I finally had a day with decent conditions and enough time to do my first deep cleaning on the new car
It was 53 degrees, 70% humidity, and solid cloud cover with very little breeze
I got everything out and staged and only forgot a couple of minor items I had to scramble to locate
I got my IK with BH AF and refill jug, my MTM cannon with Megs HW and refill jug (forgot to grab the funnel), my boars hair brush and heavy HW spray bottle, and I set up my soap bucket with 3 oz HW and 4 gallons of water and my dirty mitt bucket on my twin dolly
I started the soap bucket with the 4 new Detail Popo fuzzy pads and quickly learned you have to really squeeze them underwater to get the foam block in the middle to soak through. It is awesome how much soapy water they carry from the bucket to the car if you don’t wring them out. It took a few minutes to get them dialed in to my process but for big flat panels they are AWESOME. My noodle mitts are still best for complicated contours and grills and such but the 2 types together were a killer combo. I also still use those old blue microfiber mitts as well and really like them for windows and trim
I laid down a layer of BH AF and let it dwell, and I have to admit that running back and forth to the air hose to pump the IK2 up sucked big time. I admit now that I need a IK12. I laid on the AF extra heavy on the grill and back end and let it dwell and followed it up with HW in the MTM cannon, letting that dwell as well
AF and HW doing their thing
I pressure washed and laid down a second layer of HW foam
went into my contact wash, switching media often, and used all 14 of my mitts and pads
This car is huge
I did a top down rinse and the front grille is a bear to get rinsed, it just keeps bleeding suds. The beading was just so so and I remember right after I got it it beaded great so I think my many trips through the tunnel wash have built up way too much of that damn foam “polish”, and I am pretty sure I need to do an acid and alkaline DEEP clean to really get the ceramic back to full capability
I blew it dry with my Ego and never even got a drying towel out, it actually blew off pretty easily
I could not have done this car without the step ladders, and I am 5’11”
Then it was time to go mad scientist so I broke out the “toppers/drying aids” I have on hand and tried all 7 on different panels. Right off the bat, the Suds Lab felt like spraying and wiping distilled water, I couldn’t tell if it did anything. It had zero “body” to it. It may do something but as I said, it didn’t feel like I actually applied anything. Several of the others went on a bit grabby but at 70% humidity that’s understandable. OCW and Bead it Up felt the slickest, and the others acted about as you would expect. I will keep an eye on the hydrophobics and see how they fare over the next few weeks
I wanted to add that NONE of them felt “nice” on the PPF, they were all a bit grabby but PPF is new to me so I don’t know what to expect
A silver gray car on a gray day is certainly not going to win any reflection awards but I think it came out well
Laundry time
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