Personally I have never encountered a situation where water spots cannot be removed by polishing with either glass or regular polishing cream. The level of effectiveness of polishing off water spots with such creams really depends on your machine and pads, but the cream works all the same. Perhaps if any of the other sifus here that can contest to that, please correct me.

Yes, Carpro clearly mentioned that it is an acid based solution. If u dig into some other forums on acid cleaners on car windshields, u should find that it is rarely recommended for the task. I believe Carpro formulated it mainly for water spots on car body panels. I have spoken to some detailing suppliers and other shops also, and they all share the same opinion and experience that acid water spots removers can be dangerous especially on windshields with wipers.

1) maybe dirt from air trapped on rain droplets
2) exhaust fumes

Personally never used it, but read alot of decent reviews. It is pretty much a workhorse like the Hitachi or Makita rotary polishers. Price wise this one seems cheaper than Hitachi and Makita.

Yes, stone chips are the bane of detailing. Even with coating, I have heard some mention that stone chip on coating looks worse than stone chip on bare paint/clearcoat. Those who do use clear bra only wrap the front section and side mirrors of the car as to do entire car is quite expensive.

Personally I think for stone chip the best we can do as DIY is to use touchup paint to cover the chips until the next respray.

Polish and wax are 2 different things. Polishing is like finely sanding your paint to remove defects (such as scratches, swirls, water spots, etc) from your paint and create a smooth and glossy finish. This will thin your paint, but is usually marginal.

Wax is adding a layer on top of your paint to protect it from contaminants.

Coating also adds a layer on top of your paint for protection, but more rough and durable. A good coating and is applied properly can last anywhere between 2-5 years. However, this number is debatable because it also depends on how u maintain your car.

Wash as normal, just watch out for the water spots. Yes, based on Carpro's coating system, u can topup the coating with Carpro Reload or any other forms of spray wax or sealant.

The beading can last few years even with minimal care because the coated surface is now more hydrophobic. Just that water spots could become an issue over time.

Not really. Even with coating u still need to wash your car regularly and also clean harsh contaminants like bird poop off quickly if possible. Only difference is your car shine is protected by the coating, so your paint wont look faded or die so quickly if under constant sun and rain.

Mmm, maybe just to clarify first that coating is not meant to make your car shine. To make your car shine requires polishing. After polishing and the defects have been removed and shine has returned, then coating is a layer to protect that shine. If u are hardworking and willing to wash and wax your car regularly, then coating actually is not necessary. I personally think that coating is for ppl who want to maintain their shine but dont want to polish or wax so often then should go for coating. Washing regularly is still required regardless whether u do coating or not.

Sorry, wont be able to advise on that. I do detailing at home by myself now, so dont know what is the market offering for coatings. Maybe u can survey a few places and see which gives the best offer.

However, I can suggest a few things to look out for:

1) What is their package? Is the price purely for coating, or it also covers washing/claying/polishing?
2) If got defect on certain sections of the car after they coat, are they willing to redo the section?
3) Find out the exact product they are using and their application methods. Google online about their products and reviews.
4) Ask them after coating has hardened and stable, can u apply spray wax/sealant on top of their coating if u wanted to?

Hope this helps.

Some interesting and controversial idea about car wash soaps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnMZNq4ot0

If u are talking about rough surfaces under the front bumper due to stone chips, usually I would avoid the area entirely especially if I dont intend to wax that area and that area is not visible. For visible areas that are rough due to scratches and can "catch" the claybar, I prefer to lightly sand them down first with 1000-3000 grit sandpaper so that it doesnt affect my claybar.

Actually, marring can be caused by improper wash methods, but it can also be due to claying. How clay causes marring is if it picks up alot of contaminants and u continue using the same area of the claybar for too long of time. It is always recommended to constantly check the claybar surface, if it starts to be heavily contaminated, then fold and open a fresh surface. Also, as part of reducing the amount of contaminants that claybar needs to pickup, it is also recommended to remove things like tar and bug spots using their specialized chemicals instead before starting to clay.

Hope this helps.

