Any avid DIY auto detailers on the forum?

Ive recently gone down the rabbit hole of youtube vids of car detailing. Ive always dabbled a bit but Im ready to up my game.

I have a tuxedo black explorer and a pearl white F150.

I bought a few of the Chemical Guys stuff and it seems really nice.... the leather conditioner and cleaner did a nice job and their do it all interior cleaner is the best Ive ever used.

Seems like this can become a expensive hobby kind of quick.

School me on the best products and technology... whats the ARFCOM of auto detailing?

Post some pics of your work...

i have several cars. i detail them. one, a fiesta st takes me a complete day at least and its a pain but it saves a ton of money compared to having a true detail job done.

wash the car, clay bar, apply pain polisher, remove, apply sealant, apply wax.

i bought an orbital buffer. you need one.

then you have to get into every crack and cranny between the doors and the body, the left gate or trunk, the hood.

it is a very tedious and time consuming process.

google around for forums devoted to it. lots of info can be found there about products and process.

save your old toothbrushes for detail work

Just bought a new car, I went with the harbor freight DA but haven't used it yet. I ordered the 5in backing plate and pads. I've spent a couple hundred easy already and not done.

ETA check out Dallas Paint Correction and Auto Repair on Youtube that dude is awesome

A trick my dad taught me years ago.

Everything I learned about detailing I learned from the autogeek forums.

They have an online store to. Ammo NYC is a pretty good YouTube channel For detailing.

Chemical Guy's stuff is 'meh' for the most part. There's better stuff for similar or a little more money.

Two bucket wash is the standard, the less you're touching the paint the better. Craying, a pressure washer and soap cannon make keeping things up so much better.

Really want to go down the rabbit hole, look up AmmoNYC's Youtube, PAN the Organizer as well as Obsessed Garage, both those will either focus you or wipe out your wallet.

https://www.autopia.org/

Autogeek is a store that has a forum section shilling their products.

Yeah forgot about Scott. His Woolite and air compressor trick is a fantastic way to clean car fabrics and carpets.

I use https://adamspolishes.com/ exclusively but you'll have success with any "pro-sumer" or outright professional brand.









I don't think I've washed my 4Runner since 2019

Haven't seen that one, but I will find it

I'm a fan of the meguiars stuff, mostly pro. They're not really any better than other stuff it's just what i've been using for years. I'd have no issue using other brands though.

Here's the big thing. PREP, not PRODUCT is key here. If you want something to look nice it's going to take some elbow grease. For non show vehicles i'd look into a ceramic or hybrid ceramic coating/wax to help reduce the amount of effort you'll put into a daily driver. Wash it good with soap that will help strip stuff down, claybar, cut/polish as necessary depending on swirls/damage/imperfections, then wax(seal). Make sure you have lots of clean microfiber towels. If you're getting into a lot of cutting/polishing then you'll want a good DA buffer. Porter Cable is pretty much the standard for DA auto work. Having a garage or an area not in direct sunlight helps as well during this process so you don't get a lot of expansion/contraction due to temp/humidity.

I used to have an '87 GN that looks mean after some detailing on it. I"m about to detail my '16 A6 Prestige I bought in January for the first time this weekend. Not looking forward to having a big black car (BBC!) to have to keep up with again lol.

A couple years back if I recall....Goes like this, spray plain woolite all over fabric to be clean and agitate it with an upholstery brush and follow up blowing air into a towel trapping the dirt and filth.

Sounds easy and interesting thanks man.

If not Chemical Guys, then what?

I recently used Two Guys upholstery cleaner and am amazed how well it worked.

Meguires, Mothers, Adams Polishes, Car Guys, etc.

Chemicals Guys is as much a brand as it is a detailing supply company. Think the Harley Davidson of the detailing industry. They make some good stuff but not always good enough to justify the price premium over everyone else.

I've used several Chemical Guys products and have been happy with them.  The only stuff that I wasn't overly excited with was the polishes.  Seems most people don't care for them.  I just had underwhelming results, but I also admit that it was my first time polishing so perhaps my technique was flawed.  Detailing seems to be like most hobbies... people pick their products they want to use and go full on cult level in defending them...lol

Definitely get yourself a real ceramic coating (not the spray stuff that only lasts a few months).  I wish I started using those a few years ago.  They made the car look great and make it so much easier to clean.

Not a detailer, just someone who likes a clean car.

I really like Mother's CMX Ceramic trim stuff.  It lasts a long time and really works well on plastic trim pieces.

Meguiars trim stuff is ok, but it's mostly silicone.  It doesn't last as long.

There are a couple others, but you have to mask off all painted, chrome, and glass surfaces before applying.

Meguiars Gold Class Car Wash is excellent stuff.  I've not found much better.  I'm sure it's not the "best", but it's damn good.  Always use the two bucket wash method.

Griots makes a spray detailer that I really, really like.  Easy to put on after a wash.  Beads up water well.

I'm getting ready to wax my vehicles.  Kinda torn between old school Carnuba wax and the new Ceramic stuff.  Don't know enough about the new stuff to determine which is better.

CarPro, AMMO, Adams to name a few. Depends on what type of product you want.

