newish to detailing...couple Qs

Hey all. 2016 owner. 40k miles. parked outside most of life, in salted state for 37k.

I recently layered in clay baring into my routine. Looking for feedback on my routine and anything else I could/ should be doing.

so now, my full routine is as follows. I go top to bottom in every step
1. rinse with pressure washer
2. soap with foam gun (mix of Chemical bros. honeydew and citrus)
3. rinse with pressure washer
4. hand wash with microfiber using same soap as above.
5. rinse with pressure washer.
6. clay bar (griot's clay and polish as lube) *not every wash, just every few months or as needed if paint becomes very gritty.
7. rinse with hose (not pressure washer)
8. I was formally waxing with high quality liquid Caranuba (Meguire's Ultimate Liquid) and now use CarGuys Hybrid Wax/ sealant, which lasts a lot longer.
9. I use Aerospace 303 on all rubber and vinyl (eg. weather trim, fender flares, etc.).

What am I missing?

Also, I noticed a bunch of small white spots that appear to be in the clear coat? Is that from sun? I am not comfortable using a power buffer, but would a professional detailer be able to get them out? there are millions of swirls anyway so many I should spend the money on a professional anyway?

Thanks for your input.

 

Need pics.

Feedback on routine. Skip rinse after foam gun and go straight to hand wash. The whole point of foam gun is lubricity. Also, there is no mention of drying process.

 

thanks for the reply. Interesting idea on skipping the rinse after the foam gun. I suppose that makes sense though. I just figured another rinse meant getting more stuff off the car, but the lube factor is a good call. I'll add pics asap. I dry it with microfiber cloth after final rinse before wax.

 

I use a foam cannon instead of foam gun, I always go straight to hand wash after using the cannon.

What do you use as drying aid?

 

thanks. answered your Q just above/ before your post.

 

There may be helpful information here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/official-ask-a-detailer-thread.8957/

 

Are you saying you're claying every time you wash? Unless you're in some extreme environment you'll likely not need to clay more than once a year. Some detailers insist you shouldn't clay if you don't plan to follow it up with polish.

Also don't be scared of a buffer, particularly a dual action orbital type buffer. Even with a rotary and common sense it takes A LOT of stupidity to burn through the clear coat. Watch a couple videos on it and you'll get the gist.

 

I always:
foam cannon
power wash off
hand wash using 2 bucket method

Also no mention about cleaning wheels. I start with the wheels first and then move on to washing the truck.

 

pretty sure you're kidding about doing the wheels first. I use a different microfiber cloth for the wheels, otherwise same procedure as above, no clay and no wax on them though.

 

Why would I be kidding?

 

haha, I read your post again and apparently I made a lot of assumptions the first time around, mainly that you were using the same wash mitt and starting with the wheels. sorry.

 

No reason to clay every time. You need to look at your technique if you have a bunch of swirls.

 

good catch, I should have clarified I only plan to clay every few months.

 

That is still too often unless you live in a high industrial fallout area. I would do a baggie test after 6 months to see if another claying is needed. Typically only clay once a year.

 

I do wheels first with a brush when I finish I use the brush to do the inside lip of your wheel wells then I rinse and hit wheels again with a microfiber towel to get what brush misses than when you wash you don't catch dirt from that area and scratch paint. Yes, I use a different bucket and sponge on the rest of the truck.

 

Makes sense. I think my post was taken a bit too literally, I’ll access the paint and determine if it needs to be clayed, not just automatically do it every x months.

Also just so we’re for sure talking about the same thing, the clay baring I’m referring to is not a coating, none of it stays on the paint. It just takes tiny debris and fowling off the paint.

 

No need to clay nearly as often as you are, once, maybe twice a year. I really think you should polish it, again once a year is plenty, maybe every other year.

Get a good drying towel like griots pfm, it'll cut down on towel contact time and scratching.

Start wash with wheels, obviously with a different wash media.

Get a grit guard, or 2. And a rinse bucket.
I use 2 buckets with grit guards, and about 6 wash mitts, I try not to use the same mitt twice to decrease scratches and swirls.

Don't be afraid of a DA polisher. You really can't hurt your paint. Youd have to try to damage your paint. You could get a griots 6" or maybe a porter cable and some lake country pads with a decent polish. Megs 205 is good stuff and versatile, if you load the pad heavy you can get some pretty good cut from 205, go light on the polish on a soft pad and you will get the fine swirls out and buff to a nice shine. Really don't be scared, you can do it. After you polish you'll wanna do a wipe down with an IPA solution then use a sealant, I like carpro reload or hydro2, optimum opti-seal, jescar powerlock is awesome too but its not a spray on, but still very easy to use and looks amazing and lasts a long time.

 

The white spots on the paint could be clear coat damage from bird crap, bug guts, or sun damage. Post some pics. They might come out but might not. I have 1 spot that was there when I got my truck, I think its etched clear coat from bird shit and I cant get it out. Hard water can etch clear too.
303 is good stuff but there is better stuff out there. Look at carpro perl, very versatile and a little goes a long way. You can dilute it for various uses.

 

Apparently my phone doesn’t like claying so it switched it to coating. I am well aware clay is not a coating.

 

Cool cool. I figured, wanted to ensure you weren't talking about ceramic coating or something else.