Is it? Too bad indeed. I have tried the original Freedom and it's very decent. I guess they see more profit in providing services instead of selling them....unlucky us....

The steps there looks ok, but the way you described your car as 'oxidize' and 'full with swirl, scratch and water marks', sounds like you're in for quite a looooong day there matey, especially when working only with a B&D. I hope you're using a compound pad with it. Good luck and don't forget to share your results/findings with us here ya.

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Added on December 7, 2012, 10:39 amSounds like typical Malaysian businesses desperate to make a sale by scare tactics.....

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Dec 7 2012, 10:39 AM

errr...I think you mean 2 and a half cars WITH HEALTHY PROTECTION. No offence ya...just don't want people to be misinformed/misguided and have too much of an expectaions on the Cobra WW, then they'll be dissapointed.

The Cobra WW is a GREAT drying cloth. I personally have quite a few of them and loving them. Just that if the car's protection/wax/sealant is weak or non-existant, you won't be able to get much water to sheet of the paint, and you'd be having a whole lot of water to dry off the surface. One sedan roof full of water is all it'll take to fill the WW cloth and you'd need to wring it.

But, saying that, for those who really like to take care of their cars' aesthetics, you won't be dissapointed with it. It really SUCKS!!...(...of course I mean water la....hehehe....)

Buy with the kit, you have no choice but to use them. If it suited you then you're fine. If not......
Buy it on it's own, then you have a problem of sourcing for some polishes and pads.....
The answer lies within you.

Nice job there. That's a good start.

If water just sticks to the surface (do not have healthy LSP), no drying cloth of any size would be able to dry the car without wringing. If you have a healthy LSP on the surface and can sheet 80% ~ 90% of the water off, both would be able to dry the car without the need to wring.

I don't know what's the price of the Cobra here, but if you check out both pricing at Autogeek, you'd see that the Water Magnet is cheaper and that's what it is - a cheap drying cloth. It works, but the more expensive Guzzler works better. This is where, I'd say, you'd get what you pay for.

I wouldn't call it 'all hype'. Some of their products are up there with the best, especially some of their Professional and Detailers line of products. Their consumer line (those that sells on the shelf of many lcoal shops) are better than most of the others there. If a shop is using Megs Professinal and Detailers line of products, I'd say they are using one of the best products available. Unfortunately, some of the people who are using them in these shops are another story. To me, these people are are just taking advantage of an already well established brand, but never know how to uphold them. Believe it or not, Autodetailer used to use the full line of Meguiars products, and even if they've already switched to another product line, I still see some of Meguiars products there.

The only problem I see here is people are marketing Meguiars here as an exclusive and premium products, which they are really not. But, that's the price we had to pay after the taxes and levys.

Works for me too. I still can't find any better alternatives for some of the Meguiars products that I'm currently using and fond of, but for a few others, I do, and Water Magnet is one of them. But if you like it, by all means stick with it. Just that you have to keep an open mind though. With time, better products would be coming out. Water Magnet has been around ever since I've started getting serious in detailing, and that was more than 10 years ago. 10 years is a long time for technology to catch up. If you have the chance and can afford one, I think you should try the Guzzler or something similar (which are also available). I actually have 3 Water Magnets and still have 1 that's in it's original package. I don't think I'll be opening it anything soon......hehehe.....

Oh...and there's an even better drying cloth then the Cobra Guzzler......HAHAHAHAHA.......

A couple of pics of water beading on one of my car. Sorry, not many beads, they're quite stubborn and always want to run off....hehehe....





And a crappy video shot with my cheapo hp of water sheeting....

Water sheeting

If you mean LSP, well....I'm starting to feel old and lazy nowadays, so I'm leaning more towards using coatings instead of the normal waxes/sealants. But my favourite combination used to be Zaino Z2Pro and top up with Zaino Z8 after every couple of washes. Optimum Car Wax is also my go-to just because is very convenient to use (as a spray wax), though durability is not as good as the Zainos. But, well, I don't mind that cuz I would more than always top up after every wash or two.

Duragloss Drying Towel (not the waffle weave) and Dodo Juice Supernatural Drying Towel...the latter is as big as a beach towel and can dry a whole bus without wringing!!! (figuratively speaking....hahahaha...)

Since you already have the Meg's Ultimate Compound, you can try a few more rounds of it. If you see the scratches slowly going away that mean you're on the right track. Just keep going. There are not many compound out there which is as aggressive but safe as Meg's Ultimate Compound. And remember, you're working by hand so it'll take more time and effort than using an aggressive machine.

Maybe you should try the UC with a cloth....more aggressive that way...not to mention more control with how large of an area to compound/polish.

hehehe...I leave that honour to some senior members here la. I have zero post counts so I don't think I qualify.....

