Money2536

That just made me laugh out loud.

Mojo31

The trick is to see what the camera sees, which is different than what we see.

We see what we want to see - the pretty thing that is the focus of our attention. The camera sees that plus the pole growing out of the top of her head, the pile of junk on the ground, and so forth. The photographer needs to see all of that stuff plus the way in which light hits things, and then manipulate the site and the light to achieve the shot he envisions.

And, if all else fails there is Photoshop.

Ezkill

Great thread and excellent chronicling of the process that you use. Huge thumbs up for creating this very educational and well put together thread.

Wondering if I can get your input on a few things:

1) Your feelings on the Wolf Trim coating. I have maybe a dozen trim restore/protection products and they all seem to have a flaw. The best one I've found so far is Poor Boys World. Goes on easy, leaves a nice gloss, doesn't streak or run and has UVA and UVB protection. I haven't tried the Wolf. I thought I had but I just went to the garage and looked and it's Wolfgang not Wolf. The Wolfgang stuff was fine but even following the instructions it left a black mess on the car for 2-3 subsequent washes so I stopped using it.

2) The wax you're using. I've been stuck on Swissvax PTFE for a while. Found it's lasting 5-6 months on outdoor parked vehicles and almost a year on garaged vehicles. It's also great for glass and headlights so that's cut out a step of doing those with a different product. Has a really deep and wet shine as well. Always willing to try something new. Just don't want to do it blindly looking at the cabinet full of waxes in the garage. Easing up a bit on trying one of each.

3) Nanoskin. I went ahead and purchased the same Nanoskin set you where using and waiting for it to arrive. I'll test it on my wife's car as it's due for a clay bar and polish. She has it washed at work so it will need a more aggressive cut that will start with Menzerna FG 400(Best polishes around IMO). Have you had any holograms with the Nanoskin or any other issues? Seems much faster and more efficient then claying but I have read that people have had hologram issues. I assume it's due to improper lubrication or technique.

Money2536

...

Ezkill

Thanks for the responses. That's more or less what I thought. I'll try out the Wolf's as it not a product I've had. Poor Boy's will always be a good fall back as it's not a glossy finish either and lasts quite a long time. But I'm always looking for a product that's better!

I agree that it would probably be hard to spot the difference between the PTFE and Desire. Seems once you get to a certain quality threshold in wax it's not just about the finish but about the staying power. I did try out the Crystal Rock as well and at 1,500 dollars a can it just simply wasn't worth it. Fantastic wax with great staying power but frankly it's just nowhere close to 7-10 times better to justify the cost.

Good news on the nanoskin as well. I'm going to stick with the fine as any problems with holograms seem to be related to the medium grade. I can't imagine a scenario with our cars where the red would be needed anyway. Despite the fact that she washes the car at work and that's created a lot of micro scratches the paint is decently smooth and wouldn't need a more aggressive "claying" anyway. If it where to create any holograms or problems the FG 400 will take them out anyway. If this works half as well as I think it will it's going to be highly worth it. I've never been a giant fan of the manual claying process. It's so tedious and time consuming. Random orbital "claying" process is simply the best thing since sliced bread!

Thanks again for your previous input.

Dr Awan

So I just spent the night working and in between Patient's and paperwork read this thread from page 1 to page 24 watching most of the video's you posted also. I think it was time well spent.

I did just get my C2S about a month ago and I can notice the effects of the dealer washing it while it sat on the lot. I'm hoping to get to work this weekend using Menzerna SF4000, Sealant, Glaze and try out dodo juice supernatural wax. I've done diamond white dodo juice wax on my previous car which was white and absolutely loved the coverage. Have you ever tried any of their products? I digress...

Great Thread; I'm in love with your garage setup btw; the TRUE man-cave.

Money2536

Thanks man! Congrats on the car. What do you mean whe you say Glaze? An old-school glaze was designed to fill the imperfections in the paint. If you get the paint corrected with the polish, you shouldn't need any fillers. I'd stick with the sealant topped with the carnuba Dodo Juice.

phil996cab99

I just re-read your wash process (post #20 onward). Thank you for the details on which towels and why.

Question- if your car was black (mine is), do you think you'd change anything in your wash process?
2 things come to mind for me:
1. It looks like you use the same mitt for bumpers as hood, doors, etc. Must be due to how clean your car is. Benefit is fewer buckets to manage, which is great.
2. Mitt movement only front-to-back was drilled into me by a teacher long ago, to prevent circular swirls. Looks like you're not constrained by that one, again due to how clean your car is.

Thanks!

Money2536

I use the same sponge on the entire car. We have sand everywhere in FL, so the foam helps. Part of the purpose foaming the car is to pull/loosen the heavy stuff, so there shouldn't be much big stuff left on the paint. I'd do it the same way with a dark colored car.

I hear you about the two buckets. It's more work, but I think it's well worth it.

I don't think about it much, but I agree with you about circular motions . The key is to not use any pressure. Just wipe a bit and flip. Obviously there is more dirt on the bottom panels, so I'm just more careful to only do small sections at a time before rinsing the pad.

Augustomf

Love your thread, subscribed, learned a lot of thinks, main on is that I would definitely buy your car when you put it up for sale!!!

OMG Noooooo....

I second that....

phil996cab99

+1. This thread provided the info. that got me detailing my car again.

Money2536

Thanks all! I'll be doing a write-up on Auto Finesse Carnuba in the next few days. Here's a hint, it's pretty awesome.

Money2536

My Auto Finesse Desire Review



For some reason, I have been wanting to my hard-earned money and purchase a high-end wax. Over the past few years, every time I've gone to pull the credit card out of my wallet, I've closed my web browser and decided against it. I really wanted to buy Swissvax Concorso. There is something about Swissvax as a company that appeals to me. For some reason, I just never pulled the trigger.



