adversary

i'll give it a try. the foam applicators are good to go once i get them? i don't have to do anything to them?

1. wash car with ONR
2. dry car
3. clay bar (still not planning to do it)
4. Use Scratch X 2.0
5. use optimum opti-seal

is this the correct plan?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

this is how i started....asking questions and learning about washing..

now, I'm detailing cars on the side.
Good Luck adversary!!!!

Jesstzn

If your not planning to clay then you could be setting yourself up to mar your car more using the ScratchX. There is a possibility that contaminats that could be removed and encapsulated by the clay will be disslodged by the ScratchX and because they will be in the applicator they can mar the clear.

Not to be rude but your derailing yourself in this thread by overthinking it and combining advice.

First off you don't wash your car with ONR "then" dry it. with ONR you wash a panel then dry "that" panel then continue one a panel at a time. Once that is done you Clay bar the car. Next is ScratchX and I'll tell you unless your 250 Lbs with gorilla arms your going to accomplish nothing with it on the whole car. Its for very small "scuff" correction. Next step is to clean the surface with a paint cleaner or a mix of 50/50 rubbing alcohol & distilled water so the sealant has a good clean surface to bond to.

adversary

alright, you've convinced me to clay bar.

in terms with scratch X, i have one very thin paint scratch on my driver door. i stupidly scratched the car myself. i had my keys in my right hand and used the same hand to open the door. as the door opened, the ends of my keys caused one hairline scratch on the paint. isnt' scratch X going to get rid of this?

if i clay bar, i knead the bar until it's flat. then, i prime the clay bar with 2-3 spritzes of the lubricant that they give to you. once i do that, i spray the same lubricant onto the car paint and glide the clay bar around. do i have to use a microfiber towel to dry?

is the distilled water and rubbing alcohol completely necessary? i'm just going to use Opti-seal.

thanks for the help, jess and others

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I never "prime the clay"
I spray QD or use the soapy water from the wash as a lubricant.
Glide the clay on your car, it will feel rough and as you make more passes it will feel smoother.
yes, take a MF towel after you've done one section.

Jesstzn

No its not ... don't bother ...

1islandparadise

Yes I am! I will be going this weekend to look at a Termi. I will have to try that claybar out. Black is such a hard color to maintain.

adversary

i don't mean to reject the suggestion. i am just not familiar with this process at all. ever since i found out that my car's paint is water-based and people saying that the paint is "as soft as soft-served ice cream" i've been extremely paranoid about my tsx's paint. where do i even get the distilled water?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

from the grocery store.

as far as your soft served tsx, Most mistakes that you make are easily corrected.
just keep playing with some of these ideas that are being tossed around. eventually you'll pick up a procedure that you came up with by yourself.

exceldetail

Scratch X ? What color car did you say?
Isnt Autogeek assisting you in your purchase?

adversary

actually, i havent even spoken to anyone on autogeek yet. my car is crystal pearl black (2010 TSX)

exceldetail

Oh for cryin out loud.... I dont care if its Pep Boys.....you need support with what you buy.
Optiseal is great, on a well prepared surface, but then again, so is Turtle Wax. Short of reading this entire thread again, whats your objective?

• Protection
• Appearance
• Ease of use
• Customer service with your purchase
• Not break the bank
• All of the above

Should be all of the above!
Have you read any of the detailing intros on car care in this forum? It just seems like these issues are discussed monthly on here.

adversary

i've only read the first thread made by you that is stickied on the forum. most of my research is this forum and reading reviews of the products on amazon and autogeek

adversary

I finally opti-sealed my car just now.

Before I did so, I did use a clay bar. Today was my first time ever using a clay bar system and the opti-seal paint sealant.

I used Meguiar's Clay Bar System. I am not sure if I did this correctly but it really was not that hard to do. I did miss a lot of small spots but I think that is okay. The clay bar really did pick up a lot of stuff. I was amazed. There was a ton of contaminants on my rear bumper just under my license plate. I heard a ton of sounds there when I was gliding the clay bar over. I was worried that the clay bar would scratch the car but I don't think it did. I lubed all the areas well; I sprayed like 4-5 of the Meguiar's Quik Detailer to make sure there was enough lubrication. The microfiber that came with the clay bar system was not very good; there was a lot of lint. I used a cobra microfiber towel instead.

After I used a clay bar, I just went straight to the opti-seal. There was a ton of streaking. I went from panel to panel. Each panel had streak marks, so i had another cobra microfiber towel and wiped them out. i used a yellow foam applicator to apply the opti-seal onto my car. i barely used any pressure. i just glided the applicator over the paint. when i felt that the applicator was out of the opti-seal, i spritzed more onto it.

anyway, the job's done. thanks for the help guys. is there anything i did that may have been a concern?



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us