Clay Bar Really Works Wonders

The v07 is good stuff, they make a good sealant, their jetseal is really good as well. If you like that you should take a look at CarPro reload, it's a ceramic sealant, while not as long lasting like the cquartz (up to 2 years) it does last about 6 months, and they make stuff called reset to clean it soap wise.

 

I used the VO7 soap and was happy! I’ll have to check out the sealant. What is the quick dry detailer & polish called?

 

Chemical Guys WAC_202_16 Speed Wipe Quick Detailer (16 oz)

$11 Chemical Guys WAC_202_16 Speed Wipe Quick Detailer, Safe for Cars, Trucks, SUVs, Motorcycles, RVs & More, 16 fl oz, Cherry Scent

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FALVU9Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_It0iBbZY417X6

Been working real well with taking pollen off.

 

I had to clay mine recently and it was really bad. Next time I'll follow a suggestion about Rust X

https://youtu.be/EuidgeWQFoM

 

oookkk

 

Does the clay work well on overspray or am I better off just buffing?

 

It will work. May take a lot of elbow grease depending upon how aggressive your clay is. I have a synthetic clay mitt and took overspray off my truck fairly quick. Big box clay will take longer.

 

Takes me roughly an hour to clay mine, that's after a MA winter.

 

Yikes! Invest in some Iron X and maybe some better clay. Should cut that time down.

 

I had to read all three pages, I was yelling "DON'T FORGET TO USE POLISH!"

I've been told to wash with dish washing soap before (yes Palmolive, AJAX etc) because it helps strip the wax (which is why you would otherwise never use dish washing soap on your truck).
Then clay, polish and wax. That Nu Finish once a year stuff is actually great polish (a lot of people think it's wax). I use it twice a year and try to wax every month. Nothing sticks for first two weeks, washing it is soooo easy. Hope this helps someone

Oh, and definately use the clay bar lubricant... always use lubricant... seriously

 

Dish soap doesn't strip wax or sealants. But it WILL dry out rubber seals and plastic/vinyl trim with repeated use. Don't use dish soap.

Surfactants left behind by dish soap prohibit water beading on the paint surface, giving the appearance that the wax has been "stripped". But if you were to wipe down with isopropyl alcohol after the dish soap wash... beading will return, as the alcohol "strips" the surfactants left behind by the dish soap.

 

Good to know, thanks I heard that the same way you're telling us this now and ran with it. I guess you really never know, verify verify verify

 

There's been heated debates over the years on detailing forums about the topic of dish soap stripping waxes. For the most part, the detailing community has accepted that dish soap doesn't strip waxes and sealants. A number of people have done tests with different sealants/waxes on test panels... and it is pretty clear that dish soap doesn't strip our sealants/waxes (as noted in my previous post). And that's a good thing! The sealants on the market now, particularly, really hang on. Some amazing sealant technology in recent years.

I'm sure there's others that will argue otherwise. But I've been convinced by the experiments and evidence I've seen. If you want to remove wax or sealant (particularly recently applied) you'll need an abrasive polish to ensure removal.

For waxes/sealants near the end of their useful life, there are some products (paint cleaners/panel wipes) out there now that are for this purpose specifically. I might argue that if a product is near the end of its life, a microfiber and water alone might do as much to remove a wax as a dish soap would (but don't try it). Obviously there are a lot of variables at play.

And to most people... this is irrelevant when it comes to their daily drivers. Wash the truck with a quality car wash soap and apply a new coat of sealant. Done. When you want to "refresh" it... repeat. But some of us really like to do it "by the book" and get all the old stuff off before applying new. In that case, I'd recommend a panel wipe of some kind (ex. car pro eraser) or a light polish/paint cleaner.

Hope I don't sound like I'm arguing/lecturing. I'm not at all! Just sharing some of what I've learned while reading the detailing forums. Hope someone finds it helpful.

 

It’ll look and feel nice when you’re done. I had so much crap adhered to the clear coat it didn’t look like I was washing it. I just washed the truck again yesterday and cleaning it was so much easier than before.

 

It’s crazy how much junk is stuck to the clear coat.

 

Here's a recent AG thread discussing what i've mentioned here in this thread regarding stripping of waxes.
https://www.autogeekonline.net/foru...a/119660-anyone-ever-use-strip-wash-soap.html

 

I watched some of the second video. After 20 washes with dawn, the waxes are barely impacted at all. It's only after using very hot water and UNDILUTED Dawn soap that the waxes even begin to show signs of decline (and this is after 20 previous washes).

Granted, that's freshly applied wax (3 days old). But it's enough to convince me that Dawn isn't an effective "wax stripper", as we've been led to believe. There are many such examples of experiments like this on the various detailing forums.

 

Just finished a very lengthy 2 day clean, this thread made me want to go for it sooner rather then later.

My process
-Full wash
-Blown dry then waffle towel to get any remaining water
-Clayed with 3M professional, CarPro Immolube used for lubrication
-washed and dried
-polished using CarPro essence with polishing pad
-glossed using carpro esscence plus (no abrasives ony for glossing the finish)
-washed and dried
-wiped down with CarPro eraser
-cquartz applied

Coming from the dealership there was no wax or sealant of any kind, water would sit on the surfaces of the truck and pool bad, luckily being new it wasn't a terrible process and no compounding was needed. Now it's protected for at least a year but I'll extend that with reload. Damn you guys and your clay bar talk, this was supposed to wait until my week off in July lol.

 

A little less than an hour..that includes taking a smoke break. Remember too that MA winters are rough on vehicles here, and I'm a perfectionist.