*Official* Ask A Detailer Thread

I used Rupes white pads with Sonax perfect finish for a mild correction last time. I have some Jescar correcting compound too, but haven't used it. Either of those with a combination of Rupes pads should get you good results. Not all vehicles are 100% correctable and some clear defects are better left alone.

 

I ended up staying with the Adams and I think she turned out pretty good as a DIY project. I took my time with a few different pads. Rupes orange for most of the truck. A few I used a different brand heavier cut in some areas then followed up with the rupes again. Not perfect but I took my time and am pretty happy with the results. I had to apply the ceramic in my garage as outside was too sunny getting hot and even the clay spray and polish was trying to flash off while using it.
I had a tough time with seeing the ceramic flash and bead up. Not sure if I needed to let it sit longer to see it better but I can see that the truck is covered with the UV light, so that was pretty neat. You can also see how it looks streaked with the UV light… shhh
Pictures were a day after I applied.

 

So I got a bottle of Jescar Ultra Lock cause it was the same price as power lock on autogeek on one of their sales. I'm planning on doing a real thorough wash and then clay to prep the paint. However, I have the TW hybrid ceramic on it right now.

I have read that wax can be stripped with things like Dawn or more specialized strip washes. I am hesitant to put dawn on the truck, as well as skeptical of how well it would remove the ceramic wax since the stuff it mainly polymer, not actual wax which could be taken of with the de-greasing capabilities of dawn.

Any suggestions one way or the other? I was asking about Dawn since it's always on hand and very cheap. I'm not in an all fire hurry though, so I'm willing to go look for something else/wait for another product to ship.

thanks in advance

 

Dawn doesn't really strip sealants, it gives the appearance of stripping because it leaves a film behind which kills the water beading behavior of your sealant. Otherwise Dawn is not great on weather seals and other plastics if you were to wash with it all the time.

I think "strip washes" are one of the nonsense detailing product lines that's more or less just a slightly stronger car wash soap. Even something as "hot" as alcohol can have a tough time breaking down a sealant but it will also breakdown your clear coat with enough agitation. If you really want a sealant/ceramic gone early you need to polish it off.

Also wondering if you're working backwards going from the TW ceramic to something like Powerlock a polymer sealant. From all I hear the newer TW stuff is actually pretty good. It's probably easier/quicker to apply as well as it's more wipe on wipe off compared to Powerlock where you have to let it dwell or haze up.

 

This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for, I'll forgo dawn and just wash as normal, probably let the spray ceramic run its course before playing with the ultralock.

I hadn't been considering polishing, but it may not be a bad idea, the paint could probably use it and I do own an older DA that was gifted to me. I'll consider that for a weekend project.

I finished the bottle I had of the spray ceramic so I was looking for something a little more durable. As far as I know they are similar formulations since the turtlewax product is a polymer spraywax with sio2 added, and the Ultralock claims the same thing; difference (again, to my knowledge) being durability. I didn't dislike the TW product but never got anywhere near their claimed durability, about 2months on average before it stopped beading after washes. It did have the aforementioned quality of being very easy to apply.

 

Hi everyone,

I’m really on a budget but want to clay our 2 cars and give them a ceramic coat. It’s been about 2 years since either car has been waxed, neither have ever had anything other than a hand wash in the last 2 years.

I’ve had a look online and you can get mitts pretty cheap and the same goes for spray on ceramic coats but I have no idea if a 2 pack of mitts for $14 is a bad idea?

Some help with advice on some wallet friendly purchases would be greatly appreciated… We’re on the road traveling so not accumulating lots of products is also key! thank you.

 

Confused here. If you aren’t going maintain paint, why bother putting spray ceramic on it? Mitts won’t go bad as long as you dry and store them properly.

 

Because we’ve been traveling on the road for 18 months with a TT and limited on weight and space.

I have the time at this location to do some cleaning and claying/ceramic coating should remove all the contaminants and protect for the next six months… No?

 

Yes that should work. I would recommend looking at The Rag Company if you are on a budget. They have quality products for reasonable prices

 

Thank you, how do you know when a clay bar has come to the end of its life?

 

Usually will loose pliability. Depending upon your vehicles, you may want to pitch depending upon condition of bar when you get done. 2 years will have a lot of decon to do. If the bar is still good put it in ziplock bag and spay it with detail spray to keep it from drying out.

