Detailed Designs

What do you say GT3 Rennlist'ers? Do you have any requests for some Do-It-Yourself content on caring for paint, leather, alcantara, wheels, plastic, etc. for your cars? I am happy to draw up some videos or articles to cover some car care subjects. I can guess what will be of value to members or I can ask...so here I am asking.

GiuseppeM

Detailed Designs

Good question.
In short:
Water based products are generally better than products rich in petroleum distillates. Those oilier products tend to break down the plasticizers(not so commonly referred to as elasticizers as well) in rubbers and plastics. This is pretty much accurate across the board for interior plastics as well.

Here's an article I wrote a few years ago explaining how to do a great job with tire care along with links to purchase said products if needed:
How to clean and apply tire dressing that will not sling

GiuseppeM

Thanks for the reply, do you have a particular product that you can recommend?

fskof

What do you recommend for cleaning alcantara?

neurotic

wareaglescott

what would you use to protect light colored leather? Chalk in my case?

Detailed Designs

I included links to the products I prefer in the article.

It's not quite as simple as just a product for on-going alcantara care. First, if we consider that alcantara is intended to provide a superior gripping surface we can recognize a couple things.
·The first is that alcantara works best when the fibers are standing up.
·The next thing to consider is what causes alcantara to flatten out and get slick? Dirt and oil getting embedded as well as pressure applied over time.

Awareness goes a long ways in keeping oils and dirt out of the fibers and alcantara looking better for longer. Are you sweaty or do you have dirty hands? Clean them before driving to keep a steering wheel cleaner for longer. Do you have alcantara inserts in the seats or on your arm rests? Refrain from using lotions on your skin if they are going to be laying on alcantara surfaces(same goes for leather and vinyl surfaces really...) If the fibers are compressed and laying tightly together, chances are you've already enjoyed the car to a large measure and are likely to have oils and dirt built up too. So how does one begin to clean alcantara?

Do you have clean compressed air? Use it. Regular use of air pressure alone can lift dirt and rustle the fiber's jimmy's enough(lol sorry, I couldn't help myself) that they will improve. Want to kill 2 birds with 1 stone while you're blasting your alcantara once a month? Blast your carpet fibers. Compressed air knocks deeply embedded debris free with the quickness.

Still have slightly ratty looking alcantara and want to give it a next-level cleaning? I am a big fan of SONAX products and this one right here, SONAX Upholstry and Alcantara Cleaner (<<----one of my affiliate links. Feel free to purchase if you feel so inclined) is really great stuff. Be sure to use gentle brushes to agitate the fibers as well as a quality microfiber towel to wipe away the slurry of goo(no terry cloth towels). Short-haired horse hair brushes are fantastic. This is one I use for fine leather, fabrics as well as my fine leather shoes: Raggtopp Horse Hair Brush Buyer beware. There are many products that look similar and make claims to be quality products but I have personally experienced many of them and you get what you pay for. If you want to save $2-6 on a brush, there are others on Amazon cheaper but I don't trust them. Many times you get plastic bristles and not real horse hair. Just a heads up on that.

Hope this frames up alcantara care well for you.


Use what works!

For the DIY, use Leather Master Soft Cleaner, Vital and Protection Cream with a short-hair horse hair brush like this one Raggtopp Horse Hair Brush. **edit**: Whoops! I got into some non-DIY stuff. Sorry about that!

Hope this helps!

fskof

Thanks! I will try the compressed air.

Seth Thomas

Give us some advice on wash and dry techniques you find to work well for everyone between visits to shops like yours.

I have seen some videos or comments on forums with differing views of how to wash and dry properly. When doing so give us some links to products you like to use for each step of the process.

OldGuy

mooty

OP started great thread. i am sure he will answer these two question in a more complete response. as an ex pro detailer.... LOOOOOOOOOOONG AGO. and current lazy a**, here is my "realistic and quick" way to do it

paul, it depends on how **** you are. most ppl think they are **** but they really aren't. ALL new cars paint are junk. we look at paint with my eye ***** about 1-2" from the paint and usually use very very very high intensity focus beam of light to see it. you wont believe the amount of swirl that's on ur car.

1. hire pro to do it. a decent paint correction job is about 16 man hour at the MINIMUM. that is just the paint on the main panels. if you are insane like me, i have every painted surface corrected. that mean door jambs, underside of hood, under side of front bumper, underside of deck lid, back of CF seats....you do NOT want to know how long that would take.... but a REAL pro can provide really good result in 10-16 man hours. now if the car is black... SELL IT.

2. if you must do it yourself, clay and wax is your friend. they will conceal defect temporarily but it's easy for amateurs to do. i would not touch a orbital and start CORRECTING a new p car unless you have over 100 hours with the machine on a pinto before. i have seen correction gone wrong.... OFTEN.

3. once paint is "corrected" wrap it.

