New here, have a question

[ninous26]

Hi guys Im new to waxing, this is my first time yay...

Anyways, I have a 91 acura legend that has dull paint and needs waxing BAD. I went to my local auto zone store and the guy looked at my car and said that Im lucky I still have my clear coat on. I have swirls watermarks, and other weird stuff, luckily no scratches. So we went inside and he recommended me this meguiars 3 step thing, I bought all three bottles.

This first one is called Deep crystal Paint cleaner

2nd is Deep crystal polish..

3rd one is caranuaba wax.

I just washed my car, and has been parked in my garage under the shad for about 2 hrs now. and it has cooled down. Im using a 100% cotton clean t shirt for this.

My question is... does the car have to be wet for this?

Do I apply the paint cleaner on the car or on the cloth?

After I am done waxing the car with step one, how long do I have to wait to move onto the next bottle aka step 2, and after step 2 how long till i put on the third bottle aka step three?

I also have a sand paperish feeling in one small spot of the car, how do I get rid of that?

and last question... After I have finished with the whole three step thing, how long till I wash my car again?

[Mike Phillips]

Hang on a second...

[ninous26]

sure, buddy I'll do anything just to get this right.

[Mike Phillips]

Hi ninous26,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

You basically want to do two things to start with, first go and read this,

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2409

Take your time and read all of it and then you will know more than most people about cleaning, polishing and protecting paint.

As to your questions,

Originally posted by ninous26
My question is... does the car have to be wet for this?

No, you want the car dry after washing for all other steps.

Do I apply the paint cleaner on the car or on the cloth?

T-shirt material doesn't lend itself well to applying products to paint, instead get yourself some applicators, Meguiar's or otherwise, most auto parts carry something.

You can apply your product right to the car or to the pad, on horizontal surfaces it's easy to do both, on vertical surfaces it's easier to apply product right to your pad.

After I am done waxing the car with step one, how long do I have to wait to move onto the next bottle aka step 2, and after step 2 how long till i put on the third bottle aka step three?

After you read this, http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...&threadid=2409 you'll have your answer, but in a nutshell,

The only products that have to dry in the Meguiar's line are our waxes. Compounds, Paint Cleaners, Cleaner/Polishes and Pure Polishes should be applied, worked in well, and then removed before they dry.

There is no benefit to the surface or the process by allowing these types of product to dry, please do not confuse them with waxes. They are not waxes, only our wax, or protection products need to dry.

I also have a sand paperish feeling in one small spot of the car, how do I get rid of that?

It sounds like you need to clay your car. After washing your car, run the palm of your clean hand over the horizontal surfaces, if you feel little bumps, i.e. it feels textured, or even like sandpaper, then you need to use detailing clay to clay your car. You do this after washing and drying but before applying a paint cleaner.

Clay a section, then wipe off any clay/quick detailer residue and then move on to the next section until you work your way around the car. If you don't know what clay is, then read this,

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2409

and last question... After I have finished with the whole three step thing, how long till I wash my car again?

Wash your car when it gets dirty, and/or if you want it to look clean, or once a week if it's always parked outside or at least part of each day.

As you wash your car you'll remove loose dirt, but you'll also remove a little bit of wax with each wash, so re-apply wax at a minimum 3-4 times a year to maintain your car's finish, more often if you're crazy about your car.



Next, read thought the below article, you can substitute the Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner for the ScratchX shown in the article.
How To Remove Swirls By Hand


The below write-up was taken from page three of this Saturday Detailing Class at Meguiar's where approximately 25 people witnessed the products shown below, applied and removed using the correct techniques to remove the gross rotary buffer swirls and restore a swirl free finish by hand.

San Diego Mercedes-Benz club at Meguiar's!


After selecting two Mercedes-Benz automobiles to work on, one being Tom's, we broke for a pizza lunch. After everyone had their fill of pizza and something cold to drink, it was time to re-gather in Meguiar's Garage to see what we could do with the gross swirls in Tom's recently painted hood.




Often times when the topic of removing swirls is being discussed on our discussion forum, or some other detailing forum, it centers around the dual action polisher, foam buffing pads and somebody's compound or polish. Yet many people don't own a dual action polisher. So here at Meguiar's Garage, we like to show people how to use the what they already own... their hands!



Like most detailing enthusiasts, I personally love a challenge, and with Tom's car, I believe most people would agree, his car's finish presents a challenge!

BEFORE - 700 Pixel-wide cropped out section from an un-touched, original photo of rotary buffer swirls in a clear coat finish.





Using some painters tape, we taped-off a section of the hood to separate the before and after results. Then, we applied three, well worked in applications of Meguiar's ScratchX all applied by hand using Meguiar's High-Tech Applicator Pad






The secret to removing swirls by hand using Meguiar's ScratchX is all in your technique. You see in order to remove swirls out of your car's finish, you need to remove a little bit of paint. If we we're to look at a horizontal view of what gross rotary buffer swirls look like in the paint, it would look something like the diagram below. In order to remove these below surface defects, (swirls), you need to remove enough paint from the finish to level the upper surface with the *****t depths of the swirls until you've restored the finish to a flat, level surface.




