How do you detail?

Sorry...Ive had it with the downer topics on here lately about the latest rattle or window regulator or turn signal indicator thats broken. Im starting to get into detailing my car. Ive always tried to take care of my cars what with waxing, buffing, armour all'ing,etc. But now I think Im into a new level of detailing. I bought my first clay bar system today! Add that to the three step polish/wax products, and Im ready to make my baby shine! So how seriously do you take detailing your car? Do you send it off for a buffing from a pro? Or do you like to spend a Saturday washing, clay barring, polishing, sealing and waxing? And finally, any products you swear by?

I really like Zaino... nothing beats a weekend with that.

Weekend with Adam's stuff. Wash, clay bar, polish, hard wax, condition interior (never armor all), clean and seal cab top, tire dressing and rubber parts dressing, wash engine and use Chemical Guys..

i've been searching for the holy grail of waxes for 30+ years. I must have tried everything until 2 weeks ago. I don't clay bar everytime just when the surface feel by touch dictates, i don't always find it necessary to polish either usually only 2 times a year once in spring and then in fall just before winter hits. now on to the new wax i've fell in love with, Turtle wax Ice in the spray bottle. yeah that's right!! i used it ot n my 66 candy apple red mustang and i wanted to take a bite out of it. then i went in the garage and used it on my 89 guards red carerra and i couldn't believe how it glowed. then i said holy **** lets see how the 01 996 looks with it. I stared endlessly afterwards and was amazed, the colors absolutely shined and glowed at the same time. The stang sits outside ( i know i'm a bad man until new garage is built) after 2 weeks of rainy weather etc.... and driving it in the rain that car still looks amazing and the water beeds like nobodys business. Added bonus it only takes 15 minutes per car to do and zero residue!

Detailing is a labour of love for me. I am a fan of Griot's Garage products, polishes, field spray, spray wax, interior cleaner, etc. I've used their clar bar system for a few years now (2x per year) along with their orbital buffer and "best in show" wax or sometimes their "one step sealant." Stuff's a bit pricey, but works real well for me. An afternoon, a good cigar..........well worth my time to really give her a good bath and polish and the results speak for themselves when I'm done. Funny thing is, the car is at its absolute best one wash after the whole process. Go figure.

I use a mix of products from Adams and Griot's Garage. I use the clay bar when necessary, which is usually 2 - 3 times per year. I use a Griot's random orbital polisher when necessary and I'm pleased with the results. My favorite accessories are: the Adams Turbo Stick for cleaning inside of my wheels, the Adams Ultimate Merino Wool wash mitt, the Adams boar's hair wheel brush and finally Adams paint glaze. The paint glaze is like magic on a metallic color. I do a regular wash job once a week (this takes 2 - 3 hours) and a full detail 3 or 4 times a year.

