As many of you have found out, the Cleaning Your Max thread in the 5th Gen Forum is closed. Over time, I will be going through the thread and bringing relevant posts from that thread over here. However, that does not stop you from posting your own tips and tricks here.

Warning: Any flames or attempts at Post Whoring will be quickly dealt with.

 

Posted by UMD_MaxSE

Washing your Car
Car soap with cold water in a plastic bucket. Use 100% cotton towels. Any brand of car soap should be fine as long as it is for cars. Dishwashing soap will strip your car's finish of all wax and leave a very dull finish. Wash in sections and rinse with clean water. Do not let the soap dry for too long as it may leave spots. Dry with 100% cotton towels.

Pre-wax prep
If your finish is dull and rough, you may need to use a clay bar. Mothers makes a good one. You use the clay bar with a quick detailing spray product. This will remove oxidation and other contaminants. You may want to clay your car maybe once a year or so.

Now you want to polish your car before waxing it. Depending on the condition of the finish, you will use different products.

*Meguiars Fine Cut Cleaner - Use only if finish is really negelected. Will remove imperfections and small scratches.

*Meguiars #9 Swirl Remover - If you have swirl marks, use this to remove them.

* Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze - A polish that will remove slight imperfections and will leave a very nice shine.

* 3M Imperial Hand Glaze - Much like #7 Show car glaze. Some say it is even better.

you want to polish maybe once every two months or so. Use a towel to apply the stuff and let it sit for like 30 minutes. Buff with a cotton towel linearly in one direction (not circles).

Waxing
After polishing you want to wax your car to protect the shine. There are several waxes out there from synthetic (like Zaino) to carnauba based natural. I have had good experience with Meguiars #26 Hi-tech yellow wax. Apply it using a towel or sponge applicator. Buff off with another cotton towel. You can wax every time you wash your car ad you should wax every time after polishing it. These types of natural waxes last about a month or two before needing another coat. If you build up several coats, it will last a bit longer. Synthetics will last longer.

Vinyl/Rubber
Meguiars #40 Vinyl/Rubber treatment is a really good product. It will leave a nice shine, but is not greasy at all. You can use this on your tires also if you want, but it works better on your dashboard and other vinyl surfaces.

Rims
Don't use anything harsh. Just clean with water, car soap, and a towel or brush. Wax the finished portion of the wheel with the same wax you use on your finish.

again, these are the things I do and products that I have found to be very good. I am sure there are several products out there that do a similar job.

 

To clean floor matts.
Find a car wash that has a high pressure washer.
Put the Matts on the clamps that they have where you wash your car.
First use the High Pressure Rinse Option to get all the dirt off of the matts.
Then use the soap option. Spray the matts until they are covered in white (when you do this you will know what i'm talking about)
Then use the rinse option again to getthe soap off.

Do this step a second time to get them super clean.
If you want your matts to stay cleaner longer, apply some scotch guard.

Drying the car
At the local warmart get a rag called an Auto abosorber. It comes in various neon colors. The cost is about 10 bucks. Its a type of a spongey rubber that makes car drying an ease. IT will not leave streaks or water spots.

Another great drying too is the California Water blade. You can get it at costco for about 12 bucks

Happy Cleaning

 

I find that the best motion to use when washing, drying or waxing is a linear, front to back motion. If you use a circular motion during any of these activities, you will increase your chances of getting swirl marks. For drying I actually prefer to use a chamois cloth and BLOT the entire car dry, without even rubbing at all.

One other tip is never use windex or any ammonia based glass cleaner on your tinted windows, it will help them turn purple. I was told to only use a mild soap and water, and for this, dish liquid is OK!

 

Cleaning Your Leather Seats
Buy a leather cleaner at your local auto parts store.
Buy a leather conditioner at the same store.
Get yourself a good quality WHITE rag.
Take the leather cleaner and apply it on your seats. If it is the spray type bottle, spray enough so that you can cover the whole seat when you rub it in with the cloth. If it is the squeeze type bottle, do the same. Apply quickly, and scrub the seats with that white rag immediatly afterwards. If you wait to long, there will be streaks of clean, and the dirt will show alot worse. Scrub hard, but dont go breaking your seats. When you have done all of this, apply the conditioner, rub it in to your seats. You can use a new rag if you want. But make sure its white. When I use a colored rag, the dye will get all over your seats.

