OK. After reading and posting for a few weeks now, I have decided on this process to clean and wax my car. Please tell me if this sounds good or not. Mind you I cant afford Zaino so this seems to be the cheapest way to get a great shine.
1. Normal wash to get big grime off.
2. Wash with Dawn to remove remaining grease and old wax.
3. Mothers clay bar kit.
4. Another Dawn wash.
5. Meguiars Scratch-X to remove swirls and scratches.
6. Meguiars NXT Wax.
7. Final light wash using a normal car wash.
Thanks for your opinions.

 

Terrible!
Wash....
Ditch the Dawn
Clay....
Ditch the Dawn
Ditch the Scratch X...
If your limited to whats available at the local level, go with the Megs Deep Crystal cleaner....
Then NXT.....
Dont wash afterwards.....
Maintain with Gold Class, or NXt wash, or whatever floats your boat Car Wash......
Use a Flash detailer, like Mothers, or Megs Instant detailer....

Actually now that I think about it, the new MOthers products would be a great choice too...........

 

Excel is 100% right........for one thing, washing your car with Dawn is about the worst thing you could do.

 

Everybody else says use Dawn to remove old wax and degrease the paint surface. Heck even the Zaino website says use it. Can all these people be wrong? How else do you strip the old wax without buying an expensive specialty wax-removal product??

 

Clay. Removes anything and everything, and a lot better for you paint surface. After numerous Dawn washes, your clear coat will have taken a beating. It removes all the oils, and can cause premature fading.

I dont care how many people say use Dawn, that shit is for the dishes only. Would you use car wash soap for you dishes? Some people might disagree, but they just havent learned yet. And Zaino, although I have heard its a good product, I think is highly overrated. I've never used Zaino on mine, and its perfect.

 

Well just curious what do you guys think about meguiars Deep Crystal system..i am considering using steps 1 and 2 followed by megs tech wax

 

If thats whats available to you, then go for it.....

 

please remove crap info from that list and add PC - I need to do the whole detailing myself when it warms u[p and I never done it and I am outta money with the group-buy on DVD-conv-kit

 

CLPower suggested to use a 50/50 misture of rubbing alcohol and water as a liquid to remove old wax .. any input?

 

If your not claying or polishing, just going to your sealant, then thats good advice....Some folks like to remove any polishing oils with that method also....

 

then what do you recomend if i want to clay also?

 

Clay, polish and seal.....your product selection is entirely up to you though. I use Four Star, Clearkote and Blackfire products, and am extremely happy with those........

 

that is correct. a mixture of alcohol/distilled water at a 50/50 mix will remove any remaing oils left over from your prep work. i normally spray the vehicle down about two to three times with the mix before applying zaino.