Detailing done, how to keep it this way for longer?

[MJA911]

Having spent many hours decontaminating (dodo juice ferrous dueller iron remover), claying (meguiars), cleansing/polishing (carlack68), gazing (poorboys blackhole) and finally waxing (collinite), my car is in the best condition it has ever been and I'd really like to keep it in this condition for as long as possible before doing this level of detailing again.

When washing is needed, I will use snow foam pre-wash and two bucket washing in order to prevent as much swirling etc as possible, dry carefully with a drying towel and use poorboys QD to finish. Would it make sense to do anything else say every 2-3 months such as a re-glaze and re-wax? Or is it best left until I do the whole 5-stage detail again next year? Any tips appreciated.

 

[deutschland-dobson]

It all depends on how durable your sealant / wax combo is and if the QD adds extra protection.

Keep a check on how the car beads / sheets water as the weeks / months go by. I'd only re-apply the sealant / wax combo when the finsh drops-off.

I'd only do the full detail if the paint feels rough again. It should feel like glass at the moment

You may do this already - "Pat" the car dry with the drying towel, rather than wiping it dry. This should reduce a few more light scratches.

Chris

 

[cheshire911]

In my (limited) experience of different products and personal opinion, NONE of these products last anything long as they claim!
There is no shred or scrap of any properly conducted trials or evidence to back-up ANY products claims.

Some last longer than others (e.g. SwissVax) but at a huge premium in price.

Any dark colour WILL BECOME SWIRLED - much quicker than (say) silver.

The only remedy is to wax and polish frequently )preferably using somethign that contails fillers) to fill-in the swirl marks - but they re-appear.

Swirl marks are to dark colours what cellulite is to fat women!

You have a good range of products, just use them more frequently is what I'd say.

Oh and there is one thing - keep the car under dry ventilated conditions in a nice garage to protect it from the elements. Sounds harsh I know, but I know a good bodyshop in the trade and he tells me much of the stuff in the automotive is hype and much the same as the other.

 

[deutschland-dobson]

In my (limited) experience of different products and personal opinion, NONE of these products last anything long as they claim!
There is no shred or scrap of any properly conducted trials or evidence to back-up ANY products claims.

Some last longer than others (e.g. SwissVax) but at a huge premium in price.

Any dark colour WILL BECOME SWIRLED - much quicker than (say) silver.

The only remedy is to wax and polish frequently )preferably using somethign that contails fillers) to fill-in the swirl marks - but they re-appear.

Swirl marks are to dark colours what cellulite is to fat women!

You have a good range of products, just use them more frequently is what I'd say.

Oh and there is one thing - keep the car under dry ventilated conditions in a nice garage to protect it from the elements. Sounds harsh I know, but I know a good bodyshop in the trade and he tells me much of the stuff in the automotive is hype and much the same as the other.

I hear what you're saying but, products dont have to be expensive to last long. Some modern sealants (e.g. FK1000p) can last for 4-6 months. The down-side is that the "looks" are often compromised for longevity.

A show wax will look great for a few weeks, but the look will drop off. Using a QD as the OP does will often keep the performance up.

The more frequently you use products and rub the paint the more you risk scratch build-up. If the performance is still there, why waste time and effort?

Chris

 

[Ducky]

I had my car professionally C1+Exo'ed last April, 7000 miles later and it's still sheeting water/beading like crazy, never had a top up, just washed every few weeks

 

[MJA911]

Thanks for suggestions, make sense. I certainly don't want to fork out for exotic products, I just use reviews and experienced suggestions to try and land on a tried and trusted product in each category.

The body is glass-like at the moment and I can see especially from the reflection of the light source in the garage how swirl-free it is so I have a reference point for how it degrades over time.

Obviously the rubbing of washing and drying, however gentle, will have their effect, but does power-rinsing the snowfoam and after shampooing help prevent that or does it degrade the wax and should therefore be done at a low pressure?

 

[911TEL]

After washing , rinse and spray car with A ' quick Detail' product such as Zymol Quick detail.... Pat dry with a thick drying towel..... Car will remain in excellent beading form ( provided you have prepared & waxed it well to start with) ..... Good result for minimum work at cleaning time .....!!

T

 

[cheshire911]

Gtecniq EXO I hear good reports. But at £60 its not cheap. I am having the front resprayed next year for stone chips, so until then, I'll carry on with the current regime of Meguiars Stage 2 polish / stage 3 Wax with carnauba (bought on a 3 for 2 offer at halfords a coupe of years ago - bought Stage 1 also for paint preparation).

After the re-spray, will look into EXO.

 

[ScoobyDoo555]

I do the same type of process, but with Dodo Juice wax.

I've built up 3 layers of wax now.

For Winter, I'll do the following to maintain the upkeep on it:-

1. Citrus power/purple rain/tar decontaminant.
2. Snow foam every 3 waxes (or so)
3. Autofinesse lather + 2bucket method
4. Waffle/microfibre dry off

Then review the wash from there.

TBH, I have no intention of doing whole 9 yards again until the Spring if possible. WE'll see

 

[MJA911]

Thanks Scooby, yes seems like we've got a similar approach, although do you really mean you only use snow foam every three waxes??? I was planning to use it every wash.

Also, I wonder about the benefits of layering coats of wax and indeed what was the best thing to do in terms of layering polishes, glaze, wax etc. Like, is it best to go back to a polish before re-glazing and waxing, or just back to the glaze and wax layers in order to spruce things up between a full monty.

With building layers of wax, I sort of buy into that (I did 2 coats on mine) I do suspect that the dreaded microscratching that inevitably happens is taking place on the surface of the wax so multiple coats don't actually help :?

 

[MJA911]

After washing , rinse and spray car with A ' quick Detail' product such as Zymol Quick detail.... Pat dry with a thick drying towel..... Car will remain in excellent beading form ( provided you have prepared & waxed it well to start with) ..... Good result for minimum work at cleaning time .....!!

T

Thanks, I'll definitely try that, makes a lot of sense and reduces the labour compared to drying and then quick detailing.

 

[ScoobyDoo555]

TBH, I don't snowfoam every wash. Very little point imho as it's only a pre-wash for when the car's really grimey.

So I'll stick to my comments - yeh, about every 3 or so...... with the caveat of depending on how dirty I've got the car!

The multiple layers of wax is down to just adding protection imho. helps with the beading porn but also makes the clean really easy as the dirt just runs off.

Dan

 

[MJA911]

TBH, I don't snowfoam every wash. Very little point imho as it's only a pre-wash for when the car's really grimey.

So I'll stick to my comments - yeh, about every 3 or so...... with the caveat of depending on how dirty I've got the car!

The multiple layers of wax is down to just adding protection imho. helps with the beading porn but also makes the clean really easy as the dirt just runs off.

Dan

Understood, your post saying you snow foam every 3 "waxes" perplexed me and it doesnt take much to do that :nooo:

 

[ScoobyDoo555]

also my fault for not allocating enough brain power to respond with full command of the English language