Shifter, Dash, Steering Wheel
Take a wet rag and wipe all of these down.
Take a dry rag and apply Leather cleaner to it. Rub the cleaner on all of these. If it pleases you to do so, do the conditioner too.

Wood, Chrome

For the wood, I use either Windex, or 409 to do the job. Spray the wood down, and wipe with a paper towel. Do the same with the chrome. Keep in mind that I dont use wood cleaner as the wood is fake.

These are a few "unprofessional" things that I do. But they do wonders for me.

 

I usually rent a carpet shampooer every year after the winter months and hit the floormats and carpet. Bascially it does the same thing yongjun suggested, but you also get the advantage of cleaning the entire capret. It helps to get out the sand that has worked through the floormats.

 

A trick I use for my interior... I keep a box of swifter's (you know the static cling wipes you get at a grocery store) And I just wipe down the entire interior with one a couple of those, then wipe again with a rag or t-shirt, and it does the job. This is just a quick way to get your interior nice and clean.

And for car wash soap... dont use any that have wax in them. These types cause swirl marks.

 

Many fine articles to read on topic:

http://www.carcarespecialties.com/howto_articles.html

 

Engine cleaning

I think Maxima gets dirty engine pretty easy. The only way to keep it clean is to clean it as often as you can, this way you will lower the chance of buildups that cannot be get rid of.

The way to clean it is easy, you could use a garden hose and rinse it with high pressure, then apply some soap at the paint area and the engine area.

If you engine already has tough to remove buildups, then rinse it with high pressure washer and spray degreaser on it. Then rinse if off with high pressure washer again. After this, you might want to apply some wax to the painted area.

 

I wash the wheels and tires first with a sponge. Change the water and wash the car from the top down using a sheepskin wash mitt and Raindance car wash soap. Final rinse is with a nozzleless hose which sheets the water off the car and prevents water spots. Chamois leather to dry.

Eagle One 20/20 for the glass.
Meguiar's GC Endurance for the tires.
Swiffer sheet for the interior (works great!)
Would like to use Lexol's products on the leather but am having a hard time finding it in Canada.

Big Smile when its all done

 

here's a couple things i've used that works wonders.

Stubborn water spots?
-Use RainX window cleaner/polisher and finish it off with RainX Invisible Windshield Wiper


Dead bugs? Sap? Also want to clean the glue from the Debadge?
- Use Turtle Wax's Bug and Sap remover. it waxes afterwards too! cool stuff.

 

My car came with gold package so I get a blue card on proper care for your gold package. Here is what it says:

PROPER CARE FOR GENUINE NISSAN GOLD-PLATED ACCESSORIES

Cogratulations on your purchase of Genuine Nissan Gold-Plated accessories. These accessories have been plated with pure 24-carat gold and clearcoated for added protection.
To maintain the finish of your gold-plated Nissan accessories, wash them regularly with either a mild soap and water solution or a glass cleaner. Wipe dry with a soft cloth.
Frequent cleaning is recommended in coastal area where salty sea air is present.

Do not do the following:

1. Do not use power buffers or polishing equipment on your gold accessories.

2. Do not use abrasive car polishes on your gold accessories.

 

and the others.

I use mirror glazes plastic cleaner/polish.
Just spray some on a soft cotton material like an old tee shirt or sock and wipe it on and clean it off with a dry part.

 

If you have wood dash kit (or carbon fiber), Pledge cleans it the best.

If you have marks on the outside of the car that nothing else will remove (including light scratches) Meguiar clear coat body scrub does the job.

If you have marks that even the above wont remove: I use a chemical called Carbo-Sol. It is made by Sunnyside and available at hardware stores. Remember those spam stickers the dealers like to stick on the bumper? Pull the sticker off and it leaves that residue. Pour a little carbosol onto a terry towel, and it rubs off the residue in seconds. And it doesnt seem to harm the paint.

My god-send: Rain X the original. I hate wipers.

For the carpeting/upholstery: any of those spray shampoos. Spray on, rub a little with a rag, let it dry, vacuum it off. Your interior will smell fresh for months.

