If you already exhausted the claying and polishing as Kernel843 mentioned, then you are looking at wetsanding (if it's not through the paint), repaint or replace. Can you catch the imperfections with your fingernail?

You actually have it the other way around, the sealant will last longer than the wax. Sealants typically last 3 - 6 months vs 2 - 8 weeks on average for a wax. The sealant acts as your underlying protection which bonds to your paint (clear coat). The wax sits on top as a second layer of protection, and will diminish faster than the sealant. If it were the other way around (wax then sealant) the sealant would only last as long as the wax underneath.

I suggest reapplying your sealant once a season, and reapplying your wax once a month for maximum results.

For regular washes, automotive shampoo and water is just fine. Some people will use a quick detailer afterwards or reapply a coat of wax if they are in the mood for some extra pop. Most waxes see maximum depth and gloss after 2 - 3 thin coats. Here's a guide on properly washing and drying.

Thanks for sharing, 3M makes some good products. Consider investing in a water de-ionizer, like from CRSpotless, if you know that your water is very hard. It will save you time, money and effort in the long run.

I try the local dealerships first. I'm not aware of a place to order from unfortunately. Maybe someone else can chime in with a website to order from.

It sounds like you either have some real bad contamination embedded in the paint or perhaps something else. The next steps would be to use an abrasive polish to wear down the uneven clear coat, possibly resorting to wet sanding if that doesn't do it. You may want to consult a local professional if possible for an opinion, since they can see it in person.

George

 

yeah I can. but right now I'm just looking for an option to make them less noticable. I'll take a pic later

 

George, these spots came from the dealer. I do use de-i water, for my final rinse, but use a pump sprayer, buy the gallons at the store, never leaves a spot. Thanks for the link, I may invest at a later date. Don't the de-ionizers require a lot of maintenance, changing the resin, etc?

 

Hey George, I just want to first start off by saying how much of an enjoyment it has been to read all of your replies. They have all been very helpful for me in determining what products I have come to purchase from DetailedImage for my 2006 Diamond Graphite G35 Coupe I have just purchased about one month ago exactly. My car was of course pre-owned with only 10k miles on it. The paint is in VERY good condition with the exception of some minor swirl marks on the car that you can only notice if you’re in a certain direct angle of lighting or what not. Anyways, I am very picky about this and want the best looking car out there (as we all do haha) … anyways I of course have gone and bought some micro fiber towels and tried using hand applicator pads but I have a feeling I have done more harm then good so I have gone ahead and purchased these certain items from detailedimage.com

Porter Cable: 7424 Random Orbital Buffer
PoorBoys SlickNSuds Carwash
Sheepskin Wash Mitt
Waffle Weave Drying Towel - 32" x 25” x2
All Purpose Towel - 16" x 16" x2
Final Polish II (FPII) - 16 oz
Intensive Polish (IP) - 16 oz
Orange Light Cutting Pad - 6.5"
Power Gloss - 16 oz
White Polishing Pad - 6.5"
Yellow Cutting Pad - 6.5"

Anyways, from reading all of the questions and your response it has seemed to me that these are the best products for getting the best quality out of your cars paint and making it look spectacular. The only thing is, I would personally like to know how you would apply all of these products and in what order. Also, for a wax I have Meguiars NXT Generation Tech Wax, (paste version) any comments on this wax? Is it good and how would I apply this? Thank you very much and I look forward to your response!

PS: The 10% off coupon is awesome!

 

Okay, will do.

How about a good glaze to use by hand? This is a step I am going to add as you suggested. I have never used a glaze before, unless you consider Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish a glaze since it has no abrasive action.

Thanks.

 

Good to know. De-ionizers do require some maintenance, it depends on how large of a tank you purchase usually. CRSpotless offers a large unit ($399) that estimates 300 gallons of de-ionized water, and the replacement runs $90 (30 cents per gallon) for the resin alone or $120 (40 cents per gallon) for the easy to swap out cartridges.

Joey, thanks for the positive feedback and your support. Both are greatly appreciated. Ideally you want to start with the least aggressive product and work up as needed. The order of the products you listed from least aggressive to most aggressive is Final Polish II (white pad) -> Intensive Polish (orange pad) -> Power Gloss (yellow pad). I wouldn't jump right into Power Gloss as it is the most aggressive and you should see if the Intensive Polish can get the job done for you. Here's a link to our polishing guide which walks you through the proper way to use your buffer and polish.

For some video how-to's, check out these polishing videos on www.Paintcare-n-detailing.com

I do not personally have any experience with the NXT paste wax, but it would be applied by hand with a foam applicator pad. Most people over apply a wax, you want to focus on thin even coats of wax, rather than caking it on. If it's a natural carnauba wax, you'll probably want to apply a coat once a month to ensure your vehicle is properly protected.

