DonaldLL

Hello All,

I am new to this forum and new (1 week) to being a Porsche owner ('06 Boxster). I use to use dishwash detergent and towels to wash my last car. Now I have the car I have dreamed of for the last 40 years and I need some guidance please.

We just got back from our first day trip from Miami down to the Everglades and now I want to treat my exterior and interior to some TLC. After searching, I have more info but know less now than before about what I should do and in what order. I have one of the $3000 paint jobs (dark olive metallic) and the full leather interior. I know there are many products. Zymol keeps coming up in my searches. I see all the products on glisteningperfection.com, but I don't exactly know what products to order. Choose my wax? Huh? Creame, Carbon, Jabon, Saab? Also, exactly how many steps are there from first to last for washing and waxing a car? I am ready to step up to the plate here and learn about high quality car care but can someone help me out with a detailed (no pun) explanation and/or send me a link where I can read all about it?

Thanks

Donald

P.S As much as I want to clean my Boxster, there's a part of me that just wants to rub my hands on those curves. I love this car!

Anthony Orosco

Hello,

The correct order for a detailing process would be:

1) Wash
2) Clay
3) Polish (This step can go from very mild to very aggressive and can involve a one-step product which cleans, polishes and waxes or multi-steps)
4) Protect (This can be with a cream wax, paste wax or a polymer sealant. May people use both, they first apply a polymer then several hours later apply a paste wax)

The interior can range from a thorough vacuum to cleaning and Q-tipping every square inch.

I have detailed Porsches in your color and it is a gorgeous color....just beautiful BUT it may also drive you nuts keeping looking that way That color will show every little speck and scratch so proper washing and drying is vital to the overall appearance. I use mainly Optimum products because they are engineered, formulated and developed by a paint chemist for professional detailers, body shops and car manufacturers, like Ford and Chevy.

So I would begin with a nice lubricating car shampoo and get some deep sea sponges for washing, not the small cheap ones from Home Depot but large sponges from a detailing website. One or two 5 gallon buckets...1 for water and suds and gthe other filled with clean rinse water. The idea is you use the soap bucket for washing and then before you dip your sponge back into the soap bucket you rinse it out in the rinse bucket. This will release grit within the sponge. One 5 gallon bucket though will work fine also.

You will want to wash while the car is cool and in the shade. Avoid washing in the heat of the day but more towards evening or morning. Wash one panel at a time, in a linear manner (bumper to bumper), top to bottom...leave the lower panels for last as they are the dirtiest.

For drying I recommend an electric leaf blower. Buy one and use it only for car drying, no leaf mulching with it or you'll be hurling leaf debris at your Black Olive paint!! I blow the car dry, top to bottom, I pay special attention to the moldings, wheels, lights and side view mirrors. The take a nice microfiber towel and dry the remaining water off. You can at this point dry the car in conjunction with a quick detailer. Spray the panel down then dry it. Work your way around the car until it's done, top to bottom.

Now polishing the paint is a whole different animal.

Do you have a polisher? Is it all by hand?

Hope this helps a little and I'm sure you have more questions.

Anthony

DonaldLL

Thanks Anthony,

From searching the forum I see that you are indeed an expert in this area. Actually I wish I could find someone in the MIami area that could do the work for me and teach me at the same time. I have inquired on the forum but have never received any recommedations of a top notch detailer in this area. I know someone is out there but I don't want to just shop by chance.

Anthony, could you give me a list of products you recommend I shoud buy for my dark olive metallic Boxster and send me an online vendor that you recommend so I can purchase these items?

Thanks for all your help

Donald

MoeMistry

Hi Donald,

Congrats on your new purchase. Getting too deep in this detailing stuff can drive you nuts. Just use common sense. As Anthony mentioned above, Wash, clay, polish, wax. That's it. If you want info on Zymol, I'll be more than happy to chat with you. As far as the Zymol line goes, you'll want Clear as a soap, Lehm Klay II and Lehm Lubs as clay and lubricant, HD-Cleanse for polish, and I'd go with Titanium to start things off. Since your car is new, hopefully the dealer didn;t butcher it and you don't have to worry about swirls and scratches. Zymol products are designed for hand use, so all the steps and products mentioned above are to be used by hand. Hope this helps and takes the confusion out of things.

P.S. When using Titanium, you can melt the wax in your palm and massage it into the paint If that's not bonding, I don't know what is

Cope

If you don't get any responses regarding Miami detailers on this forum you may want to try a detailing specific forum such as autopia.org.