 

I do not reccomend Simple Green for the wheels, tires, or degreasing the engine. It's strong and quick, but stong in a very harmful way. I find it causes the wheel to turn yellow, engine to make a whizzing sound, and crack the tires. My favorite cleaner for wheels is P21S Gel or Eimann Fabrik Hi-Indensity cleaner for an all around cleaner. Both are imported from Germany, and Eimann Fabrik's is not expensive at all.

 

Here are some more useful urls on care care:

http://www.malms.com/7.htm
http://www.zainobros.com/
http://www.carcareonline.com/index.html

TrueNorth

 

For weather stripping and the rubber seals, I reccomend sillicone-free Gummi-Pfledge. It lasts much longer than greasy products and will not cause it to crack. You can get it at most BMW dealers and it costs less than Zymol's Seal.

 

My actual ritual when washing my Max:

a) Rinse off all surface dirt on the body of the car and rinse the wheel wells out.

b) I start on the left side by cleaning the wheels and tires. For the Wheels, I use Espree's Wheel Magic formulated for clearcoat wheels (green). For Tires, I use Westley's Bleche White. I spray the tires and rims and let it sit for a minute. Then I scrub the tire with a wire tire brush so that I can get rid of all the deep down dirt on the tires. After scrubbing the tires, I take a wash mitt and clean the rim along with the edge of the fenderwell and the splashguards. Then I rinse.

c) I use Meguiar's Car Wash Soap and a wash mitt to clean the body of the car. If I am in the sun, I will do the car a quarter at a time to prevent the soap from drying on it.
But usually, I am under the overhang of my parents' garage and that is never an issue. I tend to start from the front, and work my way back. Then I rinse.

d) I repeat steps a-c on the right side of the car.

e) I use a chamois to dry my car. I prefer to get the 5 1/4 square foot chamois so that I can cover more area. Also, I will use a can of air to blow out water from the gas tank door. I also dry the door jambs as well as the trunk jambs. I will also wipe the sunroof track to get rid of any moisture.

f) After drying, I clean the inside of the car. The first thing I do is get rid of all the dust and crud with a damp terrycloth towel. Then I have a new addition to the routine. I use a can of compressed air to get the crud and dust out of small crevices. For the dash and other vinyl surfaces, I will use Meguiar's #40 Vinyl cleaner and conditioner. I spray that on a wax applicator pad so I don't get any on the windshield, the Eclipse, or other windows. For the glass (including my sunroof), I use Trak Auto's Window Cleaner and newspaper. After cleaning the glass, I apply Rain-X to the exterior glass surfaces. Sometimes, I will polish my rims with metal polish in order to get rid of any oxidation.

g) Usually, I will wax my car with Meguiar's. However, I am tempted to try P21s wax. I only wax the Max once a month.

Once I am finished, I am because my car is cleaner than most pros can make it.

 

Maximaman69 - I acutally use Armor All Window Cleaner for Tinted Windows for all of my interior cleaning. It's made for tinted windows and does a great job. About $3 for a good size bottle. [/B][/QUOTE]

Do you put a little vinegar with the soap and water? The vinegar helps cut the grime.

 

Instead of P21S carnauba wax, I would reccomend you to try the similarly priced, One Grand Blitz wax. It comes from a small company and the ugly tin looks like a large tuna can. In addition, their site (www.onegrand.com) looks like it's make by a group of 5th graders for a Science Project. Luckily, the stuff inside is great, which is more important than the outside. Try it! No wax is better for the money.

 

One of my biggest fears is scratching the clear plastic in front of the gauges, etc. I have found something that actually cleans this and won't scratch. (I never tried that Mothers of Maguires plastic polish)

Remember Endust for electronics - used to clean stero components, etc? I don't think they make that anymore, but Pledge now makes a Pledge for electronics (I can only find it at Staples). This stuff works great on all interior plastic, from the gauge cluster, to the radio, to the wood trim, etc. Does not scratch.

Swiffers are also great, like someone mentioned before.

 

You can find Lexol at www.autodetail.com. They also carry brands such as P21s, Meguiar's, etc. They also have the microfiber cloths.

I am planning to buy some Lexol Leather Cleaner and Conditioner since I am also responsible for washing my father's Navigator.

 

Just as important as the chemicals you use to clean the Max, the cleanliness of the rags you use is important as well.

