Thanks bro Jackal,,

Method that i used to clay my car

Wash the car using shampoo
Without wipe the water, i clay the car,,
Then wash again to remove any clay leftovers
Then wax

Another question,, how often do we need to clay our car and will clay remove wax?

Based on the bolded statement, I'd assume that you clay your vehicle with the normal water supply. Having said that, it might actually induce some mild scratches / marring to your paintwork due to the microscopic-particles found on the common water supply. Thus, you'll accidentally glide through the paintwork along with particles mentioned and thus causing marring to your paintwork. It'll still be functioning as its purpose; to remove surface environmental contaminants and obtain a smooth surface. However, you'll see marred paintwork when proper lighting source being used to inspect the paintwork and this would eventually lead to a less than perfect paintwork. As time goes by, you'll see your paintwork appearing less shiny & dull, so this would lead to the proper surface preparation steps in order to rejuvenate the paintwork. Thus, it is always recommended to clay along with specified clay lubes; i.e quick detailer or other similar solutions to reduce / prevent from marring happening on your paintwork.

As per your last question, it'll be subjected to the paintwork condition & the environmental exposure. A safe guideline would be 2 - 3 times per year / 4 - 6 months once for a normal daily usage vehicle. Also, you'll have to take into consideration of the following points:

1) How often do you wash your vehicle ?
2) How often do you apply your favourite wax / sealant / coating ?
3) Exposed to sunlight & rain 24/7 or mostly parked underneath a shaded spot ?
4) Your commonly travelled area, industrial, downtown, or sub-urban ?

Yes, clay will eventually removes wax bits by bits, but definitely not as strong as a chemical solvent. Just my 2c and hope some other sifus can chirp in their personal opinions.

Thanks bro Jackal,,

Will noted on the clay process next time,, will surely used my quick detailer with clay next time,,
BTW the Focus is weekend car, always under garage...

Question on inside / dashboard detailing,,
My first car Satria,, Im using magic 101 for dashboard, and the result is awesome,
Then on my 2nd car that is Civic FD,, Im using Sons of a Gun because the dash becomes wierd (to shiny, unnatural) if using magic 101,,
But on Focus i have try both,, but the dash become really ugly, magic 101 makes the dash look shinny, but uneven shiny,, then for using Sons of a Gun the dash look odd under sun,,
Sons of a Gun - liquid
Magic 101 - creamy
I affraid to waste money to buy and try other brand because,, Almost all product for dashboard are made from this 2 types of material either liquid or creamy,, unless Im not expose enough,, please give suggestion,,

Thanks all bros

Sounds like you're using too much and applying them too accessively. Apply sparringly (use very little) and try to go for a 2nd wipe/buff after 10 ~ 15mins.

I've never use Sons of a Gun, but Magic 101 finishes off very shiny. But a 2nd wipe would make it lesser shiny and more like a satin finish. Try the above first since you've already have those. My experience with 4 cars, all 4 finished differently even when using the same product....

---

Added on October 30, 2012, 10:35 amJust clay when or if you feel it's necessary - when the surface starts to feel coarse and gritty, even after a good wash. Claying won't remove the wax altogether, but it *could* remove portion of it. To be safe, just go over with a light application of wax after claying.

Just bare in mind though, like jackal400 said, claying *could* instill light marring onto the paint, especially when the paint surface is badly contaminated. Or, should I say, it's not the clay that's instilling the marring but it's mainly caused by contaminant that's sticking to the clay. Used correctly (and wisely), the marring should be very minimum.

Btw, jackal400, haven't heard/seen you online for quite some time now. Busy eh?

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Oct 30 2012, 10:36 AM

haha when is the detailing TT ? would love to go and learn from the sifus. everytime i try to fix something, things just got worse

yup had no idea how much of the polish were done last time. what happen if we polish when the paint is already too thin?

as for the stone chips, the way you said is like repainting is something bad, may i know why? even for well known car paint place where exotic cars go?

my stone chips are on the left side only. too much highway runs last time. should have done some preventive steps next time.

