portfl0w
09-27-2009, 11:11 PM
Having went through the Mequire's Professional Detailing courses, I have a few simple recommendations if you are going to use the consumer line of products. These are the products available from the retailers.
Hand Evaluation
Throughly wash down the car and dry it. Once dry, use your finger tips to evaluate each panel of the car. You are checking for two things. First, you need to see how much resistance the finish has against your fingers. If your cars finish has been adequately maintained, you should get very light resistance. It should feel silky and glide very easily. Secondly, you need to feel for bonded contaminates. If you can feel anything on the surface (even if you cant see it), then you will need to address that problem during your detail job.
MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU'LL LEARN - Break the surface down to Basics
"Breaking the surface down to Basics" means exactly that. For a complete detail job you always start by removing any bonded contaminates or old product on the finish. It's really very simple. Each product has a specific purpose, and you don't use them out of sequence. Achieving a pristine finish starts by building your way up from the surface of the paint and not masking or locking in problems by laying product on top of them.
Step 1 - Strip
Strip any old product from the surface of the paint. This can be achieved by washing the car with a soap that has a high PH balance. One of the best soaps to use for this job is Dawn. It's important to remember this is the only time you want to use a soap like that. Once your car is detailed you will want to wash it using a soap with a Neutral PH balance and a high lubricocity rating. Mequires Soft Soap(pink) is an excellent soap for maintenance washing.
Step 2 - Lift Bonded Elements from the Surface
Now that the car has been washed and all existing chemical product has been removed, you need to re-evaluate the finish. Use the finger tip test again to feel it. The surface of the paint should be somewhat grippy. You might even be able to get your finger tips to squeak when dragging them across the surface. This is a good sign it's free of old product and clean.
If you feel bonded elements on the surface you will need to remove them. Most weekend warriors are not up to the task of using a machine based product like the one shown above (Fine Cut Cleaner), so you may want to start off by using a clay bar. Use it as directed, then re-evaluate the surface with the finger-tip test. If you feel confident the surface is ready, then continue to the next step.
Step 3 - Surface Polish
At this point, your paint should be free of existing product. Under a microscope the surface is likely to have microscopic divots and other surface imperfections. These imperfections need to be corrected if possible. A low abrasive polish is how we achieve that. From the Mequires consumer line, I recommend the Mequires Deep Crystal Pure Polish. Use that product directly as instructed in the instructions. Trying to get ahead of yourself or speed along this step will only hurt you in the end and make the rest of your work pointless.
Step 4 - Glaze it up
At this point, your cars surface should be showing signs of notable improvement. As long as the surface was not severly neglected you should be able too feel and see a difference. The last product you used (Mequires Deep Crystal Pure Polish) is a two in one product. It's designed to smooth out light swirl marks as well as help restore lost oils in the paint. However, I've found that following up the last step with a glaze will produce noticeable results, especially to darker color cars. The Mequires Show Car Glaze works well. Take your time and again follow the instructions to the letter.
Step 5 - Protection
This step is all about wax. You need to protect the finish you've laid down and seal any remaining imperfections in the final surface. I'm going to get specific and tell you to avoid liquid waxes for this step. I have good reason. A lot of the liquid waxes are more than just wax. Many of them actually contain a cleaning or polish agent. We don't want anything to do with those types of products. We're building our finish up manually. Using a product like that will potentially undo some of our hard work.
Go get yourself a paste wax. It's easier to control on the surface and has a more consistent surface application. In my experience it also provides longer lasting protection. You can use any wax you like as long as it contains no cleaning or polishing agents. If you don't want to play guessing games, just go pick up a can of Mequires Yellow #3 Paste Wax. Again Follow the instructions exactly.
Step 6 - Top Coat
This step is overkill for most people, but I usually top off everything with a layer of Mothers "Reflections Advanced Top Coat". This product goes directly over the wax. It's sole purpose is to enhance the finish and provide that "glass-like" effect or what people refer to as "paint depth". This product tends to make the difference on my own car because it cleans up all reflections and makes the light refraction very crisp.
