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OK folks,
The front has moved accross the US and it's cold here in Southern MD. This is our first good taste of winter and it's got me thinking about my winter routine.
A couple of months back I took off work for a week and played with my new PC and a slew of products. I washed>Clayed>#80>#9>DC#2>#82>#3>#5>#7 then 2 coats of #20. Since then, over the course of the last couple of months I did the following: #7>#21>#7>#21>#7>NXT>#7>NXT>#7>GC>#7>GC#7>GC. Thats where I am at at the moment. Keep in mind this was over the course of a few months and with the frequent washes I did, as well as QDing almost daily there for a while, if a person believes a film buildup is possible I am sure it isn't much. That was not what I was after anyway. I was mostly just gaining experience with the products and keeping a shiny ride.
The above process as been a pretty high maintenance regime for me. Washing and waxing roughly 2x a week plus sporadic washes in between and routine dusting and QDing. Although I enjoyed the results I got immensly, I have to face reality and realize that I do not think I can keep this up through the winter months.
My finish to date is pretty cotton pickin' good. I do have a few minor self inflicted swirls/scratches due to the sporadic piece of dust/grit getting in a towel or MF. Few and far between but yet still there. If you were to randomly just hit my finish with a XENON light you would likely not be able to just shine it on a spot and see a scratch or swirl. You would have to move it around and find them. I have no cobwebbing or serious swirl to sweat. Just the hit and miss faint, long straight scratch from my own efforts.
I figure during the winter I should be able to commit to washing weekly, and doing this properly. But any polishing/waxing will probably be knocked down to only monthly.
Now, as you probably can tell I love #7. Use it, probably rather too much in that I apply prior to every coat of wax/sealant. Obviously I like that look. I would hope to try to keep the wet look of the #7. But, If I can get "close" to that through the cleaning and polishing step I can & will try something else.
Claying can/will be done as needed. I also would not mind during that monthly waxing to try to work on the goal of not only doing some minor cleaning of the paint but also putting some effort toward reducing the Self Inflicted Swirl I spoke of above.
I am thinking that switching to one of the Cleaner Waxes for my winter routine will likely work. I have a few bottles of A-12 for that. So that should suffice for my wax needs.
Having said all that. I guess what I am asking is for any recommendations as to how to get the job done each month as efficienty as possible while spending the least amount of time out in the cold. But still make an honest effort to acheive respectable results.
Which of the one step cleaner/polishes would you folks recommend to bring me as close as possible to meeting the above goals of paint cleaning, minor scratch reduction and keeping the wet look? It would be great to be able to take the easy way out and acheive all this in one fell swoop. Hence my posting this query. I realize the one step applications bring back the best results but time reduction is key here.
The wet look is secondary to the cleaning and polishing.
Any thoughts on this would be most welcome. Help keep my poor tail out of the cold.
The front has moved accross the US and it's cold here in Southern MD. This is our first good taste of winter and it's got me thinking about my winter routine.
A couple of months back I took off work for a week and played with my new PC and a slew of products. I washed>Clayed>#80>#9>DC#2>#82>#3>#5>#7 then 2 coats of #20. Since then, over the course of the last couple of months I did the following: #7>#21>#7>#21>#7>NXT>#7>NXT>#7>GC>#7>GC#7>GC. Thats where I am at at the moment. Keep in mind this was over the course of a few months and with the frequent washes I did, as well as QDing almost daily there for a while, if a person believes a film buildup is possible I am sure it isn't much. That was not what I was after anyway. I was mostly just gaining experience with the products and keeping a shiny ride.
The above process as been a pretty high maintenance regime for me. Washing and waxing roughly 2x a week plus sporadic washes in between and routine dusting and QDing. Although I enjoyed the results I got immensly, I have to face reality and realize that I do not think I can keep this up through the winter months.
My finish to date is pretty cotton pickin' good. I do have a few minor self inflicted swirls/scratches due to the sporadic piece of dust/grit getting in a towel or MF. Few and far between but yet still there. If you were to randomly just hit my finish with a XENON light you would likely not be able to just shine it on a spot and see a scratch or swirl. You would have to move it around and find them. I have no cobwebbing or serious swirl to sweat. Just the hit and miss faint, long straight scratch from my own efforts.
I figure during the winter I should be able to commit to washing weekly, and doing this properly. But any polishing/waxing will probably be knocked down to only monthly.
Now, as you probably can tell I love #7. Use it, probably rather too much in that I apply prior to every coat of wax/sealant. Obviously I like that look. I would hope to try to keep the wet look of the #7. But, If I can get "close" to that through the cleaning and polishing step I can & will try something else.
Claying can/will be done as needed. I also would not mind during that monthly waxing to try to work on the goal of not only doing some minor cleaning of the paint but also putting some effort toward reducing the Self Inflicted Swirl I spoke of above.
I am thinking that switching to one of the Cleaner Waxes for my winter routine will likely work. I have a few bottles of A-12 for that. So that should suffice for my wax needs.
Having said all that. I guess what I am asking is for any recommendations as to how to get the job done each month as efficienty as possible while spending the least amount of time out in the cold. But still make an honest effort to acheive respectable results.
Which of the one step cleaner/polishes would you folks recommend to bring me as close as possible to meeting the above goals of paint cleaning, minor scratch reduction and keeping the wet look? It would be great to be able to take the easy way out and acheive all this in one fell swoop. Hence my posting this query. I realize the one step applications bring back the best results but time reduction is key here.
The wet look is secondary to the cleaning and polishing.
Any thoughts on this would be most welcome. Help keep my poor tail out of the cold.
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