[Jakb]

I have not detailed the ATS yet as I only got just before winter but will be doing so in a month or so
However what I have learned over the years is not to touch black and leave it to professionals
My friend who makes a living detailing cars will be doing it and here' what he uses for black

Washing
Sunlight + Zep's Citrus Degreaser
AutoGlym Active Insect Remover
AutoGlym Intensive Tar Remover
AutoGlym Engine and Machine Cleaner
Various wash mitts, sponges
Stoner's Invisible Glass
Riccardo Blue Clay
Elegance Waterless Wash
Elegance Clay Lube
Elegance Wheel Cleaner
Iron-X
Various brushes


Correction
Meguiar's #105
Meguiar's #205
Various Microfibers
Flex Rotary 3403
Porter Cable XP7424
White Lake Country CCS pad
Black Lake Country CCS pad
Red Lake Country CCS pad
Blue Lake Country CCS pad


Protection
Black Fire Gloss Enhancing Polish
BlackFire Wet Diamond all Paint Sealant
Zymol Concours
Wolf's Body Wrap (wheels)
Elegance Engine Dressing
Aquapel
Black Wow
303 Aerospace Protectant
AutoGlym Leather Cleaner and Balm
Chemical Guys New Car Smell
Poorboy's World Bold 'N Bright



And my car after he was done

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I personally use Autoglym products exclusively and I get great results , I prefer waxes for my summer only cars and sealant for my DD
here is my old E36 M3 after detailing this is a 1999 with original paint

Check out the shine
End of summer detail



Spring detail

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Hey HD, most interested in your Black Fire write up. Like you, I've been a long time Zaino user. Zaino was actually around the corner from me when I lived in NJ, but I got into it from the BMW forums. Anyway, as I age, I've been looking for similar sealant processes that would be easier on this old bod and that would maintain a good shine and reasonable durability. BTW, thank goodness I'm not as O/C about detailing my cars as I used to be. I have bought Black Fire to give the newer sealants a try, but a couple of things are holding me back. A few months ago I Zainoed (topping off with Zaino Clearcoat and Grand Finale for an unreal finish) both of my cars and just can't bring myself to try the new stuff until some of the Zaino protection/shine wears off...which, as you know, can take quite a long time. Furthermore, I plan to clay (another process that I have to get up for) before using the BF.

I definitely would not waste the time effort and product if my car was Zainoed! Wait till its time to redo.

 

[flycaster]

I definitely would not waste the time effort and product if my car was Zainoed! Wait till its time to redo.

Thanks for the confirmation; and I might add, with a few words you have given an excellent endorsement for Zaino ("Wait till its time to redo,") which can be a longggg time. Now all I have to do is to hold myself back from grabbing the BF anyway.

 

[Maxplot]

So I figured I would start a thread regarding washing and maintaining our vehicles.

I am no pro with the products I used but I do spend 3-4 hours a week cleaning inside and out.

I used Meguiar's ultimate wash and wax. Apparently it has some wax in it and it definitely seems to sud more and shine more than some of my old turtle wax car champoos. Seems a bit expensive though. Anyone have any recommendations or suggestions?

Meguiars Ultimate Wash and Wax is a good product and goes well with the other Ultimate series products. I use Meguiars Ultimate Liquid Wax and Ultimate Quick Wax. It drys without a white residue and comes off easily. It looks and lasts as long as Zaino at a fraction of the cost and easy availability. I have tried them all, and for ease, cost and durability I go with the Meguiars stuff.

 

[GJB]

Like Max I'm also a Meguire's Ultimate line (wash/wax/detailer) user and 303 for the interior surfaces and tires. Not trying to compare with other products as to what is better just what I use and am very pleased with and is easy to use with great results. I garage the car at home and at work, clean/wax/detail often so long lasting protection due to elements is not a priority.

 

[rspitler]

I use a combination of Surf City Garage products for washing and detailing. I've also used some of the Adams Polish products in the past.

