[bavarianboar]

Hi guys and gals,

I am thinking of buying some detailing products though on a budget, and do some quick detailing every so often, which may not take much time.

I have always hand washed my car, and asked the dealer to skip the washes. There are very tiny swirl marks in some unique places, which are hardly visible. BUT the car is starting to lose its shine and picks up dust very often. There are some light water spots on the hood, and trunk lid which I may be able to get rid off too.


This is what I am looking for and have searched with no clear answer/solution:

1. Quick spray type polish for exterior paint
2. Spray type wax for exterior
3. (something to) Polish/Clean headlights
4. Polish/Wax for wheels
5. Wax and polish for interior (wood trim with numerous micro scratches)

There may be products which would work almost everywhere. Like one polish and one wax would go good on paint and interior. Something more aggressive for wheels.

I am not looking to spend too much time or money, so I am skipping the full clay/polish/wax process. I can do this once every month or two months, post wash.
I would really appreciate some recommendation from detailers/sponsors and other forum members.

My knowledge of these 'quick' detailing products is very limited, so please feel free to send me in different directions..


Thanks a lot!

[fireline43]

honestly, you should do the whole "clay/polish/wax" process at least once I year I think in order to use the quick wax products. If you don't start with the whole process, the quick detailers won't do much or last long in my experience.

[bavarianboar]

Thanks fireline43. I agree with you, however...

I have this car for another 13 months before it goes back as lease return. I was initially not even thinking of doing any claying/polishing/waxing, as the weather here in California is quite forgiving, and the paint is still in excellent condition after nearly 2 years. Some people have a hard time believing the car is that old.

Quick polish, waxing would be quite alright for the time being, though I know it wont last long and may have to be repeated every few months.

On a side note, I was approached by a guy at a gas station selling something from fastwax.com and then I remembered there are some quick detailing products I could look for and cheat a little bit.


Any recommendations, I would greatly appreciate!

[jSATA]

might want to visit detailedimage.com, great reference. I also live in Cal and still clay/polish/seal/wax every six months with a quick carnuba wax every six weeks.

[2ndname]

I also live in Cali however, my car was purchased used and the paint is jacked all to hell. I just finished a 6 hour marathon following the guide stickied on this sub-forum and it brought majority of the paint's shine back.

I highly suggest you give that a read. If anything, I suggest that you clay/quick details if you want to skip everything else. Mother's sells a kit for pretty cheap and it comes with everything that you will need. I believe they go for $20 dollars on Amazon with free shipping.

[bavarianboar]

Originally Posted by 2ndname

I also live in Cali however, my car was purchased used and the paint is jacked all to hell. I just finished a 6 hour marathon following the guide stickied on this sub-forum and it brought majority of the paint's shine back.

I highly suggest you give that a read. If anything, I suggest that you clay/quick details if you want to skip everything else. Mother's sells a kit for pretty cheap and it comes with everything that you will need. I believe they go for $20 dollars on Amazon with free shipping.

Thanks! Can you please give me the link to the Mother's product you are mentioning?

I have been looking at detailedimage again. I have already burnt about $300 on cleaning/detailing supplies in the last 2 years, so that's kind of the reason to keep things in budget.

I know claying is the first step and I should perhaps not skip it. No idea though what to buy, and what grade of clay. I could use some help here.

For the other things, I was considering something on the lines of

Polish:

OPT Glaze Polish/Seal
http://www.detailedimage.com/Optimum...P611/18-oz-S1/

Scratch-X, perhaps too harsh
http://www.detailedimage.com/Meguiar...-P382/7-oz-S1/

Wax:
- Einszett 1Z Spray Wax http://www.detailedimage.com/Einszet...473/500-ml-S1/
- Optimum Car Wax http://www.detailedimage.com/Optimum...P280/17-oz-S1/
- SONAX High Speed Wax http://www.detailedimage.com/SONAX-M...539/500-ml-S1/


Any experience with these products? Am I missing something?

Some advice/help is greatly appreciated!

[2ndname]

$300 on supplies, can't you use some of the leftover?

