The First Good Clean....where to start???

samuri · Post by **samuri** » May 26, 2004

Ok. Now the weather over her has just about turned remotly warm ive decieded to think about giving the car a good proper clean, polish wax treatment. By the way its Cypress Green Pearlesant on a 1996 car.

Now ive only had the car 10 months and due to time\weather\money things havent been able to do much accept giving it an almost weekly wash. But doing this has revealed that the previous owner used that nasty colour wax that hides a load of things. Therefore the car is covered in lots of little scratches and swirl marks all over. Looks like its been washed with steel wool! They arnt visable from away from the car but when you get close they're very visible.

So where do i start????

I obviously need some sort of cutting paste and some good cleaner, but which ones are best?

Many thanks

TRAVASS · Post by **TRAVASS** » May 26, 2004

"meguiar's scratch x"

works great on scratches and swirls!

GSRstilez · Post by **GSRstilez** » May 28, 2004

Check out http://www.bettercarcare.com

For store bought products, I would get em from Pep Boys.

Meguiar's NXT Tech Wash
Clay Magic Clay Bar
Meguiar's #9
Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax

2 - 3gal buckets
2 - Soft Cotton Chenille Wash Pads
Microfiber Towels
Terry Cloth Towels

You can use Simple Green on the rims, but first hose them down, then spray the SG on, rub it in with the wash mitt, then hose off. If they look dull, polish with #9.

Any other questions?

BTW: I wouldn't use Scratch-X. It is too abrasive to remove all the swirls. You could do Scratch-X, then #9. That would work well, but #9 on its own will work just fine.

samuri · Post by **samuri** » June 02, 2004

thanks for the advice.

I was gonna buy the NXT wash and wax becuase of all the good reviews. Plus the clay bar kit, as im interewsted in the results.

I was looking at the scratch X becuase it looked like it did what i wanted plus they advised it on the Meguires website paint chooser thing, but i'll try the #9 first.

Another question, is there good and bad microfibre towels? if so which ones are ones to go for and ones to avoid?

Many thanks again.

GSRstilez · Post by **GSRstilez** » June 03, 2004

samuri: Scratch-X is just for scratches. Hence the name...It's not called Swirl-X, so use #9 to remove those.

Microfibers...I like em from http://www.pakshak.com . A little pricey, but get a kit (cheaper) and they will last you VERY long and work amazingly. I NEVER use anything else, except terry towels only on really dirty areas.

Good Luck!

Andrew EH2 · Post by **Andrew EH2** » June 08, 2004

i tryed out color-x from meguiars it works great on my moms infiniti g35 but on my old 94 aztec hatch it worked good to reflect the original color but also covered some swirls... on my moms car it cleared out all swirls and produced a deep reflecting glow... i love this polish works pretty good... u might want to try it

GSRstilez · Post by **GSRstilez** » June 09, 2004

Color-X seems to have hit for a nice 1-stepper or a cleaner product.

It all comes down to how serious you want to go.

For me, it requires claying, polishing, protecting, waxing, and finally maintaining 3-5 times a week.

Andrew EH2 · Post by **Andrew EH2** » June 09, 2004

thats true im liek u... just i got this mainly to help for when im on the go and just want to make it look nice quick, it goes on easy and comes off easy, but works better than a quick detailer. i just clayed and waxed my car last weekend and it needed it... just need to wash it more but it is hard when i work so much and we are in a drought here in ga... but thnks for some info

accordbw · Post by **accordbw** » October 04, 2004

try using 3m for dark colored cars. It takes the swirls out pretty well but you have to wax right after you use it since it strips everything off. I have a dark emeral pearl car and that seemed to work best for me/