Hi, looking for car care encouragement/help

[edgarhighmen]

Hello, Sorry if its a long read, just got done w/ a long day of work and then 3 hours of washing/waxing my car

I haven't been on these forums for awhile, I signed up when I started using Meguiars cleaner wax, and got more interested in how i was taking care of my car (more than just washing it).

I've been pretty broke so I've been using my dad's armorall wash & wax (which I'm not sure if the "wax" part of it works) and always wanted to buy some of the yellow meguiars wash and wax but haven't really had the money.

So I typically wash my car every 2-4 weeks (Live in FL, its always hot, and either very Sunny, or Rainy) I have no shade to wash my car unless suns going down/coming up or if there's clouds.

I try waxing my car once a month or every few months (whenever I get a day off) and was using meguiars cleaning wax after meticulously scrubbing every speck off bugs/dirt/brake dust/roadkill blood etc off my car (I don't hit them!)

I've realized I've either waxed over (in the past) some debris, unless its IN the clear coat (I never can rub it out, don't want to use ABRASIVES!)

I've really wanted to clay my car but have been turned down by the price of clay + detailer and then thinking How many hours is it going to take me to do it! (I've found myself buffing wax off my car long after the sun's gone down many times) =[

Here's What I want to do: Wash, clay, polish, glaze, then wax, and 2nd coat of wax. I only work by hand.

normally a wash takes me 1-3 hours, and a wax, 1-3 hours, so I can be outside 2-6 hours working on my car =/ Its got all sorts of paint blemishes (scratches, nicks, some swirls on trunk lid) Body damage to rear right bumper/unibody my rims are rough looking even after washing the brake dust off em and scrubbing them (1-3 weeks apart)

I see other cars that got a nice deep either flat or metallic color to their paint (my cars metallic) sometimes (even my make/model) i've seen so glossy that I'm like "WOW how can I get my car like that?"

and we'll thats why I'm here

Here's a pic from this evening:

Oh I also started using a new product I got at Sams for $50 (3x 32 oz bottles "wash" "liquid waterless wash&wax" "liquid wax" + metal polish and some accessories by IBIZ? I liked their demonstration, but its hard to tell if my results are legit - I.E. I washed/waxed yesterday, how can I know that the 2nd coat I applied today (24 hours later) actually applied w/o removing the first coat?) Its a "go on wet, wipe off while still wet" type of wax, it has worked so far - a day later haha.

[Evan.J]

Re: Hi, looking for car care encouragement/help

Well, I can tell you that claying a car doesn't take long to do. You can go to you local wally world or auto store and pick up the smooth surface kit.

For polishing I would reccomend picking up Ultimate Comound and Ultimate Polish. Thats combo is going to aid you in removing swirls and scratches.

Wax you can pick any that you like. Me personally I like NXT 2.0.

Silver is a hard color to make "Pop" but it can be achieved.

Im assuming your working by hand so here is an article that may be able to help you Removing swirls by hand http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...Swirls-By-Hand

[Murr1525]

Re: Hi, looking for car care encouragement/help

I've been pretty broke so I've been using my dad's armorall wash & wax (which I'm not sure if the "wax" part of it works) and always wanted to buy some of the yellow meguiars wash and wax but haven't really had the money.

I think the best use of money would be something like the Gold Class Soap and a spray wax like the Ult. Quick Wax.

I try waxing my car once a month or every few months (whenever I get a day off) and was using meguiars cleaning wax after meticulously scrubbing every speck off bugs/dirt/brake dust/roadkill blood etc off my car (I don't hit them!)

You may want to look at the ColorX at least, its a little stronger of a cleaner than the Cleaner/Wax.

But something like a wet fabric softener sheet tends to get bugs off easier than scrubbing.

Really, the scrubbing may be part of any paint issues.

I've realized I've either waxed over (in the past) some debris, unless its IN the clear coat (I never can rub it out, don't want to use ABRASIVES!)

I've really wanted to clay my car but have been turned down by the price of clay + detailer and then thinking How many hours is it going to take me to do it! (I've found myself buffing wax off my car long after the sun's gone down many times) =[

Yeah, there are products out there that may help you a lot, but every product costs some money.

The clay, and a product like TRIX to use once a year or so is nice, but not cheap.

Here's What I want to do: Wash, clay, polish, glaze, then wax, and 2nd coat of wax. I only work by hand.

