Fall Clean Up

Well...i think i need to spend a weekend working on the f150. It's black and is a pain in the butt to get looking the way I want. I use a decent soap and chamois to dry. The wax I use is zymol and it does an OK job but i still see water marks and very faint swirls. Would a clay bar help me with this? I was thinking about going to pick up a harbor freight buffer but I think that's overkill for right now. I'm sure all of you guys with black rigs know the kind of crap finish you get with just a chamois. Any tips? I know micro-fiber towels are suppose to be great just don't want to waste my time or money on stuff that isn't going to make that big of a difference.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Check out the forums at Meguiar's- lots of useful paint info, their staff guys are on there all the time as well... I think clay will help you get the paint clean, but proper application and removal along with temps is the key to eliminating swirls on black paint...

PS- I had the Harbor Freight buffer- and it was junk. I like HF stuff, but this was one tool not worth the money- it was an adjustable speed buffer, and it would slowly increase speed on it's own regardless of what you do with the speed thumbwheel. I nearly ruined the paint on the trunk of my SHO with it. I wouldn't recommend it at all...

 

[Flounder]

A clay bar will not do anything to swirls. Clay bars take off surface contaminants, such as unetched water spots, light sap, etc. I only dry with microfiber towels, so I am not sure how abrasive chammies are. But, I do know they're not as soft/forgiving as microfibers.

The proper removal of swirls depends on high speed buffing (I'd say hand buffing, but you'll be there for weeks). A good random orbital polisher will run you $110-$250. I'm partial to the Porter Cable 7424, but Autopia.org offers the new "Ultimate Detailing Machine" and it has some pretty strong reviews.

For my process in perfecting black paint, see: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193154

And, as a teaser....

Before...

and

After...

.

 

[Flandry]

I'm sold on microfiber towels. I think they work really well. I use separate ones for drying, polishing, prewaxing, waxing, and glass cleaning. Since you say your swirl marks are very faint, I'd be inclined to try a cleaner wax like Mequiars Color X before I tried a buffer (which can do more harm than good if you're not careful/experienced).

In addition to products, Autopia.org also has one of the best detailing forums around, which has this great Guide to Detailing section.

 

[brooklynchris]

Do you clean your towels seperate from other laundry? What do you clean them with?

 

[Flounder]

Yes. I wash the towels together, but separate from anything else. Cotton lint, etc. can become trapped to the MFs, which is a pain. When it happens inadvertently, I use tweezer to pull it out. Obsessive, yes, but that's how I keep the finish flawless.

I wash with Pakshak's Microfiber cleaner/revitalizer (http://www.pakshak.com/micropak-mfcr-128oz.html)--one cup per load of towels. It's the same formula that most other MF cleaners use, but it is cheaper when you buy in bulk (I do the 128 oz containers).

I air dry on a wooden foldable rack (dryer heat can harm the poly fibers) and, when dry, throw them in the dryer on no-hear air fluff WITHOUT any softener sheets (bad, bad for the towels and paint) to loosen them up.