PAN has a great yearly wrap up on the top 3 products in each category. Don’t get trapped into any one brand for every category.

I have certainly been deep in this rabbit hole.  I just detail our cars but it quickly adds up.

The one thing I'll say about Chemical Guys is some of the product labeling is confusing.  For every product it seems like they have 5+ options.  It's a hell of a marketing model as I have tons of their shit unopened.

Good info. ^^^

Do it yourself.  I know there's plenty of good professionals and I'm best friends with one, but there are even more who will fuck up your paint.  No one will be more careful than you on your own car.  

- 2 bucket wash WITH grit guards on the bottom.  Your enemy is rubbing something dirty across your paint while trying to clean it.  Be conscious of this.

-Dry your vehicle with an electric leaf blower.  Gets water out of crevices and you're not rubbing a damn rag potentially scratching the paint.  Gas ones emit oil in the air.   Then go over lightly on any remaining wet surfaces by dragging the cloth or shammy over the surface.

- Then Clay bar or the newer nanoskin to remove embedded particulates.  No need to do this every time especially since it's mildly abrasive.  

- IF your paint is in good condition, skip ahead to a wax/sealant and be done.
------ many options here.  I have shelves of good Maguire's products, but if I had to start over I'd try the Turtle Wax Ceramic sprays.  Yeah...  ghetto Turtle Wax.  
--------Don't buy into the scam of super expensive products or "muh Corvette has 16 layers of Zaino".
--------Sometimes a good product is great because it's easy to use

- IF your paint needs correction, this is where you need to educate yourself OR you will make things worse.  
---------I have a Meguire's dual action orbital polisher with Meguiars microfiber pads and use their cutting/polishing/wax.  It's good and easy and won't fuck up your paint as easy.  When you're correcting imperfections in your paint, you're REMOVING clearcoat paint.  Are there better options?  Probably.  I don't think the wax holds up as long as I'd like.

-Interior.  
------A shop vac with CAR accessories is awesome.  
------Bristle paint brushes are invaluable for dusting and brushing stuff out of crevices
------stiff brushes for your carpet
------have a seperate stuff brush for your tires
------wash your mats in the bathtub with laundry detergent and the aforementioned brush and watch all the dirt pour out
------Aerospace 303 is great stuff on all plastics to include under the hood
------ Scrubbling bubbles shower cleaner foam spray is some sort of magic for cleaning the engine bay
------ Leather?  I like Lexol seperate cleaner and protectant.  I've tried others that are supposedly better, but they sit on my shelf of over a 100 bottles of stuff I've tried.
------- Glass, get one of those triangle pads on a stick.  I have the Invisible Glass one. Revolutionary.  Also, Invisible Glass in the spray can.
-------------- 0000 steel wool consistantly cleaned and wet lubricated with dish soapy water works wonders for cleaning glass and won't scratch it.  Only thing I've ever found to remove residue from registration stickers.  

I'm old school.   Dawn wash, clay, polish, Klasse All in One, and then a carnauba wax.  

Tape, tape, and more tape.   Saves time with clean up.  

This approach takes forever, the wax does not last that long, and its kinda like crack.   You become addicted to the car looking perfect.  

Next thing you know, you are washing it 3 times a month, refusing to drive it in the rain, and parking your car in the empty section in the back of the parking lot.  

Went down the rabbit hole for years, now whenever i get a new vehicle, getspaint corrected and ceramic coating Kamikaze Miyabi I think is what was done on last one.  Now once a week hit it with a foam cannon, wash mit, wash with CR spotless system and blow dry, when pollens bad spray off and let air dry.  .  

Had a crew foreman send me this one 300k miles and we coated in 2015/early 16 time frame and 24/7 365 sun with weekly fleet wash.  

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FWIW, I posted a similar thread a few weeks ago and got some good info. I’ll link it and you can read through it, OP.

What are the best car care products?

Detailing put money in my pocket during trade school over 30 years ago.
I'm a little old school using a Makita 9237C polisher (non dual action).
If I could cross the border I'd pick up the new HF Bauer 7.5A D/A polisher.

I use a multi step process.
2 bucket wash.
De-grease using 50% isopropyl alcohol.
Clay bar
Touch up chips and scratches

Paint correction as needed
Wet sand with 2000 grit
Polish using 3M perfect-it system.
De-grease using 50% isopropyl alcohol.
Ceramic coating

By not using old school waxes you don't have to tape and get better longevity. Additionally, Dawn is a bad wash if you're not trying to strip paint as it doesn't have the lubricants to prevent scratching.

This plus get an orbital.  Blue tape all the trim when polishing.

Autotopia is a great resource, and I like ordering products from them and autogeek.  Look for coupons, especially autogeek.  You should always be able to get 25% or more off.

And this is all my opinion, but there is a lot of snake oil in the industry.  Take everything you hear with a grain of salt.  The current ceramic craze is one example - quality varies across the board, but there is no standard from which to compare products, and no way to back up what any company states.  

I've been a member of autopia forums since I had my Evo 8 in 2004, and I've seen tons of detailers come and go, each offering the "pinnacle" of detail service using the latest and greatest product that promises the moon and more.  I view all of them with a very cynical eye.

