Cleaning White Car

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jakesxt

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Cleaning a White Car

Looking for advice on a 9 year old daily driver. Just got done washing and waxing our white daily driver this weekend in anticipation of winter. Put the usual coating of 845 on it. As I did I noticed more and more spots, smudges, etc. I have never used a cleaner wax or polish. I have always maintained the car with weekly/bi weekly washes and waxed every few months.

I do have a griots random orbital that I mainly use for applying wax with a 6.5 griots red pad. I also have some blue lake country 5.5 pads that I have used to apply black hole glaze/845 to my black car. I am still not comfortable with potentially polishing and using something with cutting ability, but looking for recommendations and tips for cleaning the paint on the white daily driver. I took some not so good pictures of what I am trying to do. There are three problems, 1) random smudges (Probably dirt under the wax), 2) random spots (Black, orange, etc) on side panels/doors, and 3) the plastic bumpers seem to be a slight different color in the sun and it appears these are much dirtier than the metal areas.

Looking for ideas and tips on what a newbie could do. Thanks in advance

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With the Griot's orbital you will be fine. That was my first orbital and I had fears of damaging paint. Keep the DA moving slow and steady and you will be ok. My first buff job was my dad's black Ram 1500 using Meguiars M105/205 (lot of cutting ability) and didn't do any damage. A polishing pad with something like D166 from Meguiars (after proper paint prep work) will polish out nicely, removing some defects and then leaving a very formidable sealant on top. It will make your cars paint look brand new in color (cleans the road film and any "dead" clear coat off).

Mike's videos on the training website are fantastic starting points to learn to polish and there are several other detailers out on the web who expand on the principal's he teaches you. Maybe even buy his book!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
Collinite #845, and their Pastes lack as far as cleaners in them. The solvents in them will cut greases-oils, but not much else.

Claying will get lots of nasties off the paint, as well as a good Iron Remover such as Iron-X. You'd definitely be seeing a much whiter white after such processes. But yeah, sort of crummy having to re-do everything again since you just did the vehicle.

Perhaps not commonly recommended, but one can also "blend" and combine a couple products and work in with a D/A machine without usually much in the way of problems or extra effort.

Such as using any cleaner wax, and applying a few drops of it, and a few drops of something like the Collinite #845 together on the Pad and go to work. Repeat as you go. This will give the #845 some additional cleaning quaities, plus still offer most if not all of the protection that #845 will provide.
 
jakesxt said:
Looking for advice on a 9 year old daily driver. Just got done washing and waxing our white daily driver this weekend in anticipation of winter. Put the usual coating of 845 on it. As I did I noticed more and more spots, smudges, etc. I have never used a cleaner wax or polish. I have always maintained the car with weekly/bi weekly washes and waxed every few months.

I do have a griots random orbital that I mainly use for applying wax with a 6.5 griots red pad. I also have some blue lake country 5.5 pads that I have used to apply black hole glaze/845 to my black car. I am still not comfortable with potentially polishing and using something with cutting ability, but looking for recommendations and tips for cleaning the paint on the white daily driver. I took some not so good pictures of what I am trying to do. There are three problems, 1) random smudges (Probably dirt under the wax), 2) random spots (Black, orange, etc) on side panels/doors, and 3) the plastic bumpers seem to be a slight different color in the sun and it appears these are much dirtier than the metal areas.

Looking for ideas and tips on what a newbie could do. Thanks in advance

View attachment 68113View attachment 68114
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It can certainly use some Iron X to remove those deposits. Overall, you have nothing to worry about with a DA Polisher. Start with something like HDSpeed or McKee's 360 and you'll wish you had done it years ago. In terms of the bumper covers, what you're seeing is typical.
 
Can I ask what type of vehicle you have with this white paint?

Reason I ask is I just took care of one daughter's white (Jeep Compass), and it was easy with my PC 7424 to remove these things and correct swirls after claying, while the other white one(VW Tiguan) was a real bear.

Just go with the least aggressive to start, but have options available to "ramp up".

Eric
 
Thanks everyone. It is a Dodge Caravan. I have used Ironx and while I can see it working, they never fully have gone away (Maybe I will need to try it multiple times or agitate it?). I have also tried using a clay bar with some success, but once again, not everything. When using a cleaner wax, what size/color pad is most useful? Any recommendations for a cleaner? D166 does look good and I do like the Meguiars line.

I have the 5.5 backing plate which I like better than the larger plate.
 
jakesxt said:
Thanks everyone. It is a Dodge Caravan. I have used Ironx and while I can see it working, they never fully have gone away (Maybe I will need to try it multiple times or agitate it?). I have also tried using a clay bar with some success, but once again, not everything. When using a cleaner wax, what size/color pad is most useful? Any recommendations for a cleaner? D166 does look good and I do like the Meguiars line.

I have the 5.5 backing plate which I like better than the larger plate.
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best way to use IronX is on dry car so my use of it is after a washing but prior to mechnaically decontaminating it. Let most of the water sheet off before hitting it with Iron X. Prior to rinsing I usually agitate it with a sponge/MF mitt. Clay wise, I use Nano Mitts as I just like them better. Super Soapy water is key and don't mix using it with IronX or other products as they can damage the mitts. Pad wise, use a light polishing pad. D166 is good and works well on Chrysler products.
 
