PBenz

I also use microfiber towels - works just fine. I just make sure to wash them all separately from cotton towels, not use fabric softener, and hang dry them. (Popping them in the dryer is probably OK but they dry nicely on their own in 24hrs).

I knew I had gone mad when I spent hours researching towels. I got everything from here: http://www.properautocare.com/ . Got the big-blue drying towels (which work great), the small blue ones to remove polish (which supposedly have more bite), and the small green ones to remove the Z-6. Even got the yellow one for the glass and the grey one for the interior.

Using the V-Drums to play along with songs is really cool - it's as if you're in the studio for the original recording. These days I play along with everything from James Brown to King's X to Rush to Miles Davis.

JPS

Thanks. PC = Porter Cable random orbital polisher, best place is www.coastaltools.com. They have the starter kit all in one thing. Plus I love their story...apparently they are some small hardward store in CT that lurked on Autopia and saw all these people assembling all these different pieces from different sources, and just assembled it into the "kit", and have sold hundreds of them...

Anyway, it probably took about 15 hours total, but my scratches were really bad (in my opinion) because of an idiot body shop that thought they would be nice. Also, with the new PC there were some scratches that I thought were there forever that I could now get out, so I spent up to 30 min or so on each of several of them.

There really is not "normal", there are only degrees...

I have only gone about 4 months at most between coats, and try to do something each month, but that likely isn't normal.

I had 19 coats at one point, then had an accident (illegal uturn in front of me), so have been building back up. I don't bother doing anything with Z unless I can do 3 coats (the max in 24 hours), simply because I'm mixing the stuff, putting in the syringe, cleaning pads, all that afterwards. Not a big deal, but I'm lazy. Also, by using the PC, I can save time and product with 3 coats, but with just 1 I'm about the same as by hand.

So for me to wash, dry using water (see Autopia for that little trick), 3 coats of Zaino Z2 or Z5 (I put about 1 coat of Z5 in between every 5 coats of Z2) and Z6, I'm in about 2 hrs. Really not bad.

For the wax vs. Zaino, that is like asking blonde vs. brunette...you will get solid opinions on both. My understanding is that Zaino is shinier, but carnauba is deeper, but not anywhere near as long lasting. In addition, on a dark car in a hot climate, the car can reach temperatures that can literally melt the wax. Living in Cali with a Midnight Blue car, that is a consideration for me. The other is that although fanatical about the car, I'm lazy. Zaino is so freakin' easy to put on and take off (especially when put on super thin, which the PC helps), that I can't imagine going back to wax. But that is me, personally, for a car I use a lot. For a garage queen in a less warm environment, I might think more about a really good high end wax like Zymol or something.

Feel free to PM me with more detailed questions if you like.