What other products do i need for full detail?

[99ITR_SC]

Hey, so far I have Meguiars Medallion paint cleaner, #7 showcar glaze, and #26. Also have mothers clay.

To get rid of swirls and do a top quality hand-detail, what other products do i need?

i was thinking

wash (meguiars blue one, ultra sudsy, smells like eucalyptus)
clay
paint cleaner
some swirl remover (#81 hand use one)
glaze
wax

i am willing to buy any/as many products as i need to do a real good job. whats your reccomendatoins? i mustn't only use products i have, if there are betteer ones to use, i'll buy em.

thanks alot!

edit: the car is a black Mercedes C32 AMG. paint is in pretty good shape, but the bodyshop just cleaner it REALLY badly. covered in swirls, spiderwebs, etc, but i doubt anything is too deep!

Also, what order do i use the productS?

wash --> clay --> paint cleaner --> #81 hand swirl removers --> wax?

oh one more thing, I don't have any power tools, ALL HAND APPLICATION!

thanks for the help!

[gb387]

What color is your car and what condition it the paint in now?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by 99ITR_SC
Hey, so far I have Meguiar’s Medallion paint cleaner, #7 showcar glaze, and #26. Also have mothers clay.

To get rid of swirls and do a top quality hand-detail, what other products do I need?

I am willing to buy any/as many products as I need to do a real good job. what’s your recommendations? I mustn't only use products I have, if there are better ones to use, I’ll buy them.

Thanks a lot!

Edit: the car is a black Mercedes C32 AMG. paint is in pretty good shape, but the body shop just cleaner it REALLY badly. covered in swirls, spider webs, etc, but i doubt anything is too deep!

Also, what order do i use the products?

Wash --> clay --> paint cleaner --> #81 hand swirl removers --> wax?

Oh one more thing, I don't have any power tools, ALL HAND APPLICATION!

Thanks for the help!

Hi 99ITR_SC,

Welcome to Meguair’s Online!

Let’s take a look at your situation, you state that,

1) You want to do everything by hand

2) Your black Mercedes-Benz C32AMG is covered in swirls, spider web scratches, etc.

Let me first say that you can dramatically improve your car’s finish by hand, to the point that it will look beautiful again! That said, today’s modern paints are so much harder than traditional paints, that it is pretty much impossible to remove all swirls and scratches from the finish using nothing but your hand.

To remove a majority of the swirls and scratches, you will need to invest in a Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher.

To achieve the best possible results by hand, I would recommend a multiple-step process that includes,

Step-1 Wash the car using a premium car wash formulated specifically for automotive finishes and other exterior components. Any Meguiar’s car wash fits this description. Use a new high quality fuzzy wash mitt. Avoid tatty wash mitts as they will actually instill scratches into your Mercedes-Benz finish. After you go through all the cleaning, polishing and protecting steps, Always, ONLY, use new, or excellent condition wash mitts on your black Mercedes-Benz. If you restore a show car shine to your car’s finish, and then start washing your car with tatty wash mitts and detergent soaps, you will undo all your hard work. (Just a few words of advice)

Step-2 Evaluate your car’s finish both visually with your eyes, and with the palm of your clean dry hand. Determine whether or not you have bonded contaminants. If you do, your finish will feel rough, as though it has little bumpy dots on it. This is a good indicator that you need to clay your car. If you determine that your finish has bonded contaminants, then you need to first clay your car’s finish before any other paint cleaning, or polishing procedures. Remember when you clay your car to use plenty of spray lubricant, to lubricate the surface while claying. Here's the product for the claying procedure, (Quik Clay System)

Step-3 Clean your car’s paint with a paint cleaner. If your car’s finish has bonded contaminants, chance are very good it has dirt built up in the microscopic pores and surface imperfections on the surface. This dirt build up, sometimes called, DIP, (dirt in paint), or road grime, or road staining, can sometimes be hard to see because it tends to build up slowly over time and is evenly distributed over the entire surface. I have an article that addresses this if you would like to learn more about dirt in paint here.

Because you want to do everything by hand, and because you describe your finish as having swirls and scratches, for a paint cleaner, I would recommend Meguiar’s ScratchX. Apply this over the entire finish using a clean, soft foam applicator pad. Work one section or panel at a time, and be sure to work each section thoroughly and evenly. Take your time. The paint cleaning process is the most important step. It is this step that will determine the overall end results. The better you do the cleaning step, the better your results will be at the very last step, wiping off the last coat of wax. You can try the Medallion Premium Paint Cleaner if you like, but ScratchX tends to work better on clear coats by hand than MPPC for removing swirls and scratches. If you decide to use MPPC, be sure to first test MPPC in one section before applying to the entire car.

Step-4 Polish your car's paint using a Pure Polish. After washing, claying and cleaning your cars’ paint, nothing will restore the brilliant high gloss, and deep dark reflections like a Meguiar’s pure polish. The rich conditioning oils in all Meguiar’s polishes gorge paint with beneficial oils that penetrate into the now-clean-pores and microscopic surface imperfections, which results in an optically clear, deep, dark wet-look. This is especially true for black and other dark colored paints. Since you already own the #7 Show Car Glaze, then go a head and use it for this step. #7 Show Car Glaze is Meguiar’s richest polish, it is very oily and to get the best results when applying to a clear coat finish, just do this,

First - Shake the bottle well both before using and while using.

Second – Apply a very thin coating, working the product into the finish thoroughly. Apply to a small section at a time, (about 12” square), and then remove immediately with a either your softest, 100% cotton terry cloth towel, or a premium microfiber polishing cloth. Unlike a wax, Meguiar’s pure polishes do not need to dry, they can be removed immediately after application. In fact, allowing a pure polish to set for a while can sometimes make it more difficult to remove. Just like the paint cleaning step, take your time and work carefully, with passion, polishing your paint is the fun part, i.e. you’re making your paint look great! The washing, claying and cleaning procedures are the work-part, the polishing and waxing procedures should be a labor of love!, (if you’re car crazy!).



Step-5 - Protect your car’s finish, (and all your efforts), with two thin protective applications of #26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax. #26 is an excellent wax for show cars and any car with black paint, or a darker color finish. #26 is a very clear wax, it creates a deep, dark, highly reflective finish. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people love the results they get with the #26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax. Just like the #7 Show Car Glaze, you want to apply thin coats. Use a clean, soft, foam applicator and work one section at a time. You can either apply this wax to the entire car all at once and then remove it, or apply and remove one section at a time. Allow the #26 to dry to a haze, (about 10 to 15 minutes if you apply a thin coating). Then, remove with your softest, clean 100% terry cloth towel, or a premium microfiber polishing cloth.

It’s best to let any Meguiar’s wax fully set-up before applying a second coat for maximum benefits, but if time is an issue, then apply the second coat after removing the first coat.

Stand back and admire!

Hope this helps…

Mike

[Mark McGuire]

Now that's what I call direction. Follow these instructions and you will be amazed at the look you will get. I've been in construction for a long time and one thing I always say is " you can't beat someone at there own game". These guys are pros they know what they are doing. I bet you are going to end up with some kind of shine on that vehicle.
Mark

Don't forget pictures.