I wash & quick detail every week or two, and apply wax maybe 3 times per year. I'm not very choosy on wax (polymer), but I like the Zaino products. If you use a very small amount, its not a bad value and it really cuts down on the powdery residue. I alternate between the Z-AIO and the Z5. (I might try the spray-on recommended by tbanasiak next time I need to buy wax. I love the idea of zero residue and easy-to-use. I'm lazy.) I've gotten maybe 2 years out of a bottle of Zaino AIO and Z5, and I've still got plenty left. I use a clay bar maybe once per year. I find the process very tedious, so I minimize it. I'll probably only do it before a polishing step in the future. I've only done a full polish with a Griot's random orbital polisher once, but WOW, what a difference. The wax and clay bar can only do so much. The polishing steps make such a difference in the shine and finish on the car. This is something I plan to do maybe once per year or less, since it was very time consuming. My first-time polishing procedure went like this: Wash Clay Bar Polish Stage 1 (Griots Random Orbital, Menzerna Super Intensive Polish PO83 to remove swirls, CCS Orange Polishing Pad) Polish Stage 2 (Griots RO, Griot's #3 polish, Griots Orange Pad) Wax (Griots RO, Zaino AIO, Griots Red Pad) It took me all day, put I was VERY pleased with the results. I ended up buying a Griot's kit that included the #3 polish, but added the Menzerna SIP because I had read it did a better job with "medium" imperfections. The Menzerna SIP can even remove *small* scratches. Also, I now always use my RO to apply wax. It's super fast, and I can put down a thin, even coat. Even though you waste some wax on the large pad, I can still do my entire 996 with less than 1.5 ounces of wax. Here was my shopping list for Polishing Products last year: GlisteningPerfection: Polish - Menzerna Super Intensive 29.95 (swirl removal) PO 83, 16oz $29.95 6.5" Assorted Foam CCS Pads (2 yellow, 2 Orange, 2 White, 1 Red) 78.60 78.60 hand applicator foam Pad 9.95 BJs.com (on sale): Griots Kit (6" polisher, red & orange pad, wax, spray, clay, #3 polish) $149.95 Here was my shopping list for Zaino: Z-5 Z-5 PRO Show Car Polish for Swirl Marks and Fine Scratches 1 $16.95 Z-6 Z-6 Ultra Clean Gloss Enhancer Detail Spray 1 $9.95 314 Zaino Custom Polish Applicator 1 $2.50 Z-7 Z-7 Car Wash 1 $8.95 Z-AIO Z-AIO All-in-one 1 $26.95 I got a bunch of this info over at Autopia.org. Those guys are crazy with the detailing. Right now I do a simple wipe-down of plastic parts with interior detailer and Leather parts with Meguires. In the future, I'd like to do some more refurbishing of the interior. That's my $.02. Ok, maybe you got the full $.99.

I'm a big fan of zaino products. I used it on previous cars but have not tried it on the p-car yet. For the guy's with black cars, how do you prevent water spots after washing? I find no matter how hard I try I end up with some and end up using meguirs quick detailer after to get rid of them. Sounds like tbanasiak uses turtle wax. Does one else use these products on a regular basis?

I use quick detailer or spray wax to eliminate water spots. Have you considered an in-line filter for your hose? If you have hard water they really help. Griot's sells them.

Everyone has their own favourite products and many swear by them. I have used many of the 'off the shelf' waxes but now I use Swissvax Zuffenhausen. There is a local guy in Vancouver who distributes it. The wax is so superior to anything I have used that words don't do it justice. The cleaner wax for this system is non-abrasive. I use the cleaner once or twice a year and I wax it around three times a year. When you use clay bar, be careful. It is not hard to scratch the paint with it. As long as you use a lot of lubrication and go easy, it will be safe.

I just drive it though a car wash was a few times a year...

someone smack ralph!! I detail nakid - HEY, I waited a long time for this car!!!!

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This is a very loaded question and you will get SEVERAL answers and favorites. Although I haven't tried every single product out there I think it boils down to a few factors you should consider: - level of effort you want to spend - kind of paint you have(dark colors, metallic, etc) - how much you want to spend on products - how often you want to apply it - preferences to deep gloss, clarity, depth, etc - whether your partial to all natural or synthetics - will you be using an orbital or by hand - patience level I'm currently experimenting with these combos on different panels of the car: Mother's Clay + Klasse AIO + Collinite 845(2 layers) Mother's Clay + Klasse AIO + Klasse SG(3 layers) Mother's Clay + Klasse AIO + Ultima Paint Guard Plus(2 layers) Mother's Clay + Ultima Paint Guard Plus(2 layers) Mother's Clay + Ultima Paint Guard Plus(2 layers) + Collinite 845 As you can tell, my choices are geared more towards durability(3-6mo protection). There are several products that will offer a better depth and brilliance than these but as you can tell, my primary concern is durability first and shine second since I only want to exert minimal effort to keep my cars clean. For bucket wash during winters and such: Optimimum No Rinse (I don't like this though for QD as it doesn't seem slick enough compared to others) For best bang for buck Quick Detailer(Godsend for us owners with black or dark cars): Ultima Waterless Wash + Concentrate. If you do the math, it comes out to about $0.62 for 22oz bottle. Because of this, if my car isn't that dirty, this is the product I use often to wash my car. I don't really believe in polishing often or unneccesarily. Unless you have heavily oxidized or lot of swirl marks, you can get by with a chemical polishing that products like Klasse AIO offers. I do own a Porter Cable polisher with several cuts/compounds of polishes but I think I've only polished 2 cars so far with it. I recommend you take a peek over at www.autogeek.net if you haven't already done so.

