I washed, clayed, and waxed my car for the first time ever last weekend. Took me quite a while but it's worth it. I've never driven a waxed car, ever, so it feels truly special because it's my black beauty and I made it this beautiful! The car looks fantastic, except close up, where all my scratches and imperfections show up.

I used Meguiar's Gold Class paste wax. I think the paste was a bad idea. It was probably about 50 degrees and dark when I applied the wax (in a garage), so it took a while to "melt" and then seemed to dry very fast. I did the car in 4 sections and when I went back to wipe off the wax, it had hardened already and was very difficult. Next time I won't wax in such large sections and will try a liquid wax.

The second problem was getting chunks of wax in the headlights and a few other trim places. Near impossible to get it out; I still have chunks in the headlights. Next time I will be much more careful with that, but what about various trim places like the door handles? I didn't get chunks of wax there but when it dried it left visible yellow lines of wax. Any tips or tricks to avoid this?

Is wax supposed to be really bad for the rubber window trim? I see that some of mine is fading and I hope I didn't just do that inadvertently.

 

The application of the paste wax was not a bad idea. Your process, however, seems to need some improvement.

You should apply wax in very "thin" coats. Apply on a small manageable area and then buff off. Good lighting is also required so you can clearly see what you're doing. There shouldn't be chunks anywhere. Use an old toothbrush to get the dried wax out of cracks, headlights, etc......

You might want to consider using a cleaner/polish or swirl remover before you wax next time. That would really make it glow and would help reduce the lines that you refer to.

Stay away from plastic trim with wax. Most waxes will stain rubber. Use a small terry cloth dabbed in rubbing alcool to remove the wax on your trim. Then follow up with a rubber trim dresser.

Good luck,

Bob

 

VQuick: Silver Belle told you correctly. You need another step in your process to remove the imperfections. I would look at Einszett's Paint Polish.

 

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated. The only reason I didn't polish was lack of time and lack of light. Even with all the lights on in the garage, it's nothing compared to daylight, and on a black car you need plenty of light to see things. The next day I had to wipe out all the wax streaks that I missed.


I have a bottle of Meguiar's ColorX (seemed to be almost identical to ScratchX but bigger bottle for less money). Does that count as a polish? Next time I wax I'll do some polish beforehand.

Einszett's is the best, Prinz? I'll look into getting some. Also, what's the best, longest lasting wax that isn't ridiculously expensive? Thanks!

 

I just did a little research on Color X and it is similar to a cleaner wax. That means it has very light abrasives to get out light oxidation and other light imperfections.

Are the swirls light to moderate on your car? If so, Color X would not be strong enough to remove them. That's why I suggested something on the lines of Einszett's Paint Polish if you are doing it by hand or Menzerna Intensive Polish and Final Polish if you are using a machine.

 

What exactly are swirl marks? Everyone talks about them but I've never been able to notice any on my car. I'm picturing circular streak marks in the paint, and unless you have to look with a microscope I don't see any.

 

Swirl marks are scratches in the clearcoat that are usually in a circular motion. For the most part, these are very fine scratches. They are generally caused by improper washing methods or incorrect polishes for your situation.

 

K. I will have a closer look tomorrow. For all I know my car was never hand washed, polished, or waxed by the previous owner. Probably just took it to a car wash. Guess that's great if it means no swirl marks.

 

don't forget to tape the trim and headlights with blue 3m painters masking tape. will prevent future headaches from what i hear.

 

Swirl marks look like fine spiderwebs in your paint.

Bob

 

VQuick: I would say it's one of the best polishes for hand application.