Exhaustive Guide: Car Detailing Basics

[CRACING]

Hello all, I need some suggestions. I am confused between Meguiar's Ultimate Wax, Yellow Wax and Black Wax. Not able to decide which one to buy. If anyone can give some inputs it will be useful. Only Meguiar's product because I know the dealer here and can get them for less than mrp.

Ultimate Wax is premium synthetic wax, it will give better and long lasting protection but limited gloss finish or depends on the prep.
Yellow wax is carnauba based, it may not last long but gives more reflection to the paint.
Black wax is AIO and you already know about it as we discussed in the other thread.

I have used all three of these products and here is how is use them:
AIO once or twice a year if I have no time for full detailing.
Yellow Wax in summer days since it gives rich, warm glow to the paint and there will be no rain to ruin the coating. It will last 2 months max.
Ultimate Wax in rainy season because it gives wet look in cloudy weather and beads nicely when rains. It will last 3-4 months.

Also most of the time, I apply synthetic wax or sealant as base coat, carnauba wax as second coat and spray wax after a week or two.

Anyone has experience with Turtle Wax Seal and Shine? The reviews seem to be great.

Some of the new Turtle Wax products have recently added to Amazon India. I wish to try them but I already have plenty of products which doesn't seem to finish anytime soon.

 

[vijesh_360]

Ultimate Wax in rainy season because it gives wet look in cloudy weather and beads nicely when rains. It will last 3-4 months.

The problem is Ultimate wax costs 5k aprx for 500 ml bottle. It definitely feels out of budget. And yellow wax is carnauba based, so low life for me because I pressure wash every week. Since Black wax is an AIO and so I am skeptical about using it regularly.

Some of the new Turtle Wax products have recently added to Amazon India. I wish to try them but I already have plenty of products which doesn't seem to finish anytime soon.

I am having an eye on Seal n Shine spray. It is having great reviews. I have ordered one.

Also most of the time, I apply synthetic wax or sealant as base coat, carnauba wax as second coat and spray wax after a week or two.

Planning to use Turtle wax seal n shine as a sealant and yellow wax as a second layer. Is this a good combo?

 

[CRACING]

The problem is Ultimate wax costs 5k aprx for 500 ml bottle. It definitely feels out of budget.

Yes, it is very expensive here. You said you know a dealer so I thought you'll get it cheaper. I got mine from USA with the help of a friend and it costed me ~1k

And yellow wax is carnauba based, so low life for me because I pressure wash every week. Since Black wax is an AIO and so I am skeptical about using it regularly.

Honestly yellow wax is not a great product so I just use it has second layer of wax.

You can checkout Poorboys products on Detailedclean India. I have heard they are very good and they come in different combinations and pure products as per your requirement. I have used their black hole once and it gave good results.

Planning to use Turtle wax seal n shine as a sealant and yellow wax as a second layer. Is this a good combo?

Spay wax are usually LSP (last step products) and anything above may not bond properly. Applying a sandalone sealant (i.e Poorboys EX-P, Menzerna Power Lock) and spray wax above that is more advisable. In simple words, applying carnauba above synthetic is better then other way around.

 

[vijesh_360]

Yes, it is very expensive here. You said you know a dealer so I thought you'll get it cheaper. I got mine from USA with the help of a friend and it costed me ~1k

The price will be somewhere north of 3k. Not sure about investing so much for now. Will wait till the covid situation gets over and relatives come from US. Until then will make do with the products available here.

You can checkout Poorboys products on Detailedclean India. I have heard they are very good and they come in different combinations and pure products as per your requirement. I have used their black hole once and it gave good results.

Sure I will. Also what about Meguiar's Gold Class? Is it any good?

Spay wax are usually LSP (last step products) and anything above may not bond properly. Applying a sandalone sealant (i.e Poorboys EX-P, Menzerna Power Lock) and spray wax above that is more advisable. In simple words, applying carnauba above synthetic is better then other way around.

Ok. So ill look for good carnauba waxes now. But Turtle wax suggests using their Quick wax spray or Quick Detailer above this for maintenance washes. Thats why I thought carnauba will be better over the seal n shine.

 

[CRACING]

Sure I will. Also what about Meguiar's Gold Class? Is it any good?

It is premium wax just like Ultimate but carnauba based. It is better then yellow wax and should last little longer but not as durable as sealants. Can be applied as standalone or above any sealant.

Turtle wax suggests using their Quick wax spray or Quick Detailer above this for maintenance washes. Thats why I thought carnauba will be better over the seal n shine.