4. every time you wash the car you are scratching it. i dont care how good you are or how careful you are. but at least you are now scratching the film not the paint.



the correct way takes too long. let the pro's do it
once the pro have the car prepped, get it "coated"
then your life is eaiser.
if you are 50-100 miles driven and car is not too dirty, mix your fav liquid wax with detailer spray car and wipe down with high end micro fiber towels. not all MF are created the same. costco sell MF made of sand paper. the good stuff are so soft you wife will want it for her skin. usually $3-4 a piece. and use lots of it. 10 towels or so per car per wipe. the cleaner the towel the less damage to your car.
if you car is dirty or driven more than 100 miles prior to the wash, the WASH it with water, soap cannon (needs pressure washer). hose the car wet. shoot it with soap cannon (not under direct sunlight and car is cool), let soap sit a min or two. then use soft towel/mitt ligtly glide over soap. then pressure wash soap off. dry it with something like "master blower" not a leaf blower. that will get your car 90% dry in 20 min. then spray your fav mix of detailer and or liquid wax on car and wipe dry with MF towel. remmeber use a lot of towels....

sounds scary. but after few times, you can do it quickly. i can do my dually in 45 min.

caveat: coating helps maintenance and make washing eaiser but it has an artificial shine like saran wrap vs. the warm glow of wax. on cars i dont drive much i use wax. on DD i use coating. but on cars that i use wax (my 4.0 for example) a wash could take 8 hours. so.... decide how **** you want to be then OP can provide the type of DIY you need. not all washes are the same.

GiuseppeM

Are you talking about nano ceramic coating or PPF? I didn't know nano coating took away the natural waxed paint shine

Detailed Designs

Hey, what's up Seth! Sure thing.

Here is a short & sweet version:
·I prefer to wash wheels, wheel wells and tires first. They're typically the dirtiest areas and I don't want that junk splashing onto my clean paint. A DIY tutorial video on wheel cleaning. It's one of my oldest videos so go easy on me! Links to products used are in the link's description.



1) Start by flushing away loose particles with water.
2) A primary cause of surface defects is driving dirt into or across the surface with pressure and lack of lubricity. After a pre-rinse, follow up with using the ideal chemicals to break down surface contaminates instead of using heavy hand pressure. For bugs, normal road film and common dirt, use a quality degreaser like P21S Total Auto Wash. (Be sensitive to how warm the surface of the car is before you use anything on it and always flush away chemicals thoroughly)
3) Use grit guards in your buckets to limit exposure to dirt in your wash media. I am not going to link anyone to just buckets because, quite frankly, um...."buckets" lol. For anyone wanting a one-stop solution for grit guards, buckets and pretty sweet dolly's for rolling the filled buckets around, this package will hit the mark for you and it also includes a screw on lid. I purchased this about 10'ish years ago and I still use this thing.
4) Use multiple buckets. One that will have a mix of shampoo (like SONAX Shampoo) and fresh water that will be used to wash the vehicle. And then a different bucket that will be used to, pretty much, wash the mitt before you place it back in the shampoo mix. This limits cross contamination, keeps your solution used on the car cleaner and greatly reduces marring on paint.
5) Quality mitts ONLY for your paint. Here are a few options(use what works best for you) micro-finger mitt(at this price you should be buying quite a few to rotate them out and for throwing away as needed), synthetic-wool wash pad(these are nicer) and these are my favorites right now. Recognize that wash mitts, like microfiber towels, have a lifespan. The more you use them, the more exposure they have to contaminates and the more abuse they see, the faster they deteriorate. Replace regularly and as necessary. Over use your wash mitt and continue using it on your paint and you'll create damage. Choose your poison....replace cheap wash mitts or have intensive paint correction performed....
6) Oh, you have something that didn't clean off well even after the wash? Go back to step 2. DO NOT USE HEAVY PRESSURE.
7) Dry with quality microfiber towels and/or forced air. Do not use a 2-cycle blower on your paint. Vac N Blow's are awesome for blow drying. And for those wanting to use microfiber towels, these are acceptable. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER USE TERRY CLOTH, COTTON OR CHAMOIS' ON YOUR PAINT.

These are just general rules and there are an infinite variety of nuances but I figure this advice alone will upgrade most member's washes. When I can make some time, I will put a video together on the subject. Typically, I invite clients back for a one-on-one hand's on wash clinic after we service their cars. So I've not really had a need for a video. :P

Dr. Ferdinand

Hi Jean Claude, hope this is not a partial thread jack as it is not a GT question per se (or it can be many yrs from now ), but what would be your advice on taking off the factory clear rock guard strips on what is now my 20yr old 993 C4S? Want to replace them with new ones but have heard horror stories of this being a major PITA (not peeling easily and coming out in short fragments with glue left behind, resulting in a multi-hour painstaking job).

Then should there be any differences in the paint itself between covered/uncovered area, tips on getting those sections to 'blend' easier (if at all possible as obviously on the uncovered section outside the stone guards was exposed to sun all this time vs the one under the vinyl). TIA!