Detailing Questions for a new car in a dusty environment

[mani1]

Guys I brought a new Toyota Corolla in mid February 2010. In my country, there are very few detailing products available therefore I searched quite hard and got the following.

1)Sonax Microfiber towels
2)Sonax Wax applicator
3)Mothers California Gold Cannauba Wax

The place where I live is quite dusty and the car is washed daily. My questions are how often should I wax the car? and is the wax I have chosen good enough? Do I need any other detailing products. Since the car is washed (daily with water only and on weekends with car shampoo), any wax application lasts only a day.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Detailing Questions for a new car in a dusty environment

Hey mani1,

Welcome to MOL!

I removed the link as we ask new members to establish themselves with 30 posts before posting any hyperlinks to other sites. Thanks in advance for understanding!

Mark

[Shawn T.]

Re: Detailing Questions for a new car in a dusty environment

Might I also suggest a California Duster. They are great and when used properly will not scratch the paint.

"My questions are how often should I wax the car?" This is an extremely common question and the truth is, no one really knows. We can speculate and say anywhere from 1 to 3 months but the longevity of the wax is determined by the surrounding environment. I would say, in any environement, if unsure, to wax once or twice a month. I happen to wax about once a week but I am also car crazy.

You are in a Meguiars forum so of course we are going to recommend Meguiars waxes and any other products they sell. Mothers is very respectable also and I have never had a problem with them, I just prefer Meguiars.

This water only wash you speak of is probably not that good because water by itself does not have the lubricity necessary to remove dirt without scratching the car. Any Meguiars car wash is designed with the proper cleaning agents but more importantly, designed to provide a barrier between your wash mitt and the paint as to lift the dirt off the paint instead of grinding it against the paint. That is the kind of lubrication you are looking for in a car wash.

Use a Quick Detail spray to remove light dust or even my new favorite tool, the California Duster. The QD spray has the lubricity needed to remove this dust without scratching the paint.

Let me see if I can find a post I created a few weeks ago. It gives a list of most products needed in a detailing arsenal.


Any general questions about detailing should be posted in Detailing 101. Welcome and feel free to ask any questions! There are no dumb ones!

[Shawn T.]

Re: Detailing Questions for a new car in a dusty environment

Here is a lot of the information you will need in order to choose the correct products for a detail. If I miss anything or misrepresent an item please correct it.

Pads (If going to use a machine): at least 2 polishing pads and at least one finishing pad. You may use more than one polishing pad for the whole car depending on the extent of the damage and the amount of product used. I would eventually have 2 or 3 of each though so that you do not have to wash the pad when you switch products during the detail. Many people only use one product with each pad even after washing.

Paint Cleaners: Swirlx and Ultimate Compund; possibly Scratchx 2.0 but not totally necessary. Order of aggressiveness from least to greatest: SwirlX, SctratchX 2.0, Ultimate Compund. Be sure to use ScratchX 2.0 and not the original formula as the original is weaker than SwirlX.

Polishes: Either Deep Crystal Polish or M07 show car glaze. They are both very good and will add great depth to the paint.

Microfibers: YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY!!!!! I would recommend about 12 to begin with. Walmart has decent quality ones but you could always go with the incredible Supreme Shine Microfiber from Megs.

Wax: I like Gold Class, only tried NXT once and it was very good also. It really comes down to a personal preference. If you plan on applying the wax by hand, I recommend the paste but for machine application I suggest the liquid. The differences in the paste and liquid versions come down to a personal preferences.

Cleaner Wax: Cleaner Wax (A12), the consumer version, is very good and does a nice job of providing a little more muscle to remove slight oxidation and very mild swirls. Colorx is a much stronger cleaner wax, comparable to M06 Cleaner Wax. I have yet to use it but I have heard nothing but good reviews. These can be used if you are running low on time and still want to mildly correct, polish and wax the car.

Dressings: I like M40 Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner Conditioner for tires and some exterior trim. I also like Supreme Shine Protectant for tires and outdoor trim. Natural Shine Protectant is great for interiors and for people who prefer a low gloss on their trim pieces.

Quick Detail Spray: Quik Detailer is great and does a fantastic job. Ultimate Quik Detailer is equivalent to M135 as it utilizes the hydrophobic technology (the product is “afraid” of the water and therefore the water will either bead or sheet off the car).

Spray Wax: Quik Wax is a good product but Ultimate Quik Wax is even better. You can use these after you wash the car in order to boost the already established wax. This should really be used as a booster wax more than the base layer but it will work great either way.

Applicator pads (Working by hand): I recommend foam applicators as they are very forgiving and will not scratch the paint when used properly with the correct product.

[mani1]

Re: Detailing Questions for a new car in a dusty environment

This is the result after applying wax (mentioned in #3 in first post) and after covering the car with top cover for 12 hours.

The environment I am in is quite dusty. Leave a silver car for 1 hour in open air and you can see a film of dust clearly. Black colored cars are washed twice a day but still have dust on them after 1 hour.

I would love to use Meguiars products but unfortunately they are not available in my country

[mani1]

Re: Detailing Questions for a new car in a dusty environment

bump...guys need your opinion

[Shawn T.]

Re: Detailing Questions for a new car in a dusty environment

The pictures you have uploaded can not be seen. Try and host them on Meguiars for better luck.