1 thing I do inbetween waxes is add a little wax to my wash bucket. then I use a microfiber to give a quick polish when im finished. Also newspaper is the best with windex to clean your windows.

My regimen: First, hit the wheels and tires with a brush and warm, soapy water. Give them a good rinse. Next, wash the car using dish soap (like Dawn...but very little) with warm water. Clean hand mitt all the way around careful not to let the soap dry on the car. Also, keep the soap off the Cab Top to prevent fading. Dry with lint free towels in the sun. I have the advantage of a very dry climate so virtually no water spotting anywhere. Pull into the garage for a vaccuum while the car cools. Next, dry the wheels making sure to get into the lug holes and all the nooks and crannies. Like Fred Couples says, your car isn't clean unless your wheels are clean. Then hit the interior. Always been a Maguire's fan. I use their leather cleaner/conditioner. Not a paste so you don't get the build up in the holes in your vented seats and it is not greasy like Armor All. Still gives you a great shine! Then I use Maguire's interior cleaner for the same reason. Hit the all the non leather areas with that. Then, if needed, Maguire's Tech Wax 2.0. Like pouring melted glass on your car. No streaking, swirls or fogging at all. After waxing its wheel time with Black Magic Tire Shine. Then windows with Windex (purple) using newpaper (no streaks). Since we hardly get any rain, I can do all this and the car stays sharp for weeks! Until the brake dust builds up on the wheels, then it is bath time again.

I have my wife do it naked while I eat cheese dootles.

I use Autoglym, detailer, polish and eagle one tire shine. invisible glass seems to work fine for the windows. Never thought about the top, hmmmmm, guess i should look around.

I pay someone else's wife to do it naked while I eat cheese doodles

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Thought I saw you at Autobell

Ok Gang. Here is an issue i am fighting. On my Midnight Blue car I can buff it swirl free and re-apply waxes. I have tried a few things (Mothers, Adams, Rejex etc.) but when I wash the car again by hand with a soft wool (clean) mit (lots of suds and light pressure) it is swirled again. I think I need a harder wax. Any thoughts?

So thats what my wife was doing in miamil

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First off if you're using waxes to merely "hide" the swirl marks, you should really try to do a 2 or 3 stage polish on it first to knock down the swirls as much as you can without taking off the clearcoat. Also not sure what kind of car soap you're using. I'm not sure what kind of waxes you're using but I've generally found off the shelf waxes to be inferior in durability to some of the synthetic sealants and waxes you can get elsewhere. On my wife's Orient Blue BMW(similiar to Midnight Blue) I found the sealers like Klasse to work well, when layered a couple times, at masking fine scratches and generally lasts at least 3 months if not longer. You might want to try something like Collinite 845 as it's a carnuba/synthetic mix so it still provides a good amount of depth that you can get from traditional carnuba waxes. Collinite makes more heavy duty waxes but these are hard to put on and take off and generally not worth the effort for most people. I like to add: Lexol for Leathers Tuff Shine for Wheel Dressing(best I've tried so far for satin and non oily dressing that lasts the longest) Collinite 845 also works great as a wheel wax as well

Seriously I have not driven my car in the 2 a half months of ownership other then droping off and picking it up from shop to get clear bra. I have 13 acres of land to tend to and a house that one section is circa 1850 and the log addition is older,so a lot of upkeep.I drive my A4 when I can but mostly my f350 or rav 4 running errands.Hopefully things will slow down and I will take the time to enjoy it.I use a lot of different products when detailing but must say Im detail oriented and get in all the door jams ,inside trunk etc= makes the difference in my opinion.

