Hey Azine,

im here needing some advice. With school and work keeping me hella busy, ive been neglecting my car a bit. Ive been wanting to wax my car, and ive been wanting to do this myself to save some cash. so i bought the meguiars deep crystal system. this is my dilema, i want to do this process by hand because 1) i dont have a waxing maching and 2nd) i dont wanna ruin my paint job.

there are 3 steps to this system........the paint cleaner, the polish, and the carnauba wax. Can anyone please help me in explaining how i can get the best results using this product. keeping in mind im doing this by hand!!! i dont mind doing this process more than once, i just wanna know if its better to one step more than once before applying the next step.

thanks azine

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/wash-wax-23/

 

just follow the direction and you should be ok!!!!!!

 

cleaner- polish- wax
done

it all goes on wax on wax off, work a few square feet at a time, read directions on box or on makers website
See Off Topic link, Wash and Wax sections

Get a claybar kit and use it first to remove most of the surface crud roughness, leaves paint feeling like glass
then the paint cleaner will get the rest of that contamination off and reveal true color of car again

the polish takes out surface scrathes to the clear coat, swirls etc
and the final wax is a protector and shine maker

 

get some synthetic car wax too- carnuba melts off easily at 110F and needs to be replaced every month in most areas

synthetic has higher melt point by 100f and stays on 3-6 months

use it on the rims to keep brake dust down too

 

Actually you want to WASH your car first, using the two bucket method before claying. The two bucket method is one bucket for soap and another to rinse. Did your wash mit in the soap, wash car and then rinse mit in rinse bucket. This keeps the dirt out of the soap bucket and off your car.
So, Wash, Clay, Cleaner, Polish and Wax.

Give yourself plenty of time as this will take a few hours. But the results will be awesome. So, turn up your boombox and have fun.

 

^^ +1 on both claybar and two-bucket method. I used to use the Crystal system and it works great. Now switched to the Meguiars pro system, but the Crystal is pretty solid to start with. I clay mine about twice a year and use soapy water rather than the lubricant since it will get washed anyway.

 

Took me about 5 hours to detail my car so yeah you are definitely gonna need the time if your doing it by hand. I did it with a buffer and still took 5 hours.

 

I use two 5 gal buckets but I have both filled with shampoo and my first bucket has a grit guard at the bottom.

 

i spray the mitt off after washing each section. that way you don't keep putting it back in a bucket with dirt in it. haven't done the claybar/wax yet though... 5 hours is a long time.

 

^yeah thats caused I washed the car twice, clay barred it then washed again, rubbing compound, then polishing compound then wax. Trust me it was a pain.

 

if i found a detail shop willing to do all that i'd definitely pay for it. i like washing my car and detailing the inside but not THAT much... we'll see though... i'll probably end up doing it myself

 

Be careful who you pick, most of these lower end shops just polish, use glaze to fill in most of the deeper stuff, and usually just put on some cheap, regular wax that's going to wear off in a few days.

 

yeah that's what i'm worried about. gotta do my research first... or just suck it up and do it myself.