Favorite Detail Products

[buster]

I've tried so many products over the last few years and these are the ones I now use:

1. Zaino (soap and Z6 is great; use Z6 for the windows works wonders)

2. 303 UV Plastic/Rubber protectant - use this for detailing the engine.

3. Simple Green to clean engine.

4. Dupont Teflon Tire spray - not the most glossy but doesn't come off the wheel and ruin your clean car. Also use it for the wheel well liner covers. Looks great.

5. California duster for the interior.

 

[uconn1150]

1. Klasse All in One
2. Klasse SG as the topper
3. QEW for the wash
4. California Car Duster to "dust" off

 

[JHZR2]

After my old 83 MB diesel was destroyed, I bought a new saab 9-3. What I did, which is my new favorite is:

3m hand glaze and perfect-it wax (2-3 coats) for a good, thick base.

Meguiars gold class wax for a final shiny coat. The 3m wax is very viscous, and seems to leave a nice thick layer, with UV protection. The meguiars compliments it with more shine.

Du Pont teflon wheel cleaner to help keep dust off the wheels

meguiars wheel glaze

spray foam glass cleaner

303 protectant for the interior

Mr. Clean washing system

california duster (small version) and small paintbrush for inside

California duster for the outside, as long as the soil isnt too grainy

I also have a 98 Chevy truck, which in the first few years, I used the meguiars gold class polish, clear coat prep and wax system. I used the three step process (maybe incorrectly) about 5-10 times, just washing inbetween applications. The truck still looks brand new and the paint still has an extremely deep, rich gloss.

JMH

 

[texel]

Turtle Wax for everything!

 

[doitmyself]

I love microfiber towels - the good ones. Not the cheap,scratchy ones. I bought mine from Ranney at pacshack. There's a big discount if you sign up at autopia.com.

 

[widman]

don't even think about the turtle was extreme 2001. it streaks like crazy
and their carnuba - drop the bottle from 2 ft and watch it shatter like glass.

 

[Tim]

Well, here goes.......WD-40.

I use a ton of it under my Land Cruiser to keep the fram, axles, steering rods, knuckles etc clean and looking like they are 8 months old instead of 8 years. I also use it with a lot of towels and elbow grease under the hood to just keep up with the normal grime. A lot more work than spraying down, but I like the results (also less risk to electrical connections). I use it to keep the door jams clean, too.

Pretty useful stuff. No, I don't use it on the dash or windows!

 

[Slick17601]

Interior/tires- 303 protectant

Clay bar- Mother's

Wax- Meguier's #26 yellow wax

Car wash- whatever is on sale

 

[Colt]

Zaino
303
Sprayway glass cleaner
DF microfibers
Cal duster

 

[Crashbox]

Car wash: whatever's in the big jug at Costco, currently Turtle Wax Gold.

Wax: am going to try Meguiar's NXT, been using their #26 wax and still have a lot of it.

Armor-All Low Shine for the dash and other plastic. It'd be nice to find 303 locally...

Sprayway Glass Cleaner.

Have ordered some clay bars from an outfit called "Zaino Bros."- remains to be seen how effective this will be, never clayed before.

Costco microfiber towels.

If I'm re-waxing then I like to use Simple Green or the Costco green stuff- it seems to be a very effective wax remover. Haven't tried it in a while though.

 

[obbop]

7 gallon plastic bicket to hold the bubbly stuff I wash with.

Store-bought car wash without included waxes or polishing agents. NXT car wash or Blue Coral.

Washing mitt. Have a sheep skin type and a new microfiber type used once. Will use both until I decide which one I prefer.

Mid-price Ace Hardware water filter to perhaps remove at least a little of the crud in the hard water flowing out of the spigot.

A plastic nozzle with a bunch of itty bitty holes to reduce the impact of water hitting the paint yet allowing a strong enough flow to remove contaminants and the soap.

Microfiber towells for drying. Bought one of those BIG ones at Wal-Mart and am pleased with its quality and water grabbing ability. Smaller ones used for various cleaning chores related to truck washing.

303 protectant for vinyl interior, plastic exterior trim pieces, light lenses, etc.

Liquid Glass to protect the paint. Don't care about shine even though the shine is quite nice. I want paint protection and Liquid Glass gives it.

California Car Duster for removing loose surface contaminants between washes.

Wet microfiber towell to remove bird bombs and little spots of insect excreta between washes.

Still seeking a lithe lovely complacent female to perform the physical labor aspect of the process..... after proper training.

 

[Darryl]

Eagle 1: Bucket-Free-Carwash
Eagle 1: Wax-As-U-Dry (blue bottle)
Mothers: FX Synwax
Mothers: FX Tire Shine
Stoner: Invisible Glass
Eagle 1: Tire Swipes
Costco: Micro Fiber Towels
The "Absorber" synthetic drying towels
California Car Duster


Darryl

 

[Cadude]

Mr. Clean Auto Dry car wash system with Meguiar's Deep Crystal in the tank.