I nominate mscw88 to start the V2.

Those TW ones are for laquer/paintwork. I don't think they're the same with the Enkay.

Aiyo
Ok la....let me compile a little something over the weekend and see how it goes. Nothing fancy though...thinking of a simple comparison of the few drying cloths that I have since that was the latest interest.

I think what you've done there is actually better and that would make the grit guard unnecessary. Grit guard is normally put into the rinsing bucket (or sometimes in the shampoo bucket) to minimize dirt from coming up again and contaminate your wash media. Since you're using running water, there's really no point for it anymore.

In this kind of weather, the best mean to get max durability out of a wax/sealant is to wash as often as practically possible. Rain or shine, I would wash my cars every weekend and, so far, I have minimal problems (except for getting a mild flu once in a while...hehehe). I know that is a lot to ask, especially for those who haven't got the luxury of a covered parking/porch. But try your best.

More than often enough, I find that the beading deteriorate drastically after only one week in this kind of weather. But, often enough, they would come back after a good wash. So, it could *most probably* mean that the surface is contaminated instead of the wax/sealant failing. Another thing is, I found that in this kind of weather, I would need a stronger dilution of shampoo than normal to decently clean my cars. Strong dilution = strip wax? Well, if it happens, I'd rather top it up (e.g. with something like OCWax or DG Aquawax or any spray topper) than leaving the contaminant to do more damage.

Just my 2 sen worth. Regards.

I have z7, just about as mild as GC. For more cleaning power, I'd suggest you try DG 901 - Car Wash Concentrate or Optimum Car Wash. DG got smaller bottle that you can try 1st, and I think OCWash also got 1lit (32oz) bttl.

Yup. Done it before on my ex - Myvi. I used a mild polish by hand with a foam applicator pad (Meg's M205 - consumer equivalent is Ultimate Polish).

I tell you my fav shampoo when I need that type of 'cleaning power' - Meg's Hyperwash. Unfortunately it only comes in gallons.....

I only did the tail-lamps by hand...didn't plan to do anything else so lazy to bring out and set up my rotary. I did use my rotary for my heavily swirled up Waja tail-lamps. But for that I went for more power and use my rotary with a compound. Came out decent enough too. If yours is just light swirls then you should be looking for something with the aggressiveness of Meg's Ultimate Polish, maybe ScratchX or SwirlX. Or, you can try something more aggressive like TW Rubbing Compound but with lighter pressure....but not sure how that would turn up as never tried before. Anyhow, what car are we talking about? Maybe somebody with experience on the same car can offer better advice.

Hey mav3rick, nice one. Sounded like you broke quite some sweat while having some fun too. Just remember, actually you've just completed the easy part. The more difficult part is yet to come - maintenance and keeping your car looking pristine. I haven't use ULW yet, but from using other liquid sealants, it's when you can clearly see the liquid been applied or the sealant leaving stains, that's the time you should be worry.

So, now you're starting to see the orange peel eh...??? Bad luck my friend, that thing will be bugging you everytime you look at your car....hahahaha. But you're right, removing the OP would probably mean removing too much paint. Wait until you're ready. It took me almost 2 years for me to get the courage to reduce (not remove) them.

You mean from this....sanded...





To this....





MUAHAHAHAHA.......

Well...to tell you the truth. If you really want to go that route and want to DIY, you better really make sure to allocate the time. Those front panels alone (bonnet, left and right front quarter panel) took me one whole day to finish (including coating). But, maybe I'm just slow or just couldn't work as fast as the real pros.....

Hahaha.....What can I say...I was working "Siang Hari" and I guess I'm not so good in hiding things.

The QUICKEST way to reduce OP is by sanding. You can compound/polish them off too but it *could* take longer time/more passes (accept, maybe, if you're using the more recent denim/velvet pads......). And yes, those 'cloudy' reflection you see on the 1st pic is from sanding.

I got a Paint Thinkness Gauge (PTG) that can measure thickness of the paint coatings. It took me a long time to practice and gain the courage and confidence to do it on my own car. Also, I only used 1500 & 3000 grit so, it's quite safe as long as you know what you're doing. If you're used to sanding, you should know that wet sanding with 1500 grit or higher remove only very little paint. I mean, micro marring/swirls are already scratches of those grit sizes. I did take measurements while doing it (but can't seem to find the pictures in my flikr acc to post) and the whole process only removed (if I'm not mistaken) around 3 ~ 5 microns.

Want to read something interesting about sanding? Here's something from a local detailing SIFU.
Sanding vs. Velvet Pad

hehehe...been there...done that....