The Official Car Care Thread

[nemesis]

makes me want to stay away from Black and Dark Colours for my next purchase. Karim what u suggest as the easiest to maintain colour both professionally and average car enthusiast?

If you're going to actually do the maintenance then it shouldn't matter what color you have. If you want to leave the imperfections on the paint and see them a bit less maybe go for silver or a light gold? I guess it would depend heavily on the paint too.

[silent_riot]

I have a dark green and a white car. I prefer the darker colours as its a more rewarding finish.

[pioneer]

Is this any good?

[Karim Khan]

makes me want to stay away from Black and Dark Colours for my next purchase. Karim what u suggest as the easiest to maintain colour both professionally and average car enthusiast?

Silver

[pioneer]

What's the best/decent wash mitt out there?

[Karim Khan]

ah ole jokey shorts..lol

but on a serious note i like the Cobra Micro Chenille Wash Mitts. They work really nice and they last very long

[r3iXmann]

Can you guys recommend a good wheel brush? Disappointing that my wheels typically look half assed after I wash (plenty spokes)

[equipped2ripp]

Carrand brushes, towels, mitts should be good enough.

[pioneer]

wey we geyyin than?

[Karim Khan]

Can you guys recommend a good wheel brush? Disappointing that my wheels typically look half assed after I wash (plenty spokes)

The Meguiars wheel brush is a nice starter brush. Its not bad for the enthusiast detailer. I have a couple of them and they work well, its just that you need to be very careful when you are storing them as it can lose its shape, that the only reason why i am disappointed, but other than that its a good for what it is designed to do.

The reason why i would recommend this wheel brush for the enthusiast detailer is that there are not may wheel brushes like this selling in TnT. When compared to the other high end wheel brushes the Meguiars cost significantly less than the others.

[Karim Khan]

Is this any good?

Pioneer Yes it is a good product but it depends on the application ?

Pioneer based on your experiences with detailing i am sure you have a greater appreciation of what we detailers do. Its a highly specialized skill when done right

[silent_riot]

Here's some pics of a detail I did over the past couple of days. It was my first time with some new pads, so it took me a while: 4 hours compounding, 4 hours polishing, 1/2 hour on the sealant, 1 hour on interior cleaning, 1/2 hour on waxing.

I used a 2oz. sample of a Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint sealant I got, I used less than 1/2 oz. to do this large car (93 LS400). I put a pic of the amount I used. It's a great product, and after I applied it, it was the smoothest paint I've ever felt. I'll report on the durability as time goes on.

[silent_riot]

..aaaaaaaaand rain just fell. lol

Some beading pics...

[equipped2ripp]

I got the sample of the Wolfgang sealant as well, but I didn't use it as yet. Great to see the water beading on it!

[DVSTT]

Yea silent_riot, that beading looks great! Good job!

[pioneer]

Karim it's to remove any existing wax/polish...I want to a fresh surface to start on because i'm not sure what products the bufferman uses

This coming week I should have it buffed again

And hell yes I always appreciated that work, it not for everyone...very easy to give up on it lol

[silent_riot]

I see some people use dishwashing liquid to strip wax or a isopropyl alcohol/water mix. I never tried it though.

[Rainman]

I see some people use dishwashing liquid to strip wax or a isopropyl alcohol/water mix. I never tried it though.

I've used dawn ultra as a lazy man fix, this is not ideal for repeated use though.

[Karim Khan]

Karim it's to remove any existing wax/polish...I want to a fresh surface to start on because i'm not sure what products the bufferman uses

This coming week I should have it buffed again

And hell yes I always appreciated that work, it not for everyone...very easy to give up on it lol

Its a lot of hard work.

To remove the existing wax/polish you should use a pre-wax cleaner. A nice one is the Sonax Premium Class Paint Cleaner or the AutoGLym Highm Defination Cleanser. These products will chemically remove the existing wax/polish on the surface so you can get a nice clean start.

[WetR]

so the wolfgang sealant is recommended? what is the best sealant for a novice (but avid learner) to try?

[silent_riot]

Thinking about picking up some large waffle weave microfibers for drying.

[silent_riot]

WetR, it's very easy to use, but to be honest I don't have experience with much other products to tell you which is better.
Karim or nemesis would have wider experience.
But basically products from proven manufacturers are all generally good, the difference in results is due to the effort the user puts in the preparation, application and maintenance according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

[Karim Khan]

so the wolfgang sealant is recommended? what is the best sealant for a novice (but avid learner) to try?

For the novice, just purchase something that you can afford and make sure read to the instructions and follow it. Once you do this you should not have any problems.

[WetR]

great replies guys. thanks

[nemesis]

Nice pics there silent.
As for the Wolfgang Sealant : I have used it and did like it for a few reasons.
1. Nice shine
2. Great feeling surface.

However, I find in looks on the vehicles I tried it didn't do too much better than some other sealants(Blackfire/EGP). Maybe looked a little better on dark colors than the EGP..but that could be just me thinking it. Wasn't a more obvious difference like EGP vs some waxes. And I'm not keen on their recommended 12hrs of not getting wet and having to keep it below 30deg C. That means you basically can only use it on cars you're going to park in covered/closed garages overnight. Not sure if that's what affected the durability also, but I did half/half with Wolfgang and AG EGP and the EGP outlasted it.

[pioneer]

Karim it's to remove any existing wax/polish...I want to a fresh surface to start on because i'm not sure what products the bufferman uses

This coming week I should have it buffed again

And hell yes I always appreciated that work, it not for everyone...very easy to give up on it lol

Its a lot of hard work.

To remove the existing wax/polish you should use a pre-wax cleaner. A nice one is the Sonax Premium Class Paint Cleaner or the AutoGLym Highm Defination Cleanser. These products will chemically remove the existing wax/polish on the surface so you can get a nice clean start.

Where sells the Sonax...I guessing car boutique?

[silent_riot]

nemesis, when I did it I applied the sealant at about 4-5pm, then left the car in my aunt's garage overnight, then applied HD wax the next morning (since HD wax requires the use of a damp applicator).

[Karim Khan]

Where sells the Sonax...I guessing car boutique?

Yup the sell plenty Sonax products. If you want check Glenns Super Shop the last time i was there i think i saw some prewax cleaners.

[nemesis]

nemesis, when I did it I applied the sealant at about 4-5pm, then left the car in my aunt's garage overnight, then applied HD wax the next morning (since HD wax requires the use of a damp applicator).

HDwax doesn't hold very well over sealants like that though. In my experience it is best over the older SRP or best on a clean/polished surface with nothing else.

[silent_riot]

Yeah, I was mentioning it to Karim afterwards. I found out (the hard way) that the HD Wax step didn't make sense.