i suck at washing/waxing my car

image · Jan 4, 2006

Hey guys heres what's going on.. i have a red mustang, 2000... It hasnt been washed in like 3 months and when i washed it before there would be small spots on it after i dried it. I waxed it today with meguirs NXT... (After i washed it) and the microfiber towel that came with the wax obviosuly wasnt going to work on the whole car. I then bought one of those towels that you can purchase at the self service carwash and proceeded to take all the white dried wax off of my car. Some parts it looked good and smooth.. on some others it still very dry. Im guessing it is because i used a cheap towel? Also, can anyone reccomend some good washing/waxing tips??? Ive never been real good at it, but i just spent 2 hours at the carwash and my car still doesnt look right to me so im kinda aggrivated. thanks

glowstang93 · Jan 5, 2006

Your first step is to wash it at home with a garden hose, not at the car wash. There is a nice forum regarding detailing that may be of some help to you. It is http://www.detailcity.com/index.php? Its easier to show you how to clean your car than tell you, maybe someone close to you can help out with that.

jonw440 · Jan 6, 2006

It sounds like you may have used to much wax,then to make matter worse, the towel didn't remove all of the wax.

What you may need to do is rewash the car, then dry it. Washing will help remove any excess wax(I am talking about any EXTRA RESIDUE wax)

Now look at the car in the sun and you may see streaks.
Where there are streaks, apply a "little bit" of NXT and re-wax that area.But instead of letting the wax dry, wipe it off immediately. (This will help smooth the wax and make it look more uniform.

Quick detail sprays re good at removing streaking wax also.

Get some quality Micro Fiber towels next time.
Here is an article on car care.
How to articles on car care

Quick97TA · Jan 8, 2006

What you need to do is start from scratch.
Wash the car with blue Dawn dishwashing detergent to get rid of all the old wax. Then get a claybar and some quick detailer, and clay the whole car. If you've never used clay before, you'll be amazed at the difference this one step will make. Will make the finish super smooth, and will get rid of all the surface contaminate crap on the paint. Makes the final waxing / polishing step so much easier.
Once that's done wash it again. Then you need to wax / polish.
It's a lot of work initially, but it's well worth it. Without proper prep work, even the best wax or polish won't work well.

Personally I'd stay away from any carnuba wax. I never had good luck with it in the past. Carnuba tends to streak and look like crap if you don't take it off at just the right time. Plus it's water soluable, coat gets thinner every time you wash your car or drive in the rain.
Zaino is the way to go.
It lasts twice as long as wax and gives a better shine. (It's also 99.9% clear which really brings out the paint color, something you'll never get with wax.) Each coat you put on "layers" on the other coat and the protection / shine keeps getting better.

This post will probably bring out the Zaino haters , but you can't argue with the results. Here's a pic of my 97 Trans Am, original paint except for the nose and hood. NEVER been garaged. Used nothing but Zaino for the past 5 years or so.
(I would post pics of my Stang, but I haven't had it too long so I don't have any good pics yet.)

electricgreen · Jan 27, 2006

Dish soap is for dishs, not cars.

Wash with a quality car wash soap.

Dry with a microfiber towel (advance near me has a 3 pack for @$5)

Use a claybar to remove bonded contaminents

Use a paint cleaner to remove any residual wax, etc

Use a polish-this will "feed" your paint, and help restore gloss

Use a quality wax-this will both protect your paint and add a little more gloss

I use all Meguiars, but others have good results with Mothers. It's not as much about WHO'S product you use, it's about proper prep and taking the time to do all the steps.

My Stang:

electricgreen · Jan 27, 2006

I have to add this, I did not do this (wish I could say I did, lol), but it's amazing:

Before:
View attachment 489693

After:

Link to the post about this detailing job on the Meg's forums: http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=10371

streetstang03 · Jan 27, 2006

Quick97TA said:
What you need to do is start from scratch.
Wash the car with blue Dawn dishwashing detergent to get rid of all the old wax. Then get a claybar and some quick detailer, and clay the whole car. If you've never used clay before, you'll be amazed at the difference this one step will make. Will make the finish super smooth, and will get rid of all the surface contaminate crap on the paint. Makes the final waxing / polishing step so much easier.
Once that's done wash it again. Then you need to wax / polish.
It's a lot of work initially, but it's well worth it. Without proper prep work, even the best wax or polish won't work well.

Personally I'd stay away from any carnuba wax. I never had good luck with it in the past. Carnuba tends to streak and look like crap if you don't take it off at just the right time. Plus it's water soluable, coat gets thinner every time you wash your car or drive in the rain.
Zaino is the way to go.
It lasts twice as long as wax and gives a better shine. (It's also 99.9% clear which really brings out the paint color, something you'll never get with wax.) Each coat you put on "layers" on the other coat and the protection / shine keeps getting better.

This post will probably bring out the Zaino haters , but you can't argue with the results. Here's a pic of my 97 Trans Am, original paint except for the nose and hood. NEVER been garaged. Used nothing but Zaino for the past 5 years or so.
(I would post pics of my Stang, but I haven't had it too long so I don't have any good pics yet.)

i Agree 100%. i like to top off my Zaino w/ Turtle Wax Ultra Gloss though.
Keep in mind, these pics were taken in direct sunlight in the middle of this past summer:

langod · Jan 27, 2006

electricgreen said:
Dish soap is for dishs, not cars.

I think he meant to use the dish soap ONCE to remove the old wax. A quality car washing soap will NOT remove wax -- or else you'd have to re-wax every time you washed your car.
As a one-time step to remove a badly applied wax job, using dish soap is fine.

DO NOT use dish soap often because it WILL dull the finish.

zincyellow03 · Jan 27, 2006

If everyone used a clay bar, there'd be less questions.

red ink · Jan 28, 2006

Definatly use dish soap on the first wash.
clay bar is good, but only needs to be done once a year or so
Use the meguires 3 step. If not meguires, u need to use a paint CLEANER, then a POLISH, then a CARNUBA WAX. The car will look best after the polish, but the Wax will protect your hard work.
Like stated before, its important to use as little product as possilbe. It could take you 5 hours to do the whole car by hand. But u want the wax to just slightly glaze over after being applied. When taking it off, you can use a terry cloth, or microfiber if your car is brand new and your really anal. Just make sure u keep using new rags to take the wax off, because it gets hard to take the wax off after the rag becomes saturated in wax. good luck!

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