The trick to it all is learning how to properly use a polisher. That, and a proper wash and dry method. A nice trick for the drying is to use a leaf blower. Easy and use introduce less swirls like when you use even good microfiber.

Supplies I have that I feel are important:

2 buckets
2 quality wash mitts
Several quality drying waffle towels
Tons of nice microfiber towels
Porter Cable Orbital
Leaf blower
Leatherique for the leather
Any good plastic stuff like APC or 303

I used to use OptiSeal for sealant but got both cars ceramic coated so now I don’t worry about adding any protection to the paint.

Look amazing!

What would you recommend for a daily driver exterior kit for someone new to the hobby?

I'll always remember the 50/50 minwax spar Helmsman urethane/mineral sprirts mix on freshly sanded/polished headlights -- learned it from one of the detail forums.

I'm sure there are better techniques out there now but that one buys you at least six months in the Fla sun before peeling and requiring a reapp.

O.S.T.

BIGGER_HAMMER

Chemical Guys citrus wash for the grungy cars.  Helps eat through the grime give it a good covering and let it drip off then hose it off.  Lilly brush good for getting short dog hair out of carpet.

Hell yeah for Leatherique, that shit is magic to leather. SwissVax is supposedly better but I have no experience with it.

Zanio is probably the best I have ever used. I did car shows for probably 10 yrs and won numerous trophies. It is web based only and not cheap. It was easy to apply, it lasted a long time, as long as a year, and didnt take a lot.  Unfortunately, I cant comment on how good they are now, dont do car shows any more and went with Chemical Guys for the most part. Their stuff is decent and always running sales, I spend a lot of money during black friday.

Adams, Mequiers, arent bad either. I just bought CG and like their stuff.

I havent tried any of the ceramic stuff, so no knowledge on it.

I do summa dat. Autopia is the Arfcom of detailing.

I’m not beholden to any brand across the board. Different companies do different products well and for varying prices.

I like Optimums tire gel, 303 for interior, Meguiars sells gallons of lots of products for a reasonable price that work just fine and I’ve been a Zaino user for years for finishing coats.

For polishing I got a Griots DA, use Megs 205 unless it’s super hammered and then I’ll do a pass on 105.

Strip
Clay
Polish
Dawn Wash
I use Zaino All in One as a base coat
Z5
Z2
Z2
Z10 Grand Finale

NEVER let hard water sit on your paint for long, especially in sunlight. I blow mine off with a leaf blower and then follow up quick like with detail spray and microfiber. I thought I had a picture of my two buckets with grit guards but apparently not.

I did recently invest in a pressure washer and foam cannon. That thing is dope.

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All finished up.

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Ceramic is a whole new game to Zaino and the like. Prep is the crucial part that people have to understand, if you’re not committed to perfection (almost,) prior to the sealing don’t try it.

Never get carnauba wax on plastic trim!

Love it man!!!  I just purchased a power washer over the winter. What foam cannon you recommend???

@pantherarms762

Started using Black Fire Si02 this year. Looks great and easy to apply

Anyone have any ideas on what product would be good for black wheels that have oxidized?

I have procomp's, they are alloy and satin black.

Procomp wheels

I typically stick to Black Fire and Wolfgang products.  I have a griots garage DA and a makita forced rotation DA which is a beast imo.
ETA don't forget towels!! Get yourself some quality microfiber towels.  Take what you think you need and double it.

Luckily I work for a commerical laundry facility... I have access to an unlimited supply of microfiber

The Rag Company is a good place for towels.

The Rag Company

Get them recovered or clean and use Meguire's Flagship boat wax.

Its not the best picture but thats with Wolfgang deep gloss paint sealant

2019 F150 in Magma Red (root beer color) and I swear this SOB is tougher to keep clean than black but when it is clean and all done up it is worth it  I think the dealer let some flunkie wash it with a dirty shop rag and it took me a lot of work to get the swirl marks out.

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Mr. Eraser magic pads do a great job on removing wax from plastic and cleaning dirty old leather seats.

LEAF BLOWER. Quoted for truth.  
Also great for the nooks and crannies of motorcycles.
Pan the Organizer shows his $500 car specific compressor/blower, but surprised more youtubers don't suggest leaf blowers

Also digging Turtle Wax Seal and Shine

Inexpensive, no cemented-chalk haze, easy on easy off.

Are used to try to detail a bunch but I’ve been out of it for many many years. I’m too old and just don’t have time. But I will vouch for the aerospace 303 for dashes, bed covers etc. and if you have that outside trim that struggles to come back, use boiled linseed oil mixed with paint thinner. It’s amazing.

The fanciest most expensive products will not make up for a lack of care. Pick some stuff up at the department store, use that and if you use that up and are still interested then by all means make an order at autopia. Lots of folks won't ever use up that first can of wax.

I still do everything by hand and have no motivation to use a foam cannon or an orbital.

If you have hard water and dark paint, waterspots are frustrating even if you immediately dry after washing. They make filters that attach before the hose but I don't know much about those.