro deailer, but I love taking care of my cars and want my car to look like it is being maintained by one.

I have also washed my cars religously and waxed them, but with stuff you buy at Wal-Mart, etc. I just purchased a brand new 2007 Honda Accord, Nighthawk Black Pearl. This is my first new car in ages and my first Black car ever. To me, there is not a better looking paint than Black when it is clean and shiny. That said, I have had the car a little over a week and want to give it the Royal treatment from the start.

I have read a ton these past few days and have purchased the following products:

Klasse All-In-One Polish
Klasse High Gloss Sealant
P21S Carnuba Paste Wax
Pinnacle Crystal Mist QD

My plan is to wash the car, then apply the Klasse All-In-One Polish as instructed, and then to apply a single coat of Klasse High Gloss Sealant. I would then wait 12-24 hours for it to cure, and then put a coat of Carnuba Wax over the Sealant. I would then apply the Pinnacle Crystal Mist every now and then after a car wash to really maintain that glossy wet look.

I was curious what everyone thought of my products and the order in which I plan on using and applying them? I basically want to insure that I am not missing some significant step or are using incompatible products.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. These forums are great!
 
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definitely all a good choice....eventually it will not be enough even if you do wash properly swirl marks and contamination will begin....invest in a clay bar when the paint begins to feel rough when applying AIO or any of your LSP's....and when inevitablility sets in and the stuff you have no longer hides the swirls it time to invest in a DA polisher kit...for now you should be good for a while...
 
orngez,

Thanks a lot for the reply. The one thing I want to avoid at all possible, or take care of when it does happen, are swirl marks, especially in a deep black paint.

Forgive my ignorance here. I know what claying is and how to do it. However, I have no idea what a DA polisher kit is. Also, I thought that the Klasse All in One product was used to take care of swirls?

What extra class of products would one use on top of everything else I have already listed to eliminate swirls, and where in my process of steps would it fit? I would assume it would be right before or after applying the Klasse AIO, but definitely before the sealant and wax?

Thanks again!
 
DA is a dual action polisher...basically a mnachine that mimics the motion of polishing by hand but does it at up to 6000 oscillations pre minute as opposed to however fast you can move your hand...it is a safe machine that will not harm your paint unless you really try...AIO will take car of very minor swirls...but even with proper washing swirls and light surface scratches will develope...as stated earlier the products you have will last a long time in masking any swirls on your car...the best way to get rid of swirls is prevent them in the first place...research into the two bucket method of washing and always start from top to bottom on your car...
 
I would invest in a PC if you want to take your cars to that next level
 
Buy a PC. Where do you live? If you don't live somewhere where you need a durable paint sealant, I would recommend something more user friendly instead of Klasse sealant. You may not even need a sealant, but if you wanted one go with 4 Star UPP.
 
I have a PC, a Dell in fact :) All kidding aside, what is a PC? Sorry, newb question I know.

I live in the Dallas Texas area, so we have some pretty harsh summers.

orngez, as always, thanks a lot for the feedback.
 
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The PC is the acronym for Porter Cable. They make a polisher, the dual action type that orngez was referring to. You may still find them at Lowe's, or Autogeek sells them as well. You will find a 7424 model or 7336. They are the same except for the counterweight, which apparently doesn't matter much. Once you've gone that route, you will never go back to doing stuff by hand, trust me. Along with the PC, get yourself a good line of polishes like Optimum brand and some various pads and you will be prepared to remove any scratches or swirls that dare show themselves. It is definitely worth the investment. I have a black Bonneville, and it looked very nice when I bought it last August, but after hitting it with a polisher it just looked amazing!
 
your position is correct, and you can add a machine and abrasive polish when wanted. The Klasse AIO is only a chemical based paint cleaner, but a good one. One hint, with Klasse Sealant, get yourself a small hairspray bottle (travel size) and only one/two spritz maximum per panel.
 
im not sure, so im just playing devils advocate.... can that sealant be topped with a carnauba without bonding issues?
 
Well, I just spent the last two hours washing my car inside and out, and I have a few questions.

First off, when I finished washing and drying the car with some sunlight, the car looked beautiful and perfect! Then the sun went down and I had to turn on the flood light on my driveway. Thats when I noticed all of the millions of tiny scratches in the clearcoat, as well as what looked to be smudge marks all over the place on the paint. I would compare the smudge marks on the paint to those you see from the inside on your windows in spots.

This is my first black car. I washed the hell out of that thing and dried it perfectly, and when in the dark and exposed to light, smudge marks all over the place! What gives and is there any way to prevent this???

Also, will my Klasse AIO followed by Klasse High Polish Sealant, topped off with P21S Carnuba wax take care of most of those tiny scratches I saw tonight?

Lastly, was there anything to Bambo's devils advocate point that Klasse High Polish Sealant and P21S Carnuba Wax would not go together too well?

Thanks so much for everyone's response.

Oh, one last question. About how much does a Porter Cable 7336 go for? Also, how exactly does one train oneself to use this?
 
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brig2221 said:
Well, I just spent the last two hours washing my car inside and out, and I have a few questions.

First off, when I finished washing and drying the car with some sunlight, the car looked beautiful and perfect! Then the sun went down and I had to turn on the flood light on my driveway. Thats when I noticed all of the millions of tiny scratches in the clearcoat, as well as what looked to be smudge markes all over the place.

This is my first black car. I washed the hell out of that thing and dried it perfectly, and when in the dark and exposed to light, smudge marks everywhere. What gives and is there any way to prevent this???

Also, will my Klass AIO with sealant and Carnuba wax take care of most of those tiny scratches I saw tonight?

Lastly, was there anything to Bambo's devils advocate point that Klasse High Polish Sealant and P21S Carnuba Wax would not go together too well?

Thanks so much for everyone's response.

Oh, one last question. About how much does a Porter Cable 7336 go for? Also, how exactly does one train oneself to use this?
Click to expand...

Those tiny scratches are swirl marks. If they are shallow enough, you can hide them temporarily with a good glaze that will fill in the swirls, but the only way to remove them is by polishing them out.

Autogeek offers a wide range of kits with the Porter Cable to give the detailer the PC with the products they prefer best.

http://autogeek.net/po.html

This link shows you the different packages available and it also has two vidoes demonstrating how to use the Porter Cable to remove swirls and other defects.

This is another great video demonstration.

http://paintcare-n-detailing.com/video/

Black will show every defect so it needs a little more care than lighter colored cars, but it also gives the most rewarding shine when it is properly detailed. Whenever I wash a black car, after I've completely dried it, I always give it a buff with a clean dry super plush microfiber towel. This really amps up the shine. After that I will usually spray some quick detailer on it a panel at a time and then buff off again and then give it another final dry buff with a clean super plush microfiber. It shines it up and gets rid of any fingerprints or smudges.

I hope this helps you. Please feel free to ask any question you have. We want to see you succeed. :)

Blessings,
Jennifer
 
Thanks so much for the reply and the links!

I do have one question for you. I could swear that I read somewhere that you DON'T want to use Microfiber when working with wax as it tends to "pull" the wax back off of the car as opposed to a Terry cloth of soft towel that simply rubs it into the paint. So, it would be ok to apply my P21S Carnuba was and to polish it off with a Microfiber towel?
 
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That is correct. Wipe the wax on the car and let it sit for a little while. If you are in the shade you can cover the entire car and then go back to buff it off. Typically to make sure you get complete coverage you will want to do a second or even third application. With a lot of waxes and sealants you'll want to wait 24 hours between coats though so that the first layer can cure.
 
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