Car detailing basics? Not a deep dive

I figure I should start taking a little better care of my cars' paint. I live in Wisconsin so while our cars are garaged, they are driven in all kinds of bad conditions. My interest is more in maintaining pretty good paint than restoring really damaged paint.

I have typically done a mix of hose washing at home with some Eagle One Wax As U Dry action occasionally, and then paying a hand wash place in winter. I use Fluid Film on the underbits to help prevent corrosion. I am definitely not a detailing/show car guy, but I don't want things to get degraded by these conditions.

I read this thread among others: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/epies-diy-detailing-thread/48403/page1/

I'm trying to avoid detailing forums so I don't go off the deep edge. Help!

I like the Optimum No Rinse product (could wash in my heated garage in winter, and not deal with dragging hose out behind garage in warm weather). I'll probably get that Porter Cable 7424 DA buffer that everyone likes.

Is there a typical mild polish and pad combo that would be good for this situation? I'm seeing a lot of 2-4 step processes but they mostly seem excessive or aimed at repairing terrible paint. I don't want to start doing 6 hour detail jobs.

I think a synthetic sealant that will last longer is the way for me to go. Any consensus on something that will handle a Midwestern winter without being crazy expensive or hard to apply? Klasse Sealant Glaze?

If you are not going to go nuts and do not care about the swirls in the paint and just want protection. Find a Carnuba wax soap. Basically you just wash the car and it adds another layer of thin wax, the more you wash the bigger the wax build up and the better protected the car is.

http://www.chemicalguys.com/Body_Wash_Synthetic_Wax_Car_Wash_16_oz_p/cws_107_16.htm

Something like this.

If you want a one step with the D/A polisher. I use Klasse all in one. It will remove small imperfections and leave a good finish.

Absolutely MUST use a claybar. You don't know what "clean paint" means until you've claybar'd and waxed. I'll never NOT claybar any vehicle I own.

I think doing a good clay-bar treatment and then sealing up with a decent wax is what you are after. If you clay once a year or so (depending on how much the paint is exposed to elements) you should be able to pull out all the crap that gets stuck and won't come out otherwise. Then just wax it and keep it clean.

Ever do the shopping bag test before and after using a clay bar? It's amazing! Wash a section of your car (whatever the reason, the rear bumper/deck lid tend to get the worst crap embedded), then use a single layer of plastic shopping bag on your finger to feel the paint. For whatever reason the shopping bag lets you feel the impurities really well. Then clay it and do it again. It's like butta!

Edit: Trackmouse knows whats up (and is a few seconds faster than me!)

Mm thanks guys, keep the suggestions coming.

Funny this should come up. Was thinking of giving the FRS its first bath since I bought it. Its getting a bit grotty after 4 years. Need to get rid of a substantial layer of the stuff that Krown Rust control sprays in the cavities (It seems to be crawling out the bottom of the doors and up the sides) Dawn dishsoap good for this?

NOHOME wrote: Funny this should come up. Was thinking of giving the FRS its first bath since I bought it. Its getting a bit grotty after 4 years. Need to get rid of a substantial layer of the stuff that Krown Rust control sprays in the cavities (It seems to be crawling out the bottom of the doors and up the sides) Dawn dishsoap good for this?

I would say yes. Dawn is an excellent grease-cutter. But it will remove any and all waxes that are on the surface, too. I use it once a year, for the initial cleaning before waxing. After that I use car-specific soap, whatever's on sale at Autozone.

oilstain wrote: I think doing a good clay-bar treatment and then sealing up with a decent wax is what you are after. If you clay once a year or so (depending on how much the paint is exposed to elements) you should be able to pull out all the crap that gets stuck and won't come out otherwise. Then just wax it and keep it clean.

Yes, that sounds good. Maybe I'll skip the polishing steps and just add the clay bar and a quality wax to the regimen. Any recommendations on a durable long lasting wax that I can apply without additional steps or tools?

Tom_Spangler wrote:

NOHOME wrote: Funny this should come up. Was thinking of giving the FRS its first bath since I bought it. Its getting a bit grotty after 4 years. Need to get rid of a substantial layer of the stuff that Krown Rust control sprays in the cavities (It seems to be crawling out the bottom of the doors and up the sides) Dawn dishsoap good for this?

