I have read a lot of posts about car cleaning and detailing, but I am still confused. Here are the list of detailing step/item that I wil do/currently owned and will purchase any other if necessary.

Surface Prep and Engine Wash
1. Regular car wash
2. Citrus base engine degreaser
3. Mother's Clay Bar for the whole car
4. Mequira's Scratch X for all fine scratches and swirl mark

Polish
1. Use Klasse All-in-One Polish, cleaner and abrasive remover
2. Use Klasse Sealant Glaze

Waxing
1. No idea what is good brand of wax ( I heard natural carnauba wax is
good)
2. Use hand or orbital buffer machine?
3. I also need a good glass clearning/waxing product

I have a lot of hard water spot that coming from the water springkle in the apartment where I park my car. Do you think Meguira's Scratch X remover will be able to perform the job?

any suggestion and tips is really appreciate it.

EU

 

what are you askin for again?
it seems like you ahve all the base cover already?
use eagle 20/20 for glas cleaner
dont know about other member but personally i dont like foam glass cleaner. when cleanin your windshield always do it on a cold surface to reduce streaking. as for wax, everyone have the one they swear buy, go with the popular choice. tryin the wax yourself is the ultimate answer, stick with the one that you are comfertable with. as for compound i would start with the one that is the less aberssive and then work your way up. for water spots the maguire scratch x should be find if not you can try other more aberssive products, just stay away from products that are not clear coat safe.
mike

 

To get water spots off, any detailing spray will work well. The Mothers clay kit comes with a bottle of detailing spray and a bottle of carnauba wax.
My personal favorite wax combo is: first coat of Mothers carnauba, second coat of Meguiar's Cleaner Wax, and finish it off w/ a coat or two of Meguiars Gold Class. Even with a white car, my paint looks like a mirror. You should see the water bead off of the car! It looks so nice I actually wax the whole car 1-2 times a month!
Oh, and I always wax by hand. An electric polisher is faster, but it can create swirls in the paint, and it costs $100+ so I prefer just waxing by hand. It only takes me about 45 min to an hour per coat.
When you wax your car, you should also wax your wheels. They can look a ton shinier with wax on them. Make sure they are clean before you wax them though. You may even want to use separate waxing pads/towels to wax the wheels.

 

I am going to take your questions and answer them.

I have read a lot of posts about car cleaning and detailing, but I am still confused. Here are the list of detailing step/item that I wil do/currently owned and will purchase any other if necessary.

Surface Prep and Engine Wash
1. Regular car wash
2. Citrus base engine degreaser
3. Mother's Clay Bar for the whole car
4. Mequiar's Scratch X for all fine scratches and swirl mark
(What are you using for your wheels and tires? Glass Cleaner? Interior Vinyl? Protectant?)

Polish
1. Use Klasse All-in-One Polish, cleaner and abrasive remover
2. Use Klasse Sealant Glaze

(One minor point of clarification. Klasse Sealant Glaze does not have any abrasive prpoerties like many polishes. With that said, You might want to add a swirl remover to the equation. Scratch-X is a higher abrasive than most swirl removers)

Waxing
1. No idea what is good brand of wax ( I heard natural carnauba wax is
good) (S100, P21S, Pinnacle Paste Glaz, Pinnacle Liquid Souveran, One Grand Blitz, Meguiar's #26....to name a few)

2. Use hand or orbital buffer machine?
(For waxing, I generally do it by hand using foam applicators and microfiber towels)

3. I also need a good glass clearning/waxing product
(Stoner's Invisible Glass, Sprayway, Eagle One 20/20)

I have a lot of hard water spot that coming from the water springkle in the apartment where I park my car. Do you think Meguira's Scratch X remover will be able to perform the job?
(You might want to treat the water spots with vinegar and then polish)

any suggestion and tips is really appreciate it.

