Sarlacc

I just did a clinic with my car club at this place:

http://www.thedetailingpros.com

It was a really great learning experience with a pro who has 40 years in the industry worldwide.

Among other things I am now sold on waterless washing. My car spent two days in the dusty/sandy desert for work this week, and it was chosen to be brought in to the shop.

With the waterless wash my car was clean head to toe in less than 10 minutes with no scratches. I was blown away.

It was Meguairs ultimate wash and wax anywhere. But this guy buys it in bulk and makes his own dilution from concentrate. Consider me sold...I bought his sprayer and the solution which is good for about 25 washes.

And we learned it not just good for paint. It will streaklessly clean glass, and well as clean all the interior parts, leather, plastic, etc.

No more bucket and hose for me...unless I need to really get under the car.

Many of you detail buffs might already know all this, but I did not...and I was so blown away by this (and that is rare) that I wanted to share it again just in case.

Sarlacc

Getting the waterless rub down, I was so amazed.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Megs has really impressed me. They make a great set of products.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Every one looks so happy to be there

Jesstzn

Funny .. you can tell by the crossed arms they aren't buying what he is saying ..

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

You still need a good amount of water if the dirt is caked on. So be really careful with that. Or you'll end up marring your paint.

Drying is where you'll see the most damage so invest in those towels. Also get onto http://www.autogeekonline.net/ if you want to keep learning new stuff. No training in the mid-west so had to learn everything online and I've been running my business ever since.

CleanCLS6

This....is really amazing. Over in Cali they had this stuff called Adam's Spray. I don't think the products are similar at all but it did a great job of keeping a car looking clayed. I need to find me a good white wax/this stuff.

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

Adams spray is the exact same. Its all waterless washing products. The more lubricity the better. Claying only removes bonded contaminants and does nothing for paint shine.

If you want your car looking brand new. Easy
Clay using ONR for a lubricant.
Dry using high pile microfiber towel to prevent marring.
Use sealant or wax to fill in scratches in the paint. Sealant takes longer to cure but lasts for a couple months vs wax that is more glossy and lasts less time.
They can be layered on so 1 day of layering on sealant and wax will make your car look showroom new.
Use spray wax for final shine to keep replenishing the wax coating you've already put on the car.

Do the same in winter to protect your paint from winter crud.
If your paint bead's when went it is hydrophobic and is well protected. If it is sheeting water its not in good shape.

CleanCLS6

Do you know where I can get that sprayer that dude on the left is using? And where I can get the best deal on this stuff?

C8N

You can buy the sprayer at Home Depot in the gardening section.
As for waterless wash concentrate, it is Meguiars D115 Rinse Free Express Wash & Wax

CleanCLS6

Thanks for all of the information guys.
Now I'm not going to make a big deal out of this
(I already made a big drama out of it) but someone
hit the rear bumper It left a spider crack which
seems to have cracked the paint. I'm almost over it but
this is/was a brand new immaculate ride and now I'm feeling
bad. To top it off I rubbed some dirt onto the brand new outer
door molding and now it seems to have scratched that too.

Can this be fixed? I just got "her" on February 25th too...

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

if its a spider crack, you'll have to either get it spot touched by some one who knows what they are doing, or take it to a body shop.

we can look at it on Saturday.

stogie1020

A. you should not be "filling in scratches" temporarily with wax/sealant. You should be polishing them out.

B. those are huge beads. Not what I would call "effective beading"...

C8N

I see nothing wrong with filling in scratches. Tons of people use Meg's M07 just for that purpose.

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

Tiny scratches or marring for a daily driver is normal and I'm not going to correct paint that has very little marring over the 10 years of ownership. Polishing them out takes more paint off and is not an effective solution for a car that see's a lot of use.

Which is why properly protected paint with sealant and wax has an almost perfect finish. Most people on the road don't need and don't want perfect glassy paint. Plus most of them can't maintain it.

What is effective beading exactly?

Based off my experience so far as long as a surface is hydrophobic and water comes off its protected. Any car that's sitting out in a drizzle for a couple hours with a flat surface on the car will cause the water to bead like that.

C8N

Are we going to talk about surface tension now?

stogie1020

It's your choice, but a light polish every 6month to a year apart is not going to strip your car of clear coat.

When the beading on my car looks like it does in your pic, I know it's time to reapply a LSP.

This is what I generally see shortly after LSP application.

C8N

From my experience, I tend to get bigger beads when I use spray wax which I assume is not as hydrophobic as the regular waxes which makes sense because, from my understanding, much of the the hydrophobic characteristics of car wax pretty much comes from the oil in the waxes. Just because there is no or less beading, does not necessarily mean there is no wax. There has been a long debate on how to test for wax and I personally have not found anything too conclusive. There was the squeak test but now a days many are saying that it is a outdated method where not too many people use since it involves using a terry cloth which is pretty much frowned upon by modern day detailers. However, Michael Stoops at Meguiars said that when your MF towel gets grabby when wiping off QD, it is probably a good time to wax your car.

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

Polish still mean's I'm cutting my paint. Unless I'm doing a correction I prefer not doing that.

From what I've seen on my car and client cars as long as it bead's its fine and once it starts to grab or streak that's when I know its time.

What you see in the pic was a layer of sealant and wax and regular spray wax being used whenever the car was washed. Not sure if that affects it any differently though.

Sarlacc

Its an atomizer, you can get them at most hardware stores...the one in the photo has a rotatable nozzle and is supposedly made just for this guy.

We all had blank looks on our face because it was near the end of the class and we just had a lot of info thrown at us.

But yeah...the dude is definitely a bit of a windbag. yap yap yap.

Sarlacc

Wouldn't use it for caked on dirt...since my car is a bit of a garage queen this solution is perfect as it doesn't see the kind of dirt as a daily driver.

For Drying...learned a good technique. spray the area...start with the mf cloth away from you and gently wipe in a motion bringing the cloth closer to you. Little to no pressure...gets the dirt. Then fold over to a clean part of the cloth and go over area again.

Its been working great.