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-   -   A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/102011-superb-car-cleaning-polishing-detailing-guide-776.html)

No issue, seems alright. Minimise wiper use and should last at least a year on the front and 2+ years everywhere else (glass)

Our car was decorated with flowers etc., on the occasion of sister's marriage. Now at certain places on the doors, the tixo-tape is left unremoved and at some spots, the tape is removed but has left marks. The same aren't dislodging after a professional foam wash. What is the best that can be done?

WD-40 should help remove it.

Try Colin/Isopropyl alcohol or WD 40. If that does not work you may have to use a combination of claying and or rubbing compound on those areas after having removed the tape. Do not use a high grit rubbing compound. Some toothpaste will also do fine instead.

Finish with some wax and buff.

Use the right product for the job, tar and glue remover. Wear nitrile gloves and don’t inhale, wipe on, wait half a minute, wipe off. No need for oils or abrasives. Carpro TRIX-

https://www.google.co.in/aclk?sa=l&a...ECAYQFA&adurl=

If the marks are due to residual glue you can use a glue remover. I recently had to use it on my own car after some duct tapes left some glue marks. (I had to apply ductapes on the doors for some reason)

I specifically used this product from amazon - https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0B4D1WKK3?psc=1.

Before using any such chemical always apply it on a hidden spot first and verify that it does not damage the paint.

Are some kind of vacuum / blower / cleaner attachments available that will eliminate use of water for regular washing / cleaning?

Seeking your inputs on the below cleaning plan. I am a beginner looking for exterior cleaning.

Process chart-
1. Wash car with 3m car wash shampoo.
2.tar removal with turtle wax bug and tar remover
3.Mineral and iron Degreasing --sonax xtreme wheel cleaner (wheels) , Optimum mdr -mineral deposit remover
4.clay bar --wavex with lubircant spray or any shampoo
5. sanding & compounding -- Rupes UnoPure or Menzerna 3000 --------coarse polisher -2500 followed by fine polisher 3000
(manual or with rotary polisher).Kindly suggest manually to be done with 3m microfiber cloth?
6. Wash the car with 3m car wash shampoo.
7. Wipe down with a clean 3M microfiber cloth
8. Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Pro Graphene Flex Wax (graphene polish).

Questions:
1. Is the above process correct or I have missed out on any steps
2. I would be coating windshield glasses and lights as well with turtle hybrid pro
graphene flex wax.
3. Sanding & compounding process correct.
4. Last stage wax and seal process correct.
5. For pads for sanding and compounding --kindly suggest buying amazon or alternate
link with pad types to be purchased.
6.I am contemplating purchasing Rotary polisher --kindly suggest amazon buying link or
good quality wireless polisher.

Won’t eliminate water, but light dust can be blown off using a powerful electric leaf blower. It's also essential for drying your paint without swirling it. This is what I’ve used for many years with excellent results.

https://ultimamac.com/Tools/Black--D...RoCMRIQAvD_BwE

1) Process needs the following additions-

A) Panel prep: IPA (iso propyl alcohol), use a lab grade concentrate and dilute with distill water to 25% strength. Alternatively use a pre mixed panel prep like Carpro Eraser. This step is done after polishing before application of paint protection (be it a sealant or coating).

Do not skip as it’s very important to remove polishing oils in order to have oil/filler free paint before protection.

B) Ferrous Remover: under step 3, please do not use wheel cleaner on paint as it’s too strong a solvent, use a dedicated tar and iron remover like Carpro TRIX. This also eliminates step 2 as no separate tar remover is needed.

Also, mineral deposit remover is only used on areas that have permanent hard water stains, do not apply it to the entire car needlessly, it’s a strong solvent that should be used carefully.

C) Ensure clay used is blue or white in colour, do not use red clay as that’s extremely abrasive meant for very specific types of defects.

D) You’re confusing different types of fine cut polishes. Use Menzerna 400 to cut the paint as it’s a medium strength compound coupled with a coarse foam pad.

Then use a fine cut polish to remove the compound haze, here you need to decide between Menzerna 3000/3500/3800 or Rupes UnoPure, the latter is for extremely soft paints (all Japanese cars and Porsches), while the former will finish well on harder euro paints. Use a soft finishing pad with the polish.

E) Stick to a machine, it will take days assuming you’re working alone even with a machine, don’t even attempt by hand. You have the option of choosing between Dual action, forced rotation and the rotary. I would suggest the rotary as it’s the smoothest, most powerful and the most versatile of the lot.

