MLIAISON

Thanks Xhydra and Fizz....I actually just watched a Clay Bar tutorial on YOUTUBE lol....it seems very easy.

Navigatn

you know i've claybar'd my hood once and honestly, it didn't make much a diff to me. washed, clayed, and waxed. i recently noticed i'm getting water etchings on my hood so time to try some paint cleaner and maybe polish.

suorum

somebody has a lot of free time..........I AM JEALOUS!!!!

f=ma

stole this form the e90 forum


How to: Properly Wash your Car


First some basic rules:

1. You should always wash your car out of direct sunlight. I usually wash my car in the evening once the sun starts to set giving me enough shade on my driveway. This will help to avoid water spots.

2. Don't ever wash your car immediately after driving it. Two reasons for this;
-Your rotors are still hot. Spraying cold water on them will cause them to warp
-Your hood will also be warm making it more susceptible to nasty hard water spots

Washing:

1. Use a nozzle gun that will allow you to control the intensity of the water you are spraying onto your vehicle.

2. Always start with your rims, rubber, and wheel wells. Start with the two front wheels since they are the dirtiest. Fill up one bucket with car wash soap. Spray the rim, rubber, and well with water. Mist the rim lightly. Use full force on the rubber, and well. Dip a sponge in the soap. Start by cleaning the rim. When complete, mist off the soap. Spray water on the sponge at full force to clean the gunk from the rim off of it. Wring out the water when complete. Dip the sponge back in the soap, and clean the well. Spray the soap off when complete. Clean the sponge with water, wring it out and place it back in the bucket. Clean your rubber by using a tire brush. Try scooping only the suds from the top of the bucket onto the bristles. Work the suds into the sidewall until you are satisfied they are clean. Use full pressure water to clean the soap off. Use the full pressure from the nozzle to clean the brush. Place it back in the bucket. Repeat this process for the next 3.

3. When finished step 2, clean the sponge and brush as outlined in step 2. Dump the soap from the bucket and rinse the bucket out with clean water.

4. Fill up the now clean bucket from step 3 and another clean bucket with car wash soap. I usually put 4 or 5 cap fulls of soap in my bucket. It allows my to fill up the bucket with more water half way through my wash, and still maintain good suds. Put two different dedicated 100% chenille wash mitts into each bucket. Do not re-use the sponge from step two on your paint! One bucket/mitt will be used to clean all horizontal surfaces and all vertical surfaces above the middle of the door. The other bucket/mitt will be used to clean all areas of the car below the middle of the door. Why am I doing this you ask? Well, the areas below the door tend to be dirtier, thus you wouldn’t want to use the same mitt on the horizontal areas as it will most likely cause swirls. I use two buckets because it allows me to keep my wash water cleaner during the process. Using one bucket will guarantee dirty water and in turn create swirls.

5. Start by washing the highest part of your car and working your way down.

You should mist the roof and front and rear windows with water. Dip your sponge for your top part of the car into its bucket. Gently glide the mitt over the paint. Try not to apply pressure. The weight of your arm should be enough. Go in a front to back motion, NOT circular. I can't stress this enough. Why? Well, if you get grit trapped in your mitt, it will create swirls in your paint. Front to back swirls are much harder to see than circular, minimizing the damage. Do half the roof. Flip your mitt over and do the other half of the roof. Then use the remaining soap on the mitt to clean the front and rear windows. Rinse the roof and windows with misting water. Rinse the mitt by spraying both sides with full force.

Wring the water out, dip it in the bucket and begin cleaning the hood. Do half the hood with one side of the sponge, the other half with the other side. Rinse the hood with misting water. Clean the mitt and wring it out. Put it back in its dedicated bucket.

Take the bottom mitt and begin cleaning the front grill, headlights and front bumper, fogs, etc. Rinse the area with water. Rinse the mitt and place it back in its bucket.