I would say yes. Dawn is an excellent grease-cutter. But it will remove any and all waxes that are on the surface, too. I use it once a year, for the initial cleaning before waxing. After that I use car-specific soap, whatever's on sale at Autozone.

I can assure you there are no waxes on the surface unless Subaru put them there

Seems like these posts have goodtiming together.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/have-we-had-a-discussion-about-cleaningdetailing-supplies/121742/page1/

I'll be following this one also.

Didn't see that or I would have piggy backed.

I'm thinking Collinite 845 should be a good long lasting option that's easy to apply. Thanks for the tips, all!

I purchased a few products from Autogeek and got to work. Optimum No Rinse so I can wash with the two bucket method year round in my garage. I washed this time with dish soap to strip any wax. I also picked up a few clay bars, Optimum quick detailer, and Optimum Opti Seal and Collinite 845 liquid insulator wax, which I layered. Results look great, the clay really does clean up the paint. This should be a good combo for our harsh weather. Thanks for the help!

The Mequiar's Deep Crystal line of products is cheap, available at walmarts and the like, and works pretty well.

Wash with whatever. I tend to use whatever dish detergent is around. Warm water is a lot nicer to work with than straight cold.

Clay bars work well and take little effort...IF...you keep it wet and lubricated. This is the one "bling" step that in my opinion is worthwhile even for a novice or light weight prepper who only does it once every few years.

Yes, the clay bar process was easy and really impressed me with how much smoother it got the paint. I was a little intimidated by it before but I'd encourage people to try it.

Not a detail freak by any means, been just a wash n wax kinda guy on the newer stuff and compounding/ buffer treatment on older finishes. Clay bar, huh? Newest fad, huh. I thought the finish on the dealer prepped E92 was pretty good til I tried the clay bar. Holy berkeley, I'm a true believer now.

Clay bar is amazing. The other thing is a good cleaning of thr door jambs and cowl area and the stuff thst doesn't get cleaned with regular washing. A lot of cars benefit from slightly pulling the door moldings away and cleaing behind them, especially at the bottom of the doors where gunk collects. In more that a few cases that gunk can block the drains in the bottom of the door and lead to water staying in the door, which is bad.

Many moons ago someone here made the claim that a certain inexpensive modeling clay could be used instead of the stupid-expensive lumps sold in the auto parts section.

Troof or friction?

I've been lazy on the Abarth, I should clay bar the thing. I tried it once on the old xB after hearing about it, holy crap it did make a difference. Hm, hopefully we get some decent temps/no rain the next few weekends before it gets stupid cold.

Great choice on the Collonite. I just picked some up, it did an amazing job. I also mirror the sentiments of the importance of a claybar. I do mobile detailing on the side, I won't leave home without it. I added a gratuitous picture of water beading with the collonite wax.

in my grand experiment of one , i found claying and then a sealant worked great if the paint was in good shape. I've used Klasse's AIO and Optimium Poli-Seal with good results.

Then I could use whatever spray wax struck my fancy. You can't really go wrong with today's formulations.

I'm going to piggyback on this.

Five years ago we painted a ratty Miata with single-stage enamel in my dad's garage. Then came vinyl stripes, numbers on the door and a lot of stickers. The car was retired from autocross duty a couple years ago and the paint doesn't shine that much. What does shine is the paint under where numbers and decals used to be:

I'm tired of the thing looking dull so I've tried scaring a shine back into it. I don't have much serious cleaners on hand: just NuFinish and some clear coat safe Meguires liquid compound. I hit half the car with the NuFinish the other day and got good results, but I fear that it's going to go back to dull after a week or so.

A friend suggested wet-sanding, but the paint is kinda thin in spots and I don't want to risk breaking through paint into primer. I'm mostly curious about what kind of compound/cleaner that's recommended to knock off enough of the top layer to get rid of the sticker shadows but not aggressive enough to actually remove paint. If there is such a thing.

bludroptop wrote: Many moons ago someone here made the claim that a certain inexpensive modeling clay could be used instead of the stupid-expensive lumps sold in the auto parts section. Troof or friction?

I see kits including the spray detail lube for $20-30. And they last for a long time.... I think I'd just get the real deal at that price.

I got this which is a lot of clay.

Claff wrote:

Wipe it with an oily rag.