Sources of paint contamination:

Water minerals left behind during evaporation
Chemicals from rain, other cars, road contaminants
Chemicals falling out of trees. Sap, pollen, dew.
Chemicals falling out of birds butts.
Dirt, dust, grit, rubber, tar, steel dust, brake dust,

Sources of damage:
Sun - xrays, gamma rays, UV rays, decompose your paint
sand blasting from following cars and trucks
dirty towel, dirty sponge, dirty wax pad
orbital buffers with dirty pad
objects in contact with paint: keys, phone, mail, jacket, anything!

DONTS:

Park in the sun
Park under a tree
Park next to a sprinkler
Leave contaminants on the paint
Believe in no-work paint products
Believe in long term paint products
Wax buffer with non-new pad


Paint care:

Hand wash each week - 52 times a year
Wax with carnuba wax every 2nd or 3rd wash - 12+ times per year.
Use clay-magic type product every wax job before wax application.
Use new cotton wash cloth to apply wax by hand.
Use NEW cotton towels to dry and polish your car. Never use an old towel.


What does not work:

Miracle protection products
Once a year wax products
Waxing twice a year
Spray on - dream off type wax products
$50 wax is only 10% better than $6 wax
(Mothers - cleaner wax or carnuba wax is great for $7)

What does work:

Attention to detail
Frequent care
Carnuba wax
Clay magic - Very, very, impressive cleaning tool.
gentle hand application of wax or cleaner wax.

How to eliminate other peoples' car paint on your car. Cleaner wax, wash cloth, circular motion by hand for 5 to 15 minutes on the offending paint, tar, foreign substance.

Bird poop. Get it off your paint immediately. Minutes not hours. The poop is an acid eating through your paint.

Tar, bug guts, road paint, who knows what: Cleaner wax, hand applied in a scrubbing circular motion for 2 to 10 minutes per offense.

Scratch you can feel with your finger nail: Forget it. There is no repair.

Swirl marks: Hide with wax or remove with polishing compound. The latter is very, very, time consuming. 4-8 hours.

Paint chip: No easy repair. Leave it and check the newspaper for festivals.

A word on Clay-Magic type products: The premise: dirt is embedded in your paint. Ordinary wash and wax will not dislodge the dirt. The clay shears the dirt off your paint and enbeds it into the clay. The truth - the claim is absolutely true.

Proof: Wash and wax your car. Get it as clean as you possible can. Then clay your paint and look at all the dirt in the clay. Normal use is to clay before you wax. It is cheap, easy, and will clean the paint to a purity level much better than when it came off the lot. Who cares? Do it once, wax with carnuba, run your fingers across the paint. You will never go back.

Take care of your paint and your car will look new for 10 years. And you may enjoy caring. If you wax every second wash it takes 1 hour or less.

Final words: Prevent damage to your paint. Prevention is 100 times easier and more effective than repair.

Any thoughts on optimum no rinse?

Never have used it. Have used "quick detail" type spray on products when the car was 99% clean but needed the dust knocked off.

The key is to avoid the damage cause by the mechanical abrasion cause by a gritty hard substance dragged across the paint.

So it the dirt is very light, you can spray on a dirt release / lubricant product and gently wipe clean the paint.

Keep in mind that dirt embedded in your towel becomes the paint damaging substance that you can not see or feel at the time. So wipe gently and turn the towel. Those quick detail products are very usefull for the in-between washes to knock the dust off. Fequent cleaning can only be good.

Another key point: A towel coming out of the washing machine has a pound or two of water in the fibers. In the dryer, it drys but the water minerals stay in the cotton. After several wash/dry cycles your bath towels become good sandpaper.

so do u recommend chamois' for drying? how long are they good for? i can't afford new towels every 2 weeks

IMO, those big Microfiber towels are the best to dry cars :)

thanks

Honestly I don't know much about microfiber towels. They probably hold water well. But is the fiber harder or softer than your paint? What is it made out of? Or if you use that towel 100 times to get your money's worth, what contaminants are contained within? Don't know, don't know, don't know.

Maybe a good towel for a while and needs retiring at some point. You be the judge.

The best idea is for you to examine your towels, pads, clothes, sponges, brushes etc. and ask? Is this thing clean and pure enough for my paint or will I be making micro scratches?

I am not endorsing one product or condeming another. The key to success is understanding the sources of damage and asking if your cleaning tools are past their prime and contaminated.

A new cotton bath towel costs $4 at Target. Honestly, anyone driving an 08 Accord can afford to care for the paint. The beauty about a $4 towel is it costs $2 per car wash and the you can donate it to the wife, oil change, church, YMCA.