Rupes- https://www.planetcarcare.com/produc...smart_campaign

Bosch- https://www.industrybuying.com/polis...8aAsv2EALw_wcB

F) Do not wipe down freshly corrected paint as you risk swirling it, best is to use a leaf blower (I’ve linked one above) to evacuate the water safely, or if using towels, use very plush towels and gently dab to lift the water, avoid wiping.

G) Pads, Lake Country is the best out there when it comes to foam pads, yellow is for heavy cut, orange is medium and blue is for jeweling (zero cut).

https://greenzcarcare.com/product/la...llow-foam-pad/

https://greenzcarcare.com/product/la...ange-foam-pad/

https://greenzcarcare.com/product/la...blue-foam-pad/

2) Yes can be applied to windshield, don’t forget to clay and IPA before applying.

3) See above

4) It’s a synthetic sealant, the term wax is just for marketing, yes.

5) and 6) see above

Finally, don’t forget to protect yourself. Most of these chemicals are cancerous and will end up in your bloodstream if PPE is not worn. Use nitrile gloves, use a cartridge type respirator (dust mask isn’t enough), use eye protection (safety glasses). Work in a well ventilated area. Good luck!

Recently, seeing lot of micro fiber cloths in Amazon from brands like ShineXpro, Softspun, etc with varying GSM. Are they any good? Apart from 3M (and water magnet from Meguirs), which other brand is good now for drying (excep the leaf blower)?

Also, wifey is tired of heaps of micro fiber cloths at home. Is synthetic chamois leather any good for repeated drying use?

I have been using Softspun for over 2 years and satisfied with it. They are soft and don't become hard or threads don't come out even after multiple washes.

Yes! All of them will be some good.

What you pay extra for is stuff like fancy edging. And fancy names, of course.

Have been using microfibre cloths for thirty years. Different pricing, including some really cheap stuff. Never found any complete rubbish!

Of course, when it comes to drying, you need absorption; when it comes to polishing, something thick is nice.

I have never had a 3m cloth, I don't think. Not surprised they make (or resell?) them --- the group makes just about everything in the world!

The Amazon towels are crap, they’re hard and scruffy and will swirl up soft paint. It’s hard enough to avoid swirling paint with even with the plushest towels, let alone this stuff. If you absolutely must use, remove the hard plastic tag they come with and spray some quick detailer into the towel to make it damp prior to wiping. It’s also much safer to dab than wipe on paint.

Also, ensure your towels are ideally edgeless or have plush edges (softspun has rock hard nylon stitching).

Keep in mind, higher quality Korean microfibre towels will use a 70:30 blend of polyester : polyamide while cheaper towels will use Chinese fibres with 90:10 or at best 80:20 blends of the same.

ShineX is just a rebranded Chinese towel which is quite hard even when new, slightly better than Softspun but I wouldn’t suggest for paint or glossy wheels. It’s fine for glass. Plus, it’s the same price as the Carpro Boa towel, makes it a no brainer to get the Carpro over this.

Carpro Boa: https://www.planetcarcare.com/produc...smart_campaign

If you want the absolute best I’ve found for paint, look no further than the Eagle Edgeless towels by The Rag Company:

https://www.amazon.in/Rag-Company-Pr.../dp/B07C2HNMBM

If you want a soft towel at lower cost: https://greenzcarcare.com/product/gr...rofiber-towel/

Leather chamois (synthetic or otherwise) should never be used on paint if you don’t want swirls.

I really appreciate and acknowledge AJ56's deeper knowledge and experience at a professional level. But there is still plenty of usability in many cheaper microfibre products.

As he mentioned, though, watch out for labels, stitching etc that may be harder than the cloth.

I got a box of Amazon Basics cloths. they are not really used on the car, but they were cheap and good enough for kitchen surfaces, etc. They are far superior to any-old-kitchen-rag cloths.

I have a couple of big bath towels. These were not cheap! They came from a posh Singapore department store over ten years ago. They are still soft to touch, and dry so much better than cotton.

Of course, my skin is not beautifully polished and free from swirls! rl: And neither is my car <BLUSH>.

Yes I totally agree with you. On a similar analogy, you don't need the latest and greatest camera to shoot great pictures, a decent one does 90% of the job in most cases :)

The best microfiber cloth I have on my kit are the Ultimate Detailerz Premium 360 GSM ones. I also love Meguiar's Microfiber Water Magnet to dry up the surface post wash.