JKA.nyc

Sorry for the newb questions, but I'm an amateur and wasn't sure in which order to proceed after I washed my car, to my understanding it goes like this:
1. wash
2. dry
3. clay if necessary
4. wax
5. polish
6. glaze/paint guard?

I'm not exactly sure if I'm supposed to wax or polish first, If my order is incorrect could someone please correct me and also let me know if I'm missing any important steps? Also, those buffer machines aren't necessary to polish are they?

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Wax should be the last step..otherwise everything else looks good

Chris@GlimmerGlass

iTrader: (3)

Pretty close. Heres your steps:

wash
clay
(you can rewash to remove clay residue if you clay a lot. If its spot claying, I just quick detail the areas)
compound
polish
glaze
wax

You can remove any steps from the above if you dont plan to do that particular step (ie: compounding).
Not sure what you mean by paint guard, but a glaze is not really durable enough to be the last step, but you could technically do it if you wanted to.

JKA.nyc

sweet.. thanks. I have another noob question though, what's compounding?

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

I like to think of compound as something more abrasive than polish. i use it after I wetsand or need to get rid of deeper scratch marks. It's not a necessity and you certainly do not use it all the time or any at all. It really depends on paint you're detailing. If you have fine swirls and such, definitely do not use compounds.

JKA.nyc

I see... well I tried detailing my car for the first time yesterday and went at it for about 4 hours and only just finished polishing, is it ok for me to finish waxing it the next day? Also I didn't clay it but I did use paint cleaner before I started polishing, basically what I did was :

1. wash
2. dry
3. clean paint with meguiars step 1 paint cleaner in the red bottle.
4. polish with megiuars step 2 deep crystal polisher in the red bottle.

should I have clayed before using the paint cleaner? i felt my car and it didn't feel rough besides dust and after polishing the pain feels silky smooth. I drove for like 10 minutes after polishing and put it in the garage after, it's not necessary to wash it again before waxing is it? or can I just use meguiars quik detailer? thanks in advance.

TrendyTodd

iTrader: (6)

Claying is usually the first step after washing. It removes the contaminants lodged in the paint and makes polishing easier. Keep in mind that "polishing" is the cleaning stage and needs to be "protected" with either a wax or sealant.

Yes, if you drove your car around after polishing, you should wipe down the car with a quick detailer or wash it before waxing or sealing it.

Good luck!

JKA.nyc

damn.. I was hoping I could avoid washing it all over again... I doubt I will have any more time before next weekend so would wiping it down with a quick detailer and waxing it with a wax spray be good enough? and if so which wax spray would you guys recommend?

TrendyTodd

iTrader: (6)

Any spray wax should hold you over til the weekend. Might want to spray it down once more on Thursday, just in case.

JKA.nyc

thanks for the help guys, much appreciated!

abounly

iTrader: (27)

Thanks for posting this thread i was wondering what the steps were at first also. Thanks Chris!