New to detailing, need help

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Some stuff just ends up being an online order sometimes....

The Grit Guard and bucket are seperate items though.

There is couple reasons for the different waxes. For instance, if you use the liquid wax alone, you might get 2-3 months, then starts too look like it needs redone. If you use a real light mist of the Ult. Quick Wax after washing, you might get 3-4-5... The UQW is really good.

Also, it gives a fresh waxed look with no effort, and helps with picking up the last little water on the surface.

I would prefer Gold Class soap and the spray wax while drying for best results.

Thanks a lot for you help. I'll buy what I need tomorrow and see if I can find a grit guard. I can't order anything from meguiars online because they don't ship to canada Last question (for now :p), I'm planning to buy a DA polisher. I heard a lot of good things about the porter cable, found it today at canadian tire but its 190$ +tx. I saw the meguiars DA (the one you plug on your drill), its 70$ and I saw a video saying its safe for beginners so do you think the meguiars one is good enough. I was looking for the porter cable because I read that if you apply too much pressure it will stops spinning but if the meguiars at 70$ is safe too then i'll buy this one instead.

[Murr1525]

Re: New to detailing, need help

I ususally order from other sites as well...

The drill one is quite safe.... but its a little slower going, due to the smaller pad/power.

Unless there was defects to remove on the whole car, not counting your one area, its really not that bad by hand if you are able. Just kind of wiping on the polish with a little pressure and then removing, and then wiping on wax (thin coat), letting dry and remove... The defect removal is what would be bad over the whole car by hand.

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

I just read some comments about consumer line vs professional, do you think professional is better? Like #205 for polish...

[Murr1525]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Not better persay, but a little different.

The #205 is a little stronger of a cleaner, which doesn't hurt, esp if you find a good price.

The UP has a bit more polishing oils..

[MTLian]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Bonjour, JoeDemers le quebecois!


i am also in Montreal. If you want to buy the Porter cable and any other stuff from the net, go to eShine.ca. Got great service from them and they do carry many pro line Meguiars products, as well as other brands. In Montreal, I buy my stuff from Joey from http://www.eleganceautodetailing.com. They both have the Ricardo detail clay (way better value and quantity compared to than certain kits available at CT) and grit guards. If you buy the porter cable, be aware that you also have to buy a backing plate adapter for about 15$ and foam polishing pads which are 10$ each.


i bought a 5 gallon bucket from Canadian Tire (white) and one from Home Depot (orange) so that I have different color buckets for the soap and dirty water. Cost 4$ each.


Everything made by Simoniz is total ****, including the microfiber towels (except maybe the green wash mitts, which I use). The microfibre towels will put lint all over the place. I'd recommend washing them twice before using them to try and get rid of the lint. It's especially bad when doing windows, leaves multicoloured lint all over the place. I bought a pack of Costco microfiber towels and I'm gonna check those out to see what the quality is like.


I'm new to detailing also. Check out my thread with pics called "newbie spring detail". Go Habs go!

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Bonjour, JoeDemers le quebecois!


i am also in Montreal. If you want to buy the Porter cable and any other stuff from the net, go to eShine.ca. Got great service from them and they do carry many pro line Meguiars products, as well as other brands. In Montreal, I buy my stuff from Joey from http://www.eleganceautodetailing.com. They both have the Ricardo detail clay (way better value and quantity compared to than certain kits available at CT) and grit guards. If you buy the porter cable, be aware that you also have to buy a backing plate adapter for about 15$ and foam polishing pads which are 10$ each.


i bought a 5 gallon bucket from Canadian Tire (white) and one from Home Depot (orange) so that I have different color buckets for the soap and dirty water. Cost 4$ each.


Everything made by Simoniz is total ****, including the microfiber towels (except maybe the green wash mitts, which I use). The microfibre towels will put lint all over the place. I'd recommend washing them twice before using them to try and get rid of the lint. It's especially bad when doing windows, leaves multicoloured lint all over the place. I bought a pack of Costco microfiber towels and I'm gonna check those out to see what the quality is like.


I'm new to detailing also. Check out my thread with pics called "newbie spring detail". Go Habs go!

Thanks a lot, I really need to buy a girt guard as well as a good washing mitt, the only one I found at canadian tire is the simoniz (green one) and the synthetic sheepskin. I still have the bill for the microfiber towel, should I get something else or all microfiber towel are the same? I was also wondering if you have foam pads and where you buy them. the only one I found at canadian tire is a double side foam but it cheap and i'm looking for something like this http://www.perfectlycleaned.co.uk/ek...ack--182-p.jpg

thanks and GO HABS GO, fuk Boston haha

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

They both have the Ricardo detail clay (way better value and quantity compared to than certain kits available at CT)

Should I buy the yellow or blue clay?

[The Guz]

Re: New to detailing, need help

The meguiar's clay is just as good and will do the job. It also comes with the clay lube. No need to over think it. I actually prefer a clay alternative such as the nanoskin autoscrub sponge. One piece of advice, if you drop the clay bar you are supposed to throw it away since it's picked up debris from the ground. When it's grey it's time for new clay.This is where the clay alternative comes into play. Drop it on the floor and rinse it off and it's good to go. With the meguiar's kit you could actually cut the bar in half so you can have more to work with. Especially since your car is small.

This will be all you need
Soap
Meguiar's Clay kit
Ultimate Compound
Ultimate Polish
Wax

I didn't include a wheel and tire cleaner or a tire dressing. Those can always be done at a later date. If you need recommendations for that let us know.

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

The meguiar's clay is just as good and will do the job. It also comes with the clay lube. No need to over think it. I actually prefer a clay alternative such as the nanoskin autoscrub sponge. One piece of advice, if you drop the clay bar you are supposed to throw it away since it's picked up debris from the ground. When it's grey it's time for new clay.This is where the clay alternative comes into play. Drop it on the floor and rinse it off and it's good to go. With the meguiar's kit you could actually cut the bar in half so you can have more to work with. Especially since your car is small.

