THSCC Forums

Since most of us in this club are far from the show-n-shine crowd but many (not all) do like to have a nice looking car I thought that I might start up a discussion here about what does and does not work well. Personally I place a premium on stuff being effective, cheap, and easy to use. I am not interested at all in the "ultimate" shine, I just want it to go quick, last a long time, and be a sustainable process.

So what do you / have you used and what is your experience with it? Looking for thoughts on paint cleansers and waxes, and other tips and techniques. I'm not totally satisfied with anything that I have used and I'm looking for recommendations.

Mind you I am at MOST a 3-step paint detailer -- clay (only if absolutely needed), cleanse (machine if needed), and wax (hand buff - no interest in machine buffing). I have tried various abrasive polishes on basketcase paint finishes, but I have never had a good result. Here are my experiences:

Cleansers (and glazes -- typically organic and non-abrasive)

- Zymol HD cleanse = Aggressiveness about perfect, but impossible to remove easily
- Meguiars red-bottle crap = Totally weak but very easy to use
- One Grand cleanser = super aggressive, great for bad spots and paint but leaves scratches. Too aggressive for regular use IMO. Easy to remove
- 3M Hand Glaze = This is what I usually use 1x per year on cars that are regularly garaged and have nice paint. About as weak as the Meguiars but even easier to use. Can take out imperfections with elbow grease without any paint damage.

Waxes: I really only have long-term experience with 2 -

- Zymol carbon - smells nice, looks fantastic for about 2 hours, total pita to remove. Still have 1/2 can left, never plan to use it again.
- One Grand Blitz wax = 90% of the shine of Zymol but the easiest stuff to remove that I have ever used, and seems to last for months. Nice because you don't need to work in sections - can wax the whole car and come back later to buff it out. My biggest gripe about Blitz is that it can leave white stains on rubber and plastic that are very difficult to remove later. The bottom of the can also seems gritty and that bugs me. But I will be buying another tub of this unless I get any better recommendations.

Anyone else?

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Nu-Finish for "wax". Paste or liquid. Been using it for many years after it got a good Consumer Reports review. Easy to use and works just fine compared to anything else I've used over the last 40 years or so. Has the "don't use on vinyl, etc," problem.

I use specialty stuff as needed including the Mequiars Quik Detailer "dry wash" for removing bird droppings between washings and Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover for . . . bugs and tar.

When I had a burgandy Mustang without clear coat I used a lot of different things to "deal with" oxidation. Not much success so I just used the Nu-Finish more often.

Note that as I've aged I've developed the philosophy that waxing more than once a year just wears out the paint and "clay" is dirt so why would I rub it on my paint . . . Sand blasting from normal highway driving (not even counting what autocrossing with sticky tires does) is going to beat the paint up badly in any case.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

I've had good results applying the Meguiar's Three Step after a good claybarring. It's a shload of work, but well worth it once a year. Around six months later, I use Meguiar's Gold Class wax. I evidently like giving Barry money.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Zaino is the shizznizzle. Yes it's expensive, but the shine is incredible and the protection is supposed to be great. Most of the top detailing guys use it. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

I'm with Mr. Rasmussen on this one. I've been using NuFinish for a couple of years, and the stuff is impressive - it lasts a really long time.

When I bought the current Holton Miata, I used a medium cut paint cleaner (Dura-something, purchased at Carquest), clay bar, and then 2 coats of Nu-Finish by hand.

Not show and shine worthy, but it really cleaned up the paint and brought an acceptable shine, and beaded water for a year, easy. I applied a 3rd coat ab out a month after the first, per the instructions.

The paste is supposed to be better than the liquid, but my experience is with the liquid.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

I use Zaino as well and have been satisfied with it.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

i recently bought some Klasse, its engineered for our soft german paints...pretty easy to apply, only needs to be done every 6 months, and its super concentrated so the bottle lasts a while. pretty easy to apply, I did it by hand.

I took some pics right after i did it, check my webpage

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traded the ultimate driving machine for a hatchback.....

Here is the best stuff in the world Dri Wash 'n Guard. It is some kind of multilevel marketing deal but it is worth it. I became a dealer so I could always have some. I don't really sell it but I do have a bunch if you want to buy some! You can find it all over the internet. I have used it for about 6 years and every car I have sold that I have used it on gets comments on how good it looks. It is amazing, you can spray it on a dirty car and whipe it right off , no scratches and looks like you have waxed it. If your car is really cruddy you just keep using it and it gets cleaner everytime. I first saw it at a Porsche racing shop in Daytona.

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2002 MCS, 2003 MCS Track Rat, 2003 Generic White Yukon, 2003 BMWk1200rs, 1973 CB350F, 02 996. 08 Cayenne Turbo
http://www.clinehallagency.com

Makes cars fast too!
Seriously, Kelly bought some at a Morrisville autox many years ago and has used it ever since to clean the race car at events when either the tow or some runs have been wet/dirty. Holds up well to my technique at home of wiping the car down with a wet rag and then a dry rag.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Listening to opinions about this topic reminds me of discussions about car safety or discussions about how to raise children:

Every person has their cast-in-concrete opinions about what is too much, just right, and not enough. Everyone thinks that anyone who disagrees is crazy, but there is a totally sliding scale of opinions.

Wasn't it George Carlin who said, "Anyone who drives slower than me is an asshole, and anyone who drives faster than me is a maniac."

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

I'm just hoping to be able to *wash* a car sometime soon ....

Frank,

I can since I'm on my own deep well. However, thanks to no rain, the need to wash the cars is drastically reduced.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Mike,

Did you expect anything else?

Dick (who keeps coming back to Nu-Finish as a result of Consumer Reports ratings (i.e. objective testing combined with my very subjective opinions)

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

I clay bar the black WS6 once a year. Follow up with Meguire's Body Scrub (now called crystal clearcoat cleaner?) I clean light to pretty serious scratches up with this stuff called Safe Cut by The Wax Shop. It's lightly abrasive and safe for even clearcoat on black. I like it better than the GM scratch remover for dark colors. It was way too abrasive for my taste. The Wax Shop also has a liquid wax that's real easy to work with and produces great results on a black car...better than regular Meguires(ok) or Mothers(don't care for).

Lately I've been using the Meguires NXT...awesome gloss and depth. The NXT is the slickest feeling stuff I've ever waxed with. If you clean good before waxing, you won't be able to leave a towel on the car, it will slide right off. Even your hand slides right off the car when you touch it!

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“I feel safer on a racetrack than I do on Houston's freeways.” - A.J. Foyt

Kevin Butler
Mobetta Autosport Spec E30 #612
2003 C5 Z06 Corvette
AFR Miata, SM2 61, '93 w/200 SC'd RWHP - soon to be resurrected
Waaaay too many other projects....

At work I use the Dri Wash n Gaurd. We use it to clean up any haze left after cleaning off any rubber gasket sealer. It also is great to get the sealer haze off the glass too.

Slightly off the topic
To get the bad water spots off of the glass we use Bio Clean from Majestic Solutions. I managed to get 20 years of spotting out of the glass of a customer's Dodge truck. It was bad enough he wanted to replace all the glass in the truck. It smells nice too becaus it has peppermint oil on it.

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.