hello to all detailing sifus here

ayam a noobie wannabie in detailing. will be getting my new ride soon and now in a dilemma whether to DIY or buy seasonal detailing groupons or glass coating. on one hand i dont feel like having a cuckold relationship with my new car so soon, so i'm kind of ruling out the detailing groupons . My current ride, i'm not really putting in the whole 5 step car care cycle, just normal wash and wax with KIT i would really want to start the 5 steps car detailing cycle but my only concern is that i'm living in a condo and space is kinda limited. there is only one shared area for washing the vehicle, after that if i want to detail, i most probably will need to drive it back to my parking bay. which kind rules out any use of machinery. Would appreciate if any sifus here who are also staying in condos can share with me some tips on detailing condo style

i'm not sure if it has been discuss over here yet, and i do apologize if it already has, would be very grateful if you all can share with me the pros and cons of going for glass coatings such as sierra glow. its cheap and has a 5 year warranty, but i do feel like doing more for the car then just washing. all advise is most appreciated. muchos gracias

Groupon, & dealmates coupon one ah. rm 45 ~ rm 95 usually. but the amount of effort they put in very little only. very fast one they work. 1 and half hour finish my car done seems to be nice and shinny from far. 3 person handle your car. some (bangla or vietnamese or indonesians) the one that i went no clay. just spray snow foam. rinse water. wipe dry then just one or two pass using sponge pad. that consider two layer polish already at the end put some water coating. 3 layers if u bring in car that have minor scratches they are not fully correct also. done. then vacuum wipe dashboard with dunno what chemical. everything they do so fast. "fast = more cars they can do" but at the end under sun light or even under normal white fluorescent light you can still see light scratch...if you have those deep scratches + water marks don't think they will be able to correct it for u. that is my experience using groupon & dealmates coupon for my old car. three times at different shops dont want to name them.


if u see 5 layer they will wax only put three times wax. wax on top of wax on top of wax again. there you go 5 layer. plus the two that they mention is polish. if u see 7 layer they will let you know two times is compound cut. (wool pad) two times polish then 3 times wax. (sponge pad) if u can do that for 3 - 4 times a year....dunno your clear coat can last how long.

If glass coating. last for longer time. some can 6 month some can 1 year some can be longer 2 years time or more. depend on how you take care your car. park outside more or indoor more. did you revisit back the glass coating company for inspection or for touch up every 6 month 1 year or 2 years time.


This post has been edited by K2002: Oct 30 2012, 08:55 PM

Will give you a heads up if there's any tt coming up.
Well....basically, most cars paintwork consist of base, primer, color and clear coat. The clear coat is the layer that's giving the protection. We are basically polishing away the clear coat. If the clear coat is too thin, you might polish away the clear coat (some termed this as 'strike through') and exposed the color coat. If this were to happen, the color coat would be without protection from the environment and that portion would degrade very much faster than the rest which still have clear on them.
I'm not saying that repainting is bad, it's just that it's difficult to get a good quality painter these days who doesn't just do a cincai2 job. Unless you're willing to pay a hefty sum of money for it, I wouldn't have too high of an expectations on the outcome/result. I've only seen two places where they do a very good quality job, and both places charge over 5k for 'basic' re-painting of a whole car, without changing the color tone. Another common complaints is colormatching when doing only certain panels. Even if they can match the color perfectly, the degradation rate won't be the same and, over time, the difference would show. There are some other factors but, all in all, best is to try your best to maintain the OEM paintwork and only go for a re-paint when it's absolutely necessary and unavoidable. That's just my view.

DO NOT BUY INTO THOSE MARKETING GIMMICKS. A 'wise old man' once told me, if a business has established themselves and is doing well, why in the world would they give discounts? Social responsibility? Making too much profit already and want to give back to the society? Maybe 1 in 100 would sincerely do that but, I haven't heard of any yet. I'm in quite a few detailing related forums and I haven't heard anything good about these groupon detailing packages yet.

Of the 5 step car care cycle, to me, the most important one is the 5th step, which is maintenance. If you're planning to start somewhere, better start there. If you have the resources, go for a full detail by a pro....a true professional. Afterwards, just concentrate on the maintenance, until things are more convenient for you and until you get to learn what the other steps required (in term of tools, products and techniques) and how to properly do them, and how to suit them into your lifestyle.

