That completely depends on how bad you allow the bug guts to etch into the paint. When I come home from a night trip through the country side, the first thing I do is get all that crap off the car. I don't care how tired I am or how late it is, that stuff gets removed. If you allow that crap to sit on your car for 24 hours (especially in direct sunlight), you have just created some serious paint damage. This is also especially true if you don't have some serious wax on your car to protect the paint. If you wait a week to address it, a repaint can very well be in your future. You only have so much clear coat on the car and that stuff etches very quickly. You can only wet sand so far until you reach the paint so at some point, even that is not an option.

Updated the initial post with brand new videos. :yum:

great videos, thanks for taking the time to put those together and share, learned a lot from them

Thanks for watching. :tiphat:

First, let me thank Junkman for all of the time he has spent for everyones benefit! (And yes, I'd love some feedback regarding my post from you!)

After spending a good portion of my day yesterday watching all of junkmans videos and reading through as many of these posts as I could find I wanted to post before I started buying/trying everything!

I'm looking to buy everything for the two bucket wash, claying, polishing and waxing. I've been looking around and there seems to be SO many different places to get everything I was looking for some suggestions/options on where the best kits to buy including everything. (Including some discount codes for the sponsored vendors)

Just a quick note on my cars and the uses if it helps to put it in perspective. I have a 07 Accord as my daily driver which is silver. This car needs some work, and I plan on starting out on this car. The other car I have is a 2012 370Z in black. It's garaged whenever it's not being driven and will stay in for a good portion of the winter.

As for my preference, I don't have a problem putting in the time but would rather do it less frequently.

Some questions and then I've put a list of stuff I've planned on purchasing.

I've watched junkmans waxing video and I have some questions following that. As I said above, I don't mind spending the time but would rather do it less frequently. I guess that's leading toward a sealant rather than a wax? The only thing that I thinking about was that Junkman used a different polisher/buffer than the PC. I don't have an issue buying the equiment if it's going to be useful or I don't have another good options.

Suggestions/comments are welcome on what can come after the polishing but I'd prefer not to have to wax often!

As far as the polishing pads whats the story with the use area? You can keep using it on as much of the car is ready as long as you keep it wet with detail spray?

I've also watched junkmans video on cleaning the pads with the grit guard kit, but what can you do if you don't have that? You just have to keep rinsing it until it runs clear and then let it dry for a few days?

Ok, I think my last question before my list of items! I know the big thing stressed through the videos has been to clean it once and then don't do all of the stuff that you did intially to scratch the paint up. So wash, clay, polish a few times, then seal/wax. What happens after time? You're watching the paint with water on it to gauge how long the sealent/wax is lasting and reapplying it? Or you're waiting until you can feel dirt following a wash with the bag test pointing you back to claying and then polishing again? (Maybe just the 205 polish if not lots of swirls)

Maybe to simplify the question for Junkman, is what is the weeklymonthly/yearly cleaning process like for your vette?


Of course I'm willing to just be linked more videos/posts if I've missed something or asked some questions that have already been covered.



I'm putting the list below to make sure I'm not missing anything, plus it might be useful for everyone!

Washing:
Gilmour 75QGF4 foam master
DP's extreme foam formula
Some type of car wash -> Recommendations on individual if not with a kit?
2 x 5gal buckets
2 x grit guards
2 x wash mits -> Any recommendations on brands/type for this? Are they generally MF?


Clay -> Polishing:
Any type of clay
Garry Deans Detail juice (I think only available on their website) ->

Infinite Use Detail Juice Concentrate V2 16oz - Premium Custom Detailing

PC 7424XP 5" (I'll get the special extension cord after)
Meguirs M105 and M205
3pk of zaino borderless blonde
2 x waffle weave MF towels -> Brand recommendations? Adams I see has some but wondering if there is any other deals

or kits that include them
2 x hex logic orange pads
3 x hex login white pads

Wax:
This will depend more on the questions from above!

(Is it just easy to go with Adams for anything I didn't specify?)

You are not going to find everything in one spot. You do want to get as much stuff as you can in as few spots as possible to save on shipping so I'm going to suggest one spot you should look and that's Autogeek. Also, a lot of places resale some of the stuff I use so if possible, you want to go to the source when you can. You can get all of the Grit Guard equipment from them directly and cheaper than from anyone else. Look at the prices of stuff and check around. You'll find out that some companies mark their stuff up substantially more than others.

If you don't create paint damage, then you won't have to fix paint damage. How frequently you have to fix your paint is going to be determined by how you CARE for your paint. In my videos, I state all kinds of way to avoid paint damage. If you follow those preachings, you will not have to constantly repair your paint.

A sealant is the longest lasting type of wax that you can use. How long it last completely depends on what you expose the car to. A car in Arizona that sits in the sun all day is going to wear the wax off in a fraction of the time compared to a car garaged in SoCal. So there's no such thing as a sealant lasting an exact amount of time.