Yes, you can use any spray wax (i.e Sonax brilliant shine detailer or Sonax high speed wax) above seal n shine. However, I believe its not good to apply paste wax or liquid wax (like yellow wax, gold class wax, ultimate wax) over spray wax because spray wax is less durable. I'm not very sure about seal n shine.but it does look similar as spray wax.

I usually follow this method if adding multiple layers:
Synthetic Liquid/Paste -> Carnauba Liquid/Paste -> Carnauba Spray Wax
OR
Synthetic Liquid/Paste -> Synthetic Spray Wax
OR
Carnauba Liquid/Paste -> Carnauba Spray Wax
OR
Synthetic Spray Wax -> Carnauba Spray Wax

 

[vijesh_360]

Thank you. For now I'll try the Synthetic Spray Wax and Carnauba Spray Wax as I've already ordered it. I'll have to wait until I get Ultimate wax from the US and then try it out.

 

[CRACING]

Thank you. For now I'll try the Synthetic Spray Wax and Carnauba Spray Wax as I've already ordered it. I'll have to wait until I get Ultimate wax from the US and then try it out.

May I know which Carnauba Spray Wax did you order?

 

[vijesh_360]

I haven't ordered the carnauba wax yet. Looking up products and their reviews. Any suggestions?

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

I won't recommend pressure washing every week .
I do normal hose pressure wash (Pressure from tap flow), and I use pressure wash only when the body is full of dirt and grit (Post a highway run or monsoon condition).
Frequent pressure wash will peel off the paint in the longer run.

 

[vijesh_360]

I keep it at the lowest setting which has pressure slightly greater than the hose. The reason I use pressure washer is because it saves lot of water and time. It takes just 15-20 mins to wash when not dirty. Rinse - Foam - Rinse - Foam - Wash with Microfibre Mitt - Rinse - Blow dry or Air Dry - Towel Dry. This is my usual cycle and all this takes just 15-20 mins when the vehicle is just dusty. I don't prefer using any kind of Duster as I fear it will create swirls.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

I wash with Hose , it takes same time for me too , I do Interior vacuuming also along with the same time. I am not sure regarding water quantity, I use Karcher's pressure wash setup at my cousin's place, monthly once / 2 months once (depending on the condition of dirt).

 

[vijesh_360]

I Use the pressure washer because weekly once I wash my Brother's Duke 390, My Duke 390 and My Tiago at the same time, Deep Cleaning and waxing one vehicle a week. So It takes approximately 3 Buckets of Water for my Car, 2 Buckets each for the Bikes for normal cleaning since my Bosch pressure washer can suck water from a bucket. For deep cleaning, it depends on the amount of dirt.

 

[CRACING]

I have also started using pressure washer recently and mine is Karcher K2 Horizontal. It has 110 bar aka 1600 psi of pressure and I always use wide spray nozzle, even for cleaning dirt on wheels and under body. If we keep a minimum distance of 1 ft from the paint surface and not hold in same place for longer duration then it is safe. However, it can reduce sealant/wax layer or remove it totally so I would use it once or twice a month only and apply spray wax after washing.

I haven't ordered the carnauba wax yet. Looking up products and their reviews. Any suggestions?

As standalone or above sealant:
Poorboys Natty’s Paste or Liquid Wax
Meguiar's Gold Class Carnauba Paste Wax
Turtle Wax Super Hard Shell Finish Paste or Liquid Wax

As LSP or Maintenance:
Sonax High Speed Wax
Turtle Wax Express Shine Carnauba Spray Wax
Formula1 High Performance Carnauba Spray Wax

 

[vijesh_360]

I will start checking out these products and decide. Meanwhile will receive my spray sealant on Thursday. Will try it out and let you all know how it is.

I have got my car clayed 2-3 months back. So is it necessary to clay the car again before using the sealant or a polished surface is just fine? The instruction on the bottle asks us to clear the contaminants and polish the surface before applying the sealant.

 

[CRACING]

I will start checking out these products and decide. Meanwhile will receive my spray sealant on Thursday. Will try it out and let you all know how it is.

Okay, looking forward to hear the results.

I have got my car clayed 2-3 months back. So is it necessary to clay the car again before using the sealant or a polished surface is just fine? The instruction on the bottle asks us to clear the contaminants and polish the surface before applying the sealant.

I think its best to check the surface for bonded contaminants, using plastic bag. If it is clean then you can skip clay and do light polish and then apply sealant (1 or 2 coats).