Something like mentioned above:

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Clean - Ult. Compound for a stronger cleaner, then Ult. Polish for a milder cleaner/polish.
4. Wax
5. Wax

would be a decent detail.

normally a wash takes me 1-3 hours, and a wax, 1-3 hours, so I can be outside 2-6 hours working on my car =/ Its got all sorts of paint blemishes (scratches, nicks, some swirls on trunk lid) Body damage to rear right bumper/unibody my rims are rough looking even after washing the brake dust off em and scrubbing them (1-3 weeks apart)

Hmm, washing shouldnt really take 3 hours. May want to talk a bit more about what you do, etc.

Of course the cleaning and waxing, etc steps will add time, but a full detail like that shouldnt be very often.

Oh I also started using a new product I got at Sams for $50 (3x 32 oz bottles "wash" "liquid waterless wash&wax" "liquid wax" + metal polish and some accessories by IBIZ? I liked their demonstration, but its hard to tell if my results are legit - I.E. I washed/waxed yesterday, how can I know that the 2nd coat I applied today (24 hours later) actually applied w/o removing the first coat?) Its a "go on wet, wipe off while still wet" type of wax, it has worked so far - a day later haha.

Havent used those products, but doesnt mean they are good or bad.

But you shouldnt expect 2 layers of wax to be 2 layers thick... it is going to blend together, and is more just a matter of filling in any missed spots.

[edgarhighmen]

Re: Hi, looking for car care encouragement/help

Thanks for the advice, how deep will ultimate compound cut into my paint? Is that really better for it? or weakening it (how thick is hyundai clearcoat lol)

I also had a letter off my SONATA (The T) emblem on the trunk lid come off yesterday when I was drying it with a towel Superglue held it on for a day, but after work (over 24 hours later) I tugged at it with my fingernail and it came right off.

It had some black rubber (silicone?) holding it on, which looks really dried/weathered/sun damaged (its hot in FL)

Any advice to get it back on? I saw different silicones or sealants at walmart a while back in the automotive section, dunno what'd be best for long term. (don't want it falling off on the road!)

[Evan.J]

Re: Hi, looking for car care encouragement/help

I have done a few Hyundai's and found that the clear seems to be very hard on all of them so I would stick with the UC. As for how think its hard to say but most factory clear coats are thin but you will have nothing to worry about if using UC.

As for the badge you can order a new one if you want. Superglue is a very back idea. They are held on by heavy duty body tape that has a strong adhesive.

[edgarhighmen]

Re: Hi, looking for car care encouragement/help

I didn't lose the letter that came off, I talked to the guys at the auto parts store and they had a Clear 3m liquid trim/emblem adhesive, I applied it to the letter and so far so good.

Sadly I can probably easily pull all the letters off w/ my fingernail (the body tape behind all of them is wearing away); and the one I put back on with the 3m liquid adhesive is probably weakly held on but more so than the super glue did? I glued it to the remaining body tape because it is raised off the paint, and putting it onto the paint could cause further damage, and make it look uneven

Edit: Oh, I also picked up a Meguiars clay kit for my car. Just need UC, Polish, and Glaze now.

[Jeremy1980]

Re: Hi, looking for car care encouragement/help

Nice car, we can't get away with dark tint like that in Minnesota, cops will make you take it off in recent years if it's any darker than 50% tint. As for the silver color, silver doesn't stand out quite as much when it's clean and waxed like the dark cars, but on most days I wish I had that color. Dark green or black hardly ever look clean unless you wash and dust them off constantly.

I'll totally agree with the above about the NXT Tech wax. I've waxed plenty with the yellow wax, still do sometimes, but the synthetics in that NXT 2.0 Tech wax are more expensive, but I love that stuff over the traditional yellow wax. Much easier to clean off, and you don't wind up with all kinds of yellow dust and stuff to clean off everything. If money's tight though you can try different stuff, buy some cheaper wax and then try the NXT sometime and see what you think.

Good luck, glad you got the clay kit. I clayed a couple vehicles last month, only took me about half hour or so if you're going along, but I've only clayed a couple times prior to this year.

Plastic bag test is helpful, use a plastic sandwich baggie, put your hands in it and rub your hands along the clean car. Notice the rough feeling. Just learned that trick on here and been testing it lately. Claying should remove a lot of that rough feeling.

The cloth test is pretty cool too to check if there's any wax on it. I just figured out how to do that a couple weeks ago. Crumple a cloth in front of your fist and twist it against the paint. I did a truck recently and prior to waxing it let out a squeak, then walked over and did the same on my car that was recently waxed. No squeak, the cloth moves smooth against the paint.

[Murr1525]

Re: Hi, looking for car care encouragement/help

If you get the Ult. Polish, a pure polish/glaze is pretty optional, but nothing you cant do.