Alright, here are my questions. I know you are going to say search, and I already did, my questions are more specific then what I could find. Ok, I am taking care of my brothers camaro for the summer which means I am in charge or washing and waxing and all of that. The paint is only a few years old and in excellent, but its never been clay barred before and Id like to do this. Ive NEVER used one before and am absolutely clueless as to what I am doing, can you guys give me specific directions as to what to do? Whats a good kind that I can pick up at autozone? Also, the products I am working with are zymol cleaner wax, and I just bought some liquid glass polish that I tried out and am very happy with. Here is what I THINk I should do...but let me know for sure....

1. Wash car with dishsoap to remove all old wax.
2. Do car with claybar.
3. Go over car with Zymol cleaner wax.
4. Do whole car with liquid glass polish.

Does this sound like a proper plan? Also, the paint on the car is in excellent shape but if you look really closely behind the front windows, you can see really really light fine scratches that almost look sort of like light fog, I have noticed it a few other places too. It is nothing that the average person would notice, the only time I was able to notice it was at night in a lit up parking lot, if you get just the right angle and look you can see it in the light. This bothers me and I would LOVE to be able to make them go away. I have a very strict washing system, front to back never circles, I use a microfiber car wash sponge, which is cleaned and rinsed out thoroughly after each use. After washing the car I dry it the same way, front to back with absorbers, seperate ones for the windows and paint. I honestly would not mind spending a whole day on the car, washing, claying, waxing, and polishing. I want to make sure I know what I am doing with the claybar before I even try it, will the clay bay really make a big difference? Any good suggestions to remove those tiny spots? Just help me get a good plan with the products that I have, or if I have to I dont have a problem with buying more. Thanks alot guys, I appreciate the help!

 

see now this has me confused again...do you polish the car first and then put a coat of wax on, or is it the oppisite

 

I think I may have gotten that backwards, I think you polish then wax, soo that would be I have it backwards, but do you want to use CLEANER wax before polish, the regular wax afterwards or what?

 

Here is the order:
1.Wash car
2.Clay bar or cleaner wax
3.polish
4.wax

 

Using a claybar is worth it. It will remove contaminents from the paint and make it nice and smooth They are pretty easy to use. You basically just spray the lube on the spot you are working with then rub the claybar over the paint. Clay magic bars are good ones to go with and you can get them from stores like Pepboys. I would probably by a different type of wax, a noncleaner one since you will clay bar the car. Meguiars NXT is some good stuff.

I am pretty sure you polish first then wax. Polish will make the paint shine and the wax will protect it.

 

Correct

 

do you have to wash between polishing and waxing? So I am right in saying that I dont want to use the cleaner wax after polishing. One more thing, since I will be claybarring the car, do I have to still use dish soap to get the wax off, or should I just use regular soap and let the claybar do that? Thanks guys!

 

dont wash the car between polishing/waxing. it will just put dirt and contaminents back into the paint. ASt that point your paint will be clean and pure and you want the wax on there to protect it.,

Dont bother with the dish soap. Let the clay bar and paint cleaners clean the paint.

 

1 site=www.autopia.org a great site for all the answers to leave a show car paint glisen.

 

Cleaner wax is still a wax, you don't polish after applying it. Wax always goes on last, if at all.

Using dish soap is fine, but I would do it once a year at most before claybarring. If you know there's no wax on the car, dish soap is unnecessary. Use MILD soap, and dillute it well; you only need about a dime-size drop of it in a bucket.

When you're done washing with that, dry off the car and claybar everything. Use plenty of lubricant. I go over the car again with the dish soap water to clean the lubricant off, but some say this is unnecessary.

Next is polishing, if you're up to that task. Polish is an abrasive and will scratch the paint if you're not careful. When done right, however, it will reveal a clean, even layer of paint over the whole car and look great.

Finally, apply wax to protect. Cleaner wax (Zymol), carnauba wax (Mothers), synthetic wax (NXT)... whatever you like. They all get the job done and will give you varying levels of protection, longevity and shine. Like mentioned before, do some reading at www.autopia.org as they have excellent resources and many professionals that browse the boards there.