I was wondering how often you launder the rags/mitts and what you use to clean them. This evening, I am planning to hit a Wal-mart and pick up the following to clean my white towels and mitts:

a) Purex or Tide Laundry Detergent
b) Clorox Bleach
c) 20 Mule Team Borax

One time, I laundered my chamois and it came out with more holes than a slice of Swiss Cheese. Then I remembered that I put it in the water with the other white towels (bleached water) and that tore the chamois up. I might buy a new one.

 

A couple of things that I have heard or read:

1. When laundering you cleaning rags do NOT bounce type things as they can cause a steaked finish when you buff your wax - I don't know why, but it is true as it happened to me when my wife moved my stuff into the drier and automatically stuck a drier sheet in!

2. I was watching either the Man or X show (can't remember which) and they had a "car cleaning tips from the pro's" section and the "pro" said that genuine chamois (as in real) can strip the wax from your cars surface and that the synthetic ones don't. I don't know if this is true or not, but my chamois was a bit ragged at the time so I replaced it with a synthetic.

 

Angela and I spent almost 5 hours washing, polishing, and waxing (Meguiars) our Max. All done by hands. Very tired hands at the end.
Are orbital buffers any good? SAMS has one that looks kinda small and cheap. Is there a particular brand, size, or type that I should be looking for?

The Meguiars polish made a huge difference in the ~7 month old paint. It really restored the luster and relectivity.
The Meguiars wax was a little difficult to remove but made the finish slick and added depth.

 

I believe Griot's Garage Car washing Soap is by far the best I have ever used. It is clear coat safe, does not remove your wax and the car looks like you just waxed it after you finish. If you want to check them out the web site is www.griotsgarage.com. I have also tried some of their other products, rubber cleaner, vinyl and rubber dressing and they are very high quality. Enjoy pampering you Maxima, I own a 2001 SE(AE) and love it.
CTalbott

 

I get tar or oil spots on the bottom side of my Max as well as bugs on the front (Icelandic Pearl shows them bad unfortunately). I bought a bug sponge from Wal-Mart for 97 cents and it's been the best purchase I made. It doesn't scratch your paint but removes bug and tar spots with one simple swipe. No pressure or elbow grease required. For 97 cents, I saved myself the pain of getting those damn grease spots that seems to smudge with a regular sponge.

 

Did you know: Meguiar's #10 Plastic Polish is identical to their #7 show car glaze?

 

Refer to all the de3tailing articles on my web site.

We also posted a bunch on the forum

Regards


------
Here's the link

http://www.avalonracing.net/detailzone.htm

-Y2KevSE

 

They actually turned out pretty nice. Here's what I used to wash them:

Purex Liquid Detergent
Clorox Bleach
20 Mule Team Borax

I bought the borax as an experiement to see how well it would enhance the detergent's power. Much to my surprise, it got a lot of the deep dirt out of a lot of the towels that had been sitting up a while (1 yr or more).

I still have some more towels to clean once I find them.

I washed the Chamois with the colored towels and it turned out nicely. I washed the mitts with the whites and they came out very nice.

I am probably going to be doing this quite often so that my towels will remain clean and contaminant free. Plus, I will be buying 2 Chamois (one for the outside, one small one for dusting the dash).

 

I am probably going to be doing this quite often so that my towels will remain clean and contaminant free. Plus, I will be buying 2 Chamois (one for the outside, one small one for dusting the dash). [/B][/QUOTE]

I've been using chamois for years and just tried the "Absorber". WOW! This thing drinks up water. Try it you'll like it. $8.99 at WALMART.

Cheers

 

Guys, I posted this in the fourth Gen Forum and thought you might want to see it. Believe it or not this works.

Since the only forum I know that has a cleaning tips section is the 5th Gen guys and I wanted all the 4th Gen guys to hear this one I'm posting here. Saw this on SpeedVision. To really get your windows clean, inside and out, use very fine steel wool and window cleaner...lots of window cleaner. I went to the hardware store and bought some "0000" steel wool. I think it is the finest grade you can get. Liberally sprayed down the window and then used the steel wool. Wiped up with a terry cloth. Yup it works, the windows absolutely gleam. If you've got any "junk" on them this will take it right off. You know that edge of junk on your side windows where it hits the moulding...gone. After I used the steel wool and wiped I went over it one more time with glass cleaner and newspaper. It looks great. CAUTION, don't do this if you have tinting.
Post your results.

Cheers

Below is a reply to a disbeliever.

