Lol, erm, honestly I dont have much shortcuts when it comes to machine polishing, only tips and tricks to make it more efficient and body-energy-saving throughout the process, as how I shared in my previous posts.

I believe that every paint and condition is different, so there isnt a 1-size-fits-all formula when it comes to planning the attack. It depends on whether u are chasing the ultimate finish or (as slk says) the 5-foot-away-looks-good finish.

Most important I always recommend is experiment until u find a formula that works for u for your cars. If u arent a pro commercial detailer doing different cars everyday, then your own combinations for your own cars work just fine.

If budget is a concern, u can also try close alternatives from Osren and SGCB.

The local distributor for sgcb does shinemate machines as well.

I used to be on Meguiars towel as well. Then I connected with some commercial detailing supplies shop and found they import drying towels that are far cheaper and more absorbent than Meguiars. The rest is also history, lol.

U can try contacting Active Star Network Trading. Last I saw they sell other stuff beyond just SGCB and ShineMate. They have quite a few large microfiber drying towels that are good and not expensive. However, chances are u need to go to their shop and browse and buy, they are not so good with online sales.

https://www.facebook.com/activestar112/

I think u are pretty much there for the shampoo and creams, however u also need to consider the relevant pads for the compounding/polishing procedure.

After washing, before compounding/polishing, I would also suggest claying. U can get the Meguiars clay kit as it is a complete set to start with.

Yes, u can compound on any car, doesnt matter old or new. To know if your clearcoat still exists, u just need to compound/polish 1 pass, and if the pad doesnt change colour to your car colour, then your clearcoat still there.

U can check out many videos from AMMONYC as well as Autogeek as a starting learning point.

From the loks of the pic, it doesnt look like your clearcoat or paint has been compromised. I suggest using the edge of a microfiber towel, put a drop of compound, and try to buff the spot see if it goes away.

Great work! Keep it up!

Looks very good! Yes, Carpro Perl's durability isnt as what it advertise, but at least from a trim restoration standpoint, it does what it needs to do rather quickly and minimal mess.

Mmm, I find the combo abit basic. U should also have a separate wash mitt for your wheels, and probably some wheel brushes too. Also, 1 drying towel is mainly for the car body, wiping your interior should be a different towel.

Claybar is only to be used if u need to remove contaminants that washing cannot remove. U may not neccessarily need it unless u want to polish.

Rather than depending on the wash and wax combo to provide protection for your car, I would rather recommend u get a separate paste or liquid wax. The wax element in Wash and wax combo shampoos is very little and the durability is probably at best 2-3 days, whereas a good wax would last at least 2-4 weeks.

Here's a general chart outlining the general flow of a typical car detailing.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/266134659204623324/

However, considering that u are a new to your detailing hobby, and not wanting to scare u with the long hours chore of detailing, I would suggest wash, dry, then wax.

In the course of your car detailing life u may be interested to learn further detailing, which includes claying, compounding/polishing, and maybe even applying coating and detailing other parts such as interior, rims, plastic trims, etc. When your interest in the hobby grows, then feel free to come back for more info. Also, youtube is a great place to learn more, and u can get tons of info from there as well.

With Meguiars, I would recommend their Ultimate wax kit. It comes with a paste/liquid wax, an applicator pad, and a microfiber cloth to buff off the excess.

https://www.lazada.com.my/products/meguiars...VHgnkJ&search=1

Just remember that when it comes to wax, more isnt better. U should always strive to apply it as thin as possible, follow the instructions written on the label. If it says apply 1 section then buff off, do so. If it says apply whole car then only buff off, then do that.


Hmm, honestly for a new car and newbie in detailing, I wont suggest doing much for your interior other than vacuum and wiping the panels with a damp microfiber cloth.

If u are hardworking and plan to wash regularly, and the car is parked indoors most of the time (at work and also at home), then u probably could give the windshield stuff a skip as well, and regularly wash your windshield.

Honestly, even tough I am a long time Meguiars fan, not everything they produce is good. After many years of using their products (and throwing some away), I now only use their NXT wash soap, professional claybar, compound and polish creams, polishing pads. The rest of the stuff either isnt all that great or there are other brands that are better than theirs.