I saw quite a few reviews on Auto Finesse Spirit and Illusion carnuba waxes. Let me be honest, Auto Finesse packaging really turns me off. It makes me think "Jersey Shore." I just don't think their branding reflects high quality products. I've avoided them for quite some time.

As you may be able to tell from some of my Journal posts, I’m a bit of a Detailer’s Domain follower. Phil and his blog have led me away from the avid amateur ranks of a being a Griot’s Garage supporter toward the more professional grade hobbyist that I have become. Detailer’s Domain switched a lot of their product use to AF, so after some apprehension, I have followed closely behind.

I’ve used their Citrus Cleaner, Obliterate, and Iron Out with great success. Now to blaspheme a bit, Auto Geek had a ridiculous sale on all products with free shipping (Detailer’s Domain didn’t have in stock), so I jumped in a jar of Desire.

http://www.autogeek.net/auto-finesse-desire.html

Retail is $179.00, but I got 25% off and free shipping to take away some of the pain. This certainly made it more affordable than the price protected $330 Concorso and made me pull the trigger.

Before I reviewed the results, I wanted to get some time with it on the car and get several washes done. I can’t comment on durability as I’ve only had it on the car for about three weeks.

Naturally, I prepped the paint with a 50/50 Chemical Guys Citrus Red Shampoo/Adams APC wash mixture, AF Iron Out decon, Auto Scrub, Menzerna SF4500 finishing polish, and IPA wipe down. My paint looked good prior, but I did take the time to do a quick jeweling polish prior to AF Desire application.

Packaging:
I already mentioned my displeasure with the branding, but the packaging is decent enough. It comes in a cardboard black box and a typical heavy plastic tub. It’s packaging certainly isn’t as nice as Swissvax’s, but I guess I’d rather keep my $100+ and have a more basic box.





I know AF has their own applicator pad that is designed to fit the tub, but I wasn’t able to find one anywhere that had them in stock. Maybe it’s to create the optical illusion that you are getting more for your money, but why make a container that doesn’t fit a regular sized waxing pad? The opening is annoyingly small. Too small to get a nice even, light coating on you pad. This isn’t a deal breaker, but I would want a larger container. Maybe there is a reason why, but I think most manufacturers use a similar size. I thinks it’s dumb.






Application:
First, let me comment on the smell. Oh my, the smell! To me, it smells better than pretty much anything else in the world. It smells better than my new baby girl. It makes me want to wax my toolbox to ensure my garage retains the incredible fragrance. My garage smelled great for days afterwards.



Now, I’m pretty sure you could simply wipe on a panel and immediately wipe off(WOWO), but I decided to err on the side of caution and apply a thin layer to the entire car. I started at the front right quarter panel and worked my way around the entire car. I wiped off the starting panel about 30 minutes after finishing the rest.


I laid it on super thin. Despite my complaining about tub size, I think I only needed to put more wax on the applicator five total times for the whole car. AF recommends at least a 3 hour curing time before layers, but I let the car sit overnight before adding a second layer.

Wiping off with a microfiber towel was easy enough. I wouldn’t say it was the easiest wax to remove in the world, but it certainly wasn’t hard. Did I mention the smell? Heaven!

Beading:
One of my favorite properties of an LSP(Last Step Product) is its ability to reject water. I think that is why I liked Sonax Polymer Net Shield sealant so much until the FL spring pollen annihilated it a month after application. It beads like crazy.

This is going to be a little hard for me to explain. The beading of water during a wash with this wax is good. It’s not great, just good. It’s certainly not as good as most sealants or as good as Collinite 845.

How do I say this? I drove my car in a heavy down-pour after a wash, and I swear the car was dry and relatively clean when I arrived at my destination. It’s as if the dirt that typically sticks to my white car didn’t adhere like normal. And the usual pools of water were completely gone and dry. So it doesn’t bead as impressively, but it keeps junk and gets the water off the car in a superior fashion. I think of it as more go than show. Beading is cool, but cleanliness is paramount in my book. It appears to be doing a better job than anything I’ve experienced.

Shine/Clarity/Depth:
At first, I was pretty underwhelmed. This probably has a lot to do with me owning a bright white car. Clean, dirty, waxed, or not; it all looks pretty much the same. I wasn’t particularly sure what I was expecting. I hadn’t really thought about it much. I had been using bare sealants like Sonax Polymer Net Shield or Menzerna Powerlock sometimes topping with my go-to Collinite 845. I’ve also used a bunch of lower cost carnubas from various manufacturers. For me, the correction was more important than the LSP.



Well, after having it on the car for a while, this “expensive” wax is worth every penny. It really is pretty remarkable. I realized, I had been looking at the car in the garage or in the shade. Once I got it out in the sun, I came to the conclusion that I have never seen this level of depth and clarity of shine. It reminds me of why I don’t like coatings like Opti-Coat and C-Quartz. You can’t replicate this “buttery” look of a high-grade carnuba.

Conclusion:
I’m sure there is very little perceptible difference between this and the less costly options from AF, but I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy. If there is a “best,” I want it. So far this wax has changed my opinion on an LSP not mattering as much. I say, break out the wallet, and buy it!



Matt

chuck911

Judging by those photo's, it does look like you've got a lot deeper, glossier gleam now than what you had way back in the beginning. Back then it looked like a really nice white car. Now its in a whole other realm. How much of that is due to the wax vs other stuff you've done (including photography) is hard to tell, but clearly you've made great strides. Well done! But, $179 for wax? Oh well, I guess in the big scheme of things that would only be a fraction of total car care goodies on the shelf!