where can we get brushes like that? Will you guys be carrying them soon?

 

^It looks like the swissvax brush.

 

I got one I can't figure out. Is there an easier way than picking leaves out of micro fiber or am I going to have to trash the $$$ towels? Its especially hard on my extra think towels...

 

Thanks for the kind words. Yesterday was the first day I've felt I'm close to 100% with my energy. Feels good it's been nearly 2 weeks!

You can start by polishing and see if that gives you the results you are looking for. If you have deeper scratches and pitting you want to remove, chances are you'll want to try a light wet sand. Here's a good how-to article on restoring headlights for you to follow.

Yep the one in the picture Todd used was a Swissvax brush. We may pick them up down the road, but it wouldn't be any time soon. You could swing to a local artist store and find a soft natural brush / boar's hair brush. Same idea.

The best way to prevent this from happening is you should try to remove the leaves prior to putting your towels on your car. I know it's easy to say and hard to do especially if you've accumulated a lot of leaves on your vehicle. Take the time to give a thorough cleaning to all of your door jambs, between panels, channels in your trunk, under your hood, etc. This way it'll be easier and less likely to pick up new leaves in the future.

What I typically do with my towels after use is soak them in a degreaser prior to washing. That can help break down product build up or loosen debris that may be stuck on your towel. If you have a Grit Guard bucket insert, run the towel over that a few times to help loosen debris. After letting it soak, wash them following proper microfiber care.

Hope this helps.

George

 

Its always the wax removal ones that get me going nuts, i usually fold them and put them in a detailing bag.

 

So George, do you have any advice for my friend with the Simoniz clear coat problem?

 

How are you getting the leaves on the towel? By the time you wax, there shouldn't be any contamination or leaves on the vehicle. If you drop it, that towel shouldn't be used for paint anymore as it can potentially scratch or add marring to the finish.

Sorry I missed your post(s) before. Your best bet is to try to start over and just perform a traditional touch up. Typical steps are to clean out the scratch with some alcohol. Lightly sand the scratch to rough the surface up so the paint adheres to the scratch as best as possible. Touch up the scratch by putting enough product so it blobs over the scratch. Apply as many coats as needed to achieve a uniform finish. Let the paint fully cure. Wet sand the blob even with the rest of the paint. Follow up with lighter and lighter wet sanding grades until at least 2000 grit. Polish (preferably with a buffer) to remove the wet sanding marks. Reprotect the area with a sealant or wax. Sorry the Billy Maze technique didn't work for you.

Hope this helps.

 

It was the previous owner that "Billy Maze'd" it, not either of us.

I'm not too worried about using touch-up and wetsanding to repair the original scratch as I've done it before, so much as worried about damaging the paint trying to get the raised line of Simoniz clear coat crap out, as it seems very well bonded. I was hoping there was a product or technique that could safely get it off without causing further damage.

 

Yeah its not being dropped, occasionally when i'm carless but i do get rid of them if they fall on the ground, its just the way our garge is set up everytime you open the door and its windy the blow in all over my stuff cause its in the corner. Reorganized things now. my cloths are all in a bag, that was part of the problem. I've heard of the dodo supernatuaral before but for some reason was a griots garage fan. I bought 4 or five kits like a year ago and part of the problem is i have so many dif, micro fiber cloths. I got my car used and it has a good deal of swirl marks, i have a top of the line orbital and i wet sanded a few areas. the sanding and polishing does work but isn't there a product i could use with my orbital that'll get rid or the swirl marks and orange peel without risking going through the paint. Going to get some of that Deep Purple to try out, my cars blk. this is a great forum. i spend so much time keeping my car clean.

 

Ok George, big fan of your company, and I order almost all of my detailing stuff through you. Now thats out of the way , I have a few questions.

1) I'm a big fan of CG Grime Reaper for almost all APC work, but I was wondering if you could list me a breakdown of recommended dilution ratios for different jobs. Like wheels, pre-wash degreaser(for paint), wheel wells, exhaust tips, pre-soak MF towels and Buffer pads, and as a paint cleanser(if possible).

2) Whats the best way to restore MF towels in addition to washing them with Micro-restore and/or pre-soaking them? Is hot water fine for machine washing?