With regards to Fusso Coat, as I understand (yet to try myself), it is not as easy to apply, as there is a certain time limit to its drying stage before it gets harder to buff off. So, if u intend to use it, make sure dont just wax the entire car then only start buffing off. Try instead to work 2-3 panels then buff off then only continue to next 2-3 panels.

Yes, for the bare plastics, try to avoid waxing over it at all costs, else they will dry and turn whitish over time. If u ever do get a situation where u accidentally waxed the trim and it turned white, u can try using a pencil eraser to rub off the whitish bit.

Just to add on (as u didnt mention), u will need 2 wash mitts (1 for car body and a separate one for rims only, never mix them together), wash bucket (any bucket generally will do), 1 medium/large microfiber towel for general drying, 3-4 small microfiber towels for wiping other areas (interior, engine, rims, door jambs, etc).

Mmm, the last time I used any Turtle Wax product was about 5-8 years ago, and since then I have moved on to other products and brands for protection. Sorry to say I wont be able to advise u on the wax u mentioned.

Since urs is a new car, I would say just leave the headlamp and taillights as it is. As far as I know, headlamps come with a hard protection layer already from manufacturer, and tail lamps dont usually turn colour or fade. In years to come, if your headlamp starts to turn yellow and fade, then u can consider getting Meguiars Healights restoration kit to restore clarity and and spray coating.

Personally, I think its a good idea to touchup the paint. Not only it reduces the chance of rust starting to form (if the chip has hit bare metal), it also keeps the look more bearable until u respray or sell your car.

Ezy touchup paint do sell their paint with an entire kit, which consists of:

1) wax & grease remover
2) rubbing compound
3) basecoat
4) clearcoat

If u dont want to buy the entire kit, then just get the basecoat and clearcoat, as the wax remover is nothing more than pure rubbing alcohol, and the rubbing compound is nothing special also.

Another suggestion I have is to get yourself a few extra fine art brushes to help in touching up your paint, as the brush they provide is kinda rubbish.

Just bear in mind that spot touchup will rarely blend to the point that it is totally invisible no matter how good u are. Paint that is sprayed vs paint that is applied via brush will always have a slightly different outcome. However, as the primary reason to use it is just to cover the chip, close one eye and use lor.

I experienced that with one of Meg's commercial wax before. Had a gallon bottle that was half used in 4 months and it started separating the oils from the wax. End up before each use we pour off the excess oils first and kept using, seemed okay.

Claybar may remove wax and sealant, but it doesnt remove polish, because polish is an act of removal itself. Hope u understand what I mean.

My 2 sen is your products may be abit excessive for a new car, even though coated.

Firstly, please do check with your coating supplier if u can apply anything on top of the coating. Assuming that your coating supplier says okay, then I would recommend perhaps Carpro Reload or some sort of spray wax to protect the coating from water spotting.

Apart from Carpro PERL for trim and tyres use, I generally dont think the rest are necessary. Instead of a wash & wax, perhaps just a pure wash like Meguiars Gold Class or NXT.

For wheels, I dont think the Tyre and Wheels cleaner is cost effective in the long run. Its probably better to either get something that sells in a gallon and highly dilutable like Cartec Wheel Cleaner, or Meguiars Super Degreaser even. To add, u will also need wheel brush and a separate wash mitt for your wheels (dont use the same wash mitt between wheels and paint body).

For interior, a simple damp microfiber towel wiping clean would do just fine. Just dont use the same cloth to wipe other dirtier areas like door jamb or engine.

g88 earlier posted a snow foam gun that can connect with typical garden hose. However, I think its only recommended if your garden hose water pressure is strong. Whether to invest in a pressure washer is entirely up to u, though I find it unnecessary as a garden hose works just fine.

Again, just my 2 sen. Feel free to disagree.


