Stepping up my detailing game

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ddsski

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For years, I have done my cars 2x/yr. Track car would often get an extra mid season touch up..
I have been very happy with the spring Mother's 1, 2, Collinite 845 job. In the fall, I would usually do a Mother's 2 (if needed), Collinite 845 job before winter. Because all cars are garaged, I may not do Mother's 1 every spring esp on the cars that park in winter. I have never seen the 845 "used up" yet.
I want to make sure I give my new GTS the best out there so here I am!
 
Welcome Ddsski! Glad to have you here.

Sounds like you get the most fun out of your clean and protected cars by driving them for fun too!
 
When I finish my Mother's 1&2, I would love a 1 step prep instead of 2. But I don't want to lessen the result. May lean to SiO2 someday, but it looks like I can't apply this over the 845, so everything must change. Very cofusing market....Yes I have the obligatory PC unit.
 
Yes, it is information overload but trying different things helps to sort it out a bit.

I'm not familiar with the Mothers 1, 2 system but do use Coll 845 and love it. Is Mothers 1,2 a cut and buff set of products?

You might want to try some of the AIO's or cleaner waxes. You can still top them with Coll 845 for extended durability.
 
yes the market is overwhelming. and polish and seal 2 step is still my preferred method. I'm a menzerna guy though. But will admit that some of the new AIO products are getting more traction for my wife's car and my dd. If you're interested in changing it up, check out one or 2 of the popular aio's.
 
Welcome to the forum!

Yeah a lot of options available to both polish and protect a vehical.

What do want from the protection? As in how does you rate what is important for you. Is it the looks or longevity or do you like to apply something regualary and the protection it self if you have some extreme contaminants in your environment.

As for polishing I'm not familiar with the Mothers 1-2 step. Here is the methods you do as washing and drying a good thing to have dialed in. To get the minimal polishing needed as in remove as little clearcoat as possible. And have a little arsenal of different kind of aggressiveness and pads to dial in the least aggressive combo that gets your paint looking awesome.

Tons of information and knowledge here and very helpfull and nice people. You have some cool and great cars.
 
Well I gotta say, I tried Black fire AIO yesterday on my Montalcino Red Range Rover Sport. Did half the hood and compared it to the other half done in spring via my old method. The Blackfire AIO is every bit as good AND BETTER than the old Mother's regimen! Still topped it with godd old Collinite 845. IT removed the surface stuff extremely well and once I learned to use as little of the AIO as I do Collinite, things went very well.

Looking ahead, the 2 reasons I detail cars are
1. The topcoat is the protection.
2. The 1st coat ( Be it a Mother's 1 &/or 2 or now Blackfire AIO) removes the swirls, light scratches etc that occur on cars actually driven routinely. Grit, grime, greasesap, tar, misc fluid sprays, dust (ultimate nasty is driving by a construction site with concrete dust everywhere) etc. I have been doing a lot of research on the SiO2 stuff. What I don't see anyone discuss is stuff like are they actually better at resisting the scratches and effects of 6 months of hand car washing, winter car washing especially? Or, am I going to look at a very highly protected car with lots of built up imperfections over time. I know everyone says they rinse off readily and even rain keeps things clean. However, when you drive 10K in the winter from CT to Me, you drive through lots of UGLY!!
Is this where the full prep, polish and apply SiO2....then finish over the top theory kicks in? Or, will applying finishes over the SiO2 negate half its self cleaning properties? A water sheeting car with a winter full of defects is not my goal?! Seems like I am still going to want to do the surface maintenance biannually?? Even the GTS that has only been driven 2000 miles and has been detailed with the Griots show car finish over the factory/dealer applied Simoniz Glass Coat needed some end of the season love. I did a light Mother's #2 (Wasn't brave enough to use the Blackfire AIO on this vehicle for first use!) and layer of Collinite 845 and it looked better than it did at delivery! Maybe this is the car that goes SiO2 first? although the Simoniz is warranteed till 4/24. This forum really does bring out the auto OCD in us.....
 