I have Carpro Reload, but havent started using. It was recommended by douglas_tong. I did some research and comparison and found that Carpro Hydro2 have some issues. Numerous ppl reported that the rinse-spray-rinse sometimes creates streaks on the surface, and its abit difficult to remove. Reload is safer cuz can spray on cloth and buff surface then buff off.

Usually carnauba wax is the last layer as it is the glossiest but also weakest wax in the market.

Personally I used Megs QD, not the ultimate version (red colour spray bottle). If for clay lube its decent, but I personally dont use quick detailers for any other purpose. Now moved on to Megs Last Touch cuz can dilute and save money long term.

Try to catch a photo at the best angle to describe the issue u are facing. Take a few different angle shots and see what comes out best compared to your actual eye view.

Can try Meguiars Interior Protectant or Exterior Protectant, or Carpro PERL.

Lol, thankfully I am not the only one scratching head thinking when I will finish using my detailing products.

One method I find very effective is using Goo Gone to remove any tape residue.

For Goo Gone more effective need to leave it soak longer. Almost guaranteed to get through most forms of sticker glue.

I also took very long time to use finish use 1 bottle. Expensive but long term very economical.

My experience with IPA cleaning glue residue abit mixed. Some situations it can clean very well with no residue, but some situations it make the glue even stickier and smear all over the place, so harder to clean. Goo Gone has a more consistent result for me.

Think firstly u need to define how detailed do u want to go into car detailing. Do u want to just keep your car clean? Do u want to keep your car shiny? Do u have extra time to spend to make your car glow like showroom car? Do u like to do DIY stuff at home? Different Yes/No answers to these questions will determine what u should buy to achieve what u want.

Maybe lets start by wash and vacuum first. Basic things that u need:

1) Wash bucket
2) Wash mitt (preferably microfiber, not sponge)
3) Microfiber drying towels (1 big one for wiping overall car, 2-3 small ones for wiping doorjambs/wheels/interior, dont use interchangbly)
4) Wash soap
5) Wheel brush and sponge

This should start u off. Watch some videos on youtube on basic car wash techniques, some best practices, etc.

For tar removal, u can try get a bottle from ACE Hardware or Osren, tar removers quite generic, not much specialty. Use a separate cloth to wipe clean tar, dont use that cloth for drying or any other purpose.

Yes, if Osren office is convenient to u, then drop by and get what u need. They have good support in their products usage and prices are reasonable.

For glass water spots, I believe your best chance is to use machine to polish it off. Just hand polish will require alot of effort.

Glass cleaners are generally good for cleaning only. Watermarks/spots are technically etched on your glass, so cleaners usually wont cut it anymore, especially if it has been there a long time.

Try using a regular polish pad instead. This tends to work best in my personal opinion.

CLR is acid based, just like Bar Keeper's Friend. I researched this product before when I wanted to clean my bathroom shower glass door and wall. Works decently, but I am not sure I would use it for cars. Just my 2 sen.

Yes, acid based. These products would be featured more if u google search for cleaning hard water spots from shower doors.

Actually if not mistaken it takes a specific acid to breakdown water deposits, also known as water marks/spots. Home based remedies do recommend stuff like vinegar to try. However, personally I find acid not safe to use for car glass, especially windshields with wipers.

I saw that method before, I think it is similar to the idea of using superfine #0000 steel wool, just that in this case there is a directional scraping from a blade instead of random scraping of steel wool. Both methods also never tried before (the only razor blade I have is my Gillette Mach 3 blade, and never found #0000 steel wool here before, only best is #000 steel wool found in ACE Hardware). Personally, I prefer not to try these methods as they both carry risk of permanently scratching the glass, and AFAIK glass is very difficult to impossible to polish off scratches. Even using Bar Keeper's Friend I actually created micro-marring in my shower glass wall and door.

Having said that, I would not dispute Larry's recommendation. However, now I am home detailer so if any issue I have to pay for myself to repair the damage, for Larry he is a professional and probably has insurance coverage. Just my 2 sen.

gfwong u tried before the razor scraping method?

This post has been edited by blurcase: Aug 29 2017, 03:03 PM