Mother of all detailing threads...Warning 56K!

[NitrousG35]

In a continuing series of the Mother of all threads, I would like to help out fellow members here who are about to do Spring detailing. I will see if Rasky can post up as well.

Here are the steps involved:
1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Polish
4. Glaze
5. Seal
6. Wax
7. Top Coat

Washing: I use a 5 gallon pail with a grit guard. You can buy a 5 gallon pail at Wal-Mart and there are many detailing stores online that sell the grit guard. If my car is really dirty, I use a two bucket method where I wash the car, rinse the mitt in the 2nd bucket of clean water, then dip it into the wash bucket again.

The first thing is to do a thorough rinsing of the car with a hose. I go over the car completely and redo the panel I am about to wash.

Shampoo: There are many good products out there, but I like Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo. It has a good lather and really does a good job of washing the car, regardless of how dirty it is. Eagle One just came out with its Nano shampoo with wax. Very rich lather and wax protection built in. My Si looked so good after a washing.





Mitts: Get a good quality sheepskin or microfiber mitt. I have both, but have bought a couple of mf mitts that really do a great job of washing.





While washing, I rinse after I have done several panels so that the soap does not have a chance to dry. It is important to rinse well to not only remove the soap, but to help remove any residual dirt on the car.

Drying: I use large, waffle weave microfiber drying towels. I bought several at AutoZone, but have also bought some online from several companies. I also have some from Top of the Line Detailing. Meguiar's makes good drying towels too. I wipe carefully, not pushing down hard on the paint. I kind of lightly and delicately pull the towel over the surface. What you don't want to do is to push down hard or rub hard while wiping. I usually use 3 or 4 of these towels to dry the car. I also make sure to wipe down all door jams, the trunk and the hood.



When you get to the paint prep stage, you will need some good, quality microfiber detailing towels. I have quite a few in various sizes and thicknesses. I have bought Cobra towels as well as Chemical Guys for the really plush stuff. Griot's also sells great detailing mf towels. I also use Costco mf towels which are 36 for $14.99 for removing wax.



Claybar: I really like the Mother's claybar, but Meguiar's makes good stuff too. There are many other companies like Griot's that can be purchased online. For most cars, the regular grade clay is just fine. You can get professional grade clay that is more abrasive for those special jobs.

Your claybar will come with spray detailer. Spray a panel down with the detailer and then spray the clay. Rub the clay on the paint until the surface is smooth with your fingers. Buff out the panel and go on to the next panel.
When done, you will be ready to begin your paint surface preparation. It is not necessary to rewash after claying.



Now for the paint preparation. If your paint is really swirled or scratched, you will need to use some type of polish. I personally use a Porter Cable and have various pads depending on how much cutting action I want. I like Griot's polish #3 and #4 for my black G35, but use only #4 on my Si due to the thinness of the paint. Griot's sells hand polish as well. Meguiar's has a superb line of products also. I also have used 3M and Menzerna polishes.









Meguiar's sells a Deep Crystal polish for those who want to do it by hand and are worried about using a machine.



There is also a superb product by Meguiar's called Scratch X which removes fine scratches and swirls.




For tips on how to do polish, you can check the Meguiar's website and Detailing University, or speak to Rasky.
Car Care Tips: How to Wax Your Car to Classic Car Restoration, Your Guide to Car Detailing
Detailing Process - Detail University - Automotive Detailing Community


After polishing, if you have dark paint, I would highly recommend Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze. It is amazing stuff. I first learned about it from the legendary John Kosmosky, who owned House of Kolor. John painted a VW Scirocco I had in black polyurethane enamel. He told me to use #7 to keep that black paint always deep and shiny. You can use #7 on lighter paints, but you won't see the results that darket colors will give. #7 will add oil to the paint as well, giving it a wet look that is to die for.



Once the paint has been prepared and glazed, I then would recommend a good sealant. I have 3 that I use regularly: Jet Seal, Wolfgang Deep Gloss sealant and Natty's EXP sealant. If you want the best protection, go with Jet Seal. If you want the best shine, go with Wolfgang. Natty's also gives great shine and protection.







Once the sealant is on, now it is time for the wax. There are a myriad of great products out there, both carnauba and synthetic. You can also buy either liquid or paste wax. I use both carnauba and synthetic and also have both liquid and paste. I use liquid to go on and off easily and paste for a deeper, longer lasting shine.

Carnauba: Meguiar's Gold Class, Natty's Blue, Natty's Red, Mother's California Gold Carnauba, Griot's Best of Show carnauba, PS-21 and there are many more. I like carnauba for a show car shine, but not necessary durability.









Synthetic: I use Meguiar's NXT 2.0, Mother's Reflections' Top Coat wax. There is also the new Mother's Synwax. There are many other great products out there too. I like the synthetics for their durability and shine. Eagle One added its Nanowax technology. Works just as good as Meguiar's.