Well here goes. Seen as its winter in New England and protection trumps perfection, I will use up my good old Mother's #1 to prepare the Stelvio for a coat of Blackfire SiO2. Let the durability games begin. I assume if I get the January thaw and can get a thorough car wash, I can apply the SiO2 again if needed. Should be a lot easier than my old mid winter 2 step regimen. Time will tell. If this works as well as everybody says it does, I am going to feel like I am cheating!!!

Still can't believe how well the Blackfire AIO with a layer of 845 over the top came out on the Range Rover. Had car up at the dealership just after it was done and the manager came out. He was very impressed as it was parked next a newly prepped for sale 2019. Mine put the new car to shame!!! Granted the color is far more stunning than boring grey but.....
 
Hello fellow New Englander. I usually apply Collinte 845 or Wolfgang DGPS to my vehicles before the winter hits but this year I have a layer of Mothers CMX and it is holding up nicely. It probably will not last through the winter so I will probably pull out the polisher next week and prep the surface for a good coating. If I have access to the garage, I will probably do another Wolfgang DGPS application and let it cure properly. That usually lasts me until March or April. What I like about the Mothers CMX is that it is easy to apply and remove. It just does not have the longevity that I had hoped for.
 
Well the Mother's #1 base cleaning was typical...eeasy but damn stuff really likes black plastic. McKee's wxx remover gets a C.

But then the Blackfire SiO2. The first word in the package label descriptor is "Simple"....Why YES!! it is. If you can apply a Showtime / Finisher etc to a car in the shade which is pretty darn easy....THIS IS FOR YOU!!! I cheated the detailing gods today. Yet another example of how easy the young have it in the 21st century. After the #1, this stuff took ~45 minutes to wipe down everything ridiculously thoroughly. Back in the day....it took all day to get this result....and it would be shot in a month. We will see how it compares to the 845 Gold standard for winter durability. This stuff is so easy, it will be little different than my summer touchups after a car wash.
 
ddsski said:
When I finish my Mother's 1&2, I would love a 1 step prep instead of 2. But I don't want to lessen the result. May lean to SiO2 someday, but it looks like I can't apply this over the 845, so everything must change. Very cofusing market....Yes I have the obligatory PC unit.
Click to expand...

Just make the change would be my advice. Otherwise you may spend a lot of money on regular wax based products just to find out you want ceramic and have to buy everything all over again. That's what happened to me at least.

At this point there are an abundance of hybrid products to use. These are my favorites. I have my car coated with the new cosmic glass coat. I've used sio2 based detail products on it for after washing. I've topped it with mckees 37 Si02 wax which has real carnauba wax in it. I can use carnubaflocken creme over it. I can use something like pinnacle si02 spray on it. All kinds of combinations.

Then there are a ton of new hybrid products out in 2020.
 
Something this easy to apply will end up being my finishing detail spray over said vehicle...when it rains we will see how well I did. Misty today so a thousand tiny beads
 
Well, some impressions on SiO2 are in order. Its wicked easy to apply the Blackfire SiO2 product. It looks great and feels great. Is it better in those 2 regards than my Collinite 845???? hmmmmmm
Now both vehicles have gone through their first winter crapola cycle. 1500+ miles of storm hell on RRS means a THOROUGH washing is needed to clean it up and it is the Collinite finish. Except for the few light scratches of winter, looks fresh.
Stelvio just had a few days of road film on it esp the rear hatch area. Expected it to hose right off based on all the prophecies about SiO2. NO!!! You have to wash this as well....but did I say its easy to apply and it does sheet really well. More to follow.
 
ddsski said:
Stelvio just had a few days of road film on it esp the rear hatch area. Expected it to hose right off based on all the prophecies about SiO2. NO!!! You have to wash this as well....but did I say its easy to apply and it does sheet really well. More to follow.
Click to expand...

The most epic coating in all the kingdom will still require physical agitation to clean it up completely. Such is life...
 
Let's talk about leather now. I have used Lexol for YEARS. Anything wrong or too old school about it? I don't like the slippery cleaners like Meguiars etc
 
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