Or least attempt to anyways.
I normally No rinse wash in the winter or old school 2 bucket method. Every year i normally pay $150 a quick detail shop for a quick "buff job". Buff job is normally wash, clay and one or two layers of w/e wax. Overall i'm happy with the job, they get it done in 8-12 hours. I'm not super picky on the paint, just as long as its smooth and look decent. My car is a daily driver and street parked so fender benders/door dings and other randoms will happen.
So learning about what DA polisher to use and how many pads and products are on top of list. I want to spend about $200-300 total because i might do this once and say forget.
I dont have problems using that HF polisher but the groits garage also looks like a good deal as well as the entry level standard 7424xp.
Knowing and understanding this is BITOG and we all aim for overkill when it comes to our cars. I'm looking for a good list of basic supplies and pads that i should need to start my adventure. I'll add on down the road if i like this but right now i want to focus on exterior and only simple stuff. I dont understand the color and sizings of pads, backing plates and etc. Nor do i understand CUT/polish and etc.
going to start detailing my own car
- Thread starter bowlofturtle
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Cool. Yeah I wash and wax my car oft with Turtle Wax.I thought about paying a place, but it burns calories and I can listen to talk radio AM while I do it myself. Its rewarding when you do it yourself and you dont have a guy who might have had Taco Bell for lunch leaving air biscuits in your car.
Originally Posted By: Marco620
Cool. Yeah I wash and wax my car oft with Turtle Wax.I thought about paying a place, but it burns calories and I can listen to talk radio AM while I do it myself. Its rewarding when you do it yourself and you dont have a guy who might have had Taco Bell for lunch leaving air biscuits in your car.
I use the Porter-Cable 7424xp. Does a good job.
If I had to start over:
Harbor Freight DA polisher. Sure the others are better. But it's only once a year.
Get about 20-30 microfiber towels from Wal-Mart.
Quality no-rinse car wash. Brand doesn't matter.
Nanoskin pad for the DA. Break it in on a window first, use no-rinse car wash mixed to 10X normal strength as lubricant.
For a cold climate, Collinite 476 paste wax. For a warmer climate, The Duragloss two part system.
Honestly, I'm coming around to the idea that all you need is optimum spray wax, which is amazingly durable.
The Garry Dean method of cleaning works great. You could knock off the whole thing in 4 hours.
Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
..i normally pay $150 a quick detail shop for a quick "buff job"..they get it done in 8-12 hours..
Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
Every year i normally pay $150 a quick detail shop for a quick "buff job".
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Anyone know the deal with the HF polisher? I heard most say get a different backing plate cause they have the wrong one and other stuff.
How many pads is good for the most basic detailing, how long do they last?
I see stuff like 35$ for 6 pads but do they 10-25 uses or are they 1 time throw aways.
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You seem satisfied with a wash/ clay/ wax... so, going off of this I will give you one idea for the best path forward...
HF D/A- perfectly fine with what you are going to do... no need for the Griots unless you get it for around $100.
Backing plate is can be viewed as a problem but mostly because it is a 6" plate and you can't fit a industry standard 5.5" foam pad on it and if you were to go larger than a 6"... the performance of the tool drops significantly.
So, if I were you...
#1) HF D/A +/- $65
#2) 6 pads- 4 orange foam cutting pads and 2 black finishing pads- Lake Country or Buff & Shine, either manufacturer is quality and the '6 pad deals' you alluded to are good deals for around $40. As long as you wash and care for the pads... they will last you a long time. +/- $40
#3) Costco MF towels. Not the best but as long as you are not dealing with solid base colors that are dark (black/ red/ etc.) they will be ok.
#4) A good cleaner wax. Meguiar's D151 (or White Wax which is available at Wal Mart or other retailers) or M66/ M6/ M20. You aren't looking for perfection and figure time is valuable... so, get a cleaner wax. D151 will cut very well and leave pretty good protection for a product in this genre, 45 days typically. +/- $10- 30, depending on size of container.
#5) Meguiar's Ultimate Quick Wax or D156 (gallon size). Great spray wax (sealant really) that is very easy to use and leaves good gloss for touch ups in between polishing. Will layer over D151 nicely and add 15- 30 days of protection depending on environment +/- $10- 30.
#6) Meguiar's Gold Class soap in gallon available at Costco also. A legitimate over the counter soap. Dilute as recommended on back of container. +/- $12
#7 Clay bar- Mother's or Meguiar's clay available almost anywhere... I prefer the Mother's kit for over the counter. Their clay is more aggressive than the Meg's and seems to have a better 'feel'.
#8 Wash mitts- use two Costco MF towels for washing if you don't trust what you currently have.
Good line up genynnc, but I'd go with a nanoskin instead of the clay bar (I switched 2 years ago). I use the fine grade one from Amazon. Paid about $12 for it and it's still good after doing our vehicles spring and fall each year.
I'm also partial to Collinite 845, but that's just personal prefference.
If you have a power drill then I'd start with the Meguair's Power DA drill attachment. It has three different pads. The kit comes with a yellow one. So, clay the car, Power DA it, then seal/wax it. If the car spends most of it's life in the sun, use a glaze (Meg's 07 or Mother's Ultimate Step 2) after the clay to recondition it. I have two cars in my family's stable that are outside and the 1st time I detailed them they drunk up the oils from the polish that I used half a bottle on just one car. I learned my lesson from that.
