Hi George,

I had a quick question. Is the P21S Total Auto Wash safe to use to clean wheels & tires? I bought it to use as a degreaser, but I didn't want to have to buy a separate wheel / tire cleaner if I didn't have to.

Thanks!

Jin

 

Jin,

Definitely on tires, I highly recommend it for that. If your wheels are clear coated, then yes it's perfectly safe to use on there as well. If you have a finished wheel that is non-clear coated, then I'd test it in a small area first to make sure it doesn't oxidize them first. I am pretty sure it's safe since it's a non-acidic formula and the cleaner is citrus based, but with any product, it's best to test it in a small area before spraying your entire wheels down.

It's a very versatile product and can be used almost on your entire vehicle, enjoy!

George

 

Thanks George for all your advice and help. Appreciate it as always. I had a few more questions...

I'm about to make a big purchase for a porter cable, and all the related products. But after looking on your website, the different polishes, glazes, waxes and sealants were too overwhelming. I definitely want to do the complete process (clay, polish, glaze, sealant, wax). I was just wondering which products are the most widely used and recommended.

Some info you'll probably need to know before recommending products:

- My car has about 48K miles on it, and it will be the first time detailing. It is a recent purchase.
- The color is Diamond Graphite
- I'm a beginner at the whole detailing process...so please keep that in mind!

I'm planning on purchasing the porter cable starter kit...so could you also include which pad to use with the products you recommend?

Thanks again for everything,

Jin

 

Jin,

Here's what I'd recommend to you as an excellent starter kit that has ease of use and your specific color vehicle into account.

Washing & Drying:
Consider looking into our Washing & Drying starter kit if you're in need of some new products for this step. It's priced just right and gives you everything you need to properly maintain your vehicle while minimizing adding imperfections to your paint.

Clay Bar & Clay Lube:
Clay Magic Fine Grade Clay Bar
Poorboy's World Spray & Wipe

Polishing:
Medium Cut Polish: Menzerna Intensive Polish or Menzerna Super Intensive Polish ... Either polish will yield great results, the Super Intensive Polish is a little easier to work with and finishes down nicer. I'd recommend using an orange light cutting pad that comes with your starter kit.

Finishing Polish:
Menzerna PO106FF. This is a no brainer for me, it's the best finishing polish I've used to date. If I had to pick 1 must have product for every detailer, my pick is the PO106FF. This would be best applied with the white polishing pad included in the starter kit.

Glaze:
If you're going with a sealant over the glaze, my new favorite is Chemical Guys EZ-Creme Glaze. This properly preps the surface, adds depth and gloss and gives your sealant an ideal surface to bond to, especially if you end up with one of the recommended Chemical Guys sealants below. I'd recommend applying this with one of the black finishing pads that come in your starter kit.

Sealant:
Bang for the buck, Poorboy's World EX-P or CG M-Seal. My new favorite sealant, Chemical Guys Jet Seal 109. If you apply the sealant with the buffer, go with the blue fine finishing pad that is included in the kit.

Wax:
This is where the choices become tough. If you go with one of the Chemical Guys sealants, 50/50 Limited Series Concourse Wax is an excellent option. It's also a pretty great value considering it's 16 oz of product compared to all of our other wax options that are 8 oz or less. Bang for the buck, Poorboy's World Natty's Blue Paste Wax is one of the best waxes for under $20. Either of these products would be best applied with a foam applicator pad by hand.

All of the products I've mentioned are very easy to use and will yield professional results. If you have any other questions on anything, please do not hesitate to ask.

Be sure to keep us posted on your results!

George

 

Wow thanks so much for the detailed recommendations. Really helped making my purchase easier! I had one more question. My hood and right fender has quite a few water marks etched into the paint. I've tried to clay bar & used ScratchX but they are STILL there. Would the Mezerna Intensive Polish (or Mezerna Super Intensive Polish) and Mezerna PO106FF do the trick in getting them out? What do you think would be the best solution?

Would you recommend the Super Intensive Polish over the Intensive Polish? I'm a bit hesitant in using the Super Intensive Polish b/c the description states that it is a medium to heavy polish (while the Intensive Polish is a medium). And since this will be my first time polishing...I am hoping for a more "user-friendly" polish that will leave room for potential mistakes from a beginner.

Thanks so much George,

Jin

 

Jin,

Regarding the water spots, it really depends how deep they are etched into the paint. The two Menzerna polishes will definitely give you more bite than ScratchX, but is it enough? I don't know. I've seen some water spots on vehicles that needed to be wetsanded to be removed completely, each situation is completely different. The best thing you can do is to keep trying 1 step more aggressive until you figure out what polish is needed to get the results you're looking for. Start with the PO106FF, if that isn't enough, move up to IP/SIP. If neither of those are aggressive enough, you can try a compound and hopefully don't need to resort to a light wetsand.

