When I go to car shows or events I find that spending special attention to detail like
having a dark color car that is swirl free with a wet look draws attention. That calls for 3000 grit color sanding of whole car. To help maintain that wet one of my special secrets is the product "midnight special" it really works, about $20 a bottle and 100 % satisfaction on product too.
I also find that having female models works quite well too.

 

Take your car wash bucket into your house and fill it up with warm water instead of cold water from outside. Helps especially in cold seasons.

Wear rubber gloves, maybe use a rubber band to cinch them around your wrist so water doesn't get in. Keeps your hands dry and clean.

 

I think its the girls that do the job more than the car... LOL j/k I rather have my car than any or all of those three girls.

 

Machine buffers like a Porter Cable or rotary, if you are experienced, are absolutely necessary in keeping a flawless paint finish.

Some good products to use with machine buffers include poorboy's SSR line and menzerna intensive polish/final polish II line. These will help remove swirls, scratches, marring, and oxidation.

There are tons of high quality protective waxes / sealants to use, but I prefer Zaino.

Autopia.org is, in my opinion, the number one online spot to go for any aspiring detailing hobbyists. There is loads of information there and much of it given out by professional detailers who have extreme cases of OCD for their vehicles.

 

I'm sure that this is correct. As proof, I offer two questions.

1) In the picture at the top of this page, how many girls are there?

2) In the picture at the top of this page, what color is the car?

Bonus Question) In the picture at the top of this page, in which direction is the car pointing?

 

Wait whoa...do you get the girls to clean the car? or do you just use them as "props"? Just because they know how to clean the inside of my house doesn't mean they know how to clean the outside of my car. :-)

 

Here's one... I see this all the time with people who "think" they keep a "show car" clean car. This isn't something I do every time I wash my car, but I try to do it often:

Clean the inside of the rims and not just the outside facing surfaces. You often have to remove the wheels to do this but doesn't take long at all and Soap and Water normally gets it looking good. I will sometimes use a wheel cleaner, but carefull not get it on the other parts of the rim.

 

Killer Tips:
Wheels and Tires: Use Eagle One All wheel and Tire Cleaner (Now in gray bottle, used to be in Orange bottle) I have been using this one product for the past 2 years, no scrubbing needed what so ever!!!!

Engine Detailing: Wonderful, beautiful and completely organic little often overlooked product call Simple Green. First cover any intake area completely, rinse engine bay with water, spray simple green all around your engine bay (when either warm or cool, not HOT), let sit for a minute and spray off with medium to low pressure, not high. Once complete, start up engine and let run for about 5 minutes. Let engine cool again, then only apply dressing (I use low gloss Armor All) to the rubber or rubberized items under the hood.

Waxing: When using your favorite wax or polish, be sure to rinse the car with a cold or cool water stream with low pressure. What this does help harden the wax a little, but the main reason is to get rid of the little grains of wax left over. (This is what starts off the issue with window streaks). Using the water will also tell you which areas need more of an application, due to beading/sheeting time and beading size.

 

Here's one - a lot of tire dressings work wonderfully on plastic trim, like the kind us 03/04 sedan owners have on the bottom of our cars. Zaino's tire dressing is a good example, as is stoners. They have good shine, but not too much, and they withstand a couple washes.

 

use that canned air stuff to get extra water out of the sealing in between the door and window.

 

I've heard you can use the old Caranuba Wax then Synthetic Wax on top to give the car a deep wet look....

 

When you dry your car, try parking over one of those handicap entrances (the thingies that have an elevation). Reverse parking on those makes the water between the grill lines come out.

When you do the interior, clean and condition the driver's seat first and finish of doing the driver's seat again (being that the most used seat, its a good idea to condition it more than the rest). Do this late in a day where you wont be using the car anymore. That way, the leather absorbs the product overnight. Not only will this be better for the leather, but it wont feel slippery.

 

I use 303 Aerospace Protectant on the trim, on the interior, in the engine bay, on the tires.. this product produces amazing results.. with excellent UV protection to boot!

 

For the wheel wells and other parts of the under carriage: http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....1002&SKU=11138

 

Good recommendation the 303 Protectant is fantastic for rubber trim, all interior pieces that are vinyl. It also looks great on tires if you don't like the overly glossy look, I like it because the tires look just like new tires when I put it on.

Another great tip is to apply a glaze when detailing. Many products have glaze written on them but really have no glazing capabilities. A true glaze clings to imperfections in the paint like swirls and scratches. While you can polish them to no end there is always still some that you can't take out. Very few products are actual glazes, any wax will fill in these areas but don't last as long. The Menzerna Finishing Touch Glaze has kaolin oils that cling to the imperfections and give off a remarkable shimmer that reflects the actual color of the paint. This gives enhanced gloss and depth and the illusion of flawless paint. For maximum results was/dry - clay - polish - glaze - sealant - carnauba wax. Applying the sealant after the glaze will help seal in the glaze and make it last as long as the sealant does. Glazes are extremely popular on show cars and has been a trick of their owners for some time. Hope some of you will try this and let me know what you think.