To do this by hand with ScratchX, you need to,

• * Apply to a small section at a time
  * First spread the ScratchX evenly over the area you're going to work (before working it in)
  * Work the microscopic diminishing abrasives against the finish applying a little passion behind the applicator pad
  * Repeat this process with multiple applications after first removing the residue from each application after working it against the finish

Remember that Meguiar's paint cleaners, like ScratchX do not need to dry before removing. Drying adds no benefit. The only Meguiar's paint products that need to dry before removing are Meguiar's waxes.

Technique Tip

The question is often asked,

"Which direction should I move my hand when applying a Meguiar's paint cleaner?"

A common mis-conception, often espoused on other discussion forums, or by some car care product manufactures, is the technique of only rubbing a product in a certain direction to keep all of your scratches going in the same direction.

Meguiar's teaches that if the products you're using are non-abrasive, that is they are not instilling scratches into the finish, as such, it shouldn't matter which direction you move your hand!

If the products you're using are inflicting scratches into your car's finish, the correct thing to do is to stop using the product! Don't try to camouflage the scratches to your eyes by instilling them in straight-lines as determined by the movement of your hand.

ScratchX can be applied using straight-lines or circular motion and for this particular demonstration we used a combination of both.

Removing ScratchX using Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber after working the product against the finish until the product has broken down, turned somewhat clear and begun to dissipate.




At Meguiar's Saturday Detailing 101 classes, we go through a power point presentation that covers a wide spectrum of detailing topics, one of which is Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle , which includes;

• Step 1 Wash
  Step 2 Clean
  Step 3 Polish
  Step 4 Protect
  Step 5 Maintain

After cleaning the paint with a paint cleaner like ScratchX, we then apply a pure polish, in this case, Deep Crystal Polish which is a non-abrasive pure polish.



In Meguiar's line, we offer two types of polishes, cleaner/polishes, which contain a diminishing abrasive, and pure polishes, which are completely non-abrasive and are used solely for the purpose of creating brilliant gloss. Deep Crystal Polish is a pure polish.



The way you apply a pure polish is akin to applying a skin lotion to your skin. That is you apply the polish to a small section at a time, work the product in thoroughly.



After thoroughly, (but gently with care and passion), remove any excess polish with a clean, soft premium quality microfiber polishing cloth or 100% cotton towel.



Like ScratchX a paint cleaner, it is not necessary to let a pure polish like Deep Crystal Polish dry before removing it. Allowing a polish to dry will not add anything beneficial to the process, so after you work it in well, go a head and remove it.


At this point, we have cleaned and polished the finish. The cleaning step removed the swirls and the polishing step restored optical clarity, depth, reflectivity, richness of color and brilliant gloss. Next we're going to apply a coating of Meguiar's new NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste



NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste is identical to NXT Generation Tech Wax Liquid except that it comes in a paste form. There are two types of paste waxes, the difference is in their consistency. The practical application difference is in how you remove them from the can and then apply them.

With a cleaner/wax (paste), like Meguiar's A12 Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax you can scoop out a small amount and with your applicator pad and then apply it to the finish and work it in.



With paste waxes like Gold Class Clear Coat Wax Paste, M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax, and NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste, instead of scooping wax out of the can, you can twist, or spin your wax applicator against the wax while it's in the can and this little bit of agitation will help to liquefy the wax and enable it to seep, or penetrate into your applicator pad whereupon making it easier to apply to the finish.





Paste waxes like NXT Tech Generation Wax offer good gliding action and tend to apply very easy. Remember a little bit goes a long ways and it's important to try to apply a uniform, thin coating.



After applying the Tech Wax Paste and allowing it to dry, we removed it using a Supreme Shine Microfiber polishing cloth and the Tom backed his Mercedes-Benz out into the sun where everyone could look at the results and see with their own two eyes what can be accomplished by hand with the right products and the correct techniques.







Here's the owner Tom inspecting closely!



And here I am capturing the results with our Sony Digital which does an excellent job of capture swirls in the sun.




Before



After
















Perfect? No.

dramatically improved? Yes!

Most importantly, we fixed by hand what someone else inflicted with a rotary buffer.

Meguiar's products, applied and removed using the correct techniques will outperform the competition hands down and give your car a swirl-free show car shine!

[Mike Phillips]

If your car's finish has swirls, then go back to the store and exchange the Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner for the ScratchX and use it instead.

Print this thread out and hand it to the guy who sold you the three products, he might find it interesting.

Also, read these,

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

Circles or Straight Lines?

How to tell when a Meguiar's wax is ready to remove - The Swipe Test

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover