How do you guys prep your paint before wax?

[wn1998]

Just wondering what you guys do to prep your car for wax. What are your steps?

Mine steps are typically
1. Use a bug and tar remover if needed
2. Wash and dry (blow out with compressed air as well)
3. High Speed Buff with a fine cut cleaner
4. Zaino AIO topped with Zaino Z2 and Zaino CS.

 

[MKZman]

It depends on the condition of the paint. If you do not do any paint correction to remove swirls, etc, then the basic steps are wash, clay, use a paint cleaner like Mothers Pre-Wax Cleaner, and then your favorite sealant or wax.

There are some aggressive one step cleaner waxes like Meg's or Mothers Cleaner Wax. (Nu Finish is a cleaner sealant product).

Here is a nice chart from Autogeek.

 

[hate2work]

Nice chart, MKZ, thanks. All I've ever done is wash then wax, good enough for me most times. Our cars are daily drivers, so it doesn't make sense to me to do much more than that.

 

[daves87rs]

Nice chart!

 

[wn1998]

I did some professional detailing in the late 90's and clay bars were not used much (atleast at the shop I worked at). Do you typically clay bar every car as a regular step? We always used a light cutting compound with the rotorty buffer to give the paint that "smooth feeling" before we applied the wax.

 

[Familyguy]

That's a fantastic graphic. I clay every time I wax. Clay works great on the glass too. You'd be surprised how black clay can get after use on your freshly "cleaned" glass.

 

[Falcon_LS]

That's a brilliant chart!

I personally wash with three times the recommended strength of auto shampoo (sometimes dish washing liquid), followed by a bug & tar remover application before claying the paint.

 

[pcfxer]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
That's a brilliant chart!

I personally wash with three times the recommended strength of auto shampoo (sometimes dish washing liquid), followed by a bug & tar remover application before claying the paint.


Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner works wonders for breaking down road grime and bugs .

Typically these days it's been...
wash, clay, Meg's reconditioning cream/Ultimate Compound on G-100 w/ w-8006, #80 w/ w-8006 on G100, #7 w/w-9006, 2 thin coats of wax. wax could be 2x NXT or 1x NXT then #16 as the LSP.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
That's a brilliant chart!

I personally wash with three times the recommended strength of auto shampoo (sometimes dish washing liquid), followed by a bug & tar remover application before claying the paint.


The dishwashing soap will certainly take everything, including the paint, off your car. It's for dishes, not for your nice car.
And, what is this "wax" everyone's talking about? I thought you didn't need to do anything to the car until a light came on somewhere on the dash?

 

[JimPghPA]

Wash, clay, wax, what you mean they didn't take care of that when it was inspected?

Anytime you use a power rotary buffer run it slow and move around always. If you burn through the paint you open up a whole can of worms you don't want to deal with.

JimPghPa

 

[Falcon_LS]

Originally Posted By: pcfxer
Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner works wonders for breaking down road grime and bugs .


Thanks, I'll try and get hold of the stuff to give it a try. Meguiar's has some brilliant products, I use their Tech 2.0 and multi step paint care products all the time.

Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
The dishwashing soap will certainly take everything, including the paint, off your car. It's for dishes, not for your nice car.


One of the problems we face here is the wax softening under hot weather conditions, and sand sticking to the (carnauba) wax. Sometimes the only way to remove it is to wash the car with warm water and dish washing liquid, then follow up with bug & tar remover, a clay bar application and heavy duty rubbing compound.

 

[ADFD1]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
Originally Posted By: pcfxer
Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner works wonders for breaking down road grime and bugs .


Thanks, I'll try and get hold of the stuff to give it a try. Meguiar's has some brilliant products, I use their Tech 2.0 and multi step paint care products all the time.

Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
The dishwashing soap will certainly take everything, including the paint, off your car. It's for dishes, not for your nice car.


One of the problems we face here is the wax softening under hot weather conditions, and sand sticking to the (carnauba) wax. Sometimes the only way to remove it is to wash the car with warm water and dish washing liquid, then follow up with bug & tar remover, a clay bar application and heavy duty rubbing compound.

That is interesting about the heat and the carnuba wax. Have you looked into Rejex? It stands up to some crazy heat, and is awesome at UV protection. I'm going to order a bottle for myself. My father uses it all the time, and I recently read about it here and it got me thinking. Maybe they can ship it your way. Check it out online or search on this site, GOOD STUFF!

 

[wn1998]

Falcon, I agree with ADFD1 and thing maybe a synthetic with a higher melting point might prevent the "sand" from sticking to the paint.

 

[MKZman]

Just recognize there are two extemes of car detailers:

1. Those that brag about how little they anything to their car (the ones that want a 6 month per year product)

2. Those that brag about how great their csr looks (they are doing something after each wash or so -- applying a detailer or spray wax).

There is no right or wrong...just respect are both sides.

 

[bretfraz]

Originally Posted By: MKZman
Just recognize there are two extemes of car detailers:

1. Those that brag about how little they anything to their car (the ones that want a 6 month per year product)

2. Those that brag about how great their csr looks (they are doing something after each wash or so -- applying a detailer or spray wax).

There is no right or wrong...just respect are both sides.


I'm sorry but none of that makes sense. Neither of your examples have anything to do with car detailers. Maybe oddball car owners, but not detailers. There are more sides to respect than the confusing ones you posted.

I would prefer you not whitewash "detailers" with some strange brush. There are enough hacks out there giving us real detailers a bad name. Combine that with the efforts of government do-gooders wanting to put detailers under their tight bureaucratic control, and we have enough issues to deal with.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Originally Posted By: ADFD1
That is interesting about the heat and the carnuba wax. Have you looked into Rejex? It stands up to some crazy heat, and is awesome at UV protection. I'm going to order a bottle for myself. My father uses it all the time, and I recently read about it here and it got me thinking. Maybe they can ship it your way. Check it out online or search on this site, GOOD STUFF!


Thanks for the recommendation! I've actually seen it for sale at the local Ace Hardware, and I'm doing some detailing some time this week...I'll definitely give it a try!

Originally Posted By: wn1998
Falcon, I agree with ADFD1 and thing maybe a synthetic with a higher melting point might prevent the "sand" from sticking to the paint.


Definitely!

I use a synthetic wax, but have a habit of using carnauba as a finishing touch, to give the paint a wet look. I'm not going to do that anymore, since that is what causes the problem.

 

[demarpaint]

The shine from Rejex is pretty impressive. It is best going over a wax free surface, and then park the car inside a garage while it cures for best results.

 

[ionbeam22]

It's pretty much the same idea's as in any kind of gloss surface finishing. You want to create a smooth clean surface to which your glossing agent will adhere well.

A clay bar gets rid of adhereant surface contamination, while using a fine polishing compound (e.g KIT scratch out) will relevel the surface making it smooth and reflective. Then you can apply a high gloss wax to it.

 

[Steve S]

As I drive my vehicle through the carwash at the gas station the cars wash does all the prep then applies the wax???!!!!

 

[ionbeam22]

The car wash doesn't apply any real wax to the car. They apply something called "drying agent" which is just an unstable emulsion of silicones/mineral oil. It causes the car's surface to become hydrophobic which helps to knock water off of the car, thus drying it faster.

You get this for free, if you pay for the "Hot wax" they just apply more of it.

You could get essentially the same effect by spraying a wet car with lemon pledge or any spray wax. Note how the water just drops when the spray hits the wet surface.