[Dereleek]

I love my car so much that I spent 4 hours on Christmas day giving it the first full detail--even got yelled at by the wife for it. I also spotted the first scratch.. It was 30 degrees outside, which made it a bit tougher, but I couldn't bear to see it sitting outside so dirty. Normally I would have just washed it, but it was sunny and I thought applying a winter coat of sealant when the weather was good would be nice (car is only 2 months old and never had sealant applied).

Problem is that the detail took so long because I was trying to be too meticulous--especially when it came to applying the Klasse SG. I must have read 200 posts relating to applying SG and tips. I ended up taking a damp applicator pad and put a dime sized portion of SG on it and rubbed it in--effectively making it even across the pad. I used this dime-sized amount to do one panel (one door, the roof, trunk) before adding another portion to the pad. The pad was barely damp each time and I could barely see where I was applying it on each panel, but I didn't want to add more because I was scared it would be too much. I then went over each panel with a MF towel.

The car is finished and I am wondering if I even sealed it correctly. I am scared that I may have sealed in some dirt that wasn't noticeable or maybe some lint from the towel. I also felt that wiping off the SG with a dry MF towel would cause swirls because it doesn't glide over the paint as nicely without suds from a wash.

Perhaps I am just paranoid, but I just want to make sure I am not actually damaging the paint when I am actually busting my a#$ trying to keep it clean and protected from the winter road salt.

It does look good--actually too good to drive because the roads are still icy and muddy:dunno:

Any thoughts?

[Cosmin]

Originally Posted by derek0812

Any thoughts?

yes,
- any pictures?!
- claybar helps a lot before sg or any seal/wax step
- 2 coats are better than one
- polycharger h20 works good with sg
- removing the seal is easy if fallow this: 2 MF towels, one damp towel with any quick detailer one dry , u wipe with damp towel first in one way , and u use the second dry towel to wipe in cross way, is a very easy method .
- light pressure.

[stimpy]

A good way to wipe off stubborn sealant & wax is ice cold water in a spray bottle.

[chch]

Originally Posted by derek0812

I love my car so much that I spent 4 hours on Christmas day giving it the first full detail--even got yelled at by the wife for it. I also spotted the first scratch.. It was 30 degrees outside, which made it a bit tougher, but I couldn't bear to see it sitting outside so dirty.

Had same situation here, I even connected my power washers water source to the tap in the garage, because the the tap outside froze. Wife was crazy, but no, I don't go to machine wash in any case.

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

[anthony @ eas]

Originally Posted by xPaulBaiLeyx

+1

[BK]

Yes, I think you're being paranoid. Washing and sealing can only help, and it sounds like your technique was fine for the sealant. Protection will be good for the winter now. It's perfectly fine if you didn't clay this time, do it next time. Even if it were possible that you "sealed in" some dirt, it's not permanent, it would only be extremely tiny embedded particles that are doing no harm, and you'll get them the next time you clay. No worries, it sounds like you did great!

Also, if you had put on too thick a coat of sealant, it's not really a problem other than that it is a waste of product and it makes it much more difficult to buff off afterward. Put it on ultra thin, just like you did, and the protection is exactly the same but it is easy to buff off.

[Craig@SupremePower]