Cleaner Wax

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bag3lbit3s

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So I've got an older car that is my daily driver and don't really baby it like my new car but want to clean it up a little in not much time. I've thought about detailing it but the car needs A LOT of work and to be honest I don't think it's worth putting much effort into trying to get the paint perfect on a 20+yro daily driver.

I've been thinking about just using a cleaner wax on the car. So my question is I've also got a new PC7424XP and a few pads. The pads I haven't used yet so far (don't want to mix products on pads) are two LC Orange Flat Pads, Grey Flat Pad, and Crimson HT Flat Pad. I was thinking of just using the orange pad with a cleaner wax. I'm not too worried about getting a perfect finish but would the orange alone be ok for a cleaner wax?

The paint is in not the best shape, it hasn't been waxed in probably two years and sits outside all day. I'm not expecting anything great, just not something terrible. I was thinking of just picking up a bottle of Meguiar's Cleaner wax and giving that a shot...any other recommendations?

Thanks!
 
I personally would hit it with a one step with your PC. This will liven up your paint. Then seal it with a quality sealant or wax. This shouldnt take too long and you can move quicker since you wont be going for perfection. You could do a quick one step in a few hrs. I feel you will get WAY more out of that then getting the cleaner wax.]

Just my .02

Jon
 
Sorry I'm a little new but what do you mean by a one step? As in a polish?

The car has a fair amount of oxidation and the surface is fairly faded and rough.

The products I have so far are:
Meguiars 105, 205, 7, 9, 26, and NXT 2.0

Thanks for the help.
 
PAR, a cleaner-wax is the very definition of a one step. But I agree that for best results I would top it with some kind of standalone wax to give it some extra protection.

I can't tell you how soft the paint is or how well it would finish out with an orange pad, but mostly likely it will finish out just fine. Do a test spot with the cleaner-wax and the orange pad and see how it finishes. Probably won't have any problems and it should look a lot better.

If its hazy, I would try to get over your fear of mixing products on pads and use a lighter polishing pad like white or green if you have them. Black won't have enough cut to do anything I suspect and crimson HT definitely won't.
 
So a one step is a cleaner wax?

I have NXT 2.0 and so far have been very happy with the durability of it and how long it has lasted me on the new car.

So right now I'm thinking a cleaner wax on an orange pad followed by NXT 2.0 on a crimson pad.

Thanks everyone!
 
zliegen said:
PAR, a cleaner-wax is the very definition of a one step.
Click to expand...

Yes a cleaner wax is a one step but you can also use an actual polish to get better results and then finish with a sealant or wax. Is polishing the paint with 205 alone not a one step also? To me it is atleast.

I have never liked using cleaner waxes like the megs cleaner wax. I just dont think it does much, thus why I personally would use an actual polish for a one step followed by protection or something like D151 that has more correction ability. Maybe a little more time involved but the rewards make it worth it to me.

bag3lbit3s said:
Sorry I'm a little new but what do you mean by a one step? As in a polish?

The car has a fair amount of oxidation and the surface is fairly faded and rough.

The products I have so far are:
Meguiars 105, 205, 7, 9, 26, and NXT 2.0

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

I personally would use like 205 and orange if it is pretty bad and wanting just a one step. It is hard to tell without actually being there with you and the paint.
 
If it's oxidized you will most likely need the orange if you don't have a white. If you tried the gray or crimson, the rough paint alone would destroy the pad-meaning it would actually ruin it.

If you REALLY don't care about the outcome other than a little shine with only doing ONE step with what you've got, I would use the orange with the NXT 2.0. NXT 2.0 has some cleaning abilities and is actually a really nice wax even though it's relatively cheap. I can almost gaurantee you will have marring, but hey if you don't care it doesn't matter. It will definatley have a shine at least.

These suggestions are bases off of what you state you had to work with. What do you have that you did not mention? You don't have to worry about mixing different products with pads though-clean the pads well and you won't have anythig to worry about.
 
The paint isn't in great shape but it's not beyond fixable...I just don't want to spend a ton of time working with it to get it perfect because the car is a daily driver/beater. I'm fine with some swirls and marring but would like it to at least shine. Just want to get it back to what is a decent finish, right now it's rather dull and you can't really see much of anything reflecting...

I think I'll give the orange pad with a cleaner and nxt 2.0 with crimson pad a shot.

Thanks again for the help!
 
No problem.

If you are hitting it with a dedicated cleaner and topping, use the gray with 2.0

Have fun and good luck!
 
What is exactly cleaner wax? I' a bit confused, is it something you do before you prep car(removing the previous wax) for sealant and wax? or is it a AIO product?
 
slickooz said:
What is exactly cleaner wax? I' a bit confused, is it something you do before you prep car(removing the previous wax) for sealant and wax? or is it a AIO product?
Click to expand...
Cleaner-Wax products are a type AIO.
 
slickooz said:
What is exactly cleaner wax? I' a bit confused, is it something you do before you prep car(removing the previous wax) for sealant and wax? or is it a AIO product?
Click to expand...

Yep but it doesn't have any polish in it. Thats the only difference than an AIO. Some are chemical cleaners while others you chemical and light abrasives.
 
A cleaner wax or a cleaner sealant is an all in one product. In my mind a 1 step is simply polishing with 1 product and then topping with a wax or sealant separately.
 
zliegen said:
Cleaner-Wax products are a type AIO.
Click to expand...

tfullercdi said:
Yep but it doesn't have any polish in it. Thats the only difference than an AIO. Some are chemical cleaners while others you chemical and light abrasives.
Click to expand...

Thanks,
So if I used cleaner wax on daily drivers do I need to apply another layer of wax?
And which pads do you apply cleaner wax with? white or blue?
 
Not necessarily, it still has wax in it but adding another dedicated layer of just wax isn't a bad idea. I try to do it on my vehicles but not always. I only do it if I have time. Just keep your eye on it and when the cwax wears off, put another coat of wax on it. Not the cleaner wax.
 
I use the same pads I use for the AIOs usually an orange, white or gray LC. Two pads at time but depending which I started with first.
 
So cleaner wax works best with pads that has cutting ability?
 
Poorboy's World Polish with Carnauba is a cleaner wax or AIO and with an orange pad I can make a non detailing car owner go:drool: WOW!!!
 
Yeah just light though like the gray. The white and orange would be for oxidation. That's how I do it and it has worked out well. I've got a van that I doing now that has some heavy oxidation and i am using a white pad with a heavy AIO.

From my understanding of a cleaner wax, it is used to clean the paint rather than correct in a sense. An example of when to use a cleaner would be if you had paint that does not hav swirls or scratches but want to clean the old wax and impurities without removing anymore paint. Whereas and AIO has the ability to quickly clean the paint, polish the paint and protect the paint all in one step.

These type of products I believe were created to more or less abide by the rule of thumb of not using an AIO everytime you wax because it is actually removing a small amount of paint or clear. If you use a cleaner, it is actually just cleaning the old wax off of the surface and kind of for lack of a better word-stimulating the paint with very small abrasives that work as the cleaning agent thus removing no paint or clear or very little depending on the type of cleaner you are using.
 
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