Detailing Thread [For Newbies][ARCHIVED]

[Chikselog]

*madkatz

once you feel the hard paint dead on between your finger tips or with your hand and the paint then you are already pressing too.

What do you mean by "hard paint"?

You might want to ask jon for some extra tips in hand polishing and detailing.

I do hope he chimes in

8. Once done always inspect the panel with a bright light and on different angles, its always better to do things right the first time around, and its also a lot harder when you're already on step 3 and you notice you didn't work one panel properly.

I see..What light do you use? We have two flashlights here, an LED and an ordinary one, isama na natin yung fluorescent light in the garage..

Also, other questions po:

1. Paano nyo po nililinis MF towel ninyo? hand wash po ba? kasi pansin ko parang may mga nakadikit pa rin sa MF towel na parang maliit na kahoy that probably came from the car or the surroundings..

2. What Applicator pad would you recommend? I can't decide between these three..
Blade Applicators
Megs Applicators
SM Arnolds Applicators

I don't know talaga kasi pag Megs, P88 each pero di sya yung tipong tatagos hanggang sa kamay mo yung wax IMO.. While the SM Arnolds they come in fours at P260 only, cheaper than the Megs BUT, parang manipis yung foam niya..

3. Per panel po ang the best way to apply SwirlX di po ba? Buff off po ba agad kapag apply ng SwirlX?


4. Lumang kerosene na po yung nandito sa amin..Mahigit 6 months na ata to hehehe pwede pa ba gamitin to for asphalt removal? Medyo may pagka yellow na kulay niya

THANK YOU po and sorry for my questions na pagkarami rami..

[jmpet626]

Pagkatapos ma work ang Swirl X buff mo na kaagad. Effective naman yung sa Blade na Applicators yan gamit ko pang tanggal ng scratches using Scratch X. 250 pesos yata yung 4 pcs sa blade.

Wag mo lang siya gagamitin sa pang apply ng Rain Clear, nalulusaw yung pad

[madkatz]

*chickselog: i mean the paint, when you feel the paint against your finger tips pressing hard, sort of you feel like there's no more buffer between your finger and the paint.

as for your lights question, its actually already ok to use fluorescent light as long as its bright enough to uncover the swirls or the defect that you are removing, i personally use 3 different lights, halogen bulbs for detecting moderate swirls and scratches as well as water marks and some stains, i use fluorescent light and bulbs for detecting light swirls and most of the stains since white light its best to bring out the difference in colors, white light is also best to check for gloss and to check if the paint still has clear coat. As for very light swirls and scratches my weapon of choice would be mercury lights, these have the same color and effect on paint as the orange street lamps, this light will bring out even the smallest of swirls but this light is also dark that the only thing you can see are really just swirls hehe

For the MF towels, i soak them in medium hot water, not too hot ok? just hot enough that it feels nice on your hands somewhat relaxing and the i just give them a nice soak for like how many batches of soaking, the heat on the water will help soften and loosen the oils and waxes in the MF, then when i rinse them an i no longer see any oils or waxes floating on top, i use warm water again with Joy to remove the oils, i usually just soak these for about 1 hour, and then finally i put them in the washing machine ( i use our old one since i don't want it to contaminate my clothes ) put on the lowest setting and wash using Perla, this way the MF doesn't become too hard when it dries. You could also try using Dawn dish washing liquid, i was fortunate to see some on SM hypermart last time, its very effective in removing waxes, its sort of weaker counter part is joy.

Any of the 3 would do, actually i think what blade sells is just the repackaged SM Arnolds Foam Applicator pads, they all pretty much the same actually, but yeah i guess Megs would outlast and outperform SM Arnolds but in just small ways.

Yes you do it per panel and yes you buff it off as soon as your done with the work area you are doing, leaving the polish would sometimes cause polish build ups and sadly these are hard to remove depending on the polish and in some polishes you even have to use polish to remove the polish build ups, so better remove them as soon as you're done or else that would spell bad news hehe

Better have a new batch of kerosene hehe, its better safe than sorry, normal kerosene should not change its properties in a span of a few months, we have a rest house that has a 5 gallon container of kerosene which we use to light bonfires and i think the kerosene is already 5 years old and it still looks pretty much like the normal kerosene. but hey like i said better safe than sorry, and besides 1 liter of kerosene would already be enough for removing asphalt for your car twice already and it only costs like 49 per liter?

No problem with the questions, keep them coming, its better to have an active board than a dead one right? and answering your questions now will also share important information to people that are reading this thread. And im pretty sure you would also do the same when you gain experience and someone asks you these questions, and its always nice to help.

Don't forget the pictures and Good luck!

[indiej]

will it be alright if the wax applicator is left unwashed, assuming that it is clean except for the wax? parang sa ccd ang labas niya.

[jeff]

puwede ko ba gamtin sa buong auto yung TW scratch and swirl remover? kasi pinacarwash yung auto tapos pagbalik puro swirl marks na yung buong auto ang lalaki kitang-kita kapag nasinagan ng araw, saka madami narin scratches ng pusa.

[Chikselog]

will it be alright if the wax applicator is left unwashed, assuming that it is clean except for the wax? parang sa ccd ang labas niya.

