NickyB
Active Member
- Joined
- January 13, 2016
- Messages
- 59
- Reaction score
- 20
- City, State
- Massachusetts
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2016 Ford Explorer Sport
I didn't see anything about the 5th Gen Ex and those who love to wash, detail, and wax it to show it off as we cruse down the road. The weather up here in the Northeast has been more than favorable and I've taken advantage to do my annual super in depth detail of my 2016 Ex. Feel free to show yours off or add in your advice. I'm going to tell you guys the products I use just incase everyone is wondering. Most are available in stores, some I had to order online.
- Quick Cleaning of Windows with Windex
- RainX applied via a random orbital buffer to all exterior windows including sunroofs
- Cleaned rims with Mothers Wheel and Tire Cleaner. I had just purchased Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus but it did not arrive yet. Cannot wait to try this stuff out. Will give feedback once I use it.
- Wash the Exterior - Meguiars Ultimate Wash and Wax
- Dry it off (don't forget to clean your door jambs)
- Interior Detailing of all the leather components - Meguiars Ultimate Leather Balm
- Interior Detailing of all the plastic components - Meguiars Supreme Shine
- Interior Windows Cleaned with Ammonia free Windex
- Vacuumed all carpeting
- Little Tree Black Ice Vent wrap for all front vents
- Full clay bar treatment of the exterior. This year I used the Mothers kit as it was on sale and more clay is included. I probably will not go back to the Meguires clay kit. Meguires clay is very hard and I found it would rub off and would be a pain to remove it from the body. I was very impressed with the Mothers Clay Bar Kit. Only down side is that it didn't come with a case to put the clay in afterwards.
- Meguiars Ultimate Compound was treated in areas with scratches. Nothing too deep fortunately. I use a random orbital buffer to apply this, I find it works well although some find it "unconventional".
- Thankfully the 2016 is looking good, no need to apply SwirlX or ColorX.
- Polished all exterior with Meguiars Ultimate Polish using a random orbital buffer.
- First coat of wax applied with the random orbital buffer using Meguiars Ultimate Liquid Wax. First time using this product; I used to use the paste. Highly prefer the liquid because if you happened to make contact with any of the black rubber or plastic trim, it didn't turn it white; in fact it was neutral in terms of the effect on it.
- Waited just over 24 hours and applied a second coat of wax using Meguiar's Hi-Tech Yellow Wax #26. This was my first time doing two coats of wax. For those who don't know, all of the Meguires Ultimate products are full synthetic which means it will last longer and most agree that it gives a "better" appearance. (Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder). I believe that the two coats did give the vehicle a really nice shine and makes the metallic paint really pop.
- All of the exterior rubber was treated with Mothers Back to Black. I think I will be fading out this product only because it leaves a sheen if it touches the body. I was uncertain about the rubber at the during the test of my new product. See next bullet.
- All exterior, unpainted plastic trim was treated with Sonax Plastic Care. First time using this product and I think it looks great. I don't know of its longevity at this point but will update at some point. On the large areas I applied with a random orbital buffer, hand applied everywhere else. This product is really nice. Highly impressed so far.
- A light coat of Mothers Power Plastic 4lights was hand applied to maintain the lights supreme appearance.
- I'm not sure why I did this but decided to apply two different coats of tire shine. First one was Meguires Gold Class Tire Gel. Once that dried I applied a coat of spray on Meguiar's Ultimate Tire Shine (make sure to use your card board to keep the spray from hitting the trim after cleaning like this lol).
- Yup, have to do it after the winter. Pop the hood and clean the engine compartment. First step I do is use hot water with a splash of Dawn to clean the heavy dirt off everything. I'm not a fan of power washing the engine compartment because I have had a work vehicle damaged due to the intensity of the spray.
- Once again, highly impressed with Sonax's products. I would be willing to buy a few more. Used Sonax Engine Cleaner and let sit for the recommended 3-5 mins. Used hot water to wipe off the engine cleaner and continued. Extremely clean! Could have stopped there because the cleaner did give a slight shine to the plastic components under the hood.
- Last, I used Meguires Quik Detailer and shined the plastic components. Never have done this before to be honest. Didn't think it would be a bad idea. I just hope dirt and grime doesn't stick more aggressively to it. Will update with that.