So what are the best products in your experience for each of the steps on the attached flow chart? I'm **** about keeping cars looking awesome, so I'm wondering what's the best stuff.

 

I use products from Chemical Guys and Detail King on my car.
This spring I wet sanded the entire car with 2500 then I used Meguiars 105, 205 (both can be applied with a DA or rotary, Chemical Guys Black Light, followed by Detail King's STS 3000 polymer sealant.
I bought Chemical Guys Foam Cannon w/ honeydew cleanser for general washes.

 

Chemical guys waterless wash and wax is great

 

I heard good things about it too. Maybe my next order I'll get some.

 

I have that and the quick detailer from them...omg

 

yep...their quick detailer kicks *** too!

 

I love shiny tires, and THIS stuff is absofreakinlutely amazing!!!



I applied it to my tires once back in March, and my tires still has an amazing shine even after numerous car washes!

 

I like a good clay bar and there are many on the market, so no real preference there. As far as neglected paint or paint that needs real help, I prefer the 3M professional products. I have used the 3M Rubbing Compound with 3M wool pads on my Flex buffer. Then I switch over to 3M Polishing compound. with a 3M waffle foam pad. Since the buffer could leave "halo" marks with the polish, I follow up with Meguiar's 105/205 (whichever is the least aggressive, I can't remember), a foam pad on a Porter Cable DA. Once the paint looks absolutely gorgeous, I follow up with a hand polish/glaze using Meguiar's professional product line. The final step is to top it all off with Meguiar's #26 yellow wax.

I use Meguiar's NXT 2.0 polish as an intermediate polish for regular use. To keep the paint looking good, I use 100% cotton towels for wax/polish removal and also detail spray. I stay away from the micro fiber as I have had them scratch my paint.

 

Big fan of 3M products for color sanding. Great stuff.

I second Meguiars 105, 205 for minor paint correction. It took a little getting used too, but I really like them now.

I've used Presta polish with good results also.

Meguiars or Lakewood pads for buffers. I prefer rotary for paint correction and DA for polishes/waxes.

 

Agreed. I use the Lakewood pads on my DA also. Rotary for paint correction and DA for final steps.

 

ArmorAll wash and wax "ultra shine", has a little carnauba wax in it ! Then I dry the car with a chamois made in Germany.... Must dry the car or there'll be white spots..
My car looks like a piece of jewelry coming down the road,, incredible shine !!!
I have also used 3M imperial handglaze in the past with great results.....

 

I'm now a Griot's Garage retailer and also use products from Poorboys World, 303, Dodo Juice, P21s, Chemical Guys, and Meguiar's in our detailing business. I also stock some 303, Meguiar's, and Dodo juice products for sale as I really believe in them.


Here is what I use:

Compounding & Polishing: M105, M205, and Mazerna 4500 in that order

Sealer: Klasse or Griot's One Step Sealer (if it needs a slight polish)

Tires: Meguiar's APC+

Wheels: Meguiar's APC+, Griot's HD wheel cleaner, or Sonax Full Effect

Interior: Griot's Interior cleaner

Plastic/rubber: 303 aerospace protectant

Tires: Meguiar's hyper dressing

Wax: P21s, Natty's Blue, or Dodo juice

Detailer/clay lube: Griot's speed shine

Clay: Griot's clay (best deal at $20 per 8oz serving)

Wash: Meguiar's hyper wash (works great in a foam gun)

Windows: Meguiar's glass cleaner concentrate

Decontamination: Car Pro Iron X

I do use both Lake Country and Griot's pads for the DA and also hand use


One thing to realize is that no one company has the best of every product. Meguiar's sells everything and Griot's and Chemical Guys come close in terms of catalog. Some of the specialist suppliers like Dodo juice make some excellent products, but are expensive and can be very hard to find.

 

1 car brite sleek polish
2 wizards shine master
3 mcguires ultimate polish

All done with a mcguires fine cut foam pad on moderate speed. No wax finish.

 

I have used quite a few detailing products as my side business is paint correction and high end detailing.

Car shampoo
Adam's Car Shampoo, it's Ph neutral, helps prevent water spots, it's better to let this stuff dry than water on your paint

Detail spray
Adam's Detail Spray, by far the best I have used. Prevents water spots, super slick. Aid's in drying the car.