Again, how often you will have to wax depends on what elements you expose the car to. There are sealants that must be applied with a PC. There are sealants that can be applied by hand. There are a million choices out there. All you have to do find one that you have the patience and equipment to deal with and use it. Meguiar's makes a sealant that you can use by hand or machine. You can order it from Autogeek when you get the M105/205. Just one of many choices when it comes to sealants.

I do not understand in the slightest what you are asking here. :confused:

Yes, you can wash them by hand until they are clean. I usually use two pads and gently rub them together.

That's FIX it once.

Polish a few times? Do you mean polish with M105 until ALL the damage in the paint has been removed and then follow that with M205 until the paint is spit shined to perfection? If THAT'S what you mean, then yes.

That sounds like as good a plan to go with as any.

Why would you wait until there are a lot of swirls before you decided to fix it again? If I see ANY swirls, out comes the PC and it's getting fixed. And yes, if you paint fails the baggie test, it is time to clay.

There is no time limit to what I do or don't do. I do whatever my paint requires me to do. If I baggie test it and it fails, it gets clayed. If that is once a week or once a year, THE BAGGIE TEST dictates WHEN I will clay. Since your car does not see the same enviroment that my car see and you don't wash your car as often as I do, what my paint requires of me is going to be totally different from what your paint requires of you. This is nothing but common sense. Don't make it rocket science by over-thinking everything. It is not that deep! See a swirl? Polish it out. Fail the baggie test, clay it out. Water no longer reacts the way it did when you first waxed it? Wax it again. It is that simple.

What you need to do is go back and watch the videos that concern paint car MULTIPLE TIMES. You will NEVER catch everything the first time through. Watch those videos multiple times.


Meguiar's makes a car shampoo under their Detailers line.

The same exact wash mitts that I use and talk about in my 2-bucket wash videos.


You can get the Hex-Logic pads at Chemical Guys. Again, this is why you need to watch my videos multiple times. I cover way too much stuff for you to remember after only watching them once.

I say where to buy everything in my videos. So have I mentioned already that you can't remember everything after only watching my videos once? ;)

Amazing post, i can't believe the results!

No tricks or mirrors, you see it happen right in front of you. :tup:

Great videos! I learned a lot. Thanks for taking the time to make these.

Thanks for watching. :)

Thanks Junkman
 

I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to make your videos. After watching them two times, I decided to do my first detail job on my 2013 370Z. My car had swirl marks in it that showed in direct sunlight. I received the car like that last August after the dealership had it "detailed."

I did exactly what you said. After washing, I clayed the car and couldn't believe how much crap came off. This took about 6 hours. Then I used the porter cable polisher, orange hex logic 5.5 inch pad and M105. After that, I used the 6.5 inch hex logic pad with M205. I pulled the car out of the garage and inspected in direct sunlight. Absolutely perfect.

Once I was done with all that, I switched to a black hex logic pad and waxed using meguiars ultimate wax.

An extremely long process, It took about 30 hours over 3 days. It is worth it! The car looks better than it did in the showroom. Now if I can just keep it this way!!

Thanks again!!!

Glad to hear that everything turned out well. Now allow me to suggest a MUCH better wax alternative. If you want to stay in the Meguiar's family, go with either the Mirror Glaze Polymer Sealant #20 or their Synthetic Sealant 2.0 #21. There's also their Hi Tech Yellow Paste Wax #26. They are all from the Meguiar's professional line, which is what the M105 and M205 are from. The stuff you used is from their consumer line and is no where near as good as their professional stuff. You can Google each product and find out the difference between them, and the instructions on how to use them is on the bottles. They also provide a 1-800 number that you can call to talk with a Meguiar's representative with any questions you may have.

Now that you know how much work was involved in fixing your paint, you should be very motivated to keep it that way. That includes proper washing, not wiping on the car when it is dirty or dusty, and using quality towels when you do touch the paint. If you do that, upkeep will be a breeze.

Thanks for chiming in with your experience. :tup:

Is there any other sealant or wax that you would recommend that is not meguair just for future knowledge that might be better or just different.

There are quite a few to choose from. A lot of stuff never gets talked about on these forums because most stuff that people use on non-detailing only forums just gets repeated over and over again. However, products like Hi-Temp's HT-62 Terminator Sealant and their Midnight Express sealant are just two really good products that you can use. They are formulated and made in the USA at Hi-Temp's manufacturing facility. There's also Collinite's Super Doublecoat carnuba paste wax. Another very inexpensive choice with good durability for a carnuba paste wax. Goes on quick and comes off quick.

So what issues do you have with Meguiar's M20, M21 or M26?

None I just was asking someone with more knowledge and experience with multiple product lines to know if there was anything better if meguairs has it covered no prob I am not devoted to a single company and will use what ever product is better for my cars finish midnight blue.

Thanks for your time.