Yes another new guy with questions

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cstegs

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I'm sure you guys and gals get this all the time but trust me I've done a ton of reading before this post on this forum. So much so in the last two weeks that I've used up all my data and got no work accomplished!!

Anyways, I'm completely new to detailing. Before all Id do is wash and wax and didn't even know there were different waxes.

Now onto my question. I have a 1 year old mercedes slk that Id like to give a good detail. It's a silver metallic so I really can't see any swirl marks at all. I plan on for my bday getting a porter cable buffer with lc Orange, white, black pads, but for now this will be done by hand.

My thought process is giving it a good wash and dry. Then clay bar with meguires. This makes me a little nervous as I've never done it. Then I was thinking using meguires cleaner wax which I have to clean the paint and then use meguires gold class plus to seal it. Is this a good plan? Is the cleaner wax step pointless?

I'd like to polish but I don't see any swirls. Should I polish? Would this bring out the color more? Remember this at this point will be done by hand. How hard is polishing by hand?

Then I plan on doing the girlfriends Jeep Wrangler. Now this does have swirls so I'm assuming meguires ultimate polish is a must right? Do I wait for a buffer or is it worth it by hand?

Sorry I'm all over the place but everything besides wax is brand new to me in this world.

So in summary:
Mercedes slk
Wash
Dry
Clay
Cleaner wax
Gold class plus

Wrangler:
Wash
Clay
Polish
Gold class plus wash

By hand ok for the first time as I won't have a porter cable for a couple months yet?
 
I'm pretty new at this stuff too, but I've picked up a lot of people like to use Iron X or something similar to it before they clay it. I don't know that it's required, but maybe recommended.
 
cstegs said:
I'm sure you guys and gals get this all the time but trust me I've done a ton of reading before this post on this forum. So much so in the last two weeks that I've used up all my data and got no work accomplished!!

Anyways, I'm completely new to detailing. Before all Id do is wash and wax and didn't even know there were different waxes.

Now onto my question. I have a 1 year old mercedes slk that Id like to give a good detail. It's a silver metallic so I really can't see any swirl marks at all. I plan on for my bday getting a porter cable buffer with lc Orange, white, black pads, but for now this will be done by hand.

My thought process is giving it a good wash and dry. Then clay bar with meguires. This makes me a little nervous as I've never done it. Then I was thinking using meguires cleaner wax which I have to clean the paint and then use meguires gold class plus to seal it. Is this a good plan? Is the cleaner wax step pointless?

I'd like to polish but I don't see any swirls. Should I polish? Would this bring out the color more? Remember this at this point will be done by hand. How hard is polishing by hand?

Then I plan on doing the girlfriends Jeep Wrangler. Now this does have swirls so I'm assuming meguires ultimate polish is a must right? Do I wait for a buffer or is it worth it by hand?

Sorry I'm all over the place but everything besides wax is brand new to me in this world.

So in summary:
Mercedes slk
Wash
Dry
Clay
Cleaner wax
Gold class plus

Wrangler:
Wash
Clay
Polish
Gold class plus wash

By hand ok for the first time as I won't have a porter cable for a couple months yet?
Click to expand...

you are not necessarily wrong in how you want to go about things however here is how it works. Wash,clay or iron x then clay, compound if need be, polish it need be, wax. using a DA like the porter cable does not bring out more color, the light hits the car and the paint is free of defects giving it a glow or pop as its defect free. As with the meguiars cleaner wax, you do not need to use that as clay is doing that for you. Polishing by hand is very hard and almost useless as your arm does not supply enough power. Meguiars gold class plus is not a sealent, its a wax which should last about 3 months. If you want an actual sealent, go for collinite 476s.
 
Those look like reasonable plans - Bill1234 has outlined it well I think. I tried doing a hand polishing and found it very hard to produce any results and while I am a weekend warrior I still wanted to have a DA on hand so I got the Griots Garage 6".
 