 

[373433]

Exterior, no-rinse method (estimated completion time: 10-15 minutes)

1. Wait for a hot day with direct sun. (It will dry faster this way.)
2. Dig my hose out of the back garden. Knock most of the mud off the sprayer end.
3. Quick rinse, top to bottom.
4. Find a rag in the garage with the least oil and paint on it.
5. Wipe car clean in a vigorous, circular motion. For droppings or tar, use Dawn detergent. Find a scratchy spot of the rag with dried paint, and apply plenty of elbow grease.

When done, it should be so shiny at this point that you can almost tell there is something in the reflection when you stand next to your car! Admire the "fun house mirror" effect the swirls have in sunlight.

Interior

1. Open all doors, trunk and hood.
2. Using the same rag as before, wipe and dry around the doors and seals. If you haven't already, now is the time to re-fold the rag to a clean area, and grab another 6-pack.
3. The rag should still be moist enough to wipe off the worst of the smoke haze from the inside glass. If the nicotine is persistent, yell at one of the kids to bring you that Easy-Off from under the sink. Hit the inside windshield with the oven cleaner, and make sure to over spray onto the dash. Wait 5 minutes and wipe down. This does an excellent job of maintaining the anti-glare properties of the dashboard vinyl.
4. Lift the front edge of each floor mat and carefully sweep debris up under it. After some time, you may notice a hump of gravel, sand, pine needles, dead leaves and candy bar wrappers form. Just spread it evenly under the mat and enjoy the soft, cushion-y feel.
5. You're almost done! Give the seats a quick swipe, and in particular even out the coffee and soda stains on the leather surfaces. For chocolate or PB&J (or grease from when you changed the transmission in the old Z-28 and then sat in the Cadillac), just use some more Dawn.
6. Provide weeks of freshness in your like-new ATS by tucking a few dryer sheets (used is fine) up under the passenger seat.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

And the #1 detailing secret: rubbing a car down with kerosene every few day to restore shine after years (or even days) of the Davis method.

 

[373433]

I wasn't going to give that one away just yet!

 

[flycaster]

Well done, DD. I think the only thing you forgot to put into your excellent car detailing protocol was to be sure to drop the rag several times in the driveway gravel to ensure better swirls...BTW, really doesn't matter whether the rag is dry or wet, although I do find that a dry rag is more efficient.

 

[carpenter]

My routine thus far has been:

1) Pull up to Kwik Trip car wash
2) Insert credit card
3) select Ultimate wash
4) proceed into car wash

It makes me feel like I ran over a magical unicorn.

Not much else you can do for washing a car in the winter here in WI and even car washes shut down at 10 degrees so you can go a number of weeks without a wash and lots of salt build up.
Over the summer I will just take it to a professional here.

 

[77MINO77]

So I am extremely new to this whole detailing thing. By new I clearly mean I've never done it before! I have read all the posts in this thread and know the various products that everyone uses, my problem is I don't even know where to begin or the steps I should follow, the do's or the don'ts. My ats is black diamond, and I live in Northern Ontario where road salt is very prominent. Not sure if I should use a sealer or wax. Right now all I'm doing is washing it with a turtle wax soap and drying it off on a weekly bases, even though it could use it daily! Ha! Any hints/ pointers/ procedures would help me out a ton! Thanks! Btw loving the Cadillac forum, check things out every day!

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

So I am extremely new to this whole detailing thing. By new I clearly mean I've never done it before! I have read all the posts in this thread and know the various products that everyone uses, my problem is I don't even know where to begin or the steps I should follow, the do's or the don'ts. My ats is black diamond, and I live in Northern Ontario where road salt is very prominent. Not sure if I should use a sealer or wax. Right now all I'm doing is washing it with a turtle wax soap and drying it off on a weekly bases, even though it could use it daily! Ha! Any hints/ pointers/ procedures would help me out a ton! Thanks! Btw loving the Cadillac forum, check things out every day!

You're lucky its Black Diamond since the metallic hides flaws.

Aside from actual cleaning, which is a temporary condition, the top priority is to reduce wear and tear on the paint, which is a permanent condition.

Wear is reduced by limiting the amount of contact with the paint while detailing and minimizing the damage from the contact that does occur.

Start cleaning by dislodging as much dirt as you can with your water source.