This will be all you need
Soap
Meguiar's Clay kit
Ultimate Compound
Ultimate Polish
Wax

I didn't include a wheel and tire cleaner or a tire dressing. Those can always be done at a later date. If you need recommendations for that let us know.

Thanks buddy. For the glass, can i use wax or I need something for glass only (i'm not talking about a glass cleaner like windex or wtv). As for the interior, I always used armor all for my black dashboard and plastic pannel, is it a good product?

[Murr1525]

Re: New to detailing, need help

I like to use RainX on the glass as the main coat... but as mentioned with UQW, you can then mist and overspray everything, glass included, while drying.

People here will pick a Meguiars product over Armor All usually.... but mostly up to what you are looking for.

[MTLian]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Should I buy the yellow or blue clay?

I strongly advise you not to buy a clay kit. You want the yellow clay. The blue version is a more aggressive version and unless you had huge amounts of stuck on tar and overspray paint, the original yellow is perfect for your needs. The ricardo clay is some of the best detailing clay in the world but it can't be sold in the USA due to a patent dispute so users on this site probably don't have any experience using it. You get a much larger quantity of clay with the Ricardo box than in a kit and you can still buy quick detailer separately. I second Gus' recommendation: use only a part of the clay because if you drop it you must throw it away.

If you can return the Simoniz Microfiber towels, perhaps they have some quality Meguiar's towels for sale? Or you can get the Autoglym towel. My next purchase at canadian tire will be the Meguiar'S waffle towels for drying. They are on sale now!

Speak to Joey from www.eleganceautodetailing.com . He has grit guards, the detail clay, microfiber towels. He also sells clay lube but all it is his own mixture of Optimum No Rinse car wash (which he also sells). I recommend buying a small bottle of Optimum no rinse and mixing your own clay lube (2oz Optimum no rinse per litre if I recall). You can also mix the no rinse at a higher concentration to make a Quick detailer. Ask Joey where you can get some polishing pads. Autoglym makes a polishing pad if you want. The whole Autoglym line is on sale at Canadian tire but I recommend buying Meguiar's products if you can find them because at about the same price range, Meguiar's offers more professional quality, in my opinion.

However, if you like paste waxes, I use the Autoglym HD wax kit. It's 50$ and comes with 2 foam applicators, a high quality microfibre towel and a relatively large quantity of wax. The wax is also VERY easy to buff off once cured and leaves a deep wet shine that is to die for. Also, relatively durable for a carnauba/poly wax.

P.S. order a Porter CAble from eshine.ca if you can afford it. The PC + a backing plate and a set of 3 pads is about 190$ and there is free shipping on orders above 150$. They ship VERY quickly. You'll find out that applying wax and polishes by hand is sooo long, it's just ridiculous. However, if you are retired and have days if not weeks to spend on detailing, then do it by hand if you like

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

If you can return the Simoniz Microfiber towels, perhaps they have some quality Meguiar's towels for sale? Or you can get the Autoglym towel. My next purchase at canadian tire will be the Meguiar'S waffle towels for drying. They are on sale now!

They dont have meguiars towels. They have the waffle (water magnet something like this) and I bought one yesterday because they are on sale like you said

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

I recommend buying a small bottle of Optimum no rinse and mixing your own clay lube (2oz Optimum no rinse per litre if I recall). You can also mix the no rinse at a higher concentration to make a Quick detailer.

Do you use optimum was as a quick detailer or just for clay lube? The 8oz bottle is 10$ and the 32oz 19$ so if its a useful product other than clay lube, i'll buy the big bottle

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Agian just because the car is new doesn't mean there is no surface contmainants or paint defects. You can tell when it is in the sun. Post pics so it would make it easier for us to help you out.

I uploaded photos of my car. Its not a close up shot but I inspect the paint today, no defects other than the one I made grrrr. I rinced It 3 days ago and the surface feels soft. I never did any detailing yet and I dont know if I really need to clay my car or just wash and wax since there is no defects

[MTLian]

Re: New to detailing, need help

I uploaded photos of my car. Its not a close up shot but I inspect the paint today, no defects other than the one I made grrrr. I rinced It 3 days ago and the surface feels soft. I never did any detailing yet and I dont know if I really need to clay my car or just wash and wax since there is no defects

A good test is to take a plastic shopping bag (the kind you get at Canadian tire lol), put it over your hand and run your fingers over the paint. It should feel perfectly smooth. If it does feel nice, then you don't need to clay but I strongly recommend buying clay to have it ready. My attitude with washing is that if I find some dirt that I can't remove with very light pressure, I leave it and I clay it later. Clay is actually fantastic for wheels and for an exhaust pipe; parts that are likely to get bits of fresh asphalt or other nasty road debris flung on them. If had little black spots that I thought were stone chips disappear using clay! To me clay is an essential part of any detailers arsenal but only needs to be done occasionally.

For example, i plan on buffing out all the swirls in my paint. It's a big job and I want it done right. Clay is the only way to make sure my paint is completely free of little sand pieces or any kind of little abrasive contaminants that would destroy my paint when I use a polisher. Once I clay, polish and seal, I'll only clay small sections as needed for the whole summer.

If your paint is brand new and looking good, you might consider opti-coat. If I understand correctly, it is like an extra barrier of protection over your clearcoat. Jason from elegance detailing does this service I think but it's not cheap. If your paint is new and looking good, I'd try and find a suitable synthetic sealant that has long life. I myself will use Klasse. It's supposed to offer protection for up to a year if applied in multiple coats.