Once you are done waxing, there is one more step you can do if your are extremely OCD and anal: You can use Mother's Reflection's Top Coat. This stuff is amazing and will not only protect your wax coat, but will greatly add to the gloss and shine.



The last thing you can do is detailing sprays. You can get both Spray wax and quick detailing spray. I use both. The Spray wax is great for a quick shine after a wash. I love Mother's Reflection's Spray wax and Meguiar's NXT. Mother's added a new product with its FX Spray wax. All go on and off easily. Eagle One has a new product that works really slick too.

Spray Wax:








Detailing Spray: Detailing sprays come in handy after washing your car and removing static from the paint. Carnauba wax is especially bad for attracting dust as is Meguiar's NXT synthetic wax.

I also use detailing spray after having detailed a car and taken a ride. Often, there is a light coating of dust. These sprays will help remove the dust and shine the paint again.

Detailing sprays are also handy for bugs on the front or bird poop or tree sap when you are away from home. I keep a bag in my car full of towels and detailing spray for emergencies. There are many great products but the best for me are Mother's detailing spray, Meguiar's Ultimate Detailer and Zaino spray detailer. Eagle One just added their product which works well too.







One more product: I found a fabulous product for washing my car in the winter without rinsing. It is called Optimum. It can also be added to wash water to soften the water and prevent scratches and swirls as well as to be used as a lubricant for clay and a detailing spray as well. I also found several other products that work w/o water including Natty's Poorboys's Waterless wash and Dri Wash 'n Guard Waterless wash. Both of these can be sprayed on and wiped off a dirty car. Amazing stuff and technology.
Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine: clay lubricant, optimum rinseless wash, no rinse car wash, optimum detailing products







I probably have $300-$400 in car detailing supplies including towels, polishes, sealants, waxes and sprays. I have another $250 or so in my Porter Cable and various pads. There are many fine sites to buy from and many fine products to buy.

Hope this helps all you budding detailers out there. Please feel free to PM me or Rasky anytime you guys need help. Rasky is the real detailing guru and I defer to him for most things related to paint care. I'll try and do another thread for the interior, but this should keep most of you busy for quite a while.

My Si:









My G35:







Added: tehcodeman's beautiful detailing job on his NHBP FG2. What a beautiful detailing job he did.

Originally Posted by tehcodeman

Well I decided to take some time today to really tackle my first ever detailing project on my NHBP (or any car for that matter). Swirls in my paint have become more and more apparent over the past few months, so I decided to give my baby a good detailing for her first birthday. Overall, it took me about 5 hours to complete. I just followed the "Mother of all detailing threads" and here are my results:














^see? no swirls!


^a little more light to show the shine

Hard work pays off!

[07mugencivic]

very clean

[NitrousG35]

Originally Posted by 07mugencivic

very clean

Thanks Tony.

[mr.poopoohead]

very good info. thanks

[DUB2CRS]

Great advice as always. What do you like in terms of tire shine? I'm using Wolfgang Black Diamond and I've noticed that, no matter which product I use, sling-off is unavoidable even if I wipe off the excess and let it sit overnight.

[ahammer13]

Looking good, nice guide!

[shawnono]

I have that Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo. It gets the job done.

[Leonard1818]

Wow, I was very surprised to see that I use many of the same products as you. I haven't gotten into polishing yet as my last car was pearl white and a good coat of wax made it impossible to see swirls anyway... but now that I have black, I will be looking into getting some of the products mentioned above.

Thanks a ton for the write-up with pictures!

[effNsi]

i love the smell of Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo

[NitrousG35]

Originally Posted by Leonard1818

Wow, I was very surprised to see that I use many of the same products as you. I haven't gotten into polishing yet as my last car was pearl white and a good coat of wax made it impossible to see swirls anyway... but now that I have black, I will be looking into getting some of the products mentioned above.

Thanks a ton for the write-up with pictures!

That's the beauty of white as it doens't show all the flaws in the paint. It just looks clean and pristine all the time. I was really torn between Taffy White and Fiji Blue when I got my car. I still have a soft spot for Taffy White. Anyway, glad to see that you are detailing your car and maintaining the image of 8th Gen.

[NitrousG35]

Originally Posted by DUB2CRS

Great advice as always. What do you like in terms of tire shine? I'm using Wolfgang Black Diamond and I've noticed that, no matter which product I use, sling-off is unavoidable even if I wipe off the excess and let it sit overnight.

So true. Seems like a lot of the products produce an incredible shine, but fly off onto the lower panels.