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Tim, I face the same challenge with my Midnight Blue Metallic C4S. I can get it swirl-free with the polisher, but the swirl marks do come back quickly. I've found that the following things have made a big difference: - Make sure to use the "two bucket" method when you wash (one soapy water, one clean rinse water). Make sure there are dirt traps or screens in the bottom of your buckets. - Make sure to use a clean wash mitt - which it sounds like you do. I love the Adams merino wool wash mitt. - Don't use microfiber towels or rags to dry the car. I have found these to really create swirl marks quickly. I use drying towels from either Griot's Garage or Adam's Polishes and they work very well. - Use Adam's Paint Glaze after you have polished out the swirl marks and before you wax. This stuff is like magic. - Use spray wax after each wash to keep your wax fresh and keep swirl marks down. These are my best suggestions. They work pretty well. Overall though, I agree with you - this car is the most difficult to keep swirl-free of any car I've ever owned.

On my black car, I will only dry the car with a microfiber towel if I'm using a spray wax or QD on it. Otherwise a leaf blower with modified tip works really well to air dry. Anyone notice the highly visible area for scratches always seem to be the flared **** end on the top of each rear wheel well area? That's one area that bugs me the most.

My buddy has same problems with his black car tough to keep some colors looking good. My solution bought a GT SILVER car and swirl problem solved. I mean they are probably there but I just can't see them

I use CR spotless to eliminate the hard water, which a reputable detailer showed me in person. that alone eliminated micro-scratches to the paint. wash with DI water, electric leaf blower, very little microfiber needed to get the remaining water. If you are going to seal, after a good wash, then claybar, and minimal polish then seal. to go a step further..... Opti-coat, or Opti-guard ( commercial grade). done.

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I hate you. All I can say is glad my car is garaged and not a daily driver or else I would probably have to take on your solution too.

Most of your swirl marks come from when you're drying your car off! I haven't seen anybody mention it yet but I've always heard its best to use a leaf blower to dry your car off as much as possible & then just wipe off what lil' bit's left. Its always worked for me, I don't have any swirl marks & my car's Black! jmo

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Dish detergent is pretty harsh. If you're going to use it, I wouldn't use it too often. It's made to clean grease off of plates...not dust and grime off of a car. Maybe once at the beginning of the Spring season just to get all of the crud off of a car that accumulated over the Winter months (assuming you're driving in the Winter and in inclement weather) but paint prep and then a clay bar after washing would probably be a better solution to removing contaminants. Now, if you happened to drive through a plate of spaghetti and meatballs... Back to the original post, I tend to try different products for washing and polishing but when it comes to wax, I really like Pinnacle Souveran. A tub of it isn't super cheap (it's about $100) but it goes on very easily and, best of all, it comes off with little to no effort and it doesn't seem to stain rubber and plastics if you get a little overzealous in your application. It looks paricularly awesome on black and red cars but I love it on my grey cars, too. Oh, and not that you should choose a wax based on the way it smells but it smells great, too. -Eric

I'm another new 996 owner and I wanted to treat it right. I researched quite a bit and landed with Adam's. I bought the whole kit which was a little over $300. I figured I get supplies to do it 10 times rather than paying one company to do it once for me. Anyway, I am VERY pleased with the results. After claying, swirl remover, etc etc, it looks awesome. I did it over two days, but could do it in about 4 hours if I had to. My wife loved it so much I'd catch her just feeling up the 996 as she walked by it in the garage. I got jealous, so I did the same treatment to her car, so she can feel that up. Two questions for the others: 1) Cab owners - what top treatment do you use? 2) What kind of cheese doodles do you guys eat...that sounds like a pretty good combo.

