I read the detailing info and have four questions:

1. In the past I have used or had applied a paint sealer or a silicone based synthetic wax can I now transition to a carnaba wax ? I will only use the carnaba wax on my garage queen Crossfire. For my daily drivers (Chevy Express van & MB C350 ) I purchased Meguiar's NXT tech Wax 2.0.

2. Will I get the same wet look/deep shine with carnaba wax as the NXT 2.0?

2. Should I use my recently purchased Porter Cable to remove wax or is it easier to remove by hand?

3. In one of the posts by Patpur on this forum, she noted that he/she used water when using a clay bar and was told not to do this but on the MB forum this was noted under clay baring. Use 5 parts water to 1 part woolite mixed in a spray bottle as lubricant (works just as good as detail spray and is 50 times cheaper) Any thoughts on this mixture?

Thanks for the help and your inputs.

Love driving the Crossfire and actually bought a MB after experiencing the quality of German engineering and construction in the crossfire.

 

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Thanks and and "forgive me to Pat". In re-reading my post I should have did a he/she in the first part of the sentence. Great info and as soon as I get the Crossfire out of the dealer for warranty work I will go to work on it.

 

I agree with FP's comments, but with one caveat:

When using a D/A buffer to remove a hazed wax, you want to use a microfiber bonnet wrapped over a clean, dry polishing pad. Do NOT use a dry foam pad to remove your wax. Hopefully you're not applying your wax by hand and then removing it with the D/A - that would be backwards. The D/A makes it so easy to apply a very thin, very even coat of wax, which is what you want to do in the first place. Once that thin, even coat of wax is completely dry it will wipe off very easily by hand. Personally, I find the use of a D/A with microfiber bonnet more of a pain when removing wax, but that's just me.

As to NXT 2.0 vs carnauba - yes, the NXT will last longer, but since it contains polishing oils it tends to leave a bit wetter and deeper look than a lot of other synthetics. That final appearance issue is a very personal one, however, so go with what you like best. My personal choice is to machine apply a coat of M21 Synthetic Sealant, let it dry and then wipe off, and then machine apply a coat of M26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax (a premium carnauba) and remove it when dry. Sort of gives me the best of both worlds.

 

Thanks Mike

I'm practicing on my Express van that I use to haul construction stuff, etc. It has never been polished or waxed in six years so I think it will allow me to learn a great deal. I just finished washing and claying it and just started to polish out scratches, etc. I am amazed. Even without wax it looks like a new truck. Thanks again for the help and assistance. I am planning to use your NXT 2.0 on it. Joe

 

You might find this detailing thread handy.

 

Sometimes the unkown seems so difficult so I just wanted to post this so you can get some idea of the time and effort involved with a complete outside detailing. I had NEVER detailed a car before. Before I began I took the Express van for a quick car wash and when I got it home I did a another quick wash on the parts they missed. (20 Min). I then did a clay bar (Mothers's kit from Wal-Mart on sale $10.00). This took about 1 hour. I then polished it with Groit's polish #3 and Meguiar's X Scratch. (1 hour). I then put Meguiar's NXT 2.0. (45 min). I put the polish and wax on with a porter cable and wiped both off with micro fiber towels. This took almost NO effort. It took a little over 3 hours to do the job. I believe I could have done a Xfire in about 1.5 hours or less. The Express van is huge. Results: it looks like I drove it home from the dealers except for some dents.

Some suggestions:

1. Using the porter cable, put liquid polish on using the 5 to 6 speed and slow it down with the wax to a 3 to 4 setting.
2. Put about a quarter side size material on the center of the pad. A little goes a long way. It only took me about less then 1/2 bottle of NXT 2.0 to do the van.
3. Make sure you start and end the porter cable on the car surface. It will only take you once to figure out why.
4. Start on a horizontal surface to get a feel for the machine. Let the machine do the work for you.
5. When putting on polish limit your self to about a 2' by 2' square and then wipe of excess. Using the NXT 2.0, I did the whole car and the started to wipe off where I began.

 

I still put the polish on by hand, that way works better for me otherwise good advise. Mines out in the garage now, just waiting for it to haze up so I can use the PC to buff it. Either way a Porter Cable is a great investment, especially when it comes to the headlight haze/etching issue.

I be a he by the way not a she!

Hawk I think Mike disagree's with me on this and he is the master but I use plain old H20 in a spray bottle when I clay bar. I guess I have so much polish on my car it doesn't matter. I've not had an issue with it ( I use Zaino Clay Bars) Mike could probably tell you if all Clay is created equal, I don't that one. If you want to use something I'd use a spray detailer, not that mixture of woolite etc. Forget that.

 

Yep, not a fan of plain water for a clay lube as it just doesn't offer enough lubricity, but if you've never had a problem with then it's a bit difficult for me to just flat out say you're wrong. I do advise against the practice though. Are all clay bars created equal? Well, they are all created by the same folks and sold under license, but we all specify colors and how aggressive we want it. Meguiar's actually sells three different grades, including a very aggressive clay - red in color - that can actually haze your paint. But it speeds the removal of really nasty stuff and is intended for use only when you plan on machine buffing anyway.


What I'm really curious about, though, is why you apply your wax by hand and then use the Porter Cable to remove it? Applying with a finishing pad at low speed makes it super easy to apply a very thin and uniform coat of wax, which is what you want. Once it's dry it will almost fall off when you go to wipe it off by hand. You're process sounds backwards to me. I assume you're using a microfiber bonnet over a foam pad to remove your wax, but don't you find it won't reach all the tight areas and you have to go back by hand for those anyway?

Oh, and just to let you know what I mean by a "thin coat" - last year at SEMA we waxed 39 cars with a single bottle of NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 using the D/A with a foam finishing pad. Yes, one 18oz bottle, 39 cars.

 

I have no idea why I do it that way Mike? Maybe I think I'll use too much applying it with the PC and its a way of keeping the coats real thin? I forget the size of the Zaino bottle (8 oz.?) but I get at least 16 polishes (7-8 mths out of a bottle waxing both cars once a month) plus what my son manages to heist when I'm not looking. My wife's car is a small Mercedes (240) it does use more polish than our car. I also polish my daughters car every so often so maybe even 20 cars out of one of their bottles. I'll try it with the PC this week when I polish my wifes car. Anything that can save my shoulders at this point is a plus.