Well last time I used mcguires gold class paste, no buffer did it by hand it sucked...I washed the car twice to make sure there was no dirt on it, then dried the car thoroughly and applied the wax...well now after lots of reading turns out there lots of stuff I could/should do, like clay bar etc...well I'm not too familiar with this stuff...mechinically my car is perfect, and I need to keep the exterior good too...I plan on probably using zaino this time or perhaps the new mcguires nxt or whatever its called...so what do I need to do to do this right?

 

Oh boy...I'll keep it shorter this time. The first step you've done is to wash it. Use a ph balance soap or Dawn liquid soap.

Now, you need to clean the paint, and you can do that with a claybar, or a #1 paint cleaner from a two or three step wax or synthetic polish system.

For a natural wax (my bias), first it is the cleaner, then the polish, which preps the surface, and then the pure wax(one or up to three coats). There are short cuts you could do, such as a cleaner wax, or a two step system, but I've yielded the best results by taking my time, and doing the full three step process.

After the first three step process, just add wax in coats of one or two at a session until either the end of a warm season, or lets say (if you're in Arizona) after 8 months or up to a year. You can build as many coats as you like as long as the paint surface and wax is clean and it isn't accumulated from a previous year. To be safe, if its natural wax, you will be in ok shape with anywhere from 3 to 8 coats of wax. Good luck.

PS: Once you have your wax on, do not use regular car wash soap or dawn, because it will gradually strip your build up of wax. Use Mother's excellent non wax stripping car wash or an equivalent product.

 

So I assume you wash your car at your housing using the hose? and some sorta thing like that mr clean car wash stuff (which I heard to stay away from because its polymer based and will cause the wax to come off) so what do you use? or do you just get out some rags and hand wash the beast? So three or more coats of wax is ok? and this clay bar stuff I assume I get it at autozone or someplace like that...you just use the clay bar to clean the paint?

 

Mother's non wax strip wash. As for the wax, yes between three and eight. It also depends on your taste, as some will want more wax, especially if the car is outside. Your car's paint will only require a moderate amount to be safe. I will hate to tell you how many coats I use, because it may not be the right thing to advise you. You should just stick to the minimum and go up or down as you see it.

What was the other question...oh yes clay. That should absolutely be before the wax, use it once. I am partial to polish paint cleaners though. If your paint is heavily pitted with dirt, then the clay will help out a lot (I still use paint polish cleaner).

You should decide whether you want to do it by hand or machine. I prefer the old fashioned way. No swirl marks! Get going!

PS: I always wash by hand....never thru the car wash. The cavalier, now that's a different story...

 

I'm surprised that liquid soap doesn't just cause problems with the clear coat or something...but I'll pickup some dawn liquid soap...what do you use to scrub the car? I used to use towels on my IROC when I hand washed it....

so lets see if I have this right

1. wash
2. dry
3. clay bar
4. wax
5. wipe off
6. repeat 4 and 5 three or four more times
7. apply some sorta polish

sorry to be such a dumbass, but I seriously didn't know so much went into this...in the past all I did was wash the cars down and apply the wax and never had any issues...same thing my dad always did (cept I can remember him using what was probably a clay bar from time to time)

 

I would suggest a swirl remover/polish of some sort after the claying. this will reduce swirls and create gloss, then you seal it and protect it with the wax

 

No matter what wax or polish you use, you NEED to clay bar the car first, this will make using ANY kind of wax or polish much, much, much easier as the application and removal of said product will be 10 times less effort than before claying due to the new found smoothness of the paint...

 

Wax on, Wax off I'm surprised no one else said that.

 

O.k. Here's the order that you should do it in

1. wash with dawn dishwashing detergent (removes grime and a bunch of other nastys
2. use the clay bar over the car (READ THE DIRECTIONS)
3. use a mild liquid paint cleaner such as Mequirs
4. use a liquid polish (not white polishing compound or anything heavy)
5. wax car using the wax of your choice

Remember dont do any of this in direct sunlight or if the car is hot.

This is the stuff I use:

Mothers clay bar (used only occasionally on "Problem" areas, It does take a little clear coat off when you use it)

Mequiars Deep Crystal paint cleaner
Mequiars deep crystal polish
Mequiars NXT (formally used Mequiars Gold Class)
Mequiars NXT Spray Wax (for quickies)
Mequirs NXT CAr Wash (formally used Blue Coral Car Wash)

After 10 years+ my car still looks like this (with original paint)

http://thebargaingallery.net/html/z28.html

 

Its ok ask away. It isn't as complicated as it looks, just take your time, get yourself into a routine that you can live with, and use proven products. No scrubbing on your paint whatsoever...don't pay attention to the guys at the carwash!! Use 100% cotton terry wash cloths, lukewarm water and your favorite mild car wash solution, and use thorough rinsing before drying.

Use Dawn only once to dissolve top layers of wax, however, (I stay away from as many abrasives as possible, so..) I prefer a ph balanced car wash to start the waxing process. It is up to you whether you should use clay. It does help in getting particles off of the car, but in my opinion it isn't the required step unless your paint is heavily contaminated. You still have to deep clean with a buff clearcoat cleaner in getting ALL of the wax and dirt off as the first step.

I believe you have a good grasp of everything else. The short of it is...clean, and buff your paint ONCE per season, use a neutral polish to sweeten the paint once (if your paint is really good you can skip this too), and most important, finish with a PURE wax (or final coat polish with synthetics). Then just layer as you see fit until the season is over.

For washing/cleaning, while you have wax on, use a mild car wash that is wax friendly. You will be in great shape if you keep this routine. Great, now get started!