Move onto the trunk. Take the sponge for the top and clean the trunk lid. Flip it over and clean the back of the trunk above the bumper. Rinse the areas and rinse the mitt.

Take the bottom mitt and clean the area below the bumper. Rinse the area and rinse the mitt.

Take the sponge for the top and clean the rear quarter panel, flip the mitt over and clean the rear door (if you have a sedan) above the molding. Take the remaining soap and clean the frame above the window and the window itself. Rinse the door and quarter panel, window and the mitt.

Do the same thing for front fender and front door. Rinse the area and mitt. Do the opposite side in the same manner.

Take the mitt for the bottom part and clean the front door below the molding. Flip the mitt over and clean the rear door. Use the remaining soap to clean the rocker panel. Rinse the area and the mitt.

Do the opposite side in the same manner.

Your car is now complete!


Just some general notes:

Always mist the area with water before washing it with the mitt.

Always mist the paint when washing the soap off. Directing a high-pressure spray is not good for the clear coat.

Always go in front to back motions with the mitt.

Always glide the mitt over the area.

Always rinse the mitt with a full spray before dipping it back into the buckets. This will ensure the mitt and wash water stays clean

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How to: Properly Dry your Car


Once you have completed washing your car you should remove the nozzle from the hose. Turn the water on and let it fall on the horizontal surfaces starting from the roof, and working down to the trunk and hood. This will sheet most of the water off the paint. Once the water has finished sheeting, take a quality cotton or MF towel and blot the remaining water off your paint. Try not to rub. Rubbing is the enemy, even on clean paint. It is still possible to create micro scratches while drying if rubbing.

Use separate towels to dry the rims, paint, glass, and door jambs. If you dry immediately after you wash then you should not get any water spots on your windows, eliminating the need to use ammonia based window cleaners.

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How to: Properly Clay your Car


Make sure you have thoroughly washed and dried your car prior to claying.

Cut the clay bar in half. Take the half and cut it into 15 equal pieces:

2 for the hood
2 for the roof
1 for the trunk lid
1 for the trunk rear and rear bumper
2 for the rear quarter panels (1 per side)
4 for the doors (1 per door)(if you have a sedan)
2 for the front fenders (1 per side)
1 for the front of the car

Take the piece and roll it in to a sphere. Take the sphere and flatten it out into a circle so that it covers the top third of your first two fingers. Spray the first section of the roof with quick detailer. Glide the clay across the area in a front to back motion applying some pressure. Work in 2x2 areas. If you feel your fingers going through the clay, then you are pushing too hard. If the clay is streaking on the paint, then you need more QD. While gliding, you should hear a slight noise and feel some resistance. This is the grit being lifted from the paint. When the resistance and noise stops, dry the QD off with a quality towel. Move onto the next 2x2 section and do the same thing. Once half the section is done, flip the clay over and do the other half of the section. Once the section has been completed throw the piece of clay away. It is too contaminated to use on another section. If you do use it, you will most likely put micro scratches in your clear.

Keep working your way down using each dedicated piece for its area. Flip the clay over when you have completed half a section. Throw the clay away when the section is done.

When complete your car should be as smooth as glass. The next steps should be to remove the swirls (if necessary), remove any hazing from polishing/bring out the full gloss, and seal in the rejuvenated finish with a wax or sealant.

A gigantic thanks goes out to Brad B. who outlined this method to a bunch of us a few years ago. I have been using it ever since.

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How to: Properly Polish your Car using your PC 7424 / 7336


Make sure you have thoroughly washed and dried your car prior to polishing.

If you have swirl marks that require removal, I would recommend that you use Menzerna Intensive Polish with a foam-cutting pad.

Apply three lines of polish around the edge of the pad. Take the polisher and smear the product into the section you are going to work while the polisher is off. This will totally eliminate splatter. Do 2x2 sections at a time. Turn the machine on, and begin working the product @ speed 6. Go in up and down and then back and forth overlapping motions. When the polish begins to dust, turn the machine off and wipe away the remaining residue using a quality cotton or MF towel. Do each 2x2 section as many times as you have to until the swirls are gone. I use a 1000-watt halogen light on a tripod to help me see my progress.

