so I keep my NHBP TL mostly garaged and usually don't drive it in the rain either. I washed, polished and waxed a while back. Today I noticed hand prints all over it wtf!. anyway

When I just wash and dry like normal it does not look as good as I prefer. my question is can I wash dry and just wax to bring out that nice clean glossy shine without having to go through all the steps of cleaner polish wax ect?

I am open to any suggestions also.

TIA

 

This is normal. I use Finish Kare FK425 or Wolfgang Instant Detail Spritz. A good spray wax or detail spray is all you need to get that sparkle back.

 

What products are you useing to polish/wax etc?

Maybe they have very short life.

 

I use Meguiar's products at the moment at least until its gone. I use some of there pro stuff cant rem which and the nxt consumer wax. it seems to hold up to the beading water test for a fairly long period. it seems to lose allot of that glossy wet look after a wash and dry.
I am going to try the quick detail or spray wax when I wash it this week see if that resolves my issue.

 

NXT has a very short life and does what your saying. A QD is only going to do minimal.

You said you used a polish .. what was it?


Also Meguiars #21 or Duragloss #105 will do you a lot better that NXT.

 

I do a 3 step after wash and dry. First i use a cleaner its Meguiars pro stuff cant rem the number on bottle I do know its there mirror glaze product. Then a Meguiars polish yellow mayo stuff cant rem # of that either. Then I apply a wax. The past couple of times i used nxt but I have some Meguiars paste I could use. I am sure the paste would last longer. When I get home Ill look and see exactly what it is I use.

 

Ya without the numbers its hard to comment.

 

1 Deep Crystal paint cleaner (could have swore i used yellow pro stuff last time but I cant find bottle)
2 Show Car Glaze #7
sometimes I use Swirl Remover 2.0 #7 last owner introduced allot of swirls and when I feel all enthusiastic I try to work some out.
3 what ever wax i decide to put on which has been nxt last few times

Honestly its a 5 yr old car that the original owner could have done better but its not the worst paint I have ever seen on a 5yr old car. It would be nice If I could find someone I trust to just do a paint correction on it. Like I said in my previous post it stays in the garage and rarely sees rain depending on weather i only drive couple times a week maybe.

 

The paint cleaner is just going to chemically remove some of the conytaminants and really not do a lot for the looks.

The #7 is a glaze and could be part of your problem. It does nothing but fill in some of the very minor micro marring and has a short life.

The NXT has cleaners in it and is most likely removing a lot of the #7.

Swirls are not something your going to remove by hand.

Your best off to either spend the money for a PC and proper pads and polishes or the equal amount for a pro to do it. The advantage to the PC is you have it forever. And you can do yours and the families.

 

I am not familiar with Megs Glaze # 7 but from 15 seconds of reading about it it appears to be a sealant. If you are applying that then using a swirl remover(polisher), you are doing it backwards. You should polish, seal, then wax, not seal, polish, then wax.

 

Cynobite,

You sound like someone willing to invest the time in making your car (I NHB/black too) look awesome.

I would suggest starting with some light reading over at Autopia.org. They have a GREAT intro section here --> http://www.autopia-carcare.com/how-to.html

Read through each subsection before you do anything or buy anything.

Once you have the knowledge, pick your products, try a few out, see if online vendors have samples to see if you like it, do half your hood in one product and the other half in another to compare, etc...

It's a lot of fun! Also, I concur that owning a PC is the best investment you will make, both for polishing out minor defects like swirls and also for evenly applying and removing waxes and sealants.

Don't make any assumptions about products either. I have a liquid wax that is 10 times (or more) durable and long lasting than NXT paste wax... (Collinite 845IW). Looks a hell of a lot better, too, IMO!