An improperly prepped and coated surface will not refract light cleanly. It tends to produce reflection "scatter".
http://www.honda-tech.com/showpost.php?p=39927965&postcount=23924
Hand Evaluation
Throughly wash down the car and dry it. Once dry, use your finger tips to evaluate each panel of the car. You are checking for two things. First, you need to see how much resistance the finish has against your fingers. If your cars finish has been adequately maintained, you should get very light resistance. It should feel silky and glide very easily. Secondly, you need to feel for bonded contaminates. If you can feel anything on the surface (even if you cant see it), then you will need to address that problem during your detail job.
MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU'LL LEARN - Break the surface down to Basics
"Breaking the surface down to Basics" means exactly that. For a complete detail job you always start by removing any bonded contaminates or old product on the finish. It's really very simple. Each product has a specific purpose, and you don't use them out of sequence. Achieving a pristine finish starts by building your way up from the surface of the paint and not masking or locking in problems by laying product on top of them.
Step 1 - Strip
Strip any old product from the surface of the paint. This can be achieved by washing the car with a soap that has a high PH balance. One of the best soaps to use for this job is Dawn. It's important to remember this is the only time you want to use a soap like that. Once your car is detailed you will want to wash it using a soap with a Neutral PH balance and a high lubricocity rating. Mequires Soft Soap(pink) is an excellent soap for maintenance washing.
Step 2 - Lift Bonded Elements from the Surface
Now that the car has been washed and all existing chemical product has been removed, you need to re-evaluate the finish. Use the finger tip test again to feel it. The surface of the paint should be somewhat grippy. You might even be able to get your finger tips to squeak when dragging them across the surface. This is a good sign it's free of old product and clean.
If you feel bonded elements on the surface you will need to remove them. Most weekend warriors are not up to the task of using a machine based product like the one shown above (Fine Cut Cleaner), so you may want to start off by using a clay bar. Use it as directed, then re-evaluate the surface with the finger-tip test. If you feel confident the surface is ready, then continue to the next step.
Step 3 - Surface Polish
At this point, your paint should be free of existing product. Under a microscope the surface is likely to have microscopic divots and other surface imperfections. These imperfections need to be corrected if possible. A low abrasive polish is how we achieve that. From the Mequires consumer line, I recommend the Mequires Deep Crystal Pure Polish. Use that product directly as instructed in the instructions. Trying to get ahead of yourself or speed along this step will only hurt you in the end and make the rest of your work pointless.
Step 4 - Glaze it up
At this point, your cars surface should be showing signs of notable improvement. As long as the surface was not severly neglected you should be able too feel and see a difference. The last product you used (Mequires Deep Crystal Pure Polish) is a two in one product. It's designed to smooth out light swirl marks as well as help restore lost oils in the paint. However, I've found that following up the last step with a glaze will produce noticeable results, especially to darker color cars. The Mequires Show Car Glaze works well. Take your time and again follow the instructions to the letter.
Step 5 - Protection
This step is all about wax. You need to protect the finish you've laid down and seal any remaining imperfections in the final surface. I'm going to get specific and tell you to avoid liquid waxes for this step. I have good reason. A lot of the liquid waxes are more than just wax. Many of them actually contain a cleaning or polish agent. We don't want anything to do with those types of products. We're building our finish up manually. Using a product like that will potentially undo some of our hard work.
Go get yourself a paste wax. It's easier to control on the surface and has a more consistent surface application. In my experience it also provides longer lasting protection. You can use any wax you like as long as it contains no cleaning or polishing agents. If you don't want to play guessing games, just go pick up a can of Mequires Yellow #3 Paste Wax. Again Follow the instructions exactly.
Step 6 - Top Coat
This step is overkill for most people, but I usually top off everything with a layer of Mothers "Reflections Advanced Top Coat". This product goes directly over the wax. It's sole purpose is to enhance the finish and provide that "glass-like" effect or what people refer to as "paint depth". This product tends to make the difference on my own car because it cleans up all reflections and makes the light refraction very crisp.
An improperly prepped and coated surface will not refract light cleanly. It tends to produce reflection "scatter".
http://www.honda-tech.com/showpost.php?p=39927965&postcount=23924