Microfiber maybe drys better. But after 10 washes is it contaminated with dirt or minerals?

If your car is a light color or you trade every three years, this is irrelevant. Do a drive through wash. If your car is black it is very, very difficult to keep the scratches off for a few years.

They important thing is to question your practices and products to make sure you are not making matter worse. Drying with an old towel may be a great way to scratch your paint.

i'd say microfiber is softer than a bath towel. they also hold a lot more water than a bath towel and leave no lint behind.

they are usually cotton/polyester mix. costco sell likes a 30 something pack for $20 or so. i think they're 1'x1', but soak up a lot of water and are easily wrung out (unlike a giant bath towel).

great now i feel bad about just washing my car with what I have here... lol

Another good tip is to pat dry your car with a big towel. Less chances of marring your paint :)

lots of info here:
http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=22

Sources of paint contamination:

Water minerals left behind during evaporation
Chemicals from rain, other cars, road contaminants
Chemicals falling out of trees. Sap, pollen, dew.
Chemicals falling out of birds butts.
Dirt, dust, grit, rubber, tar, steel dust, brake dust,

Sources of damage:
Sun - xrays, gamma rays, UV rays, decompose your paint
sand blasting from following cars and trucks
dirty towel, dirty sponge, dirty wax pad
orbital buffers with dirty pad
objects in contact with paint: keys, phone, mail, jacket, anything!

DONTS:

Park in the sun
Park under a tree
Park next to a sprinkler
Leave contaminants on the paint
Believe in no-work paint products
Believe in long term paint products
Wax buffer with non-new pad


Paint care:

Hand wash each week - 52 times a year
Wax with carnuba wax every 2nd or 3rd wash - 12+ times per year.
Use clay-magic type product every wax job before wax application.
Use new cotton wash cloth to apply wax by hand.
Use NEW cotton towels to dry and polish your car. Never use an old towel.


What does not work:

Miracle protection products
Once a year wax products
Waxing twice a year
Spray on - dream off type wax products
$50 wax is only 10% better than $6 wax
(Mothers - cleaner wax or carnuba wax is great for $7)

What does work:

Attention to detail
Frequent care
Carnuba wax
Clay magic - Very, very, impressive cleaning tool.
gentle hand application of wax or cleaner wax.

How to eliminate other peoples' car paint on your car. Cleaner wax, wash cloth, circular motion by hand for 5 to 15 minutes on the offending paint, tar, foreign substance.

Bird poop. Get it off your paint immediately. Minutes not hours. The poop is an acid eating through your paint.

Tar, bug guts, road paint, who knows what: Cleaner wax, hand applied in a scrubbing circular motion for 2 to 10 minutes per offense.

Scratch you can feel with your finger nail: Forget it. There is no repair.

Swirl marks: Hide with wax or remove with polishing compound. The latter is very, very, time consuming. 4-8 hours.

Paint chip: No easy repair. Leave it and check the newspaper for festivals.

A word on Clay-Magic type products: The premise: dirt is embedded in your paint. Ordinary wash and wax will not dislodge the dirt. The clay shears the dirt off your paint and enbeds it into the clay. The truth - the claim is absolutely true.

Proof: Wash and wax your car. Get it as clean as you possible can. Then clay your paint and look at all the dirt in the clay. Normal use is to clay before you wax. It is cheap, easy, and will clean the paint to a purity level much better than when it came off the lot. Who cares? Do it once, wax with carnuba, run your fingers across the paint. You will never go back.

Take care of your paint and your car will look new for 10 years. And you may enjoy caring. If you wax every second wash it takes 1 hour or less.

Final words: Prevent damage to your paint. Prevention is 100 times easier and more effective than repair.

Agree with most of what you have to say. I'm biased on just using carnuba wax since it doesn't have the durability of a sealant. Also, why only limit yourself to cotton? Microfiber towels have become the standard when drying or buffing a car so I don't really understand why you left them out. I'm also not talking about the ones you can buy at target or walmat..I'm talking about premium towels such as the ones from any reputable online dealer..(autogeeks.net, autopia.org, phakshack.com).

I also don't get the $50 wax only being 10% better than $6 wax. Any proof behind this? And spray on sealants actually do work very well if you know which one you're using..ie aquawax by duragloss. Hopefully MCH can chime in as he's a professional detailer and does know his way around car care and detailing. Like I said..agree with most..confused on a couple..to each their own I guess.

To someone who asked about optimum no rinse..that is by far the easiest thing to use. You just need a good gout sponge (home depot) and you're good to go. Just do one panel at a time and make sure you use the two bucket method and you'll be one your way.

www.autopia.org will be the best site you can ever go to for car care advice..

