I'm loving this too. These posts are what these forums are all about... I would recommend the sponge on Amazon for $12 just because it's so cheap and worked pretty well. Unfortunately my dumba$$ tried it when it was like 50 degrees and windy so the temp was probably in the 40's. That said the sponge has to react by using it on your windscreen before putting it on the paint. You'll feel it get tacky...then it's paint time. I might try the mitt this summer or I got the DA sponge too but never used it! SR couldn't have said it better. A bit love and it goes a long way. It also makes it easier to clean in between your waxes.

 

Thanks guys!! I'm looking fwd to clay and the nano skin....i usually buy the most basic things from AutoZone to bucket wash and wax after whisle drying +waxing in a swirl motion i didn't know better ....

But since I've found this section that has changed soon I'll pick up the platinum detail kit from the rag company along with the other two items we mentioned

 

Nestor good to hear. Not too long again I didn't know you needed a second bucket to wash or that my sponge was beating my paint to death!!! Glad to have you aboard. And don't forget that you will come up with your own routine and use what you like. This is just a starting point and sounding board for ideas. Great stuff.

 

Dude, I had a car brush I use to wash my car with LMFAO, knowing what I know now it is embarrassing to even admit I did that. I'm saying this because we all have to start somewhere. I grab concepts really fast and I've worked on cars for over 20 years so knowing pressure and the "touch" came easy to me.

BTW you don't clay THEN Nanoskin your car.. Nanoskin is the new way of claying your car. If you ever used clay it is a little annoying because you have to kneed it after every pass and if you drop it, it's now garbage and they are not that cheap.

Besides polishing your car, it's really inexpensive to get a great results from a proper car wash and treatment (waxes and sealants).

I think for less than $100 you can get your car to look better than 90% of the cars you pass every day. It works out great too, that $100 means MANY washes and wax treatments, so every time you wash your car you are saving a lot of money knowing it was done right.

I dived right into the deep end pretty much. NO ONE could've ever convinced me that I should put sand paper on my car then buff it out. I would've called you crazy and a lier. If you search my detailing post I sanded my whole car and buffed it back out with the help of someone knowledgable.
What I did learn was it takes time…you will NOT get your car polished "right" in a couple of hours. When I get to my Maxima this year I know I will have to set aside at least 8hours to get my car done right, and that is just a one step correction..

Glad to have you on board and please you already know, we are here to help. I wish I had more Maxima people in my area who was just and enthusiastic about keeping their car's clean, I would love to help out with hands on.

 

Brush? well i didn't start that bad jkjkjk my pops always washed with a foam so naturally i followed his lead...but i put a lot of swirls on my paint by washing,scrubbing,and waxing in circles ....

Sealant would be nice ,but I've read some have to cure for long periods of time and i just like driving my max so much it's not yet an option...

Although my paint isn't great(yet) i plan to keep the sonata flawless with a lil guidance from yall....

Thanks for the clarification SR20Power,i guess I'll shell out the $12 for the nano skn.(see helping already)

 

HAHA, no problem,. Here goes my opinion on the curing of a sealant.. time your car wash day correctly and apply the sealant last knowing that you won't be leaving out that night. Allow it to set over night, this depends on the manufacture of course and clean it off in the morning.. Because I no longer have a garage I don't have this option so I add it on wait 45-1hr and buff it off with a Microfiber towel.

 

Ok so I'm back still haven't tried sealants but the nano skin is on it's way ...

I've keept the maxima looking good the usual way , but i wanna know what you guys use to clean in all the lil crevices inside and the ac vents?

 

I use a damp micro for interior dash and a small basting brush for vents and crevices.

Let us know how your nano experience goes!

 

If you can, get a paint brush and use that to clean the inside of the vents.. They come in all kind've shape and sizes so you can buy whatever sizes you need. Great thing about the 7gens and cabin filters keeps the dust down almost 100%.

As Irsh said, for the dash I do the same. I almost hardly use products on my dash anymore but if you do don't use something that will crack the dash as time goes one.

 

I received the nanoskin sponges about a week ago but this weather hasn't let up at all(ice,sleet ,snow and now heavy fog...

Edit:I got the mid and fine grade

 

I hear you. We got another 8 inches of snow! I would use the fine grade first. The medium grade is for more abused or older cars that haven't been taken care of. You would definitely need to polish after a medium grade clay or nano IMO. Let us see some before and afters when the weather clears. Good luck and enjoy the new paint :-)

 

Try going to those coin wash bays with a bucket of water from home.

 

I will tell you that to use the nano effectively. You need heat and a good break in. I know cause I used it without either and got some marring on one of my cars after using it. I was pissed but it was my fault not the products. So be aware you need 50 degrees and spend a couple of minutes on your windscreen prior to use on body.

 

Thanks for the info...I'll wait till it warms up a bit then... Plus I started watching vids on how to(not to) do it...D

My windshield is 15yrs old and has plenty of chips and defects, should i break it in on the rear window instead?? I don't wanna mess up the sponge...

 

Your welcome. Just like clay, you don't have to push hard rather you glide it across. The front would be fine plus it will clean it a bit too...bonus! You can do the rear instead of the front windscreen if you prefer. Glass is glass.

 

Yeah I wish the weather would break so we can do some detailing. To bad I don't have an over sized garage so the weather wouldn't matter. I don't have a garage at all so that is that.. But do post some pictures so we can see the before and after.

 

 

Wow, that is incredible!