The mother's gear that I was referring to can be had here for cheap:
http://www.amazon.com/Mothers-07240-...lay+bar+mother

I'm currently working with Menzerna Intensive Polish and it's pretty good. There are a lot of choices out there so it's really up to you. The one that I'm using is:
http://www.detailedimage.com/Menzern...-P72/32-oz-S1/

I follow it up with the Klasse kit since it's pretty much tried and tested by a lot of professional.

[bavarianboar]

Originally Posted by 2ndname

$300 on supplies, can't you use some of the leftover?

I wish..lol. Most of my spending was on leather cleaner/ other interior cleaning products, car wash liquids, wheel cleaners and microfiber stuff. I did not buy any clay, polish, wax during that time.

Thank you again.
I appreciate the link to the claying kit and other products. I will check them out.

On a side note, do you have any experience with these quick spray type wax products?

[darkw1sh]

Originally Posted by jSATA

might want to visit detailedimage.com, great reference. I also live in Cal and still clay/polish/seal/wax every six months with a quick carnuba wax every six weeks.

+1 in socal... we still need a heavy detail at least once a year i usually do one very six months and a proper wax every 2 months

[2ndname]

Originally Posted by bavarianboar

I wish..lol. Most of my spending was on leather cleaner/ other interior cleaning products, car wash liquids, wheel cleaners and microfiber stuff. I did not buy any clay, polish, wax during that time.

Thank you again.
I appreciate the link to the claying kit and other products. I will check them out.

On a side note, do you have any experience with these quick spray type wax products?

I've tried a cheapo Turtle Wax spray wax on my previous car but can't really comment on the results since it was a silver car. Now that I have a black car, every mark is intensified so I doubt the spray wax will work. I literally had to buy the Porter Cable setup to rebuild the paint.

I know that Mike from Autogeek reviewed a few spray on wax but he applied it with a machine polish. The results came out pretty good, but then again he's a detailing pro, haha.

[psnt1ol]

Originally Posted by darkw1sh

+1 in socal... we still need a heavy detail at least once a year i usually do one very six months and a proper wax every 2 months

+1000 I am in Northern California. I did the same with the exception of the wax. I use a sealant so I re-apply it every 4-5 months. By the way, no offense to OP...... the words "Quick" and "Polish" generally don't go together very well in real life. "Quick Polish" is almost an oxymoron. Kind of like "Jumbo Shrimp". IMO.

[biz77]

Originally Posted by bavarianboar

Thanks! Can you please give me the link to the Mother's product you are mentioning?

I have been looking at detailedimage again. I have already burnt about $300 on cleaning/detailing supplies in the last 2 years, so that's kind of the reason to keep things in budget.

I know claying is the first step and I should perhaps not skip it. No idea though what to buy, and what grade of clay. I could use some help here.

For the other things, I was considering something on the lines of

Polish:

OPT Glaze Polish/Seal
http://www.detailedimage.com/Optimum...P611/18-oz-S1/

Scratch-X, perhaps too harsh
http://www.detailedimage.com/Meguiar...-P382/7-oz-S1/

Wax:
- Einszett 1Z Spray Wax http://www.detailedimage.com/Einszet...473/500-ml-S1/
- Optimum Car Wax http://www.detailedimage.com/Optimum...P280/17-oz-S1/
- SONAX High Speed Wax http://www.detailedimage.com/SONAX-M...539/500-ml-S1/


Any experience with these products? Am I missing something?

Some advice/help is greatly appreciated!

I would seriously consider Pinnacle XMT360 and Prima Hydro spray. Thsoe two products will take care of many of your requirements from your first post.

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by 2ndname

I also live in Cali however, my car was purchased used and the paint is jacked all to hell. I just finished a 6 hour marathon following the guide stickied on this sub-forum and it brought majority of the paint's shine back.

I highly suggest you give that a read. If anything, I suggest that you clay/quick details if you want to skip everything else. Mother's sells a kit for pretty cheap and it comes with everything that you will need. I believe they go for $20 dollars on Amazon with free shipping.

6 hours is not a marathon, its a light jog

[2ndname]

Originally Posted by Sniz

6 hours is not a marathon, its a light jog

C'mon now, you're a veteran detailer. I'm a rookie and that's on a good day. It's like a fat guy trying to run a mile, it's a marathon!