shaheed

cool idea of using the clay bay while washing, i'll have to try that.

Mighty Shilling

nice work on the detail!

when I clay, I use the wash as the clay lube too... I also for a while was using magic wash... it's good for that...

RKD in OKC

I really like the Zaino Bros stuff. It last so much longer than any carnuba based wax. I usually have my detailer Zaino my car once a year and I keep it alive with the Z6 gloss enhancer with and between washings. The water here in OKC is nasty. It is so hard it will scratch the surface if you hand wash and leaves a hazey film. The Z6 cleans the post wash haze without scratching and glosses it up good.

I used to like the Mother's 3 step followed with Mothers Pure Carnuba (cake in a can). The Mothers wash worked well with it and the detail spray worked good. But it didn't last past the second wash (or two months whichever comes first).

The more coats of Zaino you put on the glossier it gets. On the third application of Zaino it was so glossy I couldn't see where I had applied the next coat.

Ballistic-Chapman

Car looks great! I highly recommend Meguirs Rubber Shine for the interior/exterior rubber if your trying different products.

RogueM3

As camps exist on just about any car board, they exist on detailing boards as well. I say this as Zaino either has a LOYAL following or immediately turns people off. I for one dont like the look Zaino gives, as I find it to be too "plasticky" looking: Intense shine, zero depth.

The fact that Zaino is a sealant explains why it lasts so much longer than a wax. Caranuba based waxes are generally seen as lasting/beading strongly for between 8-12 weeks, at which point they need a reapplication. Sealants on the other hand are good for upwards of 6 months. (pretty much all of them: Zaino, Klasse SG, 4*, PoorBoys, WolfGang, etc)

FWIW, On a freshly washed/ prepped black car, NOTHING beats the blinding shine provided by Zaino. (atleast in my opinion)
The mothers 3-step is one of the products designed to look great on the shelf and in descriptions, though only manages to provide so-so results, IMO. (results the average guy who washes his car 1x a year would be thrilled with) I find nearly all of the products sold at WalMart or the equivalent are going to be that way. (with the exceptions of some tire products and Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish) This is pretty obvious as most of the scratch-removal products are designed to be used by hand, and unless you are superman, you arent going to take out swirls by hand; only fill them with oils providing the appearance of removed swirls.


Back to clay: I remember hearing (when I first started in 2002 or so) about how easily clay could mar paint and needs to be done carefully and for that reason, when I used to clay I would go SUPER slow and use an excessive amount of lube. After you get a feel for how clay works, its VERY obvious when you need more lube or when you have slightly too much on a panel, so dont be afraid to try the mid-wash claying as the clay will grab and start to seperate if the panel isnt moist enough.