*Official* Ask A Detailer Thread

There are any number of good polishes out there and everybody has their personal favorites. But you have to remember that the polish is only half the equation. The pad for your polisher is the other.

If I were to recommend something relatively easy to use, easy to find and not too aggressive, I'd suggest Meguiar's M205 which is available at Advance Auto Parts stores. For pads, I'd go with a White Lake Country CCS pad. That combination probably isn't as aggressive as you might need, but not so aggressive as to get you in trouble. And remember, not being too aggressive means you can slowly sneak up on the perfect level of correction for your needs. Hope that helps.

 

Thank you for all the amazing info. Is there a cheap brand of remover to use? Is it needed? Usually even after I wash my truck I can still feel contaminates in the paint. The main still feels rough or dull to the touch. That's a good tip to do it while it's dry to not dilute it.

Good point about the IA. I just watched some videos and saw that a lot of people use that step but they're usually doing it on cars that they've already polished before and known there is a coating on the paint. I thought that was something you did no matter what in order to make sure the car was fully clean, not to remove other coatings. Shows how much I know.

Good idea on the rinseless wash product. I will check it out.

I never pulled the trigger on it as I haven't fully figured out if I NEED it in order to get my paint looking good. I can pick one up for $100 but I rather not spend the cash if I don't have to and I can still get good results without it.

Okay, I was unaware of that as well. I thought you HAD to apply wax in order to protect the paint. I'm going to attach some photos in order to show you guys what I'm working with.

Thanks for the info. I have also heard good things about the lake pads from the youtube vids I've watched. I will check out that polish as well. Thanks!

 

Iron remover isn't cheap, best I could say is to catch a 25% off sale at one of the detailing sites. Autogeek/Autopia sometimes has higher percent off sales, like 35% on their house brands. None of this is "needed" it's all optional but anything you can remove by just spraying and rinsing is a win for the next steps claying and polishing. I've only used it about a dozen times and it was only worth it for about 3 of those. The rest of those cars just didn't come into contact that much with iron particles. The ones that did ran on the interstate a lot. Obviously if you're parked under an elevated train or had some kind of fallout from a nearby factory then I'd say it's a must.

Rough could be non ferrous contaminants too but more likely the oxidized clear which I'm sure will feel rough. Usually you've got to feel containments through a glove or a through a plastic bag, that's how minute they can be.

Again more of an optional step, since I already have a panel prep spray I'm going to use it even if I wasn't using a coating. But if you're applying a shorter term product that you can reapply regularly it may be overkill. I would say required to get rid of a very oily polish if it was used.

No product applied compares to how much of an improvement polishing makes and that's for a car that hasn't oxidized. You especially won't see the pop on paint that's already dull. Polishing is a bit of a work and I'd urge you if you bother to get yourself plenty of pads. While not every pad maker has the same color code, white for example may be the one you need and it may be hard to see how much dead white paint is on a white pad. I'd look at it as something you can use again either for other peoples cars or your future ones.

Wax is kind of like the term "buffer", it's a multi use word that's been around forever and is still used even when it's technically not a wax. Just like the term sealant is kind of generic and means the same thing as wax. Generally wax means a natural product like carnauba or montan. Sealants are usually referred to as polymer, but also can be a hybrid of polymers and wax to make it longer lasting (Collinite 845 for example). A natural only wax isn't a long lasting product in general. High heat areas will break down a wax fairly quickly.

Check this out to dig the rust out of your rock chips:

$14 PrepPen Adjustable Sanding Pen

https://smile.amazon.com/Prep-Pen-F...=1&keywords=sanding+pen&qid=1592887583&sr=8-2

You can even peel away the fibers to make a very fine point too.

For filling in the paint you likely have paint code 040 like I do. I've used the Dr. Colorchip for my chips which is kind of a dumbed down easy method to fill in the chips. Which will be a must if you sand away the rust as it will quickly come back without being coated. My truck is a 2016 and the paint isn't a perfect match, but it's certainly better than letting the chips rust away. What you've got is a little more than chips but if it's through the primer than it's better than the inevitable rust.