IMO, those big Microfiber towels are the best to dry cars :)

word...and to back that claim..http://autopia.org/forum/guide-detailing/80235-microfiber-detailing-products.html

You get an "A" for effort. :thmsup: But there are some not-so-good ideas and a couple bad ideas.

Hand wash each week - 52 times a year

Not necessary, especially if it's garaged. If it's properly waxed or sealed, contaminants won't stick to your paint so easily.

Wax with carnuba wax every 2nd or 3rd wash - 12+ times per year.

Use a sealant and you'll only have to wax once a month or every other month since a sealant gives you much longer protection. Check out 4* UPP or Opti-Seal. I mainly use CG's M-seal and have gone as long as 3 months and the paint still beads like crazy.

Use new cotton wash cloth to apply wax by hand.

I'd recommend a microfiber or foam applicator. If waxing/sealing by hand, I prefer a foam applicator because it absorbs less product. It also won't leave behind tiny cotton fibers that'll end up bonding to your paint. Use a microfiber towel to buff off the wax/sealant.

Use NEW cotton towels to dry and polish your car. Never use an old towel.


Use a waffle weave towel or the absorber for drying. If absorbs more water than a cotton towel, and it won't leave a bunch of lint/cotton fibers on your paint.

Use a PC/UDM/Flex to polish your car.


gentle hand application of wax or cleaner wax

If I'm misreading/misunderstanding this, sorry. But a cleaner wax is not the same as a carnauba wax. A cleaner wax is for prepping the paint prior to the application of a wax or sealant. A cleaner wax is used to remove old wax, contaminants, light oxidation, etc. A cleaner wax usually won't give you any protection.


Scratch you can feel with your finger nail: Forget it. There is no repair.

Not an easy fix, but it can be done if it's not too big. A bit of touch-up paint, a little wet sanding, some light compounding and it'll be almost good as new. Metallic paints will be a major PITA though.

Paint chip: No easy repair. Leave it and check the newspaper for festivals.

Are you kidding? Even if it's chipped and you think there's no easy repair, you just don't want to leave it alone. It's better to touch it up even if it's a bad touch-up job than to have it start rusting on you. Some touch-up paint and a Langka kit will do wonders.




Here's a pretty good guide to detailing (http://autopia.org/forum/guide-detailing/).

Hrm.. i'm learning something new! keep posting guys haha

Good feedback and input!

Can an old dog learn new tricks?

Thanks guys.

Everyone forgets about their wheels. That should be part of your maint. routine also. Most wheels today are painted then clear coated. They need the same if not more TLC than body paint.

As far as the hand wash..... That is where most damage comes from. Using 2 bucket method or foam guns help with contaminants on wash mitt(sponges are more apt to hold contaminants than fiber mitts).

When removing scratches and swirls it is not about leveling the deeper ones, but more of a edge rounding on the edges of the scratch. That is not removing it completely but smoothing of the edges to make them less visible.

Just my 2cents.

Oh and I moved to the Maint and Deatailing thread.

I1:)

P.S. Welcome to the forum twilli01:wave:

Much of this from "Paint Care" on down is obsolete and just plain bad information.

Any thoughts on optimum no rinse?

Excellent product! It serves three functions:
1. Rinseless Wash
2. quick detailer when diluted per instructions
3. clay lube when diluted per instructions

One product with three uses fits my budget and it works extremely well, leaves a nice shine of its own too.

Any thoughts on Optimum's other products like their poli-seal(sp) and opti-seal(sp)?

I have and use both. I would hate to be without them. Opti seal has a learning curve to finally get it right, the tendency is to use too much and it's VERY easy to do. Both yield spectacular results.

In reference to the Optimum No Rinse, is it cool to use a microfiber towel or microfiber sponge instead of a grout sponge? What's the advantage of the grout sponge?

Grout sponge is very gentle on the paint (soft), holds a lot of car wash solution, cheap, easy to clean.

A grout sponge and ONR does a great job (http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121287), but you'll be fine with a microfiber wash mit/sponge too.

Any thoughts with detailing on using a California Water Blade to dry? I picked a few up and have been really happy with the way they pull the water off the surface of the car, conforming to the creases, and then drying streak free.

I used to use one but no longer do unless it's a large vehicle that I will be polishing as the next step. One little speck of something in the blade makes a nasty mark.

Use Zaino products 4 times a year and use a car cover while car is at work for the summer months. Use microviber towels to wash and an electric leaf blower to dry the car.

I just noticed this thread again. Amazing how original poster gives out free advice that is not the best, is active for a couple of months and then disappears. Hopefully he learned about proper paint care techniques while here:D

I1:)

Usually when something is free it isnt worth much. lol