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Agreed - especially if you use microfiber towels. I use an air blower to get water out of tight spots like under the door handles, inside the mirrors, etc. It works really well.

I started using the Griot's system clay bar, polish and best in show wax with the orbital. A lot of work but it yeilds stunning results. I am fancying the idea brought up earlier of hiring someone's naked wife to polish it for me .

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Dennis, it was really hard to imagine microfiber towels doing it but believe me they will. And I would think most guys have a leaf blower but if you don't, its even better & I know most of you have an air compressor, just change out the bit & use it & its even better to get up in all the tiny cracks Dennis is talking about. And all this mess about the naked wife, mistress & cheez doodles unless you can produce pics then we need to nip this in the bud, BUT if you CAN produce pics then I imagine this thread will go on & on & on & on, well you get the idea! jmo

Meguires Paint Cleaner Meguires deep crystal polish Meguires Gold Class Canuba Wax. Meguires Quick Detailer ( if it's a bit dusty) Armor all Wheel Cleaner Meguires hot Shine tyre spray Meguires Gold Class leather conditioner for the interior And she loves it!

Microfiber towels are the worst! I agree.

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I use RaggTopp for mine. Make sure you get the RaggTopp Fabric Protectant which is for fabric or cloth tops, which contains wax. I do clean first with the fabric / vinyl cleaner.

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Danke

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You have found that high quality microfiber towels scratch a clean car? I have never noticed this to be the case. In fact, I was under the distinct impression that they are the best/safest thing to use on auto paint. Of course, this assumes that the surface is clean(or otherwise well lubed) as any grit trapped between the towel and the paint could leave scratches.

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Yeah I tend to agree with this. The only time it should scratch the surface is if your towels or the surface isn't clean. After all many have been using a traditional towel before microfiber towels came along just fine on all their show cars.

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Yeah, I know many guys swear by 100% cotton fiber towels but the problem with this is that many supposed 100% cotton towels actually contain plastic fibers which WILL scratch the paint. Again, I have always been under the impression that microfiber towels were the next best thing to sliced bread when it comes to auto detailing. I have never heard that a good quality microfiber towel, in and of itself, will harm auto paint in any way.

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Aerospace 303 works very well also, available at marine stores. But whatever top treatment you use, don't spray it on, that stuff makes a mess of your paint. Just use a disposable foam brush to brush it on. And in this case, more is more. When properly treated, the top should bead water just like the paint does.

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I have used very high quality microfiber towels from Griot's Garage and from other sources. I've found that they work very well without scratches the first time that you use them. Once they get washed, it's over. They leave swirl marks and scratches with even light pressure. You can see the scratches immediately as soon as you wipe the towel over the surface of the car. I'm not sure if it's detergent or something else that gets trapped in them, but I don't have this issue with the drying towels/cloths that I use now. I won't go back to microfiber.

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Ouch!!! Luckily I have not experienced this with any of my cars. What are you using now? 100% cotton towels?

It's funny you should ask. I went online to find the exact products that I use so I could give you the specifics, only to find out that they are actually microfiber. I'm a knucklehead! I had no idea! These aren't like any other microfiber I've used before! I like the Adam's Great White drying towel. It feels like cotton, but it is actually microfiber. I also like a product from Griot's Garage, which I just looked up and it is the Ultra Thick Micro Fiber Towel. Soooo... nevermind what I said about microfiber!!! I guess I should change my philosophy to never using cheap microfiber towels again.

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+1 on the cheap microfiber. Here's to scratchless detailing...

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I find that "microfiber" is a cheap phrase that's thrown around a lot for marketing purposes, and for all intents and purposes could be microfiber as there is no rigid specification to use that term. Just like "organic", there are varying degrees to both quality and composition of some of the microfiber products. Just stay away from the big box stores as I've found their "microfiber" towels generally fall short.