Menzerna IP used with a cutting pad may leave a brushed haze in your paint. This is not bad. The product is supposed to work this way. It will remove the bigger swirls with diminishing abrasives that will level some clear off your car. The abrasives won’t break down enough to leave a totally uniform finish. To remove the haze you will need to step up to a finer polish.

I recommend Klasse All In One (AIO) or Zaino ZPC fusion for this. The one you choose will depend on whether you are using Klasse SG or Z2 Pro as your final sealant. AIO and ZPC when used with polishing pads, IMHO, are the very best pre-wax or pre-sealant mild polishes on the market. They are truly outstanding! Apply both using a foam-polishing pad. Apply them in the same manner that Menzerna IP was applied, except use speed 4-4.5 on your PC. Speed 6 is too fast for these types of polishes. If you have a black car, you may need to do each section twice to sufficiently remove the haze.

Once complete, apply a quality wax or sealant of your choice to protect the finish. I would recommend Klasse Sealant Glaze or Zaino Z2 Pro.

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How to: Properly Apply and Remove Klasse SG


Make sure you have washed your car prior to SG’ing.

In order to apply SG, you should do the following:

1. Take a terry covered foam applicator and spray it with water. Squeeze it as much as you can so that most of the water gone. All you should have is a damp applicator. This will make the SG more pliable.

2. Apply a couple of drops of SG to your applicator and apply it to a section of your car (1/3 of the hood, half of the roof, etc) in a front to back motion. Once you have covered the whole section with SG, immediately wipe off the residue with a DRY MF towel in a front to back motion.

3. Repeat step 2 for every section until the whole car is done.


Notes:

- As mentioned before, wipe the SG off immediately, no dry time is necessary.

- The SG should wipe off very easily leaving behind a slick, smooth, and glossy finish.

- You should use no more than 1oz. of SG per coat on a regular size car (BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class)

- Only perform step 1 one time, before applying SG to the first panel. You do NOT need to spritz your applicator with water before applying SG to each section. Once you apply SG to a couple of sections the applicator will be wet enough with SG, negating the need for more water.

-Do not use any water or QD to aid in removal of SG. This will just make the klasse haze down the road. I've also experienced this.

-Wait AT LEAST 24 hours before applying another coat of SG. SG needs time to cure and bond to your paint surface. I would personally wait a week. If you've driven the car ANYWHERE, then wash it before applying the next layer, or else you will just re-swirl your car.

-Put on three coats of SG, and you will be good to go.

-If you desire more warmth and depth in your paint, then apply a carnuba wax a week after you’ve applied the third layer of SG. Make sure you wash before you wax. You may experience some streaking or ghosting of the wax. I did, but it wasn’t enough to bother me. This is because SG and carnuba (any carnuba) don’t entirely get along. Consider yourself warned.

I'd like to add three more things:

1. You can use any pure carnubax wax after your third coat of SG. Just make sure it is not a 'cleaner' wax, or it will strip your SG. Good waxes to use include blitz, p21s/s100 and pinnacle.

2. You cannot add more SG after you have waxed. SG does not bond to wax. Make sure your SG is perfect before applying your carnuba wax. If you really want to add a 4th layer of sg, go for it, but as stated do it before the wax. IMHO, once you wax, you can't go back without starting over from scratch.

3. I'd like to clearly define the difference between dry time and cure time.

Dry time - The time UNBUFFED product sits on your paint before buffing it off.

Cure time - The time BETWEEN buffed coats of a product. Some products like SG require time to cure and bond to your paint before the next layer is applied.

In my article I suggest that SG requires zero dry time, and at least 24 hour cure time.

dbastidas0

finally someone who knows what theire talking about...