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Old 05-29-2012, 12:10 PM   #14 (permalink)
sfearl1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Winters View Post
Agreed, keeping it clean and waxed is super important. The longer stuff, including water spots, is on the car, the harder they are to get off. Its like they melt into the paint. It is important that you wash very gently with good technique to avoid swirls which really show in the black.

You may want to give yourself a fresh start by claying the car and using Dawn to take off the old wax. I use only Zaino products (not saying that they are the best out there, but they work for me). Your bugs might come off with Zaino All in One. If not, use their Z-PC or similar.

Do check the sticky posts, lots of good data.

Water spots are an issue especially on black, and especially on the hood which gets super hot. If water dries on the hood, wash within a day or two. I left some on for 6 days and they were extremely difficult to remove.

This is my program/ suggestions:

Never wash the car in the sun. I wash my car inside my garage.

Start with lots of water. This should take off most of the dirt so scrubbing is unnecessary. Never scrub. While spraying water, I use my hand to gently wipe the dirt off the rocker panels. The car is mostly clean at that point. Use a grit guard.

Try to never let anything, except microfiber during washing or waxing, touch the paint.

Dry with a leaf blower & compressed air if you have it. Then microfiber.
Slide a folded paper towel inside the mirrors to get the water out, otherwise the mirror water will blow onto the car. Use a vac to suck the water out of the weep holes at the bottoms of the doors.

Let me know if any questions, I'll try to help.


^^ Good write up. I use a similar method when I wash mine, never letting anything but microfiber towels/pads touch the car. I really like the Zaino snow white towels. When I dry/apply product, I apply top of the car to bottom. On the top surfaces, dry/apply in a horizontal manner (just like the wind would move over the car). On the vertical surfaces, apply top to bottom. I always wipe in a single direction. If dust/dirt is still present after you wash, wiping in a circular motion will move the particles around in a circle - creating the swirls you see in the clear coat. Circular swirls are visible from 360*. Vertical/horizontal scratches can only be seen from 2 angles.

Another tip - NEVER touch/wipe the paint if there is dust on the car. Not even with a single finger. This will scratch your clear coat. I cringe when I see people wiping down their cars when they're dirty.
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