Regarding the differences between SIP/IP, they are actually the same level of cut. One of the main reasons we said heavy cutting polish in the SIP description is because it primarily offers the maximum benefits when using a more powerful machine than the PC, such as the Flex buffer or a rotary buffer. When used with one of those two machines, you can typically remove almost all imperfections except for very deep ones. When people look for a medium cut polish with the PC, I usually direct them to regular IP since it's more cost effective, the cut is the same, and you'll be finishing down with the PO106FF afterwards. With a stronger machine, you can often skip the finishing polish (finish won't be AS crisp as if you did follow up with say PO106FF) and go right to applying a glaze, sealant or wax, saving the time it takes for another coat of polish. This is more important to a pro detailer looking to get great results and save time. In your situation, the regular IP should be perfect for your needs. SIP is still a little easier to use, but the maximum finishing capabilities of using SIP aren't realized with a Porter Cable.

Keep us posted on how everything turns out, I'm sure you're going to love the results.

George

 

George,

Thank you for the millionth time for your wisdom and help. I just placed a large order, and all of your advice definetely guided me in my selections.

My final choices were:

Clay magic fine grade clay
Mezerna Intensive Polish
Mezerna PO106FF
Chemical Guys EZ-Creme Glaze
Poorboys World EX-P
Poorboy's World Natty's Blue Paste Wax

I'm sure i'll have more questions in the future, but for now, I'm wondering how long I have to wait after applying each product, before I can apply the next.

Thanks again!

Jin

 

George,

Thank you for the recommendation products that you provide me. I just placed an order. I'm sure I will have more questions once I have receive the products.......

 

The only time you really should wait between steps is after you apply and remove the sealant. Ideally, you should give the sealant 24 hours to cure on the paint before topping it with the wax. Quite often, I'll just wait until I wash the car for the first time after a full detail before I top it with the carnauba wax. Makes the next wash a little more enjoyable

Many thanks to both of you for your support! Feel free to ask any questions you guys may have after trying / receiving your new products.

George

 

Thanks again George!

If the Mezerna Intensive Polish and the orange pad is not enough to get the etched water spots out...what would be the next polish & pad combo you would recommend?

I saw one of the videos on paint-n-detailing.com, and they removed bird poop etching by beginning with an orange pad using Poorboy’s SSR 2.5, then moving up to a yellow pad still using Poorboy’s SSR 2.5. Would you recommend me beginning with the Mezerna Intensive Polish and orange pad…then moving up to a yellow pad still using the Intensive Polish? Or should I use another polish with the yellow pad?

Thanksssss!

 

George
Does 303 protectant make your windows fog up like armoral? I want to do my dash of my G. Also, my girlfriend has a 2009 toyota matrix S. Her dash is kind of ridged. Have you ever seen the 2009 matrix dash? It doesn't look like it will apply evenly. How would you go about aplying 303 to that dash?

 

Ideally, you always want to take the least aggressive approach as possible to get the results you're looking for. Using Intensive Polish with a yellow pad after the orange pad didn't give you the results you're looking for is the next logical step in terns of aggressiveness. Moving to a compound, like Power Gloss and an orange pad would be the next step, then if that didn't cut it, Power Gloss with a yellow pad. Most detailers don't try each incremental step because it takes time and they have to invest in a lot more pads since you want to keep it to one pad per product. Either way, you have the right idea on moving up to a more aggressive approach if the IP / orange combo doesn't give you the results you're looking for. Keep us posted on how things turn out for you.

303 Aerospace Protectant is a water based UV protectant instead of a silicone based one, which the older formulas of Armor All were. You shouldn't see any fogging on your windows. I haven't seen the Matrix dash first hand, but if it's a textured surface, I usually recommend spraying the Aerospace Protectant onto a microfiber towel instead of directly onto the surface. Work the towel with some light pressure to make sure the product gets in all of the cracks and grooves. Follow up with a dry part of the towel or a 2nd towel to achieve that matte uniform finish. I think you'll be very pleased of the performance of 303 Aerospace Protectant.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with.

George

 

George,

What do you think of the Mother's Powerball products i.e. Powerball Mini and Powerball 4Paint?

The condo community I live in does not allow us to work on our cars in front of the building. I have to do all of my detail work in my office garage and there is no access to a power outlet. Needless to say I have to do all work by hand which is very time consuming, tiring and not as efficient.

A Powerball seems like a no brainer for someone like myself since I would be able to use with my cordless multi speed driver. I would think that I would get better results from the Menzerna polishing products I am using. The Powerball mini also looks like the perfect solution for hard to get at spots and wheels.

Let me know your opinion.

Thanks.

 

Thanks George. I'll definetely keep everyone updated, just incase some1 else runs into the same problem as me.

I'll be using all your products this weekend to fully detail my car. I'm excited! haha.

 

George,
what is the best way for wax application hand, orbital or pc? I've looked on the "post your supplies" thread. No one has an orbital. Do they all use the PC? What is a good brand of orbital? I don't want a cheap one that will break. Or should I get a pc?