The absolute Best Drying Towels I have found are the Borderless Blond Towels by Zaino (I'm not a big zaino user) But I ONLY use them for what lil' water's left after blow drying & they NEVER touch any other part of the car, that way you don't have to worry about contaminating them. They have NO sewn edges & if you think about it this is what does alot of the scratching. I've haven't heard anybody else mention them so if you give them a try let us know what you think. They're not real cheap, one reason you don't want to just use them for anything, but how many towels do you actually see that are Borderless! jmo

Westley's® Bleche-Wite...tires. Soak with water. Micro, soap/water wash, top to bottom...keeping her wet is the key fellas. Squeegee all water off...California water blade®. Micro anything missed. Omni® MX190 (de...wax'r/greaser) entire finish...this stuff I swear by. Wash, rinse, squeegee, micro again. Masking paper and tape off...plastics, rubbers and glass. 3M® 3-part "Perfect It" w/my adjustable rpm DW849 DeWALT® polisher. Remove masking. Wash, rinse, squeegee, micro again. ZYMOL® products only...micro. Mothers® Back to black...rubbers and plastics...micro. Stoner® Invisible glass...micro. Shop Vac w/attachments, compressed air Blue Magic® cleaner/conditioner...micro for the interior. Sorry for all the ®'s

Well, 1 Remove all 4 wheels. Clean inside and out. Tire Dress 1.5 Do all the black with black dressing on out side of car. 2. Wash all fender wells and what not, brake calipers 3. Install wheels 4. All door jams, hood and trunk jams 5. Interior vaccume and shampoo where needed 5.5 Do all vents and interior 6. clean up all leather and condition 7. Apply protectant to dash 8. Do all the inside windows and mirrors and dash cluster 9. Wash front bumper , rear bumper and side skirts 10. Remove all Bug n tar 11. Wash car from top down 12. Shami and polish where needed. 13. Wash from top down again 14. Polish with liquid glass. 4-7 coats. Optional: Clay bar at this point if needed. I do this every fall right before it gets put away for the winter.

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It's the key to a happy marriage as well.

Wow awesome responses and discussion. Looks like there are detailing fanatics here! So today, after me and the pooch go for our hike up the hill, im going to start to detail. Got my micro fibre , car wash suds, clay bars, polish, wax. Even have two different size orbital buffers! I must admit that the car looks pretty good right now...get lots of wows from car folks. Blasted past my boss the other day on the way into work (he was driving a camry hybrid)....he caught up to me later in the day saying how awesome the car looks....then rambled on about coulda shoula woulda about the camry v porsche But i can feel the roughness on the paint so it needs the clay. So heres a cheers to all that wrote in! Gonna be a fun day!

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I believe it's a crime punishable by the Porsche community to use those two car names in the same sentence. Kindly tell your boss that.

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I just tried the Turtle Ice and it really works.

Im clay barring now...bar is getting nice and dirty. Question...do you also clay bar your bumpers?

I do the last couple of stages (polishing, waxing, sealing) myself but for the first couple (clay bar and swirl removal) I've been relying on an expert detailer. Believe it or not the dealer has a guy that is on their payroll that does nothing but detailing. I recently took it their and the car looks absolutely amazing for just $150. Now all I have to do is the washing and waxing for the next year (4-5 times) and then back to Mike at the dealership for me.