 

Much appreciated.

 

Thanks @ace96, this kit seems to be well priced and should get the exterior paint sorted, then on to the interior...

Question... would you ceramic coat over the butter wax or not?

$30 Chemical Guys CLY700 Complete Clay System (6 Items)

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guy...ords=clay+bar+kit&qid=1683995735&sr=8-3-spons

 

FYI no message came through…

EDiT: I see you replied within the quote…

 

ceramic always goes on first. In my experience chemical guys towels are junk.

 

So… surface cleanse, clay bar, first ceramic coat done on the wife’s car. The paint feels awesome, can’t wait to do my truck tomorrow and will do a second coat of the hybrid ceramic coat and then wax hers.

Sadly upon close inspection of the car it looks like someone wheel span away from a gravel parking lot and sprayed stones all over the back of the car, lots of very minor stone chips… assholes!

EDIT: Also got the inside and glass still to do so half way there, waiting on supplies to be delivered.

 

BLUF: Limited success on severely neglected white camry paint with subpar knowledge, products, tools, and working condition. ""Detailing"" on the cheap wasn't my best idea.

A camry has been floating around the family since it was bought in 08, I think it has seen wax only a handful of times. I decided to take it on as a learning project. It has been kept sort of clean and parked in the shade so the sun hasn't stripped the paint right off the metal, but it was in pretty bad shape. Paint was completely dulled, kind of chalky, and covered in what I can only guess was some kind of polyurethane overspray I'm assuming from a fence being treated.

I had products from cleaning my truck such as a mothers speedclay, iron remover, a foam gun, and the jescar ultralock mentioned upthread. I was gifted some tools from an older gentleman, including a wen 10" "car waxer" and a drill master rotary, and a bottle of 3m scratch remover. I got a set of synthetic wool bonnets and cotton bonnets for the wen since I was no at all comfortable using a rotary. I had not used a DA polisher before either, but it seemed safe enough to attempt. I was using what I had laying around.

I washed, used the iron remover, rinsed well, used the speedlcay, rinsed and dried thoroughly, then tried the polisher with 3m scratch remover, washed, changed pads, and applied the ultra lock with the polisher.

The iron remover turned the back half of the car a faint shade of purple, so I hit it twice with it. The speedclay worked great for exactly 2 panels, then it seemed to clog up, couldn't get it's full efficiency back even when washed in the soap bucket. After it lost it's efficacy it took a long time to get contaminants out and some it just refused to touch. The drivers side of the car and the horizontal panels came pretty clean with lots of elbow grease. I should have read more reviews about it being only for light duty, it was never a problem on my truck because the previous owner was meticulously clean and I keep it in good shape. I needed a much heavier duty clay I suppose.

The polishing was underwhelming. The wen polisher is far to large to follow body lines, and even the flat ones didn't turn out awesome. I don't think the 3m scratch remover was the correct product, it didn't seem to cut well on the synthetic wool bonnet. the Wen was certainly not the best tool. It was easy to use on flat panels and I didn't burn any paint but it was a serious pain on all the body lines. This could of course, all be operator error.

The Ultralock+ was super easy to use, apply with the polisher, let dwell, buff off with microfiber. I was happy with out it went on and how it looks, it certainly helped the paints overall appearance. This was my first use of it, I will be trying it on my truck after polishing.

The venture was a mild success in that I brought maybe 50% life back into the paint, all the panels are reflective now, not just a chalky sheen. I was able to proof equipment and products I had not yet used, I will now be comfortable throwing the $35 wen polisher in the garbage and buying a real DA. The owner is absolutely thrilled that there is any shine in the paint, so that is a plus. The polishing knocked the major oxidation down and restored some limited shine; it did not make it look excellent, but given what I was using and my lack of experience/knowledge using them, I'll take the limited success.

I be getting a proper DA before attempting paint correction on my truck (only ever washed/waxed and occasionally used the speedclay before) and paying more attention to what is being recommended in this thread and others. As frustrating as it was to not be able to declare total victory, it was a useful exercise.

 

So… I’m now getting round to detailing my truck and I had a question about putting the ceramic coat on the untreated OR wheel arches - Yes or No?