Glass coating? Well....lots of overhyped and over-rated coatings out there. But there are also quite a few good ones. Just be careful with the 'x no of years' warranty that they offer...read the fine prints and don't be misled my salesman (girl?). Either way, with or without 'glass coatings', you'd still need to do regular maintenance, or at least you'd need to wash regularly. These coatings are not meant to be an excuse to be lazy and forgo the regular mantenance step, these coatings are designed for EASE OF MAINTENANCE, i.e. EASIER to maintain and not NO NEED to maintain. If you notice, the word they would normally use is 'no need to wax again' and not 'no need to wash again'...or something like that. There's a lot of misconceptions about this so try not to get cought up by the 'trend' and the wrong info fed by the marketing gimmicks. Don't get me wrong, the 'glass coatings' are great technological advancement in paint protection but they're not a miracle product that don't require maintenance. I have a few coatings applied (testing) on my own rides (DIY of course) and it's been so easy to maintain them as compared to the traditional wax/sealant. If you can afford them, go for it. Oh...also, normally, the following terms applies: 'good things are *normally* not cheap and cheap things are *normaly* not good'.

If you're looking for suggestion and recommendations, I do have a couple of places/persons in mind, based on my limited experience of course.

Bro KrisMas,
I feels magic 101 dont suit all type of dashboard,, it suit more on hard plastic board like 206 if u have seen one, but dont suit civic FD like dash cause its made from softer board,, but for focus the dash is combination of this 2 type of board,, soft and hard,, but again maybe my method is wrong,, i will try ur suggestion above on the applying method,,


Last few days has been raining cats and dogs, and since my car is new,, and i very semangat to drive it everyday to work (usually i ride),, my problem is every day after arrive home around 7pm, will let the car cool, and around 10pm will wash and terlebih rajin then wax the car,, i have been waxing it almost eveyday (take note not using quick detailing, i use paste wax),, my wife bising already, because i only come to bed at 1am every day,, its like a decease for me and i could not stop waxing my car, i want it to be shinny in the morning,, today i come to my right/center mind,, and realised will over waxing destroy the paint,, will over waxing thinned the paint or reduce the clear coat??
Please help

Aduh bro....take things easy and get things done as per normally. Well, some ppl claimed that the cleaner waxes contains a slight amount of abrasive and thus long-term usage / frequent usage would actually sacrifice your clear coat, but I'm not sure how true it is though. IMHO, frequent waxing shouldn't be much of a problem except to your wallet . Also, you are actually wasting your favourite wax as they have a limitation on layer bonding capability between the layers, thus the newly applied wax does not properly bond well and being completely wiped off. One friendly advise, take good care of your wifey, otherwise you won't be able to enjoy piap piap session later......

---

Added on October 31, 2012, 12:22 amUgh....I've been scratching my head lately for my next detailing session. I've been reading numerous detailing sites regarding with self-healing paint and it seems they aren't friendly towards detailer. Plus, this is my very first experience with it, so pretty nervous as time flies-by . So, how's thing going on by your side, bro ? I've been hearing lots of rumours that you are having a great stash of detailing stuffs.....

This post has been edited by jackal400: Oct 31 2012, 12:22 AM

No it won't, waxing is just applying something ONTO the paint, not removing the paint....but it's a whole lot of wasted energy and product though. From the sound of it, that's a job for a quick detailer or the like. You might want to consider using something like Meg's Ultimate Quick Wax or their Ultimate Quick Detailer. Sonax, Autoglym, Optimum, 3M, etc. all the branded names also have these type of 'spray on'. Or, if you're on a tight budget, you can try TW Wax it Wet....I tried it before and it's quite nice also. I use these 'spray on' all the time after a wash...kindof like getting back the 'just wax' look and feel.

---

Added on October 31, 2012, 12:35 amSame-o same-o.
Stash? who? me? Nah...just a little bit of this and that, here and there, everywhere.....hehehe....but no time to do anything much la....work commitment ma....need to work hard and earn some money to sustain my impulse buying....hahahaha....

