Announcement

**Murr1525** · Aug 29, 2011, 11:19 AM

Re: Advice on Washing, Polishing and Waxing for an Amateur Car Enthusiast?

[QUOTE]Thus far, I have used in separate cases Meguiar

**Murr1525** · Aug 29, 2011, 11:20 AM

Re: Advice on Washing, Polishing and Waxing for an Amateur Car Enthusiast?

Thus far, I have used in separate cases Meguiar’s Gold Class Shampoo and Conditioner and Meguiar’s Deep Crystal Polish and I have been very impressed with the performance of both products. I am not yet confident to use materials such as Ultimate Compound or the clay finish so I would like to ask about washing, polishing, waxing and detailing.

Clay is very easy, definitely want to look into it.

As you can imagine, my cars are open to quite a cold and more often than not wet environment so I want to ensure that I protect them as best as I possibly can. I recently came across a thread on this board from a member who unfortunately damaged their car by accident when using Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound and from the moment I laid eyes upon the photograph of his ruined paint work I have been terrified of experimenting with my cars. As such, I would just appreciate any advice in regards to the following products and if I can use all in combination (so that they will not cause a chemical reaction and ruin my paintwork): if any are too specialised please tell me as I am not an experienced detailer etc. Can I use the below products in order?

Relax.

Meguiar’s Gold Class Shampoo and Conditioner
Meguiar’s Deep Crystal Polish
Meguiar’s Ultimate Quik Wax
Meguiar’s Ultimate Detailer
Meguiar’s Hot Rims and All Wheel Cleaner
Meguiar’s Endurance High Gloss Tyre Protection
Meguiar’s Quik Interior Detailer

And I think its spelled tire... the e is silent.

If anyone can offer any advice I would be very grateful and also, would I be better to use the above products in order or should I use the NXT Generation products?

Dont worry about the different lines, all work together. Just have to get the product that does what you want for each step.

Basically, I pick one of these details depending on how much time/effort I feel like:

1. Wash - Gold Class soap, 2 buckets, good quality towels, etc.
2. Clay if needed
3. Cleaner/Wax or ColorX
4. Wax - Nxt 2.0

1. Wash
2. Clay if needed
3. Clean - Ult. Polish or SwirlX for mild cleaning/polishing.
4. Polish - Optional - Deep Crystal Polish
5. Wax - Nxt 2.0
6. Wax - 2 thin coats are best.

7. Maintain - UQW is great after future washes.

Also, the chrome rim on my BMW has turned very dull and I have been considering replacing it and I was wondering how effective is Meguiar’s NXT Generation All Metal Polish and would it be able to ‘fix’ my dulling chrome, which I fear is beyond repair.

Do you know that is is bare chrome? Any pic?

**Michael Stoops** · Aug 29, 2011, 01:18 PM

Re: Advice on Washing, Polishing and Waxing for an Amateur Car Enthusiast?

Hi Stephanie, and welcome to MOL. It sounds like you have a very good understanding of the basics here, so let's see if we can help you fine tune a couple of things.

First off, as Mat suggests, claying is actually a very easy process and something you really should consider doing. It's quick, easy, and highly effective at taking the paint back to a "smooth as glass" feel. This actually makes all the subsequent steps easier and more effective, especially when it comes to waxing.

Your product list is a good one, except that we would add either NXT Tech Wax 2.0 or even Ultimate Wax paste (if it's available in Northern Ireland yet) as you want their level of synthetic protection in your environment. Ultimate Quik Wax is great for use between regular, proper wax applications but it's really not a substitute for a real wax/sealant.

We also understand your trepidation about experimenting with things on your car, but really as long as you're using quality applicators, towels, etc you really should have nothing to worry about. This may sound harsh but most of the issues we see regarding negative outcomes with products are usually down to user error. Many people try to apply a paint cleaner like SwirlX, Ultimate Compound, ScratchX 2.0 etc as if it were a wax and then are disappointed that they didn't do their job. Or they use an overly aggressive applicator, like a cotton terry cloth towel, and work it extremely vigorously against a delicate paint that is dark in color, and that can lead to some pretty ugly looking marring. But it's nothing that can't be corrected by simply using the proper applicators and techniques. We'd love to see the thread you're talking about where the person damaged their paint with UC - perhaps we've responded to it, perhaps not. But at least can we use it as an example to assist you with doing things correctly and achieving the results you're really looking for.

Of course, this whole hobby can create little monsters in many of us. It is very common for someone to come to one of our classes believing that their paint is in really good shape. Once we show them what can be done, they start getting really picky about the tiniest little defect. We usually point out to them that, just a few minutes before when the paint was a mess they thought it was pretty good, but now that it's darn near perfect they're just starting to see issues with it! We give them a taste and suddenly they're having cravings!

If you haven't yet done so, we highly recommend you read through the 5 Step Paint Care Cycle to get the application sequence down, and also watch our Quik Tips Videos for some other application pointers.

Announcement

Advice on Washing, Polishing and Waxing for an Amateur Car Enthusiast?

Advice on Washing, Polishing and Waxing for an Amateur Car Enthusiast?

Comment

Comment

Comment