 

Not a bad looking truck at all. A little detailing work and you'll be surprised how much better it will look.

Here's another hint that will help you. Buy some Blue Painter's Tape and mask off the edges of any black textured plastic - like the fender flares and the bed protector rails to name a few. This will prevent you from getting polish or wax imbedded in the plastic which looks like hell and is a pain to remove.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WNnF_beoWA

 

Thanks for posting. One tip is if you have multiple vehicles to take care of then buy gallon quantities and it will be cheaper per ounce compared to what you can get in a big box store. Especially when buying at 15%-25% off.

 

Hand Lotion ruining car paint: in case any detailer has any ideas about this, please see this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...s-ruin-car-paint-nobody-discussing-it.677687/

 

Just watched this yesterday. I ended up buying Iron FREE off Amazon instead of Iron X. It arrives tomorrow so I’ll see if it works Thursday morning. I just moved across the west and my girlfriend followed the moving truck with my taco. Tons of iron particles on the hood now that are driving me nuts:

 

That Iron FREE stuff did some pretty nice work. I had a few metal particles that were really deep in there that it wasn’t able to get out with just one treatment, but it got rid of the bulk for the most part. I took a clay bar to the rest of the crap and came out with a mirror finish (truck is only 1 year old). I tried out meg’s hybrid ceramic wax just to hold me over until I get a new DA polisher and think it’s pretty good stuff in a pinch!

 

Anyone know the best quality UV protection film for headlights? I retrofitted an ebay housing and the clear coat on the lens in peeling and yellowed. Not too worried about it as I'm just going to sand it all off and polish to get them back to a nice finish but I would like to apply a nice sealant or UV film

 

Paint coatings and sealants all say they protect against UV but you'll have to keep applying them all the time once you sand off the old dead protection which is the proper way to prep it. Honestly the best move is to spray clear coat or use PPF (paint protect film).

 

So a 2k clear is the way to go, appreciate it!

 

Alright experts, so I have new vinyl decals for my bedsides to put on. So my question on this is coming up here, bear with me.. I am also about to install a snorkel and new fender flares. I have planned to remove what's left of my factory flares, then get a full exterior detailing(by a pro) and buff out pinstripes clay bar whatever fancy stuff they do while my old fender flares are off, before installing new fender flares and snorkel.

So as far as these decals go, should they go on before the full detail, after the full detail, of somewhere in the middle of the process? Should I do some kind of strip, install them first and then take truck to detail shop or..?

Thanks guys for your input..

 

After the detail, but before the LSP. (Last Step Product) That would be wax, sealant or a coating.

 

IMO it depends on what you say a full detail is. If that includes polishing the paint and then putting on a coating, I'd say put them on after the paint is polished. That way the decals can adhere directly to the bare paint.

 

Thats a good question..

http://www.knoxdetails.com/

Looking at the ‘complete exterior’ detail package but welcome to suggestions.

 

Figured I would ask here...
So I had the 3rd brake light leaking issue. Got the leak fixed, but, now I'm looking for a solution for the water stains in the headliner.
Any recommendations on product and technique to remove the stains?

Thanks in advance.

 

So after reading about the car pro iron x , tried it on my rims . Holy shit . Need to do whole truck next . Thanks for advice.

 

Any suggestions for a clay bar alternative?

I ask because inevitably after claying and then applying a wax or polish a few weeks later I can start to feel the 'just waxed' smoothness start to diminish and feel some areas are 'rougher' than others. Instead of doing another clay bar exercise are there any other products that would do the same job as a clay bar? I have used 'cleaner-waxes' in the past but probably looking for just a cleaner to prep the surface and ready it for wax/polish etc.

I remember using Liquid Glass many years ago as my one and only cleaning and polishing choice.

 

Are you around an industrial area? Seems odd that would come back in a short time.