EU

 

Please let me know if this steps is a bit excessive..
Surface Prep and Engine Wash
1. Wash Engine with Citrus base engine degreaser (any suggestion on brands?) wally land carry the orange blast thingy is this ok?
2. Non Abrasive Wheels Cleaner (eagle one?) or just use soap, water and brush?
3. Regular car wash and rinse
4. Mother's Clay Bar for the whole car (a bit expensive) Purchase Clay Magic instead
5. Rewash the car.
6. "Swirl remover" for all fine scratches and swirl mark (Still looking for a brand) also/or vinegar and water for all water mark.
7. Rewash Again and rinse dry

Polish
1. Use Klasse All-in-One Polish, cleaner and abrasive remover
2. Use Klasse Sealant Glaze

Wheels and tires
1. Wheels, I just use regular wax after using the clay bar and polish
2. Tires, use lexol vinylex

Interior
1. Clean all the dust with brushes and one of those dust swipe thing
2. Use Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner
3. Use Lexol Vinylex for the the rest of rubber/vinly/plastic part

Glass and Plastic Cleaner
1. Need to polish the Glass and Headlight (looking for some kit at this moment but they all too expensive) Any suggestion
2. Use Eagle one 20/20 glass cleaner

Waxing
1. Will purchase one of this soon (S100, P21S, Pinnacle Paste Glaz, Pinnacle Liquid Souveran, One Grand Blitz, Meguiar's #26)
2. Waxing by hand using foam applicators and microfiber towels


Thanks guys,
btw Need to do this before the weather become colder

 

I wouldn't even bother with a second wash. To me, it does not make sense to add more work than necessary.

Now, to review your steps:

Please let me know if this steps is a bit excessive..
Surface Prep and Engine Wash
1. Wash Engine with Citrus base engine degreaser (any suggestion on brands?) wally land carry the orange blast thingy is this ok?
(A lot of peeps use Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner, Eimann Fabrik's Engine Degreaser, or Simple Green (Diluted).)

2. Non Abrasive Wheels Cleaner (eagle one?) or just use soap, water and brush?
(OTC: Eagle One A2Z, Espree. Personally, I use Eimann Fabrik's Hi-Intensity because I can use it for both tires and rims)

3. Regular car wash and rinse
4. Mother's Clay Bar for the whole car (a bit expensive) Purchase Clay Magic instead
(Good on 3 & 4)

5. Rewash the car.
(Remove this step)

6. "Swirl remover" for all fine scratches and swirl mark (Still looking for a brand) also/or vinegar and water for all water mark.
(Excellent)

7. Rewash Again and rinse dry
(Not needed)

Polish
1. Use Klasse All-in-One Polish, cleaner and abrasive remover
(The Swirl Remover and/or Scratch-X should go here and then follow up w/ Klasse All In One)

2. Use Klasse Sealant Glaze
(Should be the final step)

Wheels and tires
1. Wheels, I just use regular wax after using the clay bar and polish
(I had Klasse Sealant Glaze on my stock SE rims after claying and polishing with AIO)

2. Tires, use lexol vinylex
(Excellent)

Interior
1. Clean all the dust with brushes and one of those dust swipe thing
2. Use Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner
3. Use Lexol Vinylex for the the rest of rubber/vinly/plastic part

Glass and Plastic Cleaner
1. Need to polish the Glass and Headlight (looking for some kit at this moment but they all too expensive) Any suggestion
(Plexus, Renovo, Meguiar's, 3M all make plastic polish. As far as a glass polish is concerned, you can only use that on the outside. Glass cleaners I would recommend are Stoners Invisible Glass, Eagle One 20/20, and Sprayway. I have also used rubbing alcohol to clean heavily stained interior glass)

2. Use Eagle one 20/20 glass cleaner

Waxing
1. Will purchase one of this soon (S100, P21S, Pinnacle Paste Glaz, Pinnacle Liquid Souveran, One Grand Blitz, Meguiar's #26)
(Meguiar's, Blitz, S100 are all reasonably priced. They don't exceed $15. Liquid Souveran and P21S will hit you for around $25)

2. Waxing by hand using foam applicators and microfiber towels

 

Whew! What a lot of stuff to read!