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Oct 31 2012, 12:35 AM

I've been stalking following your updates for quite some time, so jgnlah berahsia-rahsia, ya. Goodies are meant to be share

bro... thanks for the advise.. i knew it would be too good to be true. thanks for confirming my suspicion.

thanks for the advise bro.. i too dont want to pay some other ppl to molest my new car in the wrong way.. like i said i really want to DIY, just a bit concerned about the space. As for the glass coating, i did inquire on SG previously and it comes with a 5 year warranty. i was however, advised to do the washing by myself using the 2 bucket system and clay when required. send my car to those car wash places and i would risk scratching the coating. the thing that i forgot to check with them is that what would be the charges should i get some really bad scratches at the car park or stone chips.

the other option for me would be to only wax my car whenever i go back to my hometown. and since i go back quite frequently i think this may work out. i intend to use Meguiar's consumer range products so my detailing plan would be as follows:

1) Weekly washing with Meguiars car wash (Ultimate Wash and Wax or Gold class)
2) Waxing with Ultimate Wax every 2 months
3) Polishing with Ultimate Polish every 4 months (i read that the UP is rather gentle compared to the other paint cleaners, even more when applied by hand)
4) Interior trim detailing every 2 weeks (Quik interior detailer for cleaning and Ultimate Protectant for protection)
5) Exterior trim detailing every week (mostly Ultimate Protectant here)
6) For in between waxes maintenance I'm planning to alternate between Ultimate Quik Wax and Ultimate Quik Detailer after each weekly wash

sounds good for a noobie? or am i being overly ambitious?

This post has been edited by mav3rick: Oct 31 2012, 02:12 AM

sounds good to me. If you have the chance, give Duragloss Aquawax a chance. I favour it a little more to the Ultimate Quik Wax.

Don't forget to ask about their mandatory scheduled maintenance (if any) and the cost for it and whether it would void the warranty if you don't follow that schedule.

Sounds good to me too.
Just a few little suggestions though.

2) & 6) - I haven't tried Ultimate Wax so don't know about it's durability. But, normally, if you do no 6) after each wash or after a couple of washes, the wax *should* last longer than that. But, either way, sounds like a good schedule for me.

4) - Myself, after a good detail of the interior and dressed them up properly, I just use a damp cloth to go over them during my weekly wash or maybe after a couple of washes. Ultimate Protectant is quite durable if used for the interior. You'd really only need to use the quick interior detailer or just plain damp cloth and re-dressing *maybe* monthly, or even longer if well maintained regularly.

Another one, you might want to consider claying before using the ultimate polish (if required).

thanks for the tip bro.. will give the Duragloss a try.

thanks again for your very detailed replies bro KrisMas! very good points for this noob detailer wannabe this gives me a lot of encouragement to really kick start my detailing plan Gonna start of everything by hand and see how it goes. hope to share my progress in future once i've started.

Hey...no sweat man. We're all here to share. Anyway, I was there before...as in staying in an apartment. I know the feeling and predicaments.

I could join in the sifus here for detailing. And for some that have not usr the Megs UW. I use the liquid version. Quite nice. Shiny smooth. Since my car is outside under sun and rain exposure. It last give or take 1 week becoz im weekly washer. And applied them weekly too.

Clay make sure they work to their best. I havent used UP for some time so the major scratches can be seen. Becos the Ultimate dun have filler nor cleaner.

For the love of not using machine. And due to the special Ultimate product line. I applied them all by hand.

Hope that helps. Now..im in this thread because im looking for optimum products lol. Optimum Wax and OPC. Do anyone know who can i contact to get em? Except KC. Need em cheaper and need to post to sarawak. Thanks all sifu

My car is almost 3 years old. Never polish, very rare waxing. I'm not car detailing enthusiasts like you all, but seeing my car now is really frustrating. Huhu. The surface feels rough with swirls, water mark and scratches. Even the windscreen feels rough. I can see tiny2 particle on the surface. I do wash it with meguiar gold class but I know it is not enough. (I only have that actually for my car).

How do I get rid of the roughness? I heard about claying. Is it better to DIY or send it to shop?

-packet of PG Clay - from carefour costs Rm 30
-mix some shampoo and water, and pour into a spray bottle. - doesnt cost much
-old towel to put on the floor while you are working on car - practically free

-practice claying on a small area like side mirror/ boot. when you are comfortable, try on roof etc etc
-if clay drop on towel, can still continue.

If the bar looks like this after 1 panel, can be safe to continue


but looks like this:
better knead the bar until you get a nice clean part


bro krismas and I would usually turn it over to a clean part regardless if its dirty or not.

This post has been edited by junbecks: Nov 1 2012, 04:21 PM