TTQ B4U said:
best way to use IronX is on dry car so my use of it is after a washing but prior to mechnaically decontaminating it. Let most of the water sheet off before hitting it with Iron X. Prior to rinsing I usually agitate it with a sponge/MF mitt. Clay wise, I use Nano Mitts as I just like them better. Super Soapy water is key and don't mix using it with IronX or other products as they can damage the mitts. Pad wise, use a light polishing pad. D166 is good and works well on Chrysler products.
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This is what I would be doing also. With one extra step. After the wash but before the IronX I would use a tar remover. To get those black spots of the paint and the claying gets easier to do. Also sometimes the tar spots can be sitting on the iron particals. So if you where to use the IronX first you may not get all of the iron particals off the paint. And also if you don't use the tar remover and only the iron remover when you have clayed and got the tar spots off. You may only get some part of the iron particals off the paint as the clay may not be able to get the whole iron particals and just shave off the top of them. Carpro TarX is a great tar remover but you have other options as Stoners Tarminator or Citrol 266. And some use mineral spirits or IPA in high strength. I prefer to use a dedicated tar remover but it's just a personal preference. You may need to be aggitate the tar remover lightly with a mf towel or mf applicator sponge or a mitt. When it has dwelled for some time so you get it more effective and then rinse it off and apply the iron remover. The aggitations I think will be needed as you have a new coat of 845. Also some apply a wax or sealant over the in your case if going with Meguiars D166. Think that the 845 would be a good choice to top the D166.

And since you have already done waxing with your polisher. You will be doing great with polishing the paint too. Just work in sections and 4-5 passes with an armspeed of 1" per second. Don't know if if the D166 needs to be sitting some time after you have done the passes before you wipe it off. The Blackfire One Step Finish AIO seems also to be a popular one and that you can leave on the paint until you are finished polishing the whole car and then wipe it off. A light polishing pad will clean up your paint good. So it's worth to be doing this once a year or so. Then in between if you have contaminants build up you do a decon wash with the chemicals you need. If you don't have any black tar spots or tree sap you don't need to be useing the tar remover. Also now when you doing the tar removal just do it on the parts where you have these tar spots. With the iron remover you have a huge benefit as you can be spraying on a little section where you have the most iron particals which is behind the front wheels. To see if you get any bleeding effect from the iron remover and you have iron particals if it's bleeds in dots and if you get a more uniform bleeding you have industrial fallout which useally is over the whole car. If you don't get any bleeding effect you don't have any iron particals and industrial fallout so no need to be doing it.
 
I agree with using a cleaner wax or AIO periodically, especially on lighter colors. My favorite when serious correction is not needed is DG501. It never ceases to amaze me how it makes white paints "whiter" and how dirty a white LC pad gets. To the best of my knowledge, there's not much abrasive action, but some pretty serious chemical cleaning. Longevity is decent on its own, but top it with your Collinite and you're good for a long time.

Bill
 
Since you already have a pretty durable wax for winter protection, I would recommend "Claying" the paint surface and using an "Iron Remover" to help remove embedded contaminants. The Blackfire "One Step" is a great product that's very easy to work with. Perfect for a daily driver vehicle. Good luck!

Blackfire Clay Bar or Synthetic Clay with Clay Lubricant
BLACKFIRE Poly Clay & Lubricant Combo - Fine Grade
BLACKFIRE Clay Mitt Combo

Blackfire Iron Remover
BLACKFIRE Iron Remover

Blackfire One Step with Polishing Foam Pads
BLACKFIRE One Step 16 oz.

LSP - Collinite #845
Collinite Liquid Insulator Wax #845, liquid wax, heat-resistant wax, car wax
 
BillyJack said:
I agree with using a cleaner wax or AIO periodically, especially on lighter colors. My favorite when serious correction is not needed is DG501. It never ceases to amaze me how it makes white paints "whiter" and how dirty a white LC pad gets. To the best of my knowledge, there's not much abrasive action, but some pretty serious chemical cleaning. Longevity is decent on its own, but top it with your Collinite and you're good for a long time.

Bill
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Agreed with Duraglosss #501 Marine-RV Sealant. Excellent chemical cleaning qualities, but there's not much in the way of abrasives-polishes in this product. Thus you can work this one in real good with a DA without worry of removing-hurting your paint. It is a good stand alone Sealant as well. You can then top it with whatever you wish after if you like.
 
jakesxt said:
When using a cleaner wax, what size/color pad is most useful? Any recommendations for a cleaner? D166 does look good and I do like the Meguiars line.

I have the 5.5 backing plate which I like better than the larger plate.
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Most people find the 5.5 inch pad to easiest to work with.
Orange cutting pads are common to use for AIO's, White polishing pads are typically used to cars with newer paint with few defects. However, you always do a test spot with with the least abrasive pad/polish.
As far as recommendations here's a thread worth checking out .
Because you have white paint you can get away with using an AIO with almost no cut like Klasse AIO on an orange pad and get brighter looking paint.
However, if you were to use something with more cut you could remove the majority of the paint defects and end up with significantly better looking paint.

Personally, I would skip an AIO and try SONAX perfect finish which starts off cutting and then diminishes in size with each pass eventually becoming a finishing polish. Pair it with some orange pads and you will end up with fantastic results. Since you already have #845, top it a few layers of wax at the end and boom you're good to go.
 
Thanks everyone. Great suggestions. For getting off the embedded spots, would something like Pinnacle Cleansing lotion be a good option? Or is going with an AIO/Polish the best approach? Sorry for being hesitant, just have never done it before and don't want to mess anything up.
 
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