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steps for cleaning car.

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Old Oct 14, 2006 | 03:44 PM
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faithful_lothario's Avatar
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steps for cleaning car.

am i supposed to clean the car with diswashing liquid then clay bar and wax or do i just use a car wash liquid and then clay bar. I am asking this because i usually use the car wash liquid and then clay bar the car, but the contaminants dont come off the car. some of them stay on the car.
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Old Oct 15, 2006 | 11:13 AM
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Detailing can be as simple or as thorough as you want it to be it just depends on your detailing goals. For some people taking it through a car wash a couple times is plenty while for others its an every couple of days routine. A full detail includes Wash/Dry - Clay Bar – Polish(s) - Glaze - Sealant – Wax. You can read more about each one of these steps by clicking on any of the steps listed above.

Some contaminates won't come off during the clar bar process but most should with a little patience. Occasionally I'll use a cutting polish to remove stuborn build ups and then polish the area. If you have things like tar on the paint try a prewash treatment like the Poorboy's World Bug Squash.

Let me know if you need more clarification or if you have any other detailing questions. Thanks for posting!

Greg @ Detailed Image
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Old Oct 15, 2006 | 02:51 PM
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should i just use a car wash liquid or is diswashing liquid acceptable too. because i see alot of people use diswashing liquid to strip the car of wax.
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Old Oct 15, 2006 | 02:54 PM
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also do you have a link to where on your website i can buy all the products for a complete detail in a bundle. or do i have to buy them separatly?
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Old Oct 16, 2006 | 12:12 PM
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We have tons of bundle deals that have lots of different products already put together. We put together some of our favorite products that work great together in the bundles. However that are so many different combinations of products that work well we couldn't include them all. I would recommend looking in our BUNDLE DEALS and COMPLETE KITS section. Let me know if you need help finding a kit that best fits your needs.

You can use either or, it really comes down to your personal preference. Auto shampoo is separated from regular soap because it has conditioners it in. Some generic soaps like Dawn have powerful stripping agents in them. With repeated use of these soaps they can dry out vinyl and plastic trim and even the clear coat. I tend to use auto shampoo because I feel like the suds are more abundant and have great lubricity.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Greg @ Detailed Image
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Old Oct 16, 2006 | 04:18 PM
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From: Ponte Vedra Beach FL/ Hampstead, London, England
'84 380 SL/ '02 XK8
Paint Detailing Basics:
•Washing- utilizing two buckets, one for the car wash solution, and one for rinsing the wash mitt, as always work from the top down, rinsing both the vehicle and wash mitt frequently, ensuring a flow from clean to dirty panels etc.
•Drying-using a Microfiber waffle weave-drying towel, gently pull the towel across the paint surface.
•Cleaning- Water and car wash concentrate will wash away the loose particles but not the embedded pollution. Regardless of how clean you think your paint is there are still contaminants stuck on the paint that you need to remove with detailing clay before pre-wax cleaning, polishing or applying a protection to your paint. Applying a wax or a sealant over a surface that has not been properly cleaned will only result in a shiny wax or sealant layer over dull, dirty paint-not the deep smooth, crystalline finish the surface is capable of obtaining.
•Polishing-dependant upon the paint films surface condition, use a suitably abrasive polish. The differences between a single stage paint system (base and colour coat) and a clear coat (base, colour and clear coat) is that the single stage paint is ‘softer’ and therefore easier to polish, you’ll notice that the foam pad will pick up the paint colour (i.e. on a black vehicle the foam pad will turn black, this is normal, it doesn’t mean you are removing all the paint)
•Paint Surface Cleaners- also called pre-wax cleaners, will remove mild surface imperfections, improve surface gloss and provide improved adhesion and durability for the applied protection, will also avoid sealing in dirt by covering it with a wax or sealant (should be done on a fairly regular basis)
•Paint scratch repair- there is a system called Sprayless Scratch Repair http://www.magictouchinc.com/ or a AutoSharp pen The pen itself is very easy to use. You simply shake it, depress the felt tip a few times to start the paint flow, and then begin to "colour" paint into the damaged areas, much like you would highlight a section of text in a book
http://www.autosharppen.com/
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