Then use two buckets to wash. One for the "suds" and a separate one for frequent rinsing of whatever you wash with to prevent dirt it has picked up from being dragged across the paint. Until you have two buckets, you should frequently rinse it out with your water source but obviously that takes longer and wastes water.

Use a high quality washing liquid. I have not found any really good ones sold by a brick and mortar store. What you want is something that loosens the dirt but also is extremely slippery so loosened dirt slides easily on a layer of the "soap". The more foam the better since it helps suspend dirt away from the surface. This is one area where the really good stuff is actually cheaper than the B&M store stuff. I use Chemical Guys Citruswash+gloss but believe there are numerous products just as good. You need just a cap full for 5 gallons of water, which makes these kinds of products very cheap per wash, despite being expensive per ounce. The only problem is I don't know anywhere to get the good ones except for online stores like Detailed Image or Auto Geeks.

Use a high quality mitt that is very soft and pulls the dirt into itself instead of dragging it across the paint, and rinse constantly.

A lot of damage is done drying a car. Its normal for small amounts of dirt to be pulled from cracks and crevices during the final rinse. If drying by contact, the last pass will be over essentially dry paint and grinding that dirt into the paint. If you contact dry, use a thick nap microfiber. That will pull much of the dirt into itself to minimize abrasion of the paint. To completely eliminate drying damage, get a high powered air dryer (invented for large pet groomers and then souped up and re-tasked for detailers). The powerful ones run in the three hundreds up but have a very long life for DIY detailers where it won't be used continuously like a dog groomer would.

 

[rspitler]

Or you could use an electric leaf blower for drying. That works really well got me.

 

[373433]

77MINO77, do not follow my washing routine in my previous post in this thread!

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

77MINO77, do not follow my washing routine in my previous post in this thread!

I have my lawyer screen all my posts BEFORE I post them. I used to pass them by him after the fact like you do. But then I had to do a lot of what you just did (except for real). LoL

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Or you could use an electric leaf blower for drying. That works really well got me.

Yes you can. I'd say a leaf blower is better (for the paint) than contact drying.

But they don't blow filtered air or heated air or have attachments to speed the drying process. The last two are very nice. I see it sort of analogous to using a manual toothbrush versus an electric one, with contact drying being like whatever Don probably does to his teeth. Zing!

Blow drying takes different skills and one is getting rid of the micro drops formed when the original full size drops get blasted by high velocity air. Being smaller, they self dry into micro waterspots failrly quickly. Heat and focused air help avoid that.

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Since there is a forum here just for detailing, etc. I'm moving this thread there.

 

[77MINO77]

77MINO77, do not follow my washing routine in my previous post in this thread!

Haha figured as much, hilarious post btw had me laughing

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Hoosier Daddy, I have a hose/floor drain right in my garage so to eliminate paint contact using the two bucket method would rinsing with the hose be better?

 

[Submariner409]

Go to www.autogeek.net and get their detailing CD. Pour a decent bourbon and water and kick back for a half hour.

and take a look at the clever insert for drywall mud buckets at www.gritguard.com . Worth their weight in gold. You will absolutely flip when you see the amount of GRIT in the washwater bucket. Use a GOOD sheepswool mitt for washing and (edit) swish/squeeze in the wash water bucket (edit) often.

You'll sink several hundred dollars into a basic car and paint maintenance selection .................... That small tub of Pinnacle Brazilian Carnauba wax (on the PorterCable box) costs just about $100 now.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Hoosier Daddy, I have a hose/floor drain right in my garage so to eliminate paint contact using the two bucket method would rinsing with the hose be better?

If I'm understanding the question, rinsing the mitt with fresh water COULD be better than a rinse bucket. The rinse bucket will have increasing amounts of very fine dirt suspended in the water. On the other hand, squeezing and releasing the mitt while submerged will get more trapped dirt from the car out of it than rinsing in flowing water. And thoroughly rinsing the mitt with a hose would take longer than dunk, swish, squeeze, squeeze, swish in a bucket.

 

[MoistCabbage]

Or how about using a new mitt for every square foot of the car? :bigroll:

There's never going to be no dirt on the mitt, and the car will eventually have to be polished anyway. No point obsessing too much over rinsing the mitt.