Interior
Meg's APC+ 10:1
Meg's Professional Quik Interior Detailer, the OTC version is good too

Protectants
Adams Super VRT
Black Magic protectant
Black WOW
Lexol for leather

Wheels
Adam's Deep Wheel Cleaner
Sonax, Adam's is better though. I've done quite a bit of testing with both

Decon
Nanoskin Autoscrub pad, Iron X, Meg's medium and aggressive clay. Pinnacle poly fine clay if I'm not going to polish or correct the car. Be careful some medium grade clays will marr the paint.

Compounds
Meg's M100, M101, M105, M205, D300 and D301. I wouldn't suggest M100 or M101 to someone who doesn't have prior experience w/ paint correction.

Polishes
Menzerna 2500, 4000 and 4500

IPA 15%

Wax/Sealant/LSP's- Blackfire Wet Diamond, D301, Opti Coat 2.0, Meg's
Ultimate


Pads- LC flat orange, white, black, grey foam pads. Meg's microfiber cutting and finishing discs

Machines- PC7424 XP and Rupes 21.

I don't post here much, I spend most of my time on LS1tech in their Detailing & Appearance section. If there's anything I can help anyone out with shoot me a PM. You can also find me on Facebook and at my web page.

Jason

www.facebook.com/Detail2Correction
www.Detail2Correction.com

 

All these beautiful cars and the only photo we get is of Turtle Wax......
This car has never had wax or any product that contains wax on it.
Only pure Synthetics.
Not exactly detailing but thought I'd show what synthetics can do.

Race Glaze Polish and sealant
http://www.raceglaze.com/polish.html

Meguiars Ultimate Pure Synthetic Polymer paste wax
http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4841

Meguiars Hot Shine tire treatment.
http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4593

Meguiars Gold Class car wash shampoo and conditioner
http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4625

Six years after paint =

 

Here's some pics. There's only one thirdgen. I will take them down if requested.

 

WOW,
Beautiful cars. Nice job

 

Thank you.

 

Wash -> Clay bar -> Menzerna Super Intensive Polish (orange pad) -> Menzerna Super Finish (white pad) -> Clearkote Red Moose Glaze (black pad) -> Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax (by hand applicator, microfiber towel for removal).

 

Those tires look a little thirsty

 

Most products do not have wax in them - polishes, most glazes... Most of the time wax resides in wax meant to add that layer of protection to a vehicle.

The synthetics are polymers that mimic waxes in terms of sealing the surfaces off from the sun, rain, and other contaminants. Carnauba wax is the most popular wax as it does a great job protecting finishes.

I will tell you right now that I use the Meguiar's Ultimate Paste wax above you linked to and really like it - use it on my cars and some customer cars too. Then again I also have other carnauba waxes in my kit for use - P21s and Natty's Blue are used quite often on cars coming through here.

Here's a shot of a grey G6 with Natty's Blue on it that I did for a customer last week - damn thing glows...

 

Are you stating that because they need some shine? I personally don't like shiny tires. Rubber is not a product that should shine, but should be natural black. Simple Green does a great job of removing grime and dirt and restoring the natural black to tires.

Here's a picture of my wife's old '93 that I used 3M Rubbing Compound, and finish polish on with a Flex buffer. The car looked great when I was finished. The black was swirled really bad when I got the car.



Below is the damage to my paint after 12 years. I used the 3M products on my paint also back when I got the car. After 13 years of washing, waxing, detail spraying, etc, here's my current paint. It needs to be buffed again!!

 

I personally don't like shiny tires either, but I do like them having a natural black sheen to them.

 

So the stuff to use would be Simple Green to get the best appearance?
I used some spray-on no-touch tire shine stuff on the Brides car. Looks ok IMO but that stuff does not like brakes!! I had to spray them with break clean to get them to work!! DOH!!
I would like to try the clean natural look to see if she likes it better than shiney.
Thanks for the tip. I'll try it this weekend.

 

That is very impressive. It takes quite a bit to impress me but damn that looks good.

 

Any good APC should be good to clean tires. After that one of the best things to really get them clean is Tarminator on a MF towel. You will be amazed on how much more crud you get off a tire that "looks" clean.

If you haven't used Adam's Super VRT I would suggest it. It leaves a natural look, isn't greasy and doesn't sling. I normally put two coats on because I like just a little shine but not much. With one coat you can't even tell it's on there, it just looks like a clean tire.

I know a lot of people like 3M products especially body shops. The 3M products I have used have A LOT of oils in them and can hide pretty bad defects. Their Ultrafine polish is like that.

 

Thanks LilJay! Weekend job on the plan!!

 

Here is my z28 that I clay barred, polished, then waxed using Meguiar's products. I am looking for a different product just to switch things up.

