Margate330

Hi Club Lexus friends.

I have been really slack on my vehicle maintenance lately and car looks unloved. lol

Needs a bath and shine and it's been 100 degrees outside so I've been procrastinating.
My current method for a quick cleanup & shine is some car wash soap in a bucket and it looks ok but no shine unless I wax it.

Must be 100's of products out there and would like something after the wash to give it a shine and bead some water for a month or two until it needs it again.
I been hand paste waxing or liquid waxing but it's labor intensive so I never get around to it since I have too much to do already.

Appreciate your generosity in sharing how you do it, what products are worth buying, and any other techniques for a quick detail shine and tell us in as much detai as you like.

LeX2K

There is no "quick shine". Anything outside of a proper ceramic coat or graphene (have not tried them) will last maybe a month, less if the car bakes in the sun all the time.

Do it right. Wash, decontaminate, clay bar, polish, ceramic coating. These are the main products I use plus you'll need a good random orbital polisher the Porter Cable 7424XP is the safest choice, and a good unit.

Margate330

Thank you Lex2k.
I wasn't able to find the products at that link, plz check it for me.

Ok, maybe my expectations are too high as I've never clay barred a car and was hoping for a shine without so much work and sweat if that's even possible.

Forgot to mention, my car sits under a carport and paint is good condition and I drive it less than 50 miles a week but somehow like magic it looks filthy fast.

I will do a sudsy wash today to have a base line as this is getting embarrassing. haha

LeX2K

Once you paint correct and ceramic coat it ends up being far less work. Yes the initial job takes many hours even days.

Links in that wish list don't work?


"Clay bar" in this case is a towel/mitt with super tacky rubber it's way easier to use than actual clay. Not as effective but more than good enough. Keep lubricating with car wash soap, spray detailer etc. it's very easy to do.

msnow

I use and recommend you try Optimum Spray Wax.

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

Being that your car park out door it never gonna stay clean. Also living in FL i assuming you get them love bug when driving. For a daily drive car and being your car is silver if you don't wanna do a paint correction/ coating. Do a wash with dawn soap to strip everything off the car, Clay with clay bar then spray a Iron remover, then top it off with a sealant. All product can be had at your local autozone like meguiars. Then once a month top it off with whatever sealant you decide to use. Not everyone need or want a full paint correction or coating. But to really get the pop from paint at least a polish is need.

Margate330

I like the idea of the "clay bar" towel since I've never clay barred anything and don;t know how.
The way I have done it all my life is was and then wax with some Turtle Wax paste or some liquid wax like Mcguires but so happy for the hints and tricks everone.

I have an autoparts store less than a mile from my house and will grab a bottle to try out.
Also, I've never used a spray wax or spray detailer either so this is getting fun.

So true, car gets filthy just sitting.
Never heard of iron remover.
Can I ask why this step is recommended?
Also, what you think about the clay bar towell or mitt Lex2k suggests above?

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PS- I have a big bottle of car wash soap so I suds up a bucket and washed the car down yesterday and ready for the next step.

msnow

Amazon might be your best bet.

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

Iron remover is just chemical decontamination process as clay mitt/bar a manual decontamination. Doing both get the extra clean of the paint surface. You can YouTube and look up iron remover it will give you an idea of how it works. As for clay mitt/towell there great in the own ways. I use synthetic clay bar as well as real clay bar.

BMGS

iTrader: (1)

Wash the car as usual, then, while the car is still wet, spray diluted 60/40 Sonax Brilliant Shine detailer or 100% Adam's H20 Guard and Gloss and use a one microfiber towel to spread it and another to dry it.

That's the easiest, as you are sealing the paint while drying it. You won't need to wax again and the water repellant qualities of the paint will be much better.

The "shine" really does come from the condition of the underlying paint so a machine polish will help a lot but those two products are the easiest way to get some shine and sealant on there without much effort.

The clay towel is a great recent addition to my toolbox as well. I recently tried this one and I am very happy with the results and speed over a traditional clay bar. Its great for an overall pass when you don't have any specific areas to address:

https://3dproducts.com/products/3d-clay-towel

If you do decide to polish, I recently tried BlackFire One-Step. After years of performing compound then polishing steps, I found that for a non-show car daily-driver, a one-step product will get me 80-90% of the results with 20% of the effort:

https://www.autogeek.net/blackfire-o...4aAmPVEALw_wcB

Margate330

Woohoo, that's what I'm hoping for.

When ya'll say to polish, are you talking about running a polisher with some liquid compound after the soapy wash
or after it is washed & clay mit & spray wax?

BMGS

iTrader: (1)

Polish would be after the wash and clay mitt. Polish is the product that actually removes the scratches, marring or swirls.

The One-step product actually has a sealant in it so you are technically done after using that. I would recommend using a machine polisher for any polish product to reduce the effort and increase speed of application.

The car I used it on is pure black where I can see every swirl mark (which are rare) and I still was happy with the correcting ability for a one step product.

If you have a large number of swirls, marring or scratches, it won't get everything out but at least it will help the jewel the paint and deliver a nice improvement.

Margate330

Ok so after I wash the car and clay mit then I polish?
Dumb question so plz excuse, will the polishing remove the clay?

I bought a cordless Ryobi orbital polisher with a sock, hoping this will get 'er done. lol

LilRick96

Get Phoenix EOD Titan. Very nice, glossy, extremely slick, extremely easy to use spray sealant to use. You won't be disappointed.

BMGS

iTrader: (1)

You'll want a Dual Action (DA) for polishing. An orbital is best for applying and removing coatings but not correction (polishing). The polish will remove any residue but if you are using a clay mitt or towel, there shouldn't be any residue left by those.