U can consider waterless washing. Its not a bad way to get cleaning done if your car isnt too dirty. ONR, a ton of microfiber towels, a medium sized bucket, and u be good to go. Fill the bucket up, bring down to your car, no need to use common tap at condo.

Try double-coating with Reload. I did it with my wife's car, seems to hold up much better. Apply and buff first coat, wait an hour, then apply and buff 2nd coat. See if that helps on durability.

Hmm, as far as I know, the maintenance process doesnt involve grinding the coating layer off to remove water spots. I believe it could be some form of chemical (probably acidic) to break down the water spots minerals and clean them off by wiping prior to applying some topup coat (something like Carpro Reload equivalent.

Also, from experience with my wife's car coating in the past, the significant issues tend to be on the horizontal panels. When I finally compound/polish off the coating from my wife's car, the vertical panels like doors and fenders were much easier to rid of waterspots than the horizontal ones like roof, front bonnet and rear boot.

So, me thinks that the priority of care in your case should be on the horizontal panels. U could try triple coat the horizontal panels with Reload, while only double coating the vertical ones. Abit of savings goes a long way.

Showoff, lol.

PS: May I buy from u 0.5l of it?

I did see a youtube video where the user diluted it to ease application. There is a possibility u may end up with less durable protection, but its not impossible to say the least.

Great work! Looks very good!

My suggestion in tackling these grey stains in the following order:

1) Clay
2) Chemical removers (degreaser)
3) Wax cleaner
4) AIO polish

Each step is slightly more aggressive than the previous step, so do one to the next until u get it off.

I believe Osren made a video regarding stains on white cars. U could try that.

Well, based on Meguiars chart, ScratchX ranks between compound and polish. Considering your issue, u may not require such aggressive polish as ScratchX. Most mild polish like wax cleaner or AIO polish/cleaner should work just fine as they rank less aggressive than the standard polish.

Just FYI, the concept of polish is using a “liquid sandpaper” to remove a thin layer of paint. The more aggressive u use, the more paint it removes in one try. We always believe in using the least aggressive method first to preserve as much paint on your car as possible.

Hope this explanation doesnt confuse u.

Okay, maybe let me use the correct terminology as I have just checked that there is no wax cleaner, but only cleaner wax. This article should provide some clarity:

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to...ishing-wax.html

Having said that (with my apologies on the confusion), I find that it is safe for u to be using cleaner wax regularly as part of your cleaning regime especially to remove those stubborn stains. This is because the level of abrasion is the least aggressive (if the cleaner wax has even any abrasives at all, as some may not have). As bro quackpack mentioned, there may be some mild solvents in liquid/paste waxes that also can assist the cleaning without need of abrasives.

Refer to the article I posted.

Lol, my sincere apologies. I tend to use the cleaner wax and wax cleaner terminology interchangeably thinking they are the same thing which is cleaner wax. For paint cleaners that strips wax and polishing oils, I refer to them as IPA, as that is what most of those surface prep chemicals are made of and also IPA is the most common surface prep chemical.

It is a trial and error kinda thing when it comes to detailing. As long as your focus is to remove stubborn stains on your white paint that cant be removed by washing, then can consider ultimate wax first instead of cleaner wax.

Osren is based in Kepong, home grown Malaysian brand for a very long time. They have quite decent products with great value for money. Best part is u get local support, so added advantage if u get into any specific detailing problems that u dont have an answer for.

Meguiars is US brand, internationally known. They are probably the strongest in terms of branding, but not necessarily every product that comes from them are good. Support wise is mostly online via forums and videos, not easy to find concrete answers, so more experimentation required.

Hmm, unfortunately there isnt alot of choices for liquid waxes, unless u are willing to go for spray wax.

Black pads are usually finishing pads based on common colour coding standard for pad manufacturers. However, it would be best to check with Osren via their FB.

Yes, u can contact Osren directly via FB.

While I have never signed up to any detailing shop membership in all my years of detailing, I always hear many horror stories from the likes of Shine Shine and Cars International. Generally, I prefer to try the less known shops around my own area so that I know the best quality shops nearby that I can rely on conveniently when I am lazy to wash car myself. Prices from independent shops may be higher or lower, but I think some good ones provide great value for money.