IMO it might induce light swirls because of the hardened wax dragged onto the paint when it is used again.. Better to wash it before you use it

puwede ko ba gamtin sa buong auto yung TW scratch and swirl remover? kasi pinacarwash yung auto tapos pagbalik puro swirl marks na yung buong auto ang lalaki kitang-kita kapag nasinagan ng araw, saka madami narin scratches ng pusa.

Pwede naman sir..Just make sure you wash the car first before applying and don't put too much pressure when applying..


*madkatz
Thanks po muli..!

Regarding sa kerosene, sabagay sa bandang ibaba ko lang naman gagamitin yun dun sa part na malapit sa wheels..And also sa wheel wells na rin siguro ang dumi na eh..

Regarding applicators naman..Hmm, pero kung papipiliin po kayo, which of the two (SM Arnolds & Megs) would you choose? Medyo nakatutok na ako sa Megs eh kahit pricey ng onti..Pakiramdam ko kasi tama lang yung sukat niya at yung softness ng foam kasi yung SM Arnolds medyo malaki and IMO baka mas better ang control ko sa pag apply kapag Megs gamit ko.. Pero what I will use still varies on your inputs about this..

BTW, pics will be posted syempre hehe.. Kaso maybe in the next few weeks na ako makapag-detail dahil prelims week namin starting tomorrow hehe..Ipon-ipon muna para makabili na for my detailing project..

Again, thanks po uli..!

[madkatz]

*indiej: its better to wash the foam pads after you use it, just like what chickselog said, hardened wax might induce swirls on your paint, and another thing to note is that hardened wax is a lot harder to remove.

*jeff: yes you can use it for the whole car, but before you cover the whole car, do a test spot first and check if you are satisfied with the results, TW scratch and swirl remover is actually a bit aggressive IMO, its texture is pretty much like some compounds already so in using this product be sure to use light pressure only, and as far as i know this product does a decent job in removing scratches and swirls but it does not finish to a high gloss finish so you have to follow it up with a cleaner wax or with an ultra finishing polish, you could use Moms or Megs Step 2 to enhance the shine of the paint after your application of TW Scratch and Swirl Remover.

*chickselog: im leaning towards the Megs Applicator pad i guess because of the slight added thickness in the foam property, i believe adequate foam thickness would help in reducing hard buff marks.

Alright Good luck on your prelims, be sure to study well and just take care of the detailing after your exams! My sister is also taking her prelims in UST this monday wednesday friday and saturday hehe

[jeff]

*indiej: its better to wash the foam pads after you use it, just like what chickselog said, hardened wax might induce swirls on your paint, and another thing to note is that hardened wax is a lot harder to remove.

*jeff: yes you can use it for the whole car, but before you cover the whole car, do a test spot first and check if you are satisfied with the results, TW scratch and swirl remover is actually a bit aggressive IMO, its texture is pretty much like some compounds already so in using this product be sure to use light pressure only, and as far as i know this product does a decent job in removing scratches and swirls but it does not finish to a high gloss finish so you have to follow it up with a cleaner wax or with an ultra finishing polish, you could use Moms or Megs Step 2 to enhance the shine of the paint after your application of TW Scratch and Swirl Remover.

*chickselog: im leaning towards the Megs Applicator pad i guess because of the slight added thickness in the foam property, i believe adequate foam thickness would help in reducing hard buff marks.

Alright Good luck on your prelims, be sure to study well and just take care of the detailing after your exams! My sister is also taking her prelims in UST this monday wednesday friday and saturday hehe

kahapon lang kasi ako namili ng gamit yung TW scratch & swirl remover and TW super hard shell lang ang binili ko sabi ko na nga ba dapat kumuha rin ako ng TW carnauba cleaner wax.

btw ok lang ba na pranela gamitin ko pang apply nung scratch & swirl remover?

[Chikselog]

*chickselog: im leaning towards the Megs Applicator pad i guess because of the slight added thickness in the foam property, i believe adequate foam thickness would help in reducing hard buff marks.

Alright Good luck on your prelims, be sure to study well and just take care of the detailing after your exams! My sister is also taking her prelims in UST this monday wednesday friday and saturday hehe

Hehe thanks.. I guess I'll have to get Megs too hehe.. Hopefully the weekend after my prelims I can start detailing na..

BTW, I saw this Mr. Clean applicator pad sa Ace Hardware sa SM Valenzuela yesterday (not the mr. clean soap logo, kulay yellow and black ang kulay ng package/logo niya).. AND, it only costs P99.75 for 3 applicators!

But heck, it's softer than the SM Arnolds! Not worth it IMO.. Konting kurot mo lang with your thumb and index finger pisa na agad.. Baka pag ginamit mo yun tagos agad ang wax sa kabilang side ng applicator..:bwahaha:

Here's a pic of it.. 3 pcs. yan, close up lang yung pic.. cellphone cam lang

[mau2485]

IMO the Microtex Terry (orange cloth) is not as good as other MF but that just me. It is too soft that if you flatted the cloth, easily deforms when you drag it into your car. Ive use it with my QD. I can’t recommend it as a buffing cloth for wax. But for 90 pesos it had done its job for avoiding your car to have some scratch. I will still go for the plush for buffing
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