I start washing with a chemical guys citrus wash and foam gun with a 2 bucket method an a bunch of specialty pads and brushes. Every so often I will put the car up on jacks, remove the wheels and use the auto Glym wheel cleaner. I use a gas powered leaf blower to dry the car since I try and not really rub the car with anything as everything seems to leave swirls in my black paint. I will claybar my car twice a year and again use auto Glym product for this. After clay baring I will use Meguiars 205 for the cut and polish, which I actually find to be quite decent product, better than most crap you can pick up from an automotive store without going to a detailing or autobody specialist. Always make sure to clean he oils and stuff from your polish off before applying wax, i use Carpro Eraser As far as wax is concerned I spent a lot of money on swissvax but found that it was quite expensive and a waste for what I wanted and needed. I find bang for your buck Auto Glym's High Definition hard wax is tops in my book has great european reviews and is quite high end for your basic pep boys to carry. After I am done washing I would use Black Wow for my exterior trim. For my interior leather I use Leatherique exclusively which imo is the best leather treatment and restoration product bar none There is a local shop called Auto Obsessed that online as well as brick and mortar store that also does detailing for the local exotic dealerships as well as private customers. I buy a lot of my crap from him and get relatively good advice on detailing. Here is his websites bigger detailing projects Auto Obsessed Specialty Detailing Projects I also visit autogeek.net for more info Edit: one thing you shoul do if you are doing your own clay bar, cut, or polish is a paint thickness meter, you would be surprised at how thin paint can be in some locations which will limit how much you can correct your paint before you wear through it.

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I believe most detailers will recommend that you clay bar the car after washing but before polish or wax because the contaminants in the paint that you remove with the clay bar will be rubbed deeper into the paint if you polish wax and seal them before removing them with the clay bar

I prefer these helpers. I don't care what products they use......

Oh my!!!!

Meh most of the time DIY spray car wash. Occasionally sponge with two buckets and maybe claybar and whatever wax I have sitting around. I bought it to drive it, not to spend 5 hours out of my weekend rubbing it with who knows what. Swirlies come from people running their cars through a regular car wash; take that out of the equation and you're 99% there.

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I find swirls can come from many sources such as drying the car with a chamois is there is a little dirt in the chamois or on the car and you rub it in then you will get swirls on a black car water spots are also problems, brushing snow off a car, washing with dirty water etc. Don't get me wrong, I will use the pressure washer at work to rinse off, but about once a month I will take the time to properly wash my my car. Clay Bar is only twice a year, once in spring after the gravel is off the roads and once to help with paint protection before the snow falls

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Call me old fashioned, but a damp, clean, real chamois leather pad� unfolded and spread flat, then dragged across the surface by two adjacent corners will remove 95% of the water droplets and prevent spotting� Wring the chamois out when soaked and keep going. I start with the windows to get it evenly wet. Rinse the chamois out when done and hang it in the shade to dry and it will give you years of excellent service (i.e. don�t roll it up wet, it will rot and develop that special 3-days locked in the washing machine aroma).

Holy 10 year thread bumpage. Technology has really changed over this time period. you sir are old fashioned. Done use a chamois please. Korean loop drying towel is the best bet. For me, one phone call to AAPP and done. All American Paint Protection in Rockville Md f

Chamois? Yikes! That's what I used back in the 80s when I didn't know any better! Yes, Korean microfiber drying towel or an electric air drying tool (NOT a leaf blower!). My go-to is to spray the clean car when still wet with Adams Polishes H2O Guard and Gloss, then wipe with a double soft microfiber towel soaked in hot water. Dries the paint off without any streaks or spots and provides protection until the next wash! Disregard the headlight covers, old picture, they are gone!

Thanks for the wake up call! I might have to try some of this new fangled detailing dognology. I just watched a twisted microfiber demo online - pretty impressive. Not sure how the microfiber will look, tailored into a pair of lederhosen for car wash day though... the neighbors may prefer my traditional canary yellow chamois leather number - hard to beat real leather!!! And noted re the decadal bump - I will read the fine print more closely next time.

Chamois shaming...HAHA I would not do this today but I used a P21S synthetic drying chamois for years with great results...as long as I did my part and removed all traces of dirt during the wash, it did not mar the paint. Of course, I think this synthetic chamois was easier on the paint than a real genuine chamois.

I actually use the griots top cleaner in a Bissel little green machine. Followed up by their fabric top sealer. Does nice job on carpet and mats as well.