Happy Independence Day! As the temps here in Middle Tennessee were expected to get into the mid-90s I started around 6:30am this morning doing a strip wash using Adams Polishes Strip Wash on my '14 Acura TSX. I bought the car 7 months ago and have no hand washed it myself until today. Our neighboring apt/townhouse community has a covered Car Care Bay so I utilized that and after everything was rinsed off I used Armour Detail Supply EZ Beads as there paint had zero beading. This is a spray on rinse off ceramic type sealant similar to Gyeon Wet Coat and others. They do recommend you let it dwell (in the shade, of course) for 20-30 seconds where some other brands say rinse off instantly. It did just as it says it will do - the water went from flat to tight beads instantly and made drying a breeze. For the final dry/wipe down I tried Armour Detail Supply Amplify along with my trusty Adams Polishes Drying Towel. Wow. This is the best drying aide chemical I've used; I've used CarPro Ech2o, Ammo Hydrate, among many others. Instant gloss and only took a single gentle wipe to dry each panel.
That part took a little over 90 minutes so the for the next couple of hours I focused on using Adams Brilliant Glaze to restore some stained trim around the mirrors and B-pillars. This is my first time using it for that purpose and as the pics show, it did great. Brilliant Glaze is really one of the unsung and underappreciated heroes of my detailing arsenal for the last 15 or so years. Where I love to really use it is on the interior of the glass. Whatever chemical composition it has eats through the haze of outgassing from the plastics and truly makes your glass invisible. Apply it with a foam applicator liberally, let haze up over 15 or so minutes, than wipe off with a glass towel (I use The Rag Company small waffle weaves with Bilt Hammer Traceless glass cleaner). I can't stress enough that you should do this in the shade when the glass is cool to the touch; I learned that lesson the hard way a couple of years ago and it was a nightmare.
Finally, I have 2 bottles of Adams VRT tire conditioner that I'm trying to go through so I applied it super thick on my tires and will level it out with an old towel after it has had a chance to fully soak in over the hot afternoon. The car looks great and I'm very excited to get it professionally paint corrected and ceramic coated (will more than likely use Armour Detail Supply Ceramic Paint). Now, after a shower I'm relaxing with my wife and our dogs and enjoying a great day.
That part took a little over 90 minutes so the for the next couple of hours I focused on using Adams Brilliant Glaze to restore some stained trim around the mirrors and B-pillars. This is my first time using it for that purpose and as the pics show, it did great. Brilliant Glaze is really one of the unsung and underappreciated heroes of my detailing arsenal for the last 15 or so years. Where I love to really use it is on the interior of the glass. Whatever chemical composition it has eats through the haze of outgassing from the plastics and truly makes your glass invisible. Apply it with a foam applicator liberally, let haze up over 15 or so minutes, than wipe off with a glass towel (I use The Rag Company small waffle weaves with Bilt Hammer Traceless glass cleaner). I can't stress enough that you should do this in the shade when the glass is cool to the touch; I learned that lesson the hard way a couple of years ago and it was a nightmare.
Finally, I have 2 bottles of Adams VRT tire conditioner that I'm trying to go through so I applied it super thick on my tires and will level it out with an old towel after it has had a chance to fully soak in over the hot afternoon. The car looks great and I'm very excited to get it professionally paint corrected and ceramic coated (will more than likely use Armour Detail Supply Ceramic Paint). Now, after a shower I'm relaxing with my wife and our dogs and enjoying a great day.