Originally Posted By: genynnc
You seem satisfied with a wash/ clay/ wax... so, going off of this I will give you one idea for the best path forward...
HF D/A- perfectly fine with what you are going to do... no need for the Griots unless you get it for around $100.
Backing plate is can be viewed as a problem but mostly because it is a 6" plate and you can't fit a industry standard 5.5" foam pad on it and if you were to go larger than a 6"... the performance of the tool drops significantly.
So, if I were you...
#1) HF D/A +/- $65
#2) 6 pads- 4 orange foam cutting pads and 2 black finishing pads- Lake Country or Buff & Shine, either manufacturer is quality and the '6 pad deals' you alluded to are good deals for around $40. As long as you wash and care for the pads... they will last you a long time. +/- $40
#3) Costco MF towels. Not the best but as long as you are not dealing with solid base colors that are dark (black/ red/ etc.) they will be ok.
#4) A good cleaner wax. Meguiar's D151 (or White Wax which is available at Wal Mart or other retailers) or M66/ M6/ M20. You aren't looking for perfection and figure time is valuable... so, get a cleaner wax. D151 will cut very well and leave pretty good protection for a product in this genre, 45 days typically. +/- $10- 30, depending on size of container.
#5) Meguiar's Ultimate Quick Wax or D156 (gallon size). Great spray wax (sealant really) that is very easy to use and leaves good gloss for touch ups in between polishing. Will layer over D151 nicely and add 15- 30 days of protection depending on environment +/- $10- 30.
#6) Meguiar's Gold Class soap in gallon available at Costco also. A legitimate over the counter soap. Dilute as recommended on back of container. +/- $12
#7 Clay bar- Mother's or Meguiar's clay available almost anywhere... I prefer the Mother's kit for over the counter. Their clay is more aggressive than the Meg's and seems to have a better 'feel'.
#8 Wash mitts- use two Costco MF towels for washing if you don't trust what you currently have.
Originally Posted By: Bear
Good line up genynnc, but I'd go with a nanoskin instead of the clay bar (I switched 2 years ago). I use the fine grade one from Amazon. Paid about $12 for it and it's still good after doing our vehicles spring and fall each year.
I've used a heavy concentration of car wash soap as lube for clay and it works just fine. If the finish is in pretty good shape you should be fine with the nanoskin and foam. Use moderate to light pressure.
Originally Posted By: SavagePatch
Originally Posted By: Bear
Good line up genynnc, but I'd go with a nanoskin instead of the clay bar (I switched 2 years ago). I use the fine grade one from Amazon. Paid about $12 for it and it's still good after doing our vehicles spring and fall each year.
Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
This ideally was what i was looking for. Most of the info stated was supported by all the other postings i've read. I also found that HF backing has a lot of flex and isn't balanced. So i should go for a 5in backing and 5.5 pads.
I'm still entry level noob and not looking for showcar status. Most my products will be over the counter. I already have costco/Sams MF towels. Mitts i'll probably need a upgrade.
So a wash with #6 soap, mother's clay, then run the D151 and finish up with D156? the product and pads are what i'm currently reading up during my lunchbreaks as work. So i'm not 100% yet on what the stuff does and what i need it to do.
I'd also buy some Iron-X spray and use that after washing but before claying. It will help get rid of all the rail dust chemically. Available on Amazon, Autogeek etc.
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I've done all my own detailing and waxing all of my life. However at almost 64 it's getting harder to do. I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to pay someone to do it. I'm now retired in Arizona. And because of that we all but never get caught in the rain with our cars. We've had our new 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee almost a year and a half. And the only time the tires have ever gotten wet was in the driveway, the three times we've washed and waxed it since we've had it.
So if I do pay a professional detailer, I'm sure we'll get our money's worth out of it. It's just the matter of finding someone who takes pride in their work, and does a good job. Detailers are like pool cleaners and real estate agents. Only about 10% of them really are good at it.
Wholly agree about clay mitts. I tried two. One Chemical Guys Clay Mitt then a friend who bought a clay sponge. The problem I found is the feel. It's easier to tell using a clay when the surface is smooth. With the Clay Mitt there's so much soft material you'll have to go by sound, but there's also so much material that the sound gets muffled. I tore the Clay Mitt apart so that it's no longer a mitt, but just the clay surface on one side. The feel is still missing. The sponge I found was worse. It had the same general surface area as a clay. Only advantage was you don't have to knead it to 'refreshen' it. I skip the sponge and buy the clay mitt instead. You get nearly 2.5 times surface area for a little bit more money.
However I do love and use my Chemical Guys Clay Mitt. There is so much material that it QUICKLY removes 90% of the contaminates in 20% of the time compared to a clay. It's not only because of the amount of surface covered, but also that you don't have to knead. After which, I follow up with a regular clay and doing both mitt+clay is still about less than half the time if I just used clay.
Originally Posted By: billt460
I've done all my own detailing and waxing all of my life. However at almost 64 it's getting harder to do. I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to pay someone to do it. I'm now retired in Arizona. And because of that we all but never get caught in the rain with our cars. We've had our new 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee almost a year and a half. And the only time the tires have ever gotten wet was in the driveway, the three times we've washed and waxed it since we've had it.
So if I do pay a professional detailer, I'm sure we'll get our money's worth out of it. It's just the matter of finding someone who takes pride in their work, and does a good job. Detailers are like pool cleaners and real estate agents. Only about 10% of them really are good at it.
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