I remember when I got my fit about three months ago, the paint felt very slick. Not oily or greasy, but when I slid my hand over it, there wasn't a whole lot of friction. It's not like that anymore. Is that because it was waxed at the dealer and I haven't waxed it myself? Chicago is still indecisive about what season it is, but as soon as the hurricanes stop, I plan to spend a day or so just working the exterior, and was wondering how I could get that slick feeling back.

 

hey there! first step is to use clay with some QD. wat you're feeling are
contaminants on the paint. clay will remove it.

then follow up with either polish (if needed) or just go straight to your
favorite wax.

 

yea claying the car to take away all the contaminants such as tar spots and tree sap etc,

then apply polish and wax while ur at it, ur car will feel like glass afterwards.. claying the car actually takes away the layer of wax built up so applyin new wax is very necessary, y not put on 2 layers..

dont forget to use A LOT of quick detailer while claying or try a new clay which uses water instead, cant rem the name of it tho...

 

you can use just about any clay with QD or soap water or just water,
actually.

if you use the Griot's clay it is soft enough that they advertise it will not
remove wax. i personally wax afterwards though...

 

how long does it take for you guys to clay and then wax?

 

Wash, Dry, Clay, Wax would usually take me probably 2-3 hours?

I'm not sure, because I usually set out an entire day to do all of that.

 

for me it takes about 15-20min tops to do the clay because my car is
cleaned often and i only need to do spot-claying. if your car is really
contaminated it could easily take an hour.

as far as waxing, i use my random orbital to apply so it goes by real fast.
probably 15min to wax the car, 30min to dry (polymer), and 10min to
remove the haze.

 

Clay -> polish -> seal -> wax = smooth as glass surface

 

if you guys are anal about removing all the contaminants, place your hand
in a thin sandwich baggie, spray a tad bit of QD on the paint and rub
the paint with your finger through the bag.

that's called the baggie test and is used by some OCD detailers. not me
though.

 

kenchan, with your orbital, is it very easy to f/u the paint? I ask because I'm getting sick of waxing by hand and also listening to the wife gripe when I take a day to detail the car. Orbital would be nice, but I've always been a bit hesitant as I don't want to f/u the car and not sure what the learning curve is for one (if any).

 

no, especially the Griot's system that i use is very user friendly and a
fail-safe system. check out their master care kit they will put
together for you. it sounds expensive when you start out, but it will
pay itself off very quickly.

you can't damage the paint unless you drop your pad on the dirt
and use it. that's pretty much how failsafe the Griot's system is.

 

Thanks, I just ordered their orbital kit. Looking forward to the reduced workload and less whiney wife.

 

I have the PC orbital and its great. Difficult to mess up the paint with an orbital but it can take a while to correct paint problems (deep swirls, scratches). I used a clay bar, Meguiars polishes, and DG cleaners/sealants on my 1993 Saab with badly oxidized paint. Felt like butter when I was done.

I'm not for or against Megs but I do highly recommend Duragloss if you don't want to spend a lot for cleaners and sealants. DG carries a full line of car care products, for the interior and exterior, except abrasive polishes.

 

sounds good! i think you'll like it. try their 3" orbital down the road too.
i got one recently and it's great for doing small areas and also spot work
mainly for polishing...cause waxing small area's pretty easy. lol

 

What pads come with? It's important to know how abrasive the pads are before using them. Best to start with milder pads until you know how much correction needs to be done. The white pads in most systems (I use Lake Country) are finishing pads with blue and grey being even softer. Correction pads are yellow (medium) and orange (mild). If you need more correction than yellow, you're probably beyond what you'll want to tackle with an orbital. Make sure you know which is which with whatever pad system came with your orbital.

I used a white pad with a non-abrasive polish on my bumper to correct very minor swirls induced by a cheap microfiber cloth. It did a nice job on the soft Honda paint.

 

rob- the griot's system is basically only 2 pads. orange for
polishing (fimer), red for waxing (soft). it's very easy to use.

for those that are looking into becoming professional detailers, i'd
recommend you get the portercable and lake county pads for more
variations in the density. it's too much for most weekend detailers
like me. griot's is easy to use.

 

everybody that recommended clay bar, that stuff definitely brings back the slick feeling

 

yah, kinda addictive, huh?