So skip the cleaner wax? I thought the clay removes contamination and the cleaner wax would clean the paint? Am I wrong with this?

So the order would be

Wash
Clay
Gold class plus wax
 
cstegs... also fairly new at detailing but I would think a good product to remove fall-out, etc. like iron-x or whatever after washing, then washing again, then claying, then a sealant of choice would be my plan probably. Sealant choice would depend on how long you want it to last and what you feel comfortable applying. 1st thing I applied was Crystal Seal, and it was a breeze ( rated at 2-3 months, I believe ); 2nd was Opti-Coat 2.0 ( not such a breeze but nice result ). Claying isn't difficult... just have a good lubrication to use, feel for grabbing under the clay, then gliding when contaminants are removed, look for such things in your clay and when it is contaminated, fold it around until you get a clean surface of clay again. Since you don't see swirls, etc. that bother you, you probably don't have to worry about polishing. Just my thoughts.
 
Wash, clay, wax. Don't worry about anything else on a one year old Merc. After you get your polisher of choice, read everything by Mike Phillips. Get pads and polishes, maybe a sealant or a coating, but for now use the KISS method, Keep It Simple Stupid. Don't take offense nothing you asked was stupid, just an old saying. You will do fine.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I'm just really excited about doing some detailing. Almost like a little kid. I've read so much the last few weeks and I barely have scratched the surface.

So for the benz it's been settled. I'm going to wash with gold class wash, clay with meguires, wax with carnauba plus. That's settled. Now when I get the polisher should I do all of the above and throw in the ultimate polish? Like I said I see absolutely no swirl marks. Is ultimate polish really only for correction? What would be a nice application with a polisher I could buy otc or say on amazon that would give the car an extra wow factor that dimple waxing won't?

And as far as the jeep? Right now just wash, clay, wax as well? The when I get a porter do the above but throw in the ultimate polish as well to get rid of the "slight" swirl marks.

Thanks again so much everyone. I love learning new things. At this time I feel better going with otc type things so this is what I've got in the last couple weeks.

Gold class wash, microfiber wash mitt, meguires clay bar kit, meguires carnauba plus wax, meguires endurance tire gel, mothers vlr, mothers leather foaming cleaner leathertech, mothers gel conditioner leather tech

I also have an old can of meguires cleaner wax from when I knew absolutely nothing. Anything else I should go pick up for my weekend fun?
 
I'm also fairly new to the detailing game, but one thing I can think of that you might want to add - some kind of tire shine. Can't forget them and have them looking grey instead of black. I know Megs makes a decent OTC spray/foam for tire cleaning. Best of luck as you enter the world of detailing!
 
Ok guys, I think I might have a problem as I am doing so much research I'm confusing myself and probably making this way more difficult.

So after spending all night reading forums I came to the conclusion that s100 shine enhancing cleanser and s100 carnauba wax are great products (i'm hoping that everything I read was right and while these are made for the bike segment, they are the same as the higher priced P21S products.

So, with that said, how do these steps look?

Wash with Gold Class
Dry
Clay with Meguiars clay kit
Clean paint with S100 SEC
wax with s100 carnauba

Now in the meantime I have an old can of Meguiars cleaner wax and a new can of Meguires gold class carnauba that I guess I could experiment on on some other cars.

Anyways, does the before mentioned system seem good? Remember this is a metallic silver SLK.

Would the same system be good on a dark green Jeep or should I go with a clay, Meguiars gold class wax system?

Thanks again.
 
Your plan for the S100 stuff on the SLK sounds fine. I would say have at it. I also might suggest you try the Meg's system on the Jeep...not that it will work any better than S100 but can give you a comparison for use, application and durability as contrasted with S100 stuff. You can then decide over time which system you prefer.

My only personal recommendation is that i don't dry the vehicle if i am going to clay. I leave it wet to aid the clay lubricant. I then, after clay, thoroughly rinse everything off and then dry. Might save you some time.

Just an idea.
 
Great idea puckman. Perfect way to compare the two products
 
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