Peter 642

Yea and yea. And all of the above. Took my car to my indy mechanic and one of his crew said, "Wow, who details your car?" When I realized they were being complementary I was shocked.

Wash, clay, wash, wax. I use P21S soap, wax and tire cleaner. But all of the above are great too.
Bottom line: don't use dish soap. And use a proper wool mitt, for goodness sakes!

street rod

Meguiars NXT 2.0 Techwax and then Turtle wax leather conditioner for interior. Both are great.

C4CRNA

I was afraid to do the orbital cleaner/polish wax job,but the Griots stuff is really safe and they have a dvd that will tell you how to do everything.I highly reccomend it.

Hurdigurdiman

Meguires Gold Class for the leather. Zip Wax in the bucket every time I wash it. Old fashioned elbow grease along with a wash leather to dry it off then a run in the country.

DaveSpeed

I have never paid to have a car detailed but decided last night that due to the swirl marks on the pait I was going to try a pro.

I used Meguires clay bar and cleaner wax last year and thought it did a great job of reducing the swirl marks and making the car shine. I added a coat of Porsche brand wax (not sure who makes it).

DaveSpeed

I guess I should prof read prior to posting.

pait = paint

Guido911

Yes wax hides the swirls, it fills them a up a little. But does not remove them. Eventually when the wax gets old, (decent wax lasts about 3 - 6 months, depends on the climate) the swirls will become visible again.

The Swissvax products marked with "Zuffenhausen" are specially made for Porsche paints. The wax has a long durability and gives amazing beading!

It's recommended to polish the car after using the clay. You may cause some extra swirlmarks due to the clay. Especially with more harder claybars.
If you are not going to polish it, i'd rather go for a medium or even a soft claybar to begin with.

AudiOn19s

As a Pro detailer (part time these days) The question you need to ask yourself is what are your concerns with the car currently?

Many peole don't really have an eye for or don't necessarily care if the car has developed surface marring or light swirling. The majority of the market wants a car that's protected, won't fade over time and has a great shine and gloss when clean. If those are your goals choose whatever product sells itself the best to you and have at it. Putting in a little time and elbow grease will give you a good result and a sense of satisfaction at the same time.

If you're seeing swirl marks, surface marring, and small defects that are starting to bother you then look into the services of a professional to help restore the car to the best condition it can be. As with any service industry you really owe it to yourself to do your homework to find the right detailer for you as well as the correct level of service. Alot of the guys that are really good are not cheap but they are definitely worth the money.

Check over at Autopia.org and see if there are any Autopian detailers in your area. That whole community follows standards that should get you a high quality result if you choose to outsource.

Andy