club.liberty.asn.au

Shaheenis wrote:It is all dependent on how much time you have and what condition your paint is in and basically how meticulous you are.

A routine maintenance (let's say fortnightly wash) for me would be:

1) Spray wheels with wheel cleaner and rinse,
2) Rinse entire car,
3) Snowfoam if you have it (I don't),
4) Wash car top down rinsing mitt frequently preferably with two bucket system and grit guards, wheels last with separate sponge/mitt,
5) Full rinse,
6) Microfibre waffle for drying,
7) Quality spray wax for maintenance

Once every 3mths or so I would do a full clean as above but instead of step 7, clay the car instead and then apply wax or sealant (I use Poorboys White Diamond glaze and then EX Sealant). Driveclean videos show good technique for clay, light pressure but fast action works best. A good sealant should last around 3 months and hence the regular spray wax maintenance.

I did a 3 stage paint correction on mine as a once off and will probably do an annual 2 stage. You want to polish as infrequently as necessary as you are removing paint every time you do it.

You are removing the most minute paint if done correctly pending polish compound and pad. This is an art to get it right

Depends on how deep the scratches are as to how much paint you need to remove. They always recommend starting with the mildest compound and pad combination and working up from there based on the level of correction for that reason. It concerns me when I hear of people polishing their cars regularly, it is unnecessary if done correctly the first time and maintained correctly. Problem is with polishing if it isn't done properly it will still look great until the wax wears off and reveals the scratches that were never polished out correctly in the first place. Wax is great at masking scratches and this would be a common reason why people feel the need to do this more often.

Gary from Driveclean illustrates this quite well in this video. Fast forward to 4:24 if you don't want to watch the whole thing .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgSLEVi ... 66C8864:24

Couldn't agree more.

Shouldn't need to polish every second weekend. You'll end up with no paint left if you're doing it properly!

I gave up using a clay bar.

This is much better!

http://www.waxit.com.au/collections/clay-bars-pads-cloths/products/carpro-polyshave-decon-prep-towel?variant=804168977

Or the mitt

http://www.chemicalguys.com/Surface_Cleansing_Mitt_Fine_Grade_Clay_System_p/cly_303b.htm

Great products.

Has anyone had experience with the clay bars on ebay for 55c shipped from Hong Kong?

lhuynh wrote:Has anyone had experience with the clay bars on ebay for 55c shipped from Hong Kong?

haven't come across these but you should be careful as a cheaper and inferior product can cause marring and if you don't know how to remove these yourself then you'll be paying more than the difference of buying a proper clay bar to get someone to correct the paint.

otherwise if you leave the paint uncorrected with marring, it may cause the car to look 'dull'.

that being said, if these 55c clay bars are just as good as the others then Winning! i just have my doubts haha

I can't decide which is better - working on, or cleaning the car.

I've used a few clay bars, cuts, polishes and waxes and slowly slowly became Meguire's fan boys. For some reason my eye like the finish.

A yearly, and all, day event is:
- Wash (Soft Gel) and chamois dry
- Clay Bar (Quick Car Kit)
- Cut (Classic Rubbing Compound)
- Polish (Classic Polishing Compound)
- Wax (Deep Crystal Wet Look)
- One slab of beer (Any, I'm not fussy)

Washing is double bucket - one with "clean" water/soft gel and another to rinse the sponge before going into the clean bucket.
Each cut, polish and wax has it's own assortment of microfibre cloths. Each time a coat of whatever is done, the car is rubbed down with another microfibre cloth for anything missed. No electric buff, just elbow grease.
Cut the headlights! prolongs oxidization and it looks awesome.
Windows are done with 50/50 metho/water; streak free goodness using newspaper. Admittedly, I'm using a glass cleaner... it was a gift.
Microfibre cloths are washed and zip locked away until next wash.

In between years, drop the clay bar and cut.

Unfortunately my cars are parked in an open-air driveway; they are dirty all the time. But when it rains, the water just beads and it's a beautiful thing.

[quote="Shaheenis"]It is all dependent on how much time you have and what condition your paint is in and basically how meticulous you are.


Once every 3mths or so I would do a full clean as above but instead of step 7, clay the car instead and then apply wax or sealant (I use Poorboys White Diamond glaze and then EX Sealant). Driveclean videos show good technique for clay, light pressure but fast action works best. A good sealant should last around 3 months and hence the regular spray wax maintenance.

My routine is very similar to yours except I use Klaas sealant.Not saying it's better, just what I have available.