3) I currently use PO106ff, but when I do run out is PO203S a better replacement or should I stick to PO106FA?

Thats all I could think of for now. Thanks in advance!!

 

best time to detail cars

 

Glad to hear it wasn't either of you guys that "Billy Maze'd" it, I missed that part

The only advice I can give you to remove the previous touch up is to take a pencil and glue some sandpaper to the eraser to be able to perform some accurate sanding. The key is to try to only sand the touch up and just around it, avoiding the paint that is fine as much as possible. Sometimes those touch ups can almost pop out once you get deep enough.

You could try some paint thinner or mineral spirits on the touch up as well. I'd do this on the edge of a towel and again try to only touch the affected area.

Good luck!

I would never attempt to fix orange peel on paint from the factory. You'd have to remove so much of your clear to make a noticeable difference, it's not worth it. The only effective way you could do it too would be by wet sanding the paint then following up with multiple polishing steps.

Swirl marks are essentially dips and valleys in your clear coat. As the light reflects the indentations the swirl marks are revealed to your eyes. The only way to effectively remove swirls is to polish using abrasive polishes. What you're doing is evening out those dips and valleys in the clear coat so that the light reflects the paint underneath and not the swirl marks.

There is no way to remove swirls or wet sanding without using abrasives on your paint, so in every case there is always some risk involved. Using proper products and the proper techniques can minimize the risks quite a bit though.

I'd recommend reading through our polishing guide for more information on removing swirls and other imperfections.

Thanks for the kind words and your support.

For the Grime Reaper, I usually keep 3 dilutions of it handy: 3:1, 6:1, 10:1.

For neglected areas like tires, wheel wells, engine bay degreasing, I'll use it at the 3:1 ratio. For treating your paint, prepping trim, exhaust tips, etc. I usually go with the 6:1 ratio. For interior cleaning I'll start with the 10:1 ratio and move up as needed. You can always make a solution more powerful, it's always best to start with the least aggressive approach and work your way to a more powerful solution as needed. I wouldn't recommend using Grime Reaper on your wheels as it could possibly oxidize certain finishes. If you do try it, use a highly diluted version to be safe. To pre-soak towels and pads, I usually just put an ounce or two in the 3 gallons of water or so in the bucket I plan on soaking them in.

If your towels are in real need of restoration, you can actually boil the towels. This can help release contamination, break up built up product, and restore the soft plush feeling to the towels. Heat shouldn't have any effect on the towels, at least with hot water or in a dryer. Yes, if you put a torch to the towels or something, you won't be happy...

If you wanted to improve your results from PO106FA, then I'd suggest getting both the PO203S and PO85RD. PO203S offers more cut than PO106FA so you can correct deeper imperfections, but it still finishes down close to the same as PO106FA (slight edge to the PO106FA IMO). If you followed up with PO85RD using black pads, you'll experience more depth and gloss than the PO106FA can produce. However, it won't correct much if anything, so the cut is less than PO106FA.

If you're happy with PO106FA, stick with it, if you want more bite and a better finish, consider the 2 step combo I just suggested. Can't really go wrong with either. Another option you have is to finish PO106FA with a softer pad after you correct with a more aggressive pad... so correct with white / finish with black.

Let me know if you get to try any of those suggestions.

Cheers,

George

For the two larger details, I prefer Spring and Fall, especially if you live in a part of the country that experiences all 4 seasons. I try to space them apart around 6 months from each other. I'd recommend a mini detail in the Summer and Winter months to ensure your vehicle is fully protected year round. If you wax, once a month. Ideally, wash once every 2 weeks or sooner.

 

Can I use Meguiar's All purpose Plus 10:1 for removing polishing residues???

Plus I have water spots on my wheels. Can I use m105 and m205 to remove it?? or I found a product, Opti Metal Polish. How about it?

 

I've noticed that i misspoke. not orange peel but they are not swirl marks either. they're scratches in the clear that build up in one area. right behind the rear windows in that little dip's the main problem.

 

Sounds like it could have been some wet sanding that may not have been polished out completely?

Chances are you'll still need a multi-step polish to remove them.

If you could snap a picture of the affected area, I could try to give you some better suggestions.

George