Products used
-Meguiar's Caranuba Wax,
-Recently started using their Tech Wax
-Tire shine, Rattle Can type
-Meguiar's Polish
-Meguiar's Clay Bar kit
-Meguiar's Quik Detailer

I'm a fan of Meguiars products. So far it is the easiest wax I have used. It allows you to apply and let the wax completely dry. Removing excess is fairly easy aswell.










And here is my grandfathers Cadillac I detailed using the products above. Man I wish this thing was mine. It actually gave it a deep shine, which is unusual for white cars.

 

Meguiar's is the 800lb gorilla in terms of detailing and body shop items - over $1B a year in sales and they make some awesome products. I actually use more of their products in terms of actual detailing than Griot's, which I am a dealer.

Problem is that a lot of the brands mentioned above are not at Pep Boys or Auto zone for sale - you need to find a specialty retailer or buy online.

Here are a few online places to buy and get good review feedback on "different detailing products". Not every retailer carries every brand:

http://www.detailersdomain.com/

http://www.detailedimage.com/

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/

http://www.autogeek.net/?gclid=CNLtk...FUqY4AodvBQAYg

I have a wholesale account with Detailed Image only, although you can buy product direct from most of the manufacturers based in the US too.

 

IROCThe5.7L, Amazing... saving up to repaint my car black...
Hat's off to the others and their shine...

I was checking out some car stuff on my phone and came across this guy...
Larry @ www.ammonyc.com
He has A LOT of videos... he shows and explains many of his techniques...
I've only seen less than half, but have already started applying his technique3s...

A few great items I dug up to restore black / grey plastic trim (not so much on the outside of our thirdgens), but dash, top of doors inside, interior plastics, etc...

Gtechniq C4 (expensive) but really good...
Something new I just got in the mail yesterday, also works on rubber / vinyl and plastic... www.renewprotect.com (get more for your $$$ compared to the C4...

Bumped cuz I want to keep learning and seeing what people are doing / using...

Rafael

 

I need a paint job. That paint is 12 + years old and starting to get beat up a little. I mean it's still decent, but not where I want it. I'm hoping after I move into my new house and everything settles down I can get it sprayed.

To add to the thread. How good the paint looks is all in the quality of the paint job and the prep work. One product isn't going to look 10x better than the other on a car.

 

This is wash, clay bar, wash and some turtle wax from 1986!

 

Any reccomendations on what to use on NEW paint. I have wet sanded, 3M rubbing compound, 3M ultrafina 3000 with a waffle pad. Was going to look for a finer Meguiars to do by hand, but open to suggestions. Does anyone still us ZAINO? Is that ok on new paint?

 

There's no shine like.........

 

I like the way the tires dont look like jelly was put on them.
Very nice Camaro!!!

 

Here's the 2007 Subaru Outback I just detailed. Wash, Clay, Meguiar's SwirlX, Meguiar's Ultimate Polish, Meguiar's Show Car Glaze, Klasse, and Meguiar's Gold Class Carnauba Plus.

 

Adam's Polishes have worked great for me. Very impressed with consistent quality on all vehicles I've done. A little costly compared to Meguair's, but worth every dime IMO.

 

Adam's products are a little easier to work with but don't have the cut compared to some other products; Meg's, Menz...

In no way am I putting down Adam's products. Personally I think the man is a genius. He has taken the fear and the steep learning curve out of paint correction and has color coded it.

IMO, FWIW, his product is gear more towards people that do their own cars or "weekend warriors". There is nothing wrong with that at all and it wouldn't be a good idea to market something as aggressive like M101 to the general public.

I use almost all of Adam's product except his paint correction products. Adam catches a lot of flack in the professional detailing world. I think with the release of his microfiber system he is trying to combat that even though the "Adam's" pads are Buff and Shine pads as are 3D's.

I was severally disappointed in Adam's video on the black Jeep showing his MF pads. I have worked on that exact same paint(which is hard but finishes down like its soft, i.e. marring, crap, etc.) My wife watched his video and I got several WTF!! from her. I think he could have picked a better vehicle to sell his products. I'm very open minded when it comes to products regardless of who makes them but that video turned me off with the quickness.

 

I have a lot of stuff from Griot's Garage. I'm a big fan of the Speed Shine Detailer, their high speed polishers (I have both), and their Machine Polishes. I truly believe that most of their products are as good, or better than anything else out there.

The folks at the Tacoma WA flagship store will even bring your car into their garage and demo any product you want... on YOUR car to prove how well it works.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/

Jeff ~