*Official* Ask A Detailer Thread

Wait till spring time Home Depot/Lowes have BIG sales on them....

 

Thats what I’m hoping. I’ve owned a foam cannon for almost 2 years I’ve never gotten to use because my electric washer died the day I took it out to use it.
Also bought a new home that needs some TLC cleaning.
That one you linked is more in my price range. I don’t want to spend tons but do want a quality product.

 

You will like it. It’s to bad the o-rings go bad all the time. I did buy some better silicone neoprene ones that lasted longer. I hope the ones who stole the thing from my garage with my detailing stuff enjoy it.

 

Oh bummer!
I hate theives

 

Whatever you do, if you get a gas one make sure it has a Honda engine on it. Had two. HAD. Now have a third. It with a Honda. It's more than 20 years old. Runs like new. WHATEVER you do, DO NOT GET ANYTHING MADE BY KARCHER. They are the red-headed stepchild of the pressure washer industry. Hock puuttt...I spit in the general direction of Karcher. Bought one of those too, clueless and uninformed of the true situation buying one puts you in. EVERYTHING on a Karcher fitting-wise is proprietary: it only fits other Karcher accessories. Rather than spend my days going back and forth to Lowes and Automatic Pump Supply (this was before Amazon) changing out fittings and finagling the rest of the industry's accessories with adapters so they would work on a Karcher I took that sumbitch back. Fuckabuncha' Karcher crap. It's 54 miles to Lowes from here. Just for spite for wasting my time I kept the 50 foot hose and hose reel.

You are now clued and informed. Carry on...

 

Very true on the Honda motors. My current one is a Briggs and Stratton, but I got it for an incredible deal. My dad’s old pressure washer has a Honda motor on it, it has to be 10 years or older. Motor runs like brand new, the only problem is the pump went bad. We replaced the pump with one off of ebay and it works again it’s just not as powerful as the original pump was.

 

Have any of you used these or something similar before?

$55 Nanoskin AUTOSCRUB 6" Surface Prep Pad Medium Grade- Patented Clay Bar Replacement Tool to Remove Embedded Contaminants Before Wax & Coating | Safe for Painted Surface, Glass, Plastic, Metal & More

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005RCD9L8

Curious if anyone thinks they are worth it. I used one this weekend and it marred the paint to where I had to polish over the spot. But it only did it on one panel, and I have read (after the fact of course) that you are supposed to break them in on glass first (opps).

So I am wondering if anyone uses these on a regular basis, I know they won’t get every area of the car but my guess is it would be a lot faster than doing the whole car by hand.

 

No.

Clay bars are cheap and I see zero need to replace a cheap and effective product with one that carries more risk.

 

Do you carry different weight claybars at all times? I ask because I usually only have one type, but this last sunday I was detailing a car that had a ridiculous amount of fallout in the paint. Luck had it I was out of my iron remover which I think would have made taking it all out way easier. I felt like I needed more aggressive clay to remove all the particles, since the one I was using just didn’t want to remove all of the contaminants.

 

I carry all heavy duty ones. I would carry a few of each if I started doing it as a side hustle again. Just makes things easier. But I feel like 99% of the time vehicles are not maintained so you always need the heavy duty ones lol.

 

Yepp I have the nanoskin claybar in Fine (blue) and it is absolutely worth every penny!!!! Time is money and you get it done in half the time. Probably not worth it if your just washing one car and just using once a year but if your doing multiple cars its great!

If you can afford it buy it. I got mine on sale on autogeek for 25% off.

 

@mShu7 What do you think of Top Coat F11?

 

My CarPro order came in. So I'm going through my detailing stuff, trying to get it organized and out of the tool room. With the new stuff there is not enough room on the shelf. Jesus. If I could only save money like I collect detailing crap... Talk about a progression of technology. I even have two rubbing compound containers from back in the 70's. One still full. Chrome polish. In the metal can. How old is That? (Anyone remember chrome?) (Still works too: Did my mom's Schwinn bike from the early 60's with it recently.) Turtle Wax Ice. Okay, I'm dating myself here. Copious amounts of Adams. Enough Zaino to last me into eternity. And yet, I need CarPro…

At least a retirement here, squandered.

 

You had me at Schwinn..nice!

 

I use the wash mitt and it works great. Will never use clay again. I would only use it if I was planning to polish a vehicle. Besides it’s not like you need to clay bar monthly.

Snake oil product full of fillers to hide swirls. Complete BS.

 

Ok, so maybe its not the miracle product I was expecting, but I already ordered 3 bottles...jeje...will they harm my paint?

 

Don’t buy large volumes of products you’ve never tried. That’s a good way to waste money.

It won’t harm your paint but the product may not last long.

Try it and see if you like it.

What are your expectations of this product?

 

No it won’t harm your paint but it is not the miracle product they claim. I see half dozen others pop up as advertisements in my Facebook feed. That stuff is way overpriced for what it is.

 

My main expectation was that it would protect my paint, but more importantly, easier, faster, car washes. I didnt even know about the "swirl filling" properties of the product until I asked myself "did I even do enough research before buying this?"

 

So, over priced, but does a good job cleaning