Liquid Glass for exterior shine and protection.

Mother's B2B for exteror vinyl trim.

Damp cloth to clean interior.

Whatever tire shine cleaning product handy applied with a terry cloth application pad.

Stoner Invisible Glass

Meguiar's QD for between washing cleaning of bird crap & other contaminants.

 

[davefr]

The professional deatilers have taken a liking to Costco's Kirland brand all purpose cleaner. (ie for carpets, wheel wells, engines, etc).

I tried it and it works great. (far superior to Simple Green IMHO).

You get a gallon of concentrate bundled with a sprayer for about $7.

I highly recommend it as an addition to your other detailing products.

 

[Jim 5]

Some very good products here. I'll just list my favorites, and three in bold that haven't been mentioned yet.

- Eagle 1 all wheel cleaner
- Meguiar's deep crystal car wash soap
- Meguiar's three stage wax set (clean/polish/wax)
- NXT for in between times followed by a quick coat of Meguiars carnauba wax for longevity.
- Eagle 1 wax as you dry (great product)
- California Dash Duster for inside (great product)
- Autosol metal polish for chrome (EXCELLENT product...comes in a toothpaste-like tube)
- Meguiar's endurance for the tires (great product/uses very little)
- Turtle wax Bug and tar remover

 

[Mud]

I have been very pleased with the products I get from Top of The Line Detailing Supplies on the internet.www.topoftheline.com
Depending on paint condition I use a combination or single application of these:

Medium Cut Scratch Remover
Light Cut Swirl Remover
Perfection Glaze
One-Step Carnauba Wax

All applied with either a rotary or orbital buffer, again, depending on paint condition.

Soap - turtle wax or equal from Walmart - doesn't really matter.

Light application of ArmorAll on the tires, as well as a wipedown on the interior. Never had any issues with plastic cracking, etc etc.

 

[OutlawTitan]

1. Clay
2. QEW - Quick and Easy Wash
3. Waffle Weave drying towels
4. Klasse twins
5. Porter Cable random orbital polisher
6. Poorboys SSR polishes (very user friendly).
7. Meguiars #16 mirror wax
8. 303
9. Leatherique

 

[bretfraz]

Car Wash - Zaino Z7 is my fave. Eagle One, Meguiars NXT and Duragloss 901 are also-ran's.

Paint Polish - Einszett Paint Polish, Mothers PowerPolish (for machine use), Zaino's new Z-PC is terrific.

Paint Protectant (Wax) - Pinnacle Souveran but S100 is my "best value" choice.

Paint Protectant (Sealant) - Zaino Z2Pro is unbeatable but the Klasse twins are a solid 2nd place.

Wheel Cleaner - Eagle One A2Z or Mothers FX wheel cleaner.

Tire Cleaner - Eagle One Tire Cleaner (discontinued) or a good all purpose cleaner like Eimann Fabrik Hi Intensity.

Glass Cleaner - Einszett Scheibenklar is incredible but Sprayway is a great product as well.

Tire Dressing - Zaino Z16 for medium gloss, Mothers Reflections Tire Care for the satin look.

Detailing Clay - No longer a big diff between clay products but I like Clay Magic, 3M and Zaino.

Interior Cleaner - Sprayway Crazy Clean all purpose cleaner, or Einszett Plastic-Reiniger

Wheel Polish - Mothers Clearcoat Wheel Polish

Chrome Polish - Mothers Chrome Polish

Metal Polish - Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish

Bug Remover - Hi Temp Bug Juice Remover

Detail Spray - Zaino Z6, Mothers Showtime Instant Detailer

 

[Crashbox]

quote:

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Originally posted by davefr:
The professional deatilers have taken a liking to Costco's Kirland brand all purpose cleaner. (ie for carpets, wheel wells, engines, etc).

I tried it and it works great. (far superior to Simple Green IMHO).

You get a gallon of concentrate bundled with a sprayer for about $7.

I highly recommend it as an addition to your other detailing products.

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I can now understand why. I washed/clayed/waxed the outside and cleaned the interior of my '95 Civic today; had two long-standing stains in the passenger seat of unknown origin. Sprayed some of the above-mentioned product on it and sponged/microfibered the areas.

I'm gonna check it tomorrow a bit closer but I don't see any stains there! It is almost unbelievable!

 

[AndyH]

quote:

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Originally posted by doitmyself:
I love microfiber towels - the good ones. Not the cheap,scratchy ones. I bought mine from Ranney at pacshack. There's a big discount if you sign up at autopia.com.

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Thanks for the head's up on PakShak and the Autopia.com discount code. Just purchased some micro fiber from them to compare the quality versus the microfiber I've acquired from some other sources.