Let us know how things work out and the outcome of your hard work!

Meg's Deep Crystal Polish is still a polish even though there is no abrasives, it would be classified as a chemical polish. Glazes have clay or oil fillers that sit in the dips and valleys (swirls and other imperfections) and give the appearance of paint in a better condition than it really is. By hand, 3M Imperial Hand Glaze is a pretty good option. Between the two glazes we stock, I recommend the Menzerna Finishing Touch Glaze if you plan on putting a sealant on top of it, and recommend the ClearKote Red Moose Glaze if you plan on putting a wax directly on top of it.

Keep us posted on what glaze you end up with and how things turn out for you.

George

 

Oh, I must have read the CRS info wrong, I thought it said 100 gallons. I have lately been washing the car with tap water, filtered through a softening filter at the hose, and then final rinsing with the the de-i water, that cuts down on my trips to the store to buy de-i. If I was the car and rinse with de-i, I use about 5-6 gallons of water.

 

I recently discovered my 5 yr old son spilled orange juice in the back of my coupe. The fuzzy cardboard cover on the center hump of the back seats is stained with OJ, no idea how long its been there. Any suggestions?

 

Hey George, I have included everthing wrong cosmetically with my car. I was hoping you could offer suggestions on what products I should be using. Really quickly here is what I currently have at my disposal. Please let me know which item is crap and if I should change over to a certain item.

Wash routine:
1. Black Magic Carwash for the rims. Clean the rims at home with Black Magic Carwash and a sponge.

2. Drive to the carwash (touchless, high pressure washer, also cleans the brake dust).

3. Soak my Pittard Chamois in warm water while I wash the car.

4. Put 2 dollars in and go high pressure all over the vehicle in Wash (top to bottom, tirewells and underbody). Another 2 dollars in Rinse (top to bottom). Another 2 dollars for the Spray Wax (top to bottom).

5. Put the trunk lid up to let water run down. Take my Eagle 1 Quick Wax, spray each body panel twice.

6. Get my Chamois, moving in a large oval panels to spread the wax while drying the vehicle.

7. Dry each part of the vehicle.

8. Using Eagle 1 Leather Conditioner, spray the leather inside, rubbing it in with a microfiber towel and absorbing with another.

9. Detail of the plastic in the vehicle with Meguiars Quick Detailer. Cleaning if individual dirt spots on the carpet with Meguairs cleaner.

^ Doing it this method I end up finding more and more problems with my car, it is making me think I am ruining my paint, such as finding scratches. I purchased the most expensive Chamois I could find, apparently Pittards are suppose to be good. I would prefer a large Microfiber Towel such as the one you sell, but my question is how would I be able to do a quick detail of my vehicle as the Eagle 1 Quick Wax requires the wax to be rubbed in to a certain amount.

There is a local detailer which is offering an Exterior 2 step polish detail followed by a paint sealant for around $230. I was wondering if it would be sufficient for removing half the crap listed below in the next post, along with protecting the paint in winter? They also offer a premium 4 step polish but will it get ruined by winter anyways?

Here are the pictures below and sorry about how large the pictures are...

 

Refer to above post...

1. Dirt or some stain I can't get out, I have used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and it ended up discoloring certain parts of my leather, hard to tell in the pictures but it turned into a peachy color. Have tried basically everything, I can't get it out, I have seen these on a bunch of light colored G35 interiors.






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2. A chip near the armrest/cup holder. My dealership pulled some BS that to fix it they would have to repaint the whole panel and would end up looking crappier.


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3. Scratches in the door handle, kind of hard to see.


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4. Some scratches on the back tissue box holder/cup holder.


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5. Stubborn dirt on the engine cover, not to mention crappy Eraser that dulled some of the plastic and broke...


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6. Condition of paint & Exterior:



Crap stuck on that clear thing.

Piece of plastic that popped out.

Brake Dust/Rust.

Hard to tell from this picture because my car was dirty, but it is like tar or something stuck to the front, it is black and a bit discolored. Wondering if i could take it out, it is all over my front bumper.
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Scratches on door.


Paint completely off on side mirror.



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Sorry for the very large pictures, when I figure out how to resize them I will haha. Appreciate any input you can provide about my current situation and if a detailer could possibly fix it, or if it is too late for my car....