Honestly, I dont remember. The last time I enquired regarding their towels was a few years ago. I still have stock of new and unused towels, so didnt buy from them. However, their selection is the same as the ones I have, and the price for the one that is similar size to Meguiars towel shouldnt be more than RM50 if not mistaken. Unfortunately I wont be able to give u specific prices, but perhaps I can suggest u msg them on FB as they are quite responsive and can give u a better idea on prices before u go.

This post has been edited by blurcase: Aug 27 2018, 10:16 PM

Think lazada is probably cheapest, just make sure to measure the base of ur bucket so that the grit guard fits.

From what I know, 3M bondo is the most common product used to fill it.

For washing, 2 microfiber noodle wash mitts (not towel).

For drying, 1 medium sized microfiber towel (roughly 4ft x 2ft size). Why? Simple, after washing, I dry all the body panels and windows first, then same towel dry door jambs and engine next because those areas are more dirty and less obvious.

Interior 1 small damp microfiber towel. Inside windows 1 small damp microfiber towel. 1 dry small microfiber towel to pickup remaining water drips from the rest of the car.

I dont wipe rims because they usually dry off before I can finish drying my car.

For other detailing purposes such as compound/polish/wax, I have a separate set of 6 microfiber towels only for those purposes.

The wash mitt for my car body is Mr Clean Miracle Wash Mitt, for my rims is just a normal microfiber noodle wash mitt from Aeon Big.

I have not used and big brand wash mitt other than Meguiars wash mitt, and I would say Meguiars one was quite rubbish. My current wash mitts are over 5 years old, and they still function quite well. I believe the keys is to throw them in washing machine after each car wash. I always believe clean tools produce clean car.

U can read some recent posts about this, similar to stone chips issue. Ezy touchup is generally the way to go from budget standpoint and convenience, and since your car is white, it should blend fairly easier.

My answer to some of your questions:

1) cleaner wax is generally less used for protection purposes and more used for cleaning purposes. Perhaps it would be better for u to get a synthetic wax such as fusso coat for durability, since u do park your car outside all day every day.

2) claying shouldnt be taken as a regular activity, as usually ppl clay to remove contaminants that cant be washed off prior to polishing. Also, Meguiars Quik Detailer isnt the most cost effective option as clay lube, u may be better off trying out using ONR as your clay lube instead. Whether to use a wash shampoo as clay lube depends on your claybar, as I have seen some claybar doesnt work well with wash shampoos as clay lube.

3) Carpro PERL is commonly recommended because it is dilutable, therefore making it highly cost effective. If u are not going to be the type to apply trim and plastic protectant frequently, then even Meguiars Protectant can work just fine.

4) Hmm, I have a mixed understanding on this. While there could be some possibility regarding the release of oils from exposed plastics, there are also other factors such as the air in the car while driving, as well as if u use any perfume scents in your car. With that said however, I dont think his method is necessary if u just regularly wipe down all your windows with a damp microfiber towel during each of your car wash session. The glass cleaner would only become necessary after long periods of no wiping down interior glass. Glass cleaner doesnt affect window tint, however please dont use that rough sponge he used for scrubbing the glass, as that sponge would almost certainly scratch your tinting.

Hope this helps.

There are 3 types of light sources that detailers go to when trying to spot defects:

1) Cool white (6500k)
2) Daylight (4700k)
3) Warm White (3500k)

The most common go to, as well as setup by the popular 3M DIY sun gun is the daylight type. However, for white car I usually prefer to suggest trying out warm white instead.

I think quick wax is okay so long as u plan to apply it more frequently (between once every 2 weeks to once a month).

Hmm, for stain and water resistance, I have only seen interior coating, but not every coating brand or even coating shop does it. Perhaps others can add reviews here if they have done it for their car.

I bought many of my little torchlights from www.fasttech.com. U could try there.

The recommendation is always to apply the stronger and more durable protection such as synthetic wax or sealant as base protection, then weaker protection like carnauba wax or spray wax as top sacrificial layer. The base protection grips on the paint longer, and u just need to topup with weaker protection regularly.

For Carpro Perl, I only have 1 dilution mixed and i use that for all surfaces. No sense having many bottles of the same product in different dilution when the base priority is just protection. Thats my 2 sen.