My washing regimen?

Wheels first is the way to go. Brake dust is corrosive, so you don't want to get any of it on clean paint.

 

I would avoid this, personally. You should always make sure the panel is free of contaminants BEFORE you put a pad to it. Otherwise, you will run the risk of something getting caught up in the pad and then scratching the surface.

 

No hand washing? There's no way I'd lay a clay bar, or any coating on a paint without a thorough hand washing.
I like a foam cannon. But they will not remove stuck on contaminants from paint.

 

What part of my statement do you take issue with?

I'm not arguing with your process at all. I agree - mechanical and chemical decontamination, correct, protect. I'm just saying that it's more worthwhile to do the decontamination if it's needed rather than to skip it and kick that can down the road. Personally, I'd prefer my paint be clean and decontaminated with a small, small additional amount of swirl marks rather than leaving all that decontamination on the paint and just waxing right over it.

 

I was disagreeing on the concept that it's better to mechanical decon without polishing. Or that most contamination that can be easily removed with clay is bad enough to impact the protectant you're using which is why I attached the Esoteric video.

In the end, do what you feel is right for your situation, I'm just presenting what I think is more the consensus in the detailing world. But like everything else, there is more than one way to get results.

 

Just remember that any / every time you drag anything across your painted surfaces, at some level, you're marring that surface. People think clay removes contaminates - and it does - but no matter how well you lubricate the clay, the stuff now imbedded in the clay will marr. That said, the more often you clay, the more often you will marr at some level. Sooner or later, that cumulative marring will become evident and require correction.

My suggestion? Only clay if you have significant enough contamination to require it.

Here's another hint. When drying, start with a hand held leaf blower. This will remove over 90% of the water with zero marring. Use a soft microfiber towel for what's left. My neighbors used to think I was nuts when I did this. Now that I've detailed almost all of their cars, the laughing has stopped.

 

No. Just no.

 

Appreciate the info. The only spot I see minimal swirls is the hood. Everywhere else looks good. May just hold off on claying/polishing until down the road. Will def give the leaf blower method a try. First gotta find wherever it is in my garage lol

 

An alternative for you is to use a water softener and flooding technique when you're done washing. Well, the h2o softener during the whole process, but the flooding afterwards. Between the two, there'll hardly be any standing water left. I still prefer a waffle weave drying towel to a leaf blower.

 

Ruined a few car finishes in my life. Here is what 50+ years of "rolling my own" detailing has taught me:

1. Nothing ruins a car finish like washing it. All the time. A car is new until you wash it the first time. Make it a long time before you do. Of greatest importance, MAKE SURE the dealer knows that you will not take delivery of the vehicle if they wash it. Tell them do not send it through "make ready". Fill it with gas, but that is it. Otherwise I pick out another one with more options, but at the same price, understood?
2. Once you have it YOU rub the new off of it by washing it. Too much. YOU are the reason it stops looking good! You are the reason your "high school sweetheart" becomes that coke-whore slumming in your driveway.
3. You double the amount of rubbing on it if you use a towel to dry it. Microfiber or not, don't dry it with a towel. Blow dry it. BIG fuckin' leaf blower. BACKPACK leaf blower.
4. Ceramic coatings: the best thing so far in keeping your paint new. Apply one as soon as possible after vehicle purchase, then keep your hands off of it. Rinse it, but fight the urge to wash it once the ceramic coat is on there. See how long you can go without washing it. (It'll eat you up inside!) (And clean that hoarder's nightmare of a garage out for God's sakes, and park it inside!) That ceramic finish is slick and will shed most contaminants. Do up under the fender wells too, and nothing will cling up under there! It'll look new FOR A LONG TIME. If you can keep your hands off of it. Even if you don't wash it all the time it is going to look good!
5. Get a foam cannon and build a dedicated car wash pressure washer, with water softener system added. Why? Water spots from hard water. Between a ceramic coating and a water softening system, those remaining water beads will blow right off of there and it'll be dry so fast. NO water spots!

I bought my Taco October of 2018. I washed/IronX-ed it the first time in March of 2019, right before I took it to Expel to have the front facing parts wrapped. I washed it two weeks later, clay barred/IronX-ed/Essence polished/Car Pro UK 3.0 Ceramic 2 coats/Gliss 1 coat including the wheels. Poor Boys Wheel Sealant everything under the wheel wells. I washed it a third time early this summer. That's it. Been driven multiple times in the rain. Nothing sticks to ceramic. It is clean, still looks new, because I left it alone to remain new. Of course, not doing any offroading! My 2009 G8 has been washed less than 20 times. Still looks new with 85,000 on it. My system works. Keep you hands off of it.

It takes restraint. When it comes to the care of the finish of your vehicle, less is better.

 

Absolutely on the water flooding / sheeting method! I forgot to mention that.

 

Beyond clay is a clay bar and polish in one product. The contaminants is supposed to get embedded into the buffing pad of choice and leave behind a contaminant free, polished surface. I can see where people will think these type of product will leave behind a marred up surface.

 

I'll take it your not a fan of this product. I know, potential marring

 

No tires and wheels first then truck top to bottom . Don’t want to splash tire debris on clean truck

 

So all the schmutz from the body ends up on the clean wheels......

Makes sense to me.

 

I believe you misread what I wrote or I was not clear. I did not say it's better to mechanically decon without polishing. I said that if I didn't have the time to do both mechanical decon AND polish that I still think it's very worthwhile to do the mechanical decon and skip the polish. If you only had time for ONE of these two processes I would choose mechcanical decon and skip polish rather than skip the decon and perform the polish. For me, removing the decontaminants is a top priority and removing swirls is lower on that priority list.

And regarding the protectant... it's pretty widely accepted that the cleaner the paint is (free of dirt, contaminants and defects in the paint) the more effective the protectant can be. This article mentions it as will many, many others.

I think we likely feel the same way but are just getting confused with what each other is saying.

 

**Tagged**

 

When I'm washing my truck I do wheels and tires first. I dont want wheel cleaner and tire grime on a freshly washed panel.If I'm washing myself I do top to bottem.

 

No I was making both points and why I posted Esoteric's video stating you're better to apply the sealant without claying if you weren't going to polish. The results of not claying will have negligible impact on your sealant.

 

After over 25 years of detailing, I've learned (sometimes the hard way) that "miracle products" rarely are. Some folks call me cynical. I say I'm just annoyingly realistic. Yea, I'll pass on this one without even trying it.