 

Dayyymn...SR20Power that's flawless.....

We suppose to get rain tomorrow but Friday should be the day i break out nanoskin....

Yo' what's this glide product i hear about? And, can i get away with using just water for lubrication?

 

SR, well played. What was your process? Deep rich gloss. Beautiful work by the master :-) Don't you just love spring! I'm really thinking of another nano, nice glaze, jet seal then maybe a good carnuba... What do you think? Overkill or hell yes?

 

Btw, nice tight fluffy beads. Looks good. Again let us know what made such a glorious Tuscan glow!!!

 

Honestly guys all I did was wash the car… lol It was the right lighting at the right time. Don't get me wrong the car shines very nicely.

I would say just a Sealant and a nice quality Wax Irsh, I just purchased Collonites 845 and I can't wait to try it out as a topper over a sealant.

Irsh, it's what i've been harping from the very start. A good cleaning and decontamination will always give great results when you do just a wash and the first picture is with NO Wax or Sealant. The second picture is with Wolfgang 3.0 sealant. Do note that my car is not polished yet.

Nestro,
Don't use just water. If anything get a spray bottle and add a little car soap to it for a lubricant. Glide is Nanoskin's version of a clay lubricant. When I Clay or Nanoskin my car I just use car soap period. I purchased a clay bar system from Mothers because it was $15 and it comes with a lubricant. I won't use it because it is a spray on wax I rather use to remove dust from my car and add another thin layer of protection to my car.

 

Gotcha SR20Power...i



Btw i broke in the sponge today ,(windshield)...

Cleaned just one of the small sections of the hood and tried it

It feels like it glides a lil bit then i get some resistance,rinse(sponge,panel),spray and glide again....is that right?

 

Yeah, no real pressure. It should feel a little rough and sometimes like sand paper, you do it until it starts to feel smooth.

 

Ok i think i got this....lol thanks....


Will take my time with it tomorrow....

Wash,nano,wax..... No sealant yet....

Yo' on a side note my carpet was terrible but now it's worse i had a lil bucket of old brake fluid from a bbk upgrade on the back seat floor and it spilled....smh...

I need a new carpet asap....

 

There are companies that sell the whole carpet mold for our cars, a simple search and you should be able to find it. It's about $300 I think. Not a horrible price I guess if you NEED new carpet. For now I say just use some kind've carpet cleaner and a Bissell from your local Box store, or rent one.. I am sure that crap smells.

For my 11' maxima I am going to buy the trunk liner and I don't know if it's worth buying the Weather Tech mats or just buy Maxima regular weather mats.

I will have pictures of a 2011 Dodge ram soon to add to the collection I will get the truck cleaned up and polished soon I hope.

As always if you need help we are all here.

 

$300 is more than what i want to spend my kids and wife will have to be banned from entering my car and that's not an option

I found a junkyard car with one in decent shape ....I'll probably get it,take it to the carwash first and than when it dry super clean it using a rented bissell.

 

I don't blame you. I wish I had more people that were into cleaning their cars on this forum near me. I would love to help someone get it all going

Don't forget to show us your results.

 

I won't unfortunately it's raining again

That's the only reason i didn't pull the carpet at the junkyard,i just got some small items i needed then left that muddy place.

But i will post pics for sure...
:

Just don't expect great quality since all i have to take them it's my phone....lol

 

No problem dude, just take your time and when you do it just remember little to no pressure is need while nano skinning your car…

Just make sure you use a lot of lube, which ever you choose… Soap and water, some kind've clay lube that was sold to you whatever. Don't let it hit the car dry or it will mar it.

 

Did it y'all The sun was setting and the lighting wasn't good I'll post better pics tomorrow...(if it doesn't rain )

 

Wow. Looks great. Do tell what steps you did when you get the better pics? Nice job man.

 

Thank you BIGIRISHSTL... It was just spay and scrub plain and simple...took a long azz time over 4hrs definitely.

I'll have to polish the paint regardless since swirls were still all over the paint ....i need a buffer... Ebay has some 7" or 10" for like $35 i think I'm gonna buy one...which one do y'all recomend"

 

get a DA / random orbital as opposed to a regular rotary buffer...less chance of farking up the paint that way.

 

Thanks for the input...

 

If you have a Harbor freight near you they have a DA polisher for like $60 and you should be able to find a 20% off coupon somewhere. Car looks great.
When you were Nano Skinning the car, was it very grainy? I am sure it's smooth to the touch right now

 

Thanks SR.
I do have a hf close by i just signed up with them too...

no but the sponge didn't just glide like i thought....i just saw a bunch of dirty soapwater on every spray rinse even tho the car was "clean" I'm sure i need to do it several more times before i polish....

 

Awesome, the car should be much smoother now if not keep at it, typically it only takes on go around. Look into the Meg's Sealant, it's like $20 or something.

On that HF polisher, Search Autogeeks about it. They do something to it to make it more efficient.

 

Ok I'll look into the sealant...I'll be raining tomorrow so I'll have to wait.

Btw i checked out the autogeek forum and found the HF/DA mod...pretty sweet how they think of $h¡T like that....

 

Highly recommend the nano shock; at first I just bought the little spray bottle and it was good for my buddy and my car with a little bit left over, and ended up purchasing a gallon of it shortly thereafter.

I promise you that you will feel the difference, just continually spray to make sure any areas you hit with the nano mitt are well lubricated. You'll be happy you did, just sayin..

Good luck