Sooo, thread had been quite for a few days. Thought I'd just share my little headlamp work.



Been putting this off for a friend's car parked at my place while he was overseas. Since he mentioned he is coming back today, I had to kinda rush this work abit. Work time took total 1 hour and 20 mins from start to finish.

Wetsanding used 1000 grit, 2000 grit and 3000 grit sandpaper. The first wetsanding with 1000 grit sandpaper yielded alot of brown and yellow water residue, which I believe was the bulk of the contaminants and yellowing.

Compounding and polishing used Rupes Nano iBrid kit with batteries. Was surprised that a single battery could run both processes 2 full rounds on each lamp. Unfortunately after the polishing completed, I noticed still some minor residue from the wetsanding, which I theorize came from the shoddy work I did during wetsanding.

Unfortunately I didnt, as I didnt have anything in my arsenal for it. And yes, the yellowing will eventually come back.

From my past research, the best protection is a clearcoat spray that comes with UV protection, however I dont know where to find one locally.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions, feel free to share.

Cool, thanks for the tip!

Depends, sometimes priming also could mean too much liquid. Before u start the polishing the car, test maybe 1 dot on pad on 1 section and see how it works. Some paints will come out fine, some paints may require more liquid.

No worries, u arent overthinking it. I believe this is coming from youtube learning. Many of us who started out detailing started somewhere with some sort of system we learnt from others, then experience and experimentation leads us to other systems or developing our own. In the case of pad priming, there is some validity is adding liquid as lubricator, but considering every liquid can be different, so some liquids that have longer working time may not require as much of priming per se.

Few recommendations I can give:

1) flashlights using 18650 batteries from fasttech
2) headgear flashlights, can buy from Sports Direct at their camping gear section
3) variety of emergency torchlights and emergency lights from Mr DIY.

I always believe that if u already have a good maintenance regime, best stick to it. Perhaps if u wish to upgrade your protection a little (for ease of application and slight increase in durability), can consider spray sealants. However, when it comes to coating, I believe the community here will have mixed feelings about venturing into it as it does not mean less regular maintenance required, but instead potentially more regular maintenance required.

When it comes to preventing waterspots, there is never a perfect solution. One wrong day that the rain came and went quickly and the rest of the day your car bakes in the sun may already start the water spotting process. Nonetheless, your regular protection regime should reduce the chance of water spots etching into your paint, and your regular washing will already wash away the existing waterspots that have yet to etch.

As everyone has different driving and parking patterns and habits, u can try to experiment missing on a wash after rain and see if u can attempt alternate wash every 2 rain cycles instead. Another tip is to know your trips in the following days after rain, if u expect that u may be parking indoors, then u could risk not washing until your weekend wash cycle.

Also, instead of going for a full wash where it might be deemed wasteful of water, u could also consider using ONR or some other form of rinseless wash as a replacement. Rinseless washing is less time consuming, and u could just do all large exterior panels quickly as a stop gap measure before your next full wash.

Just my 2 sen, hope it helps.


Hmm, it depends. If u have intention to use the vacuum for wet vacuuming as well, then u can try checking out places like CT Hardware or Knight Auto for budget wet-and-dry vacuum cleaners. Else, if u are doing purely dry vacuuming, then even a typical household vacuum cleaner from Philips or equivalent should work just fine.

As bro V429 pointed out, Waregem here in this forum sells ONR. The term ONR stands for Optimum No-Rinse, which is an abbreviation now commonly used for many rinseless wash, but Optimum company was among the pioneers of this technology.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...+wash+%26+shine

Just watch the first 10-20 videos in Youtube about it and u will get the idea of how to use it for rinseless washing. Scouring through other forums, u will also find that ONR can be used as a quick detailer, and some detailers or enthusiasts keep a small spray bottle of it in the car at all times to quickly remove fresh bird poop residue safely.

Find out the dilution ratios for use, washing methods, etc. Since u are willing to wash your car very regularly, this product should go a long way for u.