well I will give you a pretty overall answer. As stated by others...
1. Prep work is very important. You must have a perfectly clean surface. So wash the car good.
2. Once all cleaned up, buff it really well with either a rotary or a PC (orbital buffing unit) or use a clay bar on it. You want a surface perfectly smooth and contaminant free.
3. Once your done with even these first 2 steps, your car should look pretty darn good! You now should move on to either your favorite polish, wax, or sealant. It really all depends on what you like, how much time you want to spend working on it, and how much you can afford. 3 very key components.
For me I like to layer my products. This is my personal list.
1. Wash Car
2. Buff car
3. Polish with DuraGloss (let sit overnight to cure/flash)
4. Apply Opti Sealant (let sit overnight to cure/flash)
5. Apply DodoJuice purple haze and/or DodoJuice Blue Velvet (I have a darker colored paint...Electron Blue.)
In between all of this I use a spritz sealant as both my touch up layer and a touch up quick detailer. They work great (many brands out there) and offer a notch up from just quick detailers. The benefit is you can even get it on glass and it wipes streak free away and you get the benefit of having the rain bead up and during like rain storms you won't even need your wipers!
I recommend if your really serious about getting the shine you really want to search around autogeek.net's website and read up or detailedimage's site. Both offer a wealth of knowledge about getting that perfect shine as well as offer products in every price range that are much better then the stuff you would just pick up at the local autoparts store!
Good luck and be sure to ask any questions no matter how dumb or trivial you think they are....its how you learn!
Last edited by XtremeVette; 07-16-2009 at 02:46 PM.
The shine really comes from proper prep work from the washing, clay bar and polishing steps. The sealant or wax can only really enhance the way the surface already looks.
Our Dodo Juice products are 20% off through July 20th as well! If you would like help with any part of this process I'd be happy to help. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Okay I'm not that good at this so what all is involved in prepping?
at the very basic
wash the car with car soap
and clay bar the entire car
that should make your paint feel smooth and remove all the wax
next step would be to machine polish which using a pc/flex/rotary and various pads and compounds you polish the paint until all the swirls are gone and keep moving to a finer and finer compound until the paint glistens like a jewel or a mirror
then you would apply your wax or sealant which if you did the above steps properly you wont notice a difference, hence the "the results are from the prep"
at the very basic
wash the car with car soap
and clay bar the entire car
that should make your paint feel smooth and remove all the wax
next step would be to machine polish which using a pc/flex/rotary and various pads and compounds you polish the paint until all the swirls are gone and keep moving to a finer and finer compound until the paint glistens like a jewel or a mirror
then you would apply your wax or sealant which if you did the above steps properly you wont notice a difference, hence the "the results are from the prep"
If you need further explanation I recommend you check out this, scroll to the bottom, everything you could possibly want to understand is fully talked about: http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html
I actaully like the Wet-Ice alone. Seems like the nuba lessens the slick feel a little. I've only topped it on one car so I need to play around with it some more. Definitely my new favorite LSP though!
Okay I'm not that good at this so what all is involved in prepping?
washing, claying, polishing (or paint cleansing) ... and then the wax or sealant.
The problem in general is the best looking wax is subjective and often based upon many variables. There are certainly All-In-One products (Klasse AIO / Optimum Polyseal / Pinnacles XMT360) that work well as a one step. But in most cases you will need to get products that specialize in each step to give you the best of the best finish.
In general some of the best waxes are Pinnacle, P21S, DP MaxWax, Collonite and Dodo Waxes. Some of the best sealants (synthetic waxes) are Wolfgang, Megs NXT, Four Star, and Duragloss. There are however many great lines like Poorboys that could be considered too.
If you need some help, consider a call to us. Its toll-free and we have a tech area that can explain each process and we have a "detailing how-to" section in the toolbar on site too. Let us earn your business the correct way which is before, during, and after the sale.
__________________
Use coupon code CORVETTEFORUM for 10% off most car care products at www.autogeek.net (some exclusions apply)
AUTHORIZED FORUM VENDOR FOR MORE THAN 9 YEARS !
I actaully like the Wet-Ice alone. Seems like the nuba lessens the slick feel a little. I've only topped it on one car so I need to play around with it some more. Definitely my new favorite LSP though!
Yep, two applications of Wet Ice is smooooth. But ya gotta have the cure time between.
I actaully like the Wet-Ice alone. Seems like the nuba lessens the slick feel a little. I've only topped it on one car so I need to play around with it some more. Definitely my new favorite LSP though!
I didnt like the midnight sun wax at all i traded it for some CG5050 and like it much better
however the blackfire sealant i do like alot
Last edited by blackmachdown; 07-17-2009 at 12:55 AM.
Corvette Store
Best shine car wax
