I've been waxing my car with some turtlewax carnauba paste wax ever since I got my TL. I guess a month ago I saw an article about paste wax being the most difficult to apply and it doesn't last very long. I would like to try mothers reflections advanced wax, but I would like to know what I have to do to get the car ready for a synthetic wax. I don't want to use dawn

 

Excellent choice....All you need to do is clean the surface. You can do this a couple ways.
1. If you are pleased with the way the paint looks, all you need to do is clean it, with some paint cleaner. There are many available OTC i.e. Meguiars Deep Crystal, Mothers, and theres probably a couple more, just make sure it says paint cleaner.
2. If you need to rid the surface of some light swirls, go with a polish, again, Mothers or Meguiars....
3. Products available online are generally of better quality, vs. the "consumer" grade varieties....these are so called "boutique" products, i.e. Poorboys World, Four Star, Blackfire, Cleakote to name a few. All of the above manufacturers make cleaners, polishes and sealants....
Will you be detailing by hand or PC ?

 

Meguiar's Deep Crystal Polish is a chemical polish though... So you won't remove swirls but actually hide them.

exceldetail, are you from the exceldetail website that sells the Propel Polishing pads?

 

unfortunately I don't have a PC so I'll be stuck doing everything by hand. I'm used to it anyway. I'm pretty satisfied with the paint because its a daily driver and doesn't have to be perfect (its got a few micro scratches and some rock chips). If that's all that's wrong with the paint, good. ill do some research on the paint cleaners and definately consider the brands you recomended.
thanks a lot!
I've got the interior perfect, now to finish off the exterior

 

Correct, thats why I added if he was happy with the looks, he could go straight to a cleaner....Actually a cleaner wont do anything to hide them as cleaners dont contain any fillers..
Yes...

As for the cleaners, give the Megs Deep Crystal a try......

 

That's great. I wanted to ask you a question about pads. I'll PM you.

 

One more thing, the wax says it has mild cleaners so I shouldn't layer this product? And if I use just this wax, it will last for a while and provide a good amount of protection, right?

 

kind of rule of thumb, if its has mild cleaners, its probably not adviseable to attempt layering. Go for two coats though to insure adequate coverage.

 

I'm getting around to ordering the stuff, If i let the carnauba wax wear off of the paint (which doesn't take much), will the mild cleaners in the new wax just get rid of the remaining carnauba and I don't have to buy any polish?