LexVan

Yes. The products from www.colorplus.com are excellent.

Porsche 25th

or as I call it, a love-hate relationship.
Not one but two, see sig.

Homeles

Think I want to get this tattooed on my butt! lol

Zohan

I get all my cars in silver so I don't have to wash all the time

Good vid to get started also this guy got a ton of other vids on all u need to know and some on cleaning
http://www.ammonyc.com/detailing/basic-car-wash/

chuck911

The way this Ammo guy washes while spraying the foam gun right into the leading edge of the wash mitt has got to be the most effective technique I've ever seen. That is just how I would want to clean my car. If it had just run Paris-Rubaix that is. Not to pick on this guy. Like I said, most effective thing I've seen, and I mean that. I have actually done virtually the same thing myself a few times when my car was especially dirty. But these videos all create the impression you need all afternoon, three buckets and a foam gun with a gallon of car wash to clean a car that really just needs 15 min with a California Car Duster and some Speed Shine. Give the guy credit though, that R8 has the most awesome looking laser jammer I've ever seen!

chuck911

One more time, to be sure it, uh, sinks in:

"I sealed the seats after application in plastic for 10 days in 80 degree weather"

rnl

I heard that it was a profession

Sent from my iPhone using Rennlist

ukla888

Anyone with Xpel Ultimate, want to share your detailing regimine ? Aside from the standard wash, I'd like to know what else needs to be done (include product recommendations please) and how often? Thanks.

DareMightyThings

Chuck911, you might be interested in this video (around the 9:20 mark), for AmmoNYC's thoughts on the California Car Duster.

Source http://www.ammonyc.com/detailing/top...ling-mistakes/

chuck911

YES! He's absolutely correct! About the car duster that is. Absolutely wrong about the wax "layers" though. The reason is in the way waxes are made. Natural waxes like carnauba are so hard they must be ground to powder then dissolved with petroleum based solvents. This is why its so important to use just enough and to remove it quickly. Use too much or wait too long, the solvent evaporates leaving the incredibly hard to remove wax. But then if you try and "add" another coat, guess what happens? The very first thing that happens is the petroleum base dissolves that first coat of wax! There's another reason its impossible to add coats of wax, and it has to do with the chemistry of waxes. I wasted lots of time in unnecessary waxing before I learned these things that have now been confirmed by years of real-world experience. There was a very comprehensive article on waxes, sure wish I could find it, but its all verifiable with the simple experiment outlined in the article. Take a crayon, pretend you're a GM corvette designer and scribble on glass. (No need to worry about artistic ability- its a corvette!) Now take a cotton towel and wipe off the crayon. You will notice virtually all the crayon (which is wax) comes off pretty quickly, leaving a thin film (which if it was car wax you might not even see because its pretty clear, and applied over paint, while the crayon is colored, and on clear glass) and this thin film is near impossible to remove with just the cloth. Now scribble again. (Its a corvette, we need to keep scribbling!) Wipe again…. same thin film. Do this until you are good and tired, however many times it takes, guaranteed you will eventually admit you have not not built up layers. And imagine, this is with no solvent just pure wax! This all has to do with chemical bonds in wax molecules, but where's Walter White when you need him?

Why then does the car look better every time you wax? If its not thicker wax then what? Its because the petroleum products don't all evaporate at the same rate all at once. Until they do they are contributing to the gleam. This is basically the same reason brand new paint looks so good, and the reason detail sprays make the car look so good right away. One more example? I'm sure a lot of guys have noticed the car never looks as good as right after its been waxed. If you're attentive and honest enough you'll probably even admit it doesn't look quite as good even the next day after merely being parked in the garage overnight. Certainly it doesn't look as good after being parked for a month. So what happened? The wax just wore off? Evaporated? Just sitting there in the garage? Puleeze! Impossible for wax. Not impossible for petroleum distillates.

The car care industry of course has a vested interest in keeping us chasing our tails. And I have beat this horse to death. Yet how many will accept the truth? Sigh...

As for the car duster, yeah, you got to be very careful where, when and how you use one. Just like everything else. His technique advice is right on. I never, ever let the thing rest on the car but always hold it so it barely brushes along. He forgot to mention that because the CA duster is impregnated with a wax its very important the car not be warm at all. A warm car seems to melt the wax, or at any rate it can cause the duster to leave little streaky traces here and there. But most of all its important to use these things very gently (just like he showed) and only in a straight line (NEVER go round in circles while cleaning with ANYTHING!) and even then only use it to get the big easy to remove dust. That's why I always say duster AND detail, never just duster. The duster is only used to reduce the dust before detail spray. Like most things, its more about the "how" than the "what". Used improperly it can ruin your finish. Used correctly it can save time, as long as you understand its just another step in the process.

stickercity

Hi there

I recommend the following two products to all of my customers who get the the Xpel Ultimate package installed at our shop

XPEL Film Sealant is an acrylic polymer product that is purpose-made for protecting any aliphatic urethane paint protection film. Attaching itself at a molecular level, the sealant forms a hardened barrier when exposed to UV light. (Apply every 1-2 month)

XPEL Paint Protection Film Cleaner is designed to extract most environmental deposits such as tar, oil, hard water stains, bug acids and other contaminants from Polyurethane paint protection films. Its deep cleaning action restores the clear, glossy, fresh (use as needed)

You can find both products directly through Xpel's web site.

I hope this helps

chuck911

Oh and by the way, this guy demonstrates the best cleaning technique in any video I've ever seen. The way he holds the towel, always folded, always light even hand pressure, even sometimes pulling it with one hand so as to not have to use much pressure with the other, nice even motions, never fast, never back and forth- beautiful!

TheAnswer

I tried the spray on car wash by Griots today and found it a bit streaky on my new 911 in some places. Anyone have any tips for this? I let it sit for 15 seconds or so then wiped it off changing out the microfiber towel every area or better. Lightly wiped down car after wih dry towel also. Overall pretty good results though

chuck911

That stuff is made for very occasional use. My rule is once the car is clean, then as long as it stays dry you can dust and detail as long as you do this daily. Don't let it build up. Once it gets wet, you must wash. Something like their spray car wash might be useful in odd situations, like the car was clean when it got rained on, it wasn't driven far and hasn't had a chance to dry. Or you skipped a day or two and now its got a little too much road film for Speed Shine but you don't quite want to wash it either. I can see how it would be prone to streaking, since you're getting the car fairly wet, it can be a lot for a towel to absorb. You might try using a large old soft 100% cotton bath towel. Fold it twice so its about 2" thick and pull the towel with one hand while guiding and applying gentle even pressure with the other. Don't go back and forth, just one direction, fairly slowly (allows towel time to absorb) and slowly lifting the leading edge so as to keep lifting the dirty leading edge off the paint. I've done this when caught in the rain a few times and didn't feel a wash was in order. The other thing you can try is use the spray wash like you're doing and just follow it up with Speed Shine.

Quadcammer

just take it to a carwash.