 

That area of the vehicle can be difficult to clean. What I would suggest is using some sort of concentrated fabric cleaner, Folex or Woolite for local solutions, or 303 Fabric & Vinyl Cleaner or 303 Cleaner & Spot Remover would be good choices (the difference between the two is that the Cleaner & Spot Remover is pre-diluted to about a 6:1 ratio and the F&V Cleaner is a concentrated formula that should be diluted or can be used at full strength). After spraying the affected area, use a firm bristled brush to agitate the surface and work the cleaner into the carpet. Repeat as needed and vacuum or blot dry the area with a microfiber towel to clean up any loosened debris.

If that doesn't do the trick, try keeping a spray bottle of hot water to help break up the stain.

Good luck, keep us posted on how you make out.

Re: your peachy leather. It's tough to say if the discoloration would be removed or not using a deep conditioning combo from Leatherique or Lexol.

Re: A chip near the armrest/cup holder. Not much you can do other than repaint it.

Re: Scratches in door handle. These should be minimized if not removed with a quality polish. If you take your vehicle to the detailer, these should be taken care of.

Re: Some scratches on the back tissue box holder/cup holder. Not much you can do about scratches in vinyl. Sometimes you can heat it up and remold it if you have like a dent or something, but scratches are tough to fix.

Re: Stubborn dirt on the engine cover, not to mention crappy Eraser that dulled some of the plastic and broke... The way the eraser works is that there are mild abrasives and you are removing the top layer of whatever it is you are "erasing". You may have removed the coating on top of the plastic which is the reason for the discoloration. This is also my guess as to what happened to your leather as well, you removed the top layer of coated protection from the eraser. For engine cleaning, I usually use an all purpose degreaser, such as Poorboy's Bio APC.

Re: Your paints condition. It definitely can benefit from a proper polishing job. I'd seriously consider the professional you mentioned or perhaps investing the time and money to do it right yourself. Concerning any paint that is removed, you will need to apply touch up paint or get that panel resprayed to remedy the problem.

Hope this helps, the main thing I'd like to stress to you is improving upon your washing and drying techniques.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

George

 

Thanks for the detailed response.
I will be taking my car to the detailers in the upcoming week then, I don't want to risk damaging my vehicle anymore. The leather thing has got me worried now, could I possibly dye it back to the right color? Other question is if a 4 step polish is useless in winter (I live in Winnipeg = -50C weather) and if I should just stick to the 2 step polish and a paint sealant?

Will be placing an order for the recommended items in that list after I get the car detailed.

 

hey there bro... here is my question.. well i have 3...
1: what do u used to take the bugs off the front of the car without messing up the paint?

2: what do u used to clean the leather seats. I bought some turtle cleaner and conditioner and i was out there 4 hours on the less dirty seat.. the dirty one (driver) took me all day and still don't look clean to me.

3: also what do u use to whip down the interior i.e. dash

also where can i find this stuff in the store. Do you sell something and how much is it

 

thanks George. I'll give it a try when I get a break (that 5yr old and another 7 month old keep me busy)...

 

I have never dyed leather on my own before, so I cannot comment much on that. I know www.leatherique.com offers some kits to repair leather and has dyes, but you may want to consult a local leather / vinyl specialist before attempting to correct it yourself. Might as well weigh all of your options.

Regarding the polishing: It's really up to you which package you go with. The 4 step polish will correct deeper imperfections and restore even more gloss to the paint. The two step will correct some imperfections but not nearly as many as 4 steps. With the 4 step polish, I'd expect the paint to be close to perfect. I can usually correct 90% or more with just a 2 step polish.

It is up to you how well the polishing holds up over the winter based on your washing and drying habits. Between removing snow from your vehicle and washing and drying, that is where 80% of new imperfections will stem from. If you are worried about the winter months adding imperfections, consider just getting your paint sealed in the winter then go for the full polish job come spring.

1: For bug removal I really like Stoner Tarminator or Poorboy's Bug Squash prior to washing your vehicle. Spray either one on and let it sit for a minute or so, then proceed to wash as normal. I usually dedicate a wash mitt to clean areas I spray with a pre-wash degreaser so the chemicals do not get all over the rest of the paint.

2: If you are trying to remove stains or discoloration, I typically will clean the seats with an all purpose cleaner first, then follow up with a leather specific cleaner and conditioner. For stubborn stains, use a soft to medium bristled brush to agitate the surface and enhance your cleaning ability. For the most neglected leather, I turn to the Leatherique line of products. There is a unique application process for Leatherique, which is outlined in our Leather Care Guide.

3: For interior wipe downs, I turn to 303 Aerospace Protectant. This product leaves behind a bold matte finish that isn't greasy, or oily, and it provides vinyl, rubber, leather and plastic with some of the best UV protection you can apply.

If you have any questions on anything, please do not hesitate to ask.

George