 

do you think that my liquid glass polish will work well? Ive used it on there once already and was very pleased with it. Also, I do know that the car does have wax on it, but it is unnessesary to clean with dish soap? But I SHOULD wash the car between clay baring and polishing or no? Also after I do this process, and eventually wash the car again, will it be alright to polish it again to freshen up the shine or should I wax after each wash? I have heard that waxing too much can be bad for a car, but polishing alot wont hurt anything? I am going to be going to a few shows this summer, and I will have to wash the car before the shows, so should I just be able to wash it and polish it each time, without having to go through the whole process over and over again? Oh by the way Rob...I dont know if you remember but I have met you before, I am Kyles brother, I came with him to pick up the car, Im the one that got the speeding ticket! Thanks guys

 

the cleaner wax is a between wax. after polish and before wax. it's an unnecessary step if you use a good quality, fine grade cleaner polish before wax.

 

I don't get this at all. Wax is a protectant... it leaves a layer of wax on top of the paint. Polish is an abrasive compound used to remove the top layer of old paint. Why would you apply wax before polishing? It doesn't make any sense to me.

 

put the bottle down...


steps:

1. polish

2. cleaner wax or wax

3. wax

 

Wait a sec, you said that cleaner wax is after polish, then you said you should use a good quality cleaner wax before you polish??was that a typo or...

 

lol.. yep yep. i'll put my bottle down too.

 

I knew I wasn't drunk yet.

So allow me to straighten out everything. Here's the rundown:

Step one: wash the car with dish soap to remove the old wax.
Step two: claybar the paint to remove surface contaminants.
Step three: wash the car again to remove clay lubricant.
Step four: polish the paint to remove the thin top layer of faded paint and reveal its like-new color.
Step five: apply wax. Cleaner wax is not necessary if you have polished, but may help if you claybar and choose not to wash the lubricant off. Otherwise, go with a good carnauba wax or synthetic like NXT.

 

i never wash after step two but that doesn't mean you'll hurt anything..

i skip 3 and go right to 4 after 2.

 

You can do the gta after your done with the camaro!

 

Yeah many people seem to prefer this. On my car, the lubricant shows up all over the black paint and it bothers the hell out of me, so I just wash and dry again with the dish soap.

 

go to meguiar's website, very helpful to help create a detailing plan-they even have a toll free number to chat with someone if you still have questions. Have fun!

 

so waxing after polishing wont like remove the polish or anything? I wasnt sure about that. Wont a cleaner wax remove the polish?

 

Anyone have a list of waxes/polishes that have no cleaner/abrasives and those that do? Its so confusing because there are so many products that are "wax replacments" etc etc. Some polishes aren't even "polishes" in the sense they don't clean at all.

 

Polish is not something that you leave on the car. It physically smooths out the paint itself and leaves nothing behind. You put wax on top to protect the smooth paint.

 

Is that really true for something like Zaino though? I mean, they call is "polish" but it doesn't actually have any abrasive in it. I guess there is no chance of ever getting a sticky FAQ thread about waxes/polishes. Somehow polishing wheels has its own sticky though.

 

Why don't you call Zaino and ask them? Let us know what you find out.

 

Polishes arent for cleaning, that is what the clay bar is for, a polish will remove a small amount of clear from the surface or paint itself if your car does not have a clear coat. The amount it takes off varies depending on the amount of abrasive in the compound and how you use it.

CaysE was right, polish does not stay on the car, a wax does though.

 

I'm just saying that the traditional definition is kinda muddied with all these different products that are now available.

Cleaner wax
Traditional wax (no abrasives)
Traditional Polish (abrasives of varying degrees)
Non-abrasive Polish (Zaino, Wizards)

Use traditional polish wan then wax with a non abrasive wax.
Use a non-abrasive polish then wax with a non abrasive wax.
Use only a cleaner wax.
Use a swirl mark remover then use a non abrasive polish.

And so and on and so on.

Then it's a matter of tracking down all the various polishes and waxes, and putting them into the 4 categories (Traditional wax, cleaner wax, traditional polish, non-abrasive polish) in order to know exactly what one should be doing. Using a non abrasive polish then a non abrasive wax, or avoiding using an abrasive polish and an abrasive wax.