Sorry but I think I posted this in the wrong section so here it is again -
Hello from Ohio!
I've been an on and off lurker on the site for several years but never got too deep into detailing in the past due to the unfortunate fact that my cars have been basically economic used daily drivers parked outside 24/7 and although I am pretty OCD about the mechanical side maintenance of them, I just really never had that great of results by "detailing" them the old school way.
What I mean by the "old school way" is the grab some cold beers, a random bucket, some rags and dish soap, then dry it with some old towels and smear some "whatever" wax type substance or TV space-age polymer elixir stuff I found in and old cabinet in the garage and stand back and enjoy the "shine", for about five days if I was lucky until it looked just like it did before I worked on it, lol.
A good example of "I wish I knew then what I know now" is a nicer white Dodge intrepid I had years ago when I had a two hour highway commute everyday, I was determined to try and keep it looking as good as I could but even after my best old school detailing efforts - I think I even used the "clean" old rags and towels on it, sure it was cleaner and a bit shinier but had this strange brownish haze to it when the sunlight hit it and I could never figure out what the problem was.
Road grime, brake dust and oxidation in the clear coat? never heard of it, Clay bars for paint? never heard of them, rotary polishers? Oh yeah I knew what those were, those were a waste of $30 worth of beer money for an electric motor thingy with handles on either side and a big overgrown wool "Chewbacca" pad on it when I could just do it by hand.
So there it is and now you know, I'm finally "out of the old school detailing closet" and I feel like a better man for it already.
Hello from Ohio!
I've been an on and off lurker on the site for several years but never got too deep into detailing in the past due to the unfortunate fact that my cars have been basically economic used daily drivers parked outside 24/7 and although I am pretty OCD about the mechanical side maintenance of them, I just really never had that great of results by "detailing" them the old school way.
What I mean by the "old school way" is the grab some cold beers, a random bucket, some rags and dish soap, then dry it with some old towels and smear some "whatever" wax type substance or TV space-age polymer elixir stuff I found in and old cabinet in the garage and stand back and enjoy the "shine", for about five days if I was lucky until it looked just like it did before I worked on it, lol.
A good example of "I wish I knew then what I know now" is a nicer white Dodge intrepid I had years ago when I had a two hour highway commute everyday, I was determined to try and keep it looking as good as I could but even after my best old school detailing efforts - I think I even used the "clean" old rags and towels on it, sure it was cleaner and a bit shinier but had this strange brownish haze to it when the sunlight hit it and I could never figure out what the problem was.
Road grime, brake dust and oxidation in the clear coat? never heard of it, Clay bars for paint? never heard of them, rotary polishers? Oh yeah I knew what those were, those were a waste of $30 worth of beer money for an electric motor thingy with handles on either side and a big overgrown wool "Chewbacca" pad on it when I could just do it by hand.
So there it is and now you know, I'm finally "out of the old school detailing closet" and I feel like a better man for it already.