Prinz has addressed pretty much everything very well. I'd just like to mention that the wax step following application of Klasse SG is purely optional. Some people think that they must apply wax over top of it because they see quite a few enthusiasts doing this or recommending this, or they get confused by the product's name (Klasse SG is an acrylic polymer sealant, not a "glaze").

Klasse alone is more than adequate protection for your paint and you can stop right there. In fact, it is highly recommended that you take the time and effort to apply 3-5 coats of Klasse SG, spacing your applications one day apart each to allow curing time. Possibly more now that the weather is cooler and more damp. This can not only improve the look, but the durability as well. Some enthusiasts have played around with topping Klasse off with a pure wax for cosmetic reasons. I did this right away too, but in retrospect I can't remember why I did this so eagerly since the visual difference is very, very subtle and the Klasse alone is exceptionally long lasting even parked outside uncovered 24/7.

While I'm at it, I might as well mention that the swirl removal (polishing) step is one of the most critical, sometimes requiring several products and steps as required. Ideally you want to get the paint looking perfect or nearly perfect at this stage and then simply protect it with a wax/sealant. You can rely on the Klasse (or other products) to help a bit if your prep is less than perfect, but this is a band-aid type of approach.

Water spots can be two things: Either it is a purely mineral deposit left from hard water, which will come off with vinegar or detail spray or some other chemical method, or they could be etched in water spots, where pollution/acid has oxidized the water spot shape into the paint. If it's this then only an abrasive polish is going to take it out, but hopefully your water spots are only from hard water.

HTH

 

I'd just like to add that when you apply Klasse SG (AIO is less picky) remember to think thin, thin, THIN coats. This will make buffing it off easier and drying time shorter. This is one of those things where if any of it has touched the paint it is enough. When I use it on my silver car I'm hard pressed to even see it go on.

 

waaoo you guys really know how to help me spend my money on car cleaning alone.
I purchased the Eimann Fabrik's Hi-Intensity in a gallon and also meguira's plastic polish and cleaner plus those microfiber towel.
well now I need to find the time to do it, I need a good 3 hours to clean my car and another 3 for my wife car.
Thanks a lot

 

Are you looking to detail the exterior or interior? You may not want to use plastic polish on your paint.

 

Spending money? No one has even suggested getting a Porter Cable (PC 7224 or 7336), so I will now. Figure about $125, and then you'll need pads and a pad backing plate (www.topoftheline.com has pads, 6/$45 and the 6" velcro backing plate, along with other stuff. And excellent service, too). You could easily spend $200 for the PC and accessories, but it is very well worth it when it comes to saving time and almost flawless results!

You may want to stock up on your toweling of choice, too. Either many good microfiber, or many 100% cotton terry towels (name brand, made in USA only for quality purposes. I like Fieldcrest Charisma's for my cottons). I use both cotton and microfiber. You can never have too many quality towels (emphasis on quality).

Check out the forums at www.autopia.org, www.detailcity.com, and www.showcargarage.com. Those can give you a lot of tips/info from professional detailers to help you get flawless results.

Warning: This whole detailing thing is addictive. Riding around in a spotless, flawless car causes increased levels of dopamine (brain's natural "feel good" drug). The addiction starts with washing and waxing, then goes through the wash, clay, polish, wax phase. It progresses to the Q-tipping the vents, Q-tipping body panel seems, toothpicking the brake/gas pedal "grooves", etc... Pretty soon, the neighbors want you institutionalized because you set up halogen worklights in your driveway to do a "quick cleaning" of your car at 2:00am (it's not the lights that attract their attention, but the sound of the PC and hot water extractor, combined with the rhythmic stroking and talking to your paint that worries them). Some people just don't understand....

Oh, good luck in your detailing endeavor!

I'm gonna go polish my rear bumper and rocker panels now...

Dave