Ahh yes, kimosabe

Really, it was a tip from a car restorer. It's really fine steel wool. They do it prior to showing their cars. The guy even said that they took a random orbital buffer to their windows after they did this.
Hey, it works. The glass absolutely gleams from outside and from inside it's like the window isn't even there.
BTW, you do this inside and outside. The guy said that it really helps inside in that you develop a film from the plastic inside the car and or leather etc.

Tried it. It works, just wanted to share the wealth.

IF you're sceptical...try it on a window on your WIFE's car first


Cheers

 

People who have heavy dirt grime and other stuff on their wheels.

This weekend I saw brokenmotor wash his wheels at my house.
He used a clay bar and some windex to clean his wheels.
Man oh man it turned out to be so freakin clean.
The only downside is that each wheel if you detail the whole thing will take you 2 hours.
But if you have lots of time on your hand this is the way to go.

 

I suggest using newspapers, not paper towels, on the glass since it leaves no residue or streaks.

Zaino is the best stuff I've ever used, their waxes and polishes are phenomenal... BUT their tire shine stuff is EXACTLY like Armor-All, and we all know that Armor-All is not the best tire shine stuff (I like Tire Wet by Black Magic)

Still haven't found a way to make my plastic speedo/tach cover look good. It's scratched, but because just looking at it the wrong way scratches it.

Anyone have any ideas on something that REPELS dust? My in-dash screen attracts dust like CRAZY. I clean it and within a few minutes it's dusty again.

Stay clean!

 

I have used Meguiars 7 Glaze followed by Meguiars 26 since day one. I like them because they have absolutely zero abrasives in them. Since I never allowed the finish to deteriorate, I have never had to use any type of cleaner. My only complaint is that the wax does not last longer than two months as mentioned by Y2KevSE. Given the amount of effort I extend on wax day (washing, drying, polishing, two coats wax) this is somewhat depressing. I try to preserve the wax by washing with cold water ALONE between wax jobs. As long as the car isn't too dirty, you'd be surprised what cold water alone can do.

 

I've always heard NOT to use fabric softener because of the oils and such that it contains to make the stuff softer. Just use the liquid detergent and dry the towels. Then fluff dry them again. This'll get the lint out really nicely.

 

use lamb skin to wash/dry ur car. believe me. its soft so it doesnt scratch your car. the 100% towel WILL SCRATCH YOUR CAR. lamb skin u can get from k-mart, pep boys for about 10$ or a bigger pic for 15$.


WAX: make sure U DO NOT USE TOO MUCH wax. use a little at a time. DO NOT wax under the sun.

hope this helps

 

I wouldn't use sheepskin because the "nap" is not thick enough. They are not durable and aren't very absorbant. I prefer Chinelle wash mitts or pads to wash, and Miracle microfiber Towels for other things.

 

Seeing as I just cleaned mine yesterday, I guess I'll post exactly what I did to get mine GLEAMING:

First step, rinse down with gentle mist. Rinse, soap, rinse with each section starting from the roof on down using Meguiar's Sheeting car wash. Separate wash mitts are used for the upper/lower/tire parts of the car.

After drying, I use this pink stuff called Liquid Lustre that I can only find online as a sealer/glaze. This stuff leaves NO swirl marks and removes any stubborn things. it's wonderful - I swear by it.

Last, I use a simple wax to seal in the shine. The car looks be-yooo-ti-ful. I don't worry about interior much, since I keep a scotch brite rag in my door for quick dash wipedowns at stoplights. It never gets dirty. Those scotch brite rags are wonderful for picking up everything and removing fingerprints from the tach cluster and Radio display. Get one today!

 

Saturday, I ducked over to a Super Trak and looked for an easy to apply fine-cut cleaner. I wound up buying Meguiar's Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner and bought some Meguiar's #26 wax.

I applied the cleaner to the body of the car and noticed an immediate difference in lustre and shine. Some of my friends who saw my car later that night wondered if I had waxed my car and I let them know I had not done it (yet).

Sunday Morning, I applied the Meguiar's #26 wax and loved the end results.

I probably won't apply the cleaner to my finish until the last time I wash my car this summer or at least a couple of months from now because of all the pollutants (airborne, bird, construction, gasoline, etc.) and crap my car has to deal with on a daily basis.