What are the basic products and tools that we should have to keep our car's finishes healthy and sharp looking?

I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the information and various products out there.

 

Hey eladin - are you looking for off the shelf stuff or are you willing to shop online? We're probably going to have a "detailing day" in or around Toronto some time in the next couple months too, if you're interested.

 

I'm looking to get whatever I'm supposed to get. lol

Do you have any suggestions? Do you buy online or off the shelf?

I'd love to come out to that.

 

Since you have the OB color... i would suggest Zaino... that stuff makes black cars look wet

 

Very few stores sell anything of any real quality on the shelf. You may be able to find some stuff at an auto body supply store. But the good stuff is all online. Its stuff you've never heard of before. Like Poor Boys, Pinacle, etc.

I think EVERYONE will tell you getting a porter-cable or similar electric device is a staple of modern detailing. I picked one up last week for $99 at Lowes. Other than that, and maybe some clay, which is used for removing surface contaminates from the paint prior to polishing / compounding / waxing (whatever your route), I have ordered everything online. General auto stores tend to carry only one type of a product. For example microfiber towells. All three pepboys near me carry the same one type of towells. If you start looking online, there's at least a half dozen different microfibers for specific jobs, from dash, to glass, so polishing, to waxing, to drying.

Just like all-season tires sacrifice a little of something all the time for the best "value", so will all-in-one or general use products for your car. Getting the exact product for the exact job will naturaly yeild the best results, just like your tires.....

But here's a list of stuff that I can think of are necessary for a good, complete detail job, inside and out. Ide definately like to see everyone add to / comment to this list, as I think I have everything for my first REAL detail that I hope to do late this week, but if I've missed something, Ide like to order it up so I dont have an incomplete job.

• Porter-cable or similar electric "polisher"
• Backing plate for PC
• Pads for PC (specific for the job)
• Microfiber cloths, specific to the job its going to do
• Paint clay, and some sort of lubricant
• Paint Polish
• Paint wax, or sealant
• Tire dressing
• Tire dressing applicator
• Wheel cleaner, and wax if applicable
• Dash dresing
• Glass cleaner (non-amonia for tint)
• Dash brush (for the little crevises
• Leather cleaner, and leather conditioner
• Upholstry cleaner / shampoo
• Masking tape
• Dawn dish soap (ONLY for first wash before detail to remove all old wax)
• Wax-safe car soap, and wash mit
• Two wash buckets (one for soap, one just water)
• Girl in bikini to hold stuff while doing the job

 

That's a great post right there. All that will run you into the $300-$400 range, but it'll last years and your car will always look good. If you don't want that kind of cash outlay to start I'd suggest everything above minus the PC and polishes. Polishing with a machine is basically the "next step" of good detailing. You don't need to do it, but it certainly helps.

As for what products to buy, you could get all this from Canadian Tire, but you'll be spending more than you should and the products probably won't be as good. For Canadian shopping I recommend eshine.ca or carcaresmart.com. As for specific products, everyone has their favorites - let us know what you're interested in buying (wash, buckets, mitts, towels, waxes, sealants, clay, etc...) and we can help you out.

 

Porter Cable does have the best rep for ROPs, however, note that not every "system" will require the use of a polisher. I was very close to buying the ubiquitous PC polisher, and for Canucks, CTC does have them on sale, at least once every year in the spring, however, should you decide to go the Zaino route, not only is the PC not required, but further, it's not recommended. You'll waste a great deal of product in application, and you'll actually get a lesser result- Zaino recommends straight lines rather than swirls. So you may be able to save yourself between 100 and 200 bucks in not going the PC route.
Ecellent list from G35Mass. I'll add a few names and tips:
Aerospace 303 is widely recognised for vinyl/plastics/... and used in many different industries for it's non-silicone, non cracking UV protection.
Zaino plastic cleaner/polish is awesome for headlamps/tailamps/signal markers. A buddy and I used it on his 85 RX7 GSL-SE, and the results were incredible- dull, grey, oxidized converted to what appeared to be straight from the factory plastic bits.
I use two buckets- one for relatively clean stuff, one for the underside/wheels, and I work from cleanest to least clean.
For applying polish, less is better- to that end, a plastic "dental" syringe is a great dispenser (credit to one of the folks here on the boards- apologies, alas can't recall who).
Soft, natural hair shoe brush for use with leather cleaner- this will lift grime from grain, getting the leather far cleaner without harm.
Angelina Jolie/ Jessica Alba- either/both of these ladies will fit Mass's bikini bill nicely.

Cheers,
Derek

 

FWIW, G35 Mass was not recommending the purchase of a PC for the application of a wax or sealant (ex: Zaino), he was recommending it for polishing the paint, which can be done by hand but is incredibly difficult and time consuming.

 

KLASSE-ALL IN ONE!!! It polishes, waxes and seals the car for a good 4-6 months. But I would recommend washing the car, clay baring, then using KLASSE-All-In-One...

check out:
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/how-to.html

VERY Good Detailing information.... plus their product packages are pretty reasonable...

 

Polishing the paint, or buffing something that is applied to the paint?

I re-read my post- sorry, my lack of clarity. Zaino neither recommends it for application nor buffing/polishing. Fact is, it isn't needed anyway- the stuff just wipes off. Bottom line, it and many other polishes (not carnauba or other wax products, however) do not benefit from using a random orbital polisher. If you use a ROP for any purpose in the use of Zaino, you will achieve a lesser result than were you to use a 100% cotton-loop towel, wiped in straight lines.

Cheers,
D

 

You're misunderstanding what a polish is because Zaino markets their sealants as polishes. Polishes are abrasive compounds that are applied to paint by machines to sluff off a layer of clear coat and make it smooth (remove scratches). If can be done by hand but is mostly done by machine, that is why a PC was recommended. PC's are not needed for application of removal of sealants or waxes, that is not was G35 Mass was implying. I know Zaino recommends not using one, but Zaino Z2/Z5 are not polishes. Zaino does have a polish, Z-PC, which is recommended to be used with a machine.

That thing with marketing their sealants as polishes has always irritated me. It's done because consumers know the word polish and associate it with the cleansing and beautifying of paint - the problem is they're attaching it to products which are not polishes but sealants, which confuses the issue (as it's done in this thread).

Cheers.

 

Gotcha. Aware of Z-PC, just wasn't clear on post intended use for PC (since so many folks do not use it as you've described). And agreed on the name thing ref sealants and polishes. I think it's been done in an attempt to make it easier for the buying public, but in the end, has done just the reverse. Good stuff, cheers.

 

zaino is good only if you don't have any swirls/scratches.
otherwise you need to machine polish before zaino

 

Z5 will take care of light swirl marks. Concur that polishing is needed for anything more than that.
I did help a buddy with an '87 MR2 in midnight blue, and the Z5 did yield awesome results, but given the age of the car, and the condition of the paint, I'm confident that polishing would have given us an even more impressive result.


Cheers,
D