Here is something from Griot's you might look at:

Long Lasting Tire Dressing, 8 Ounces - Cleaners - Wheels & Tires - Car Care - Griot's Garage

Long Lasting Tire Dressing, 8 Ounces
Finally A Long-Lasting Tire Dressing That Let's You Decide The Finish: High Gloss or Satin?
Our exclusive Long Lasting Tire Dressing is specifically designed for tires and the tough environment they are exposed to. If you live in an area where it rains a lot you enjoy knowing that Long-Lasting Tire Dressing is water repellent so it still looks great even after a rain storm or a good wheel cleaning. You've seen other dressings that are greasy and oily and fly off of your tires and onto your wheels and paint; our dressing stays put. Being a super thick fluid, it's easy to apply using our Blue Detail Sponges. This eliminates overspray, drips, and marks on your driveway that spray-on products leave behind. As for gloss? It's all up to you. Want a nice black, satin finish? After application, give a quick swipe with a disposable towel and your tires will have a natural rubber look. Want a mega-glossy finish? Apply two or three coats and don't touch it. For your expensive tires, I know of no better product on the market. It's also a great dressing for rubber bumpers and black plastic trim. Use it on your plastic engine parts, too!

[WHITEcoat]

nice rides man! Its always great to see people take care of their cars to this extent. Unfortunately Im in college so I dont have much time to do all this expect during the breaks. During the semester, I usually just go to the car wash places where you pay to use the hose thing. Is there anything bad about cleaning my car using this technique? Im really paranoid of what could damage my paint.

[NitrousG35]

Originally Posted by WHITEcoat

nice rides man! Its always great to see people take care of their cars to this extent. Unfortunately Im in college so I dont have much time to do all this expect during the breaks. During the semester, I usually just go to the car wash places where you pay to use the hose thing. Is there anything bad about cleaning my car using this technique? Im really paranoid of what could damage my paint.

Bro, one of the great secrets I found was Optimum No Rinse Car Wash. I used it all winter here in Minnesota.

Optimum uses polymers to protect the paint and shine it at the same time. The beauty of it is that you can fill a pail with water, add 3 capfuls of Optimum to the water, take a microfiber mitt and wash away. Usually you do a couple of panels, then dry. You don't need to rinse. Thus, it is perfect for people like yourself who don't have opportunities to wash your car the way you want to. Car washing in the winter without a carwash

The other option, as you mentioned, is to go to a DIY carwash. That works too. Nothing wrong with it at all. I have found that DIY carwashes tend to strip the wax on the car, but it is still important to keep your car clean.

My recommendation is to continue with the DIY carwash, bring a good mf waffle weave drying towel to dry the car, use some spray wax like Mother's Reflections and then buff out with good mf detailing towels. The beauty of this is that it can be done in 20 minutes or so. That should keep your baby looking clean and shiny.

[Duce2k]

Nice write up...

[DUB2CRS]

Originally Posted by NitrousG35

So true. Seems like a lot of the products produce an incredible shine, but fly off onto the lower panels.

Here is something from Griot's you might look at:

Long Lasting Tire Dressing, 8 Ounces - Cleaners - Wheels & Tires - Car Care - Griot's Garage

Long Lasting Tire Dressing, 8 Ounces
Finally A Long-Lasting Tire Dressing That Let's You Decide The Finish: High Gloss or Satin?
Our exclusive Long Lasting Tire Dressing is specifically designed for tires and the tough environment they are exposed to. If you live in an area where it rains a lot you enjoy knowing that Long-Lasting Tire Dressing is water repellent so it still looks great even after a rain storm or a good wheel cleaning. You've seen other dressings that are greasy and oily and fly off of your tires and onto your wheels and paint; our dressing stays put. Being a super thick fluid, it's easy to apply using our Blue Detail Sponges. This eliminates overspray, drips, and marks on your driveway that spray-on products leave behind. As for gloss? It's all up to you. Want a nice black, satin finish? After application, give a quick swipe with a disposable towel and your tires will have a natural rubber look. Want a mega-glossy finish? Apply two or three coats and don't touch it. For your expensive tires, I know of no better product on the market. It's also a great dressing for rubber bumpers and black plastic trim. Use it on your plastic engine parts, too!

Thanks mister! I'll give it a shot.

[Special Ringpop]

Very nice write-up, Bill.

My poor baby is so swirled up. It needs some hardcore polishing, but outside of washing and waxing, I know nothing

[NitrousG35]

Originally Posted by Special Ringpop

Very nice write-up, Bill.

My poor baby is so swirled up. It needs some hardcore polishing, but outside of washing and waxing, I know nothing

Mike, the offer still stands for you to come over and have us help out. Joshua is the man. He knows his stuff. With the polish we have for our paint and the Porter Cable, those swirls will be a thing of the past. Let us know when you would like to come over.

[brazilianguy]

thats some good stuff

so how much do you charg