[quote name='89 Rag' date='Apr 26 2005, 07:32 AM']The deep crystal polish isn't bad, but a little goes a very long way, it's really oily in the way of polishes, you will see what I mean when you use it, lol.



The liquid wax is ok for a quick touch-up wax job but I would use a more paste like 100% carnauba after you polish, and dampen the terrycloth applicator pad with a little water before applying it to the car keeping a good 1/4" away from all the body lines and such, use a little wax on your finger to get closer to the edges of panels, emblems etc. Waxing across panel to panel and across mouldings and such only makes more work for yourself.


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yeah, I've used the polish before, but only by hand, apparently I'll use even less with the machine. I'm gonna use the final glazing pad on the PC to apply the polish. this was reccomemded by many people over at autopia.org...



What paste wax do you reccomend? i have a tub of rain-x carnuba wax, and a tub of meguiars carnuba wax, both pastes, not liquids...

 

try washing the car, then when its clean get a bucket of soapy water, go nuts with the clay on the still wet car using the soapy water, then rinse the car off, you can clay a car in under 10 minutes this way.



as far as wax goes, it will only offer protection and wont enhance the gloss if you polish the car out properly.

 

[quote name='Rob x-7' date='Apr 27 2005, 02:58 AM']try washing the car, then when its clean get a bucket of soapy water, go nuts with the clay on the still wet car using the soapy water, then rinse the car off, you can clay a car in under 10 minutes this way.



as far as wax goes, it will only offer protection and wont enhance the gloss if you polish the car out properly.


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ok, I'll try the clay deal, but I'm wonderin about it, al the water sheets off of my truck. fast. I'll have to work quick to keep it wet...



And wax won't help hide blemishes or anything, but it will make it look shinier, kinda "wetter"...

 

why is paste wax better than liquid wax? I find I can't do a very good job with paste wax compared to liquid...

 

I like the Beauty Shine 502 carnauba, is is a great paste wax, it's like 13 bucks a tin, and you can leave it on for a week and still strip it like it was applied an hour ago. The problem I have with liquid wax is in the name, it's liquid, manufacturers claim there are acrylics, polymers and silicones but my guess is it's more water than anything else.

 

a car that is washed and kept waxed almost never needs clay, its a neglected car that needs clay

 

[quote name='Rob x-7' date='Apr 27 2005, 03:56 PM']a car that is washed and kept waxed almost never needs clay, its a neglected car that needs clay


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not really true. just driving up the road embeds stuff in the front portion of the car, and sitting parked in your driveway allows different stuff to work its way to your paint. if you ever drive through smoke or something, that leaves residue behind... all sorts of stuff.



all cars can benifit from a claying.

 

bah wtf do you think the wax is for, stuff embeds in the wax, if it gets bad use a harsh soap to take off the wax and start over.

 

only car of mine I need to clay is my lexus, but thats because I have'nt waxed it since I painted it 2.5 years ago



even then it only needs the back bumper clayed, rest is still smooth and shiny.

 

[quote name='venomrx7' date='Apr 27 2005, 08:34 PM']not really true. just driving up the road embeds stuff in the front portion of the car, and sitting parked in your driveway allows different stuff to work its way to your paint. if you ever drive through smoke or something, that leaves residue behind... all sorts of stuff.



all cars can benifit from a claying.


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Overspray is a big one too, being a painting contractor I can tell you guys dozens of horror stories, one in particular was when a contractor underbid me to paint the cranes at the docks on the Washington side of the Columbia river. The specs called for an alkyd enamel as the finish coat, someone didn't do their homework and assumed the east wind coming out of the Gorge would push the overspray downriver and deceided to spray the finish on 100' tall cranes. The weather service predicted wind out of the north the entire week, so as the finish coat was applied the overspray drifted south across the river to the Oregon side (alkyd enamel overspray can drift or miles and not dry) For those whom don't know, the Oregon side is the location of terminals 4, 5, and 6 which are all used by Honda, Toyota, Kia and Mazda to name a few. To make it short the contractor's insurance adjuster's final tally was in excess of 1500 brand new cars that were contaminated with overspray.



The moral to this story is, clay bar your car if you feel roughness, the idea isn't to always use an abrasive, claying will scratch the car and that clear won't last if ppl obsess about claying and cutting and even using polishes with abrasives everytime they wash/detail their car. 8 weeks is all I would go with just wash and vac's to maintain the appearance and protection, afterwhich I would only polish with a non-abrasive, unless it absolutly needed to be clayed and cut.



[quote name='spaceman Spiff' date='Apr 27 2005, 10:54 PM']bah wtf do you think the wax is for, stuff embeds in the wax, if it gets bad use a harsh soap to take off the wax and start over.


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If stuff embeds in the wax you are putting it on too thick, the mil thickness of wax is un-micable, and hopefully when you say harsh soap you aren't referring to boraxo.