[Momadness]

I had my car for 3 months now. It's always garaged. And used all the right washing tips. After every wash I have followed up with a QD. I have no swirls. Now I am ready to wax. I have not invested in a PC or Flex due to I am not sure I am ready to use it myself. I want to use a good wax and do it by hand, no clay. Is this the right move? Also what wax should I look into. I was thinking of the soft DooDoo wax from DI. Or do I need to do wax, glaze polish etc.

[vgame64]

Originally Posted by Momadness

I had my car for 3 months now. It's always garaged. And used all the right washing tips. After every wash I have followed up with a QD. I have no swirls. Now I am ready to wax. I have not invested in a PC or Flex due to I am not sure I am ready to use it myself. I want to use a good wax and do it by hand, no clay. Is this the right move? Also what wax should I look into. I was thinking of the soft DooDoo wax from DI. Or do I need to do wax, glaze polish etc.

Since you don't take it to automatic washes and seem to be following correct washing techniques (no swirls)...it sounds like you don't need to polish or need to buy a PC or Flex.

As for the issue on whether to clay or not...I am not a pro-detailer so I would not know the correct answer. In your shoes I would simply check to see if the paint felt smooth and if so wait to clay until 6 months. Then I would throw on a nice wax/sealant such as the Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze by hand and be happy.

You could need a clay though if you park in dirty areas when you are away from the garage...

And I have never heard of DooDoo wax but it does sound soft...(I am trying DoDo wax in a few days so idk yet)

[gravediggingaditch]

you will want to clay. There are several threads on here of detailed cars that are brand new - even then, when the car is clayed there are lots of contaminants. Having driven your car for 3 months, you are going to have more. In any event, even if your contaminants were minimal, you will want to remove them so that you can create the best bond possible, either with a sealant or wax. This way you aren't simply just trapping them into the paint. If you really dont have any marring or are simply not interested in polishing at all, I would wash, clay, and then throw a coat of sealant on followed by one of your waxes of choice.

In any event - take the time and clay - and if you aren't going to polish, go get a very soft clay to prevent marring the paint.

[Raz335]

IMO if you're claying, you really should do a fine polishing step. Claying can sometimes leave behind light marring making it necessary to add a polishing step. Even if your car is swirl free, a quality polish will still kick up the gloss a notch.

But if you don't clay, I would atleast use a chemical cleaner like Klasse AIO to clean the paint a bit before applying wax. As for wax, there's many alternatives and depends on what you're looking for.

[DetailAddict]

swissvax for wax.

[Momadness]

thanks for all the info. Again it gets confusing. LOL so does claying strip some of the wax? If not than I guess I should clay than add a sealant, than a wax. Is this correct?

[darkphantom]

Using Meguiar's NXT 2.0 - liquid wax - just wax like you would normally do, and wipe off w/ MF towel...no residue! really good results too!

[L~R~G nor cal]

Originally Posted by Momadness

thanks for all the info. Again it gets confusing. LOL so does claying strip some of the wax? If not than I guess I should clay than add a sealant, than a wax. Is this correct?

Clay will strip wax. The correct order with the products you listed above is:

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Seal
4. Wax

[montreal red]

Originally Posted by L~R~G nor cal

Clay will strip wax. The correct order with the products you listed above is:

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Seal
4. Wax

i agree with this... although you dont have to use a sealant all the time. i use Jetseal 109 once every 6 months and then top it off with P21S carnauba wax... the other alternative is to skip the sealant and just wax every month or so which has worked fine for me too. i just clay then wax without doing the sealant. but since wax doesnt last as long as a sealant, you will have to wax more often.

[Momadness]

thanks again for all the help. I will try that Nxt and clay magic. I should not get swirls from using MF towels when removing wax?

[gravediggingaditch]

use a quality MF - there are some that are created just for removing wax - and don't apply more pressure than you need. Let the MF do the work for ya.