My wash and wax routine....
07-22-2001, 12:51 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
My wash and wax routine....
Since Jeff had asked a question about waxing, I thought I'd post my wash & wax routine for my midnight blue 2 C2 coupe. This is what I've found to work well for my dark colored car, but please let me know if you think there are better techniques or products.
1. Wash with Dawn to remove all old wax (I use P21S for interim washings) then dry.
2. Use Mothers Clay. If you've never clayed your car, I think you'll be amazed at the difference. It cleans the contaminants off the surface of the paint and restores lustre. Your paint may feel smooth and clean but it's probably not as clean as it could be if you haven't clayed. And it will not damage your paint as long as you spray plenty of quick detailer on the paint (included with the Mothers Clay kit). Try clay on a small part of your car and compare it to an unclayed part of the car.
3. Apply and buff out Klasse All in One. Repeat.
4. Apply, wait 20 minutes, then buff out Klass Sealant Glaze. Repeat twice.
5. Blitz wax. This is optional, but it adds some depth and gloss. The Klasse products will protect the paint.
I typically don't use a dedicated swirl removing product since the Klasse combo pretty much fills in the swirls.
For the tires, I prefer a shiny look so I use Meguiars High Endurance. I've tried Vinylex and Blackagain but the Meguiars gives a higher gloss that lasts a while.
Also, I only use microfiber pads and towels to apply and remove products I use on the paint (Klasse, wax).
I used to wash, apply 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, then wax, but the paint never looked as glossy or deep as I expected. My current routine produces *much* better results, with the biggest difference resulting from the use of clay. The only downside is that it takes an entire day to do all of this, but at least the Klasse products last for 6 months.
Did I mention that I highly recommend clay?
1. Wash with Dawn to remove all old wax (I use P21S for interim washings) then dry.
2. Use Mothers Clay. If you've never clayed your car, I think you'll be amazed at the difference. It cleans the contaminants off the surface of the paint and restores lustre. Your paint may feel smooth and clean but it's probably not as clean as it could be if you haven't clayed. And it will not damage your paint as long as you spray plenty of quick detailer on the paint (included with the Mothers Clay kit). Try clay on a small part of your car and compare it to an unclayed part of the car.
3. Apply and buff out Klasse All in One. Repeat.
4. Apply, wait 20 minutes, then buff out Klass Sealant Glaze. Repeat twice.
5. Blitz wax. This is optional, but it adds some depth and gloss. The Klasse products will protect the paint.
I typically don't use a dedicated swirl removing product since the Klasse combo pretty much fills in the swirls.
For the tires, I prefer a shiny look so I use Meguiars High Endurance. I've tried Vinylex and Blackagain but the Meguiars gives a higher gloss that lasts a while.
Also, I only use microfiber pads and towels to apply and remove products I use on the paint (Klasse, wax).
I used to wash, apply 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, then wax, but the paint never looked as glossy or deep as I expected. My current routine produces *much* better results, with the biggest difference resulting from the use of clay. The only downside is that it takes an entire day to do all of this, but at least the Klasse products last for 6 months.
Did I mention that I highly recommend clay?
07-27-2001, 06:30 PM
#3
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Drew -- that sounds like a solid process -- I have 3 "dings" to remove from the hood and I'm going to give my car, thanks to all the input from this site, the best wax job its ever seen.
07-29-2001, 10:04 PM
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Drew,
Went and got some Mothers Clay Treatment yesterday and tried it out today. Love It. You are absolutely right about thinking your car is clean but not compared to after the clay treatment. Like most, at first I thought “Clay”, isn’t that like mud? I’ll not be rubbing down my car with mud. I was wrong. The clay is silky smooth and really cleans the surface of the paint. Just be very careful not to drop the clay on the ground or it’s ruined. I made sure I didn't drop mine Thanks for the info. Mark
Went and got some Mothers Clay Treatment yesterday and tried it out today. Love It. You are absolutely right about thinking your car is clean but not compared to after the clay treatment. Like most, at first I thought “Clay”, isn’t that like mud? I’ll not be rubbing down my car with mud. I was wrong. The clay is silky smooth and really cleans the surface of the paint. Just be very careful not to drop the clay on the ground or it’s ruined. I made sure I didn't drop mine Thanks for the info. Mark
08-01-2001, 02:23 AM
#5
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Mark,
I'm happy to hear you liked the results. I was skeptical also, but the stuff just plain works. I usually break off about 1/6 of the bar and use that until it's too dirty. Plus (as you warned) I've dropped the clay on the ground before, and it's not as upsetting to toss a little piece away as opposed to the whole bar.
So you have Guards Red? Check out the Klasse products (All In One and Sealant Glaze). They've given my midnight blue paint a mirror like shine.
I'm happy to hear you liked the results. I was skeptical also, but the stuff just plain works. I usually break off about 1/6 of the bar and use that until it's too dirty. Plus (as you warned) I've dropped the clay on the ground before, and it's not as upsetting to toss a little piece away as opposed to the whole bar.
So you have Guards Red? Check out the Klasse products (All In One and Sealant Glaze). They've given my midnight blue paint a mirror like shine.
