Thought it would be nice to have a thread about tips, products and advice for us that keep the cars highly detailed.

I'll start by listing a few of my favorite products:

Maguiar's Quick Detailer Spray

Mothers Chrome polish

Maguiar's car wash (gold stuff)



What is everyone else using

Ferg

Lake Grove Detail shop. My favorite product. Just take your car in and drop off, it works like magic. You come back a few hours later and the car is all clean and shiny.
CCLINCW

I need more tips on finishing products - not FLAPS junk! Espcecially interested in UV protection for summer. Thanks for starting this thread

I can add one marvelous suggestion, been working gud for me, but it is geared towards those going from grime-->shine. What works really well for cleaning of wheels, chrome, and other metal bits before polish is my bio-degradeable orange hand cleaner. It is lightly abrasive, so I don't use it on painted surfaces, but for chrome and steel it cuts through 20 years of grime and parts look great after a quick scrub.

One of the best ways to get from grime to shine is to "clay" the car. Get yourself a clay kit, Meguairs sells them, and read the insructions and you are on your way to a great looking car.
CCLINCW

What does the clay kit do to the exterior paint?

Clay Bar picks up all the super fine particles that inbed themselves in the clear coat. Sap, mineral deposits, ect... and depending on the condition of your paint, leaves as smooth as possible surface for waxing. It makes a nice difference in reflection, and that smooth touch when all done.

Ferg

I've been using Klasse for a few years now. Probably the easiest longest lasting polish I've ever seen. It leaves the car that wet look all the time. I bought the kit which comes with an acrylic sealer for an extra hard finish. Works great on boats also, extra slick finish. It seem a bit pricey, but a little goes a long way.

Klasse

What about rubber care products for the rubber trim?

I have been using Black Chrome with good results, But I think it might have silicone in it which I have heard degrades rubber. Is there a better product?

I've used Meguiars Intensive Protectant for some time now. Works well & leaves a proper finish. But, I can't find out whether or not it has silicones in it, which will stop me from using it immediately. Not so much because of rubber degredation, but because with anything coming out of a spray bottle you're eventually going to get a little overspray or rubbed product that gets on your paintwork. Silicones on paintwork are bad news if you ever need a paint fix to that area - don't ask how I know!

I will say that I've had great success w/Meguiars products through the years & I prefer to do it myself because it leaves my nails with a fine patina to go with the crud that gets under them.

Hey Ferg n All...
For Clay and application...Griots Garage.....
Turtle wax 'Zip Wax' for the wash!!!!!
Fast wax..Griots Liquid spray..Nun Bettah....
Mequiars High Tech yellow Wax is great on
Phoenix Red...Hides lotz of stuff.......
Lexol for the vinyl etc.....
Cleaner for interior..Griots...Nun Bettah!!!
BUT Griots wax for $20.00 is killah!!!

PS21 carnuba wax and cleaner. Excellent products. Other waxes that I have tried (mothers, mequires) have a certian "brownish tint" to them. They work well with most paints, but it's noticeable on a white car like mine.

Vinalex for the interior, not greesy like armoral. I just spray it on a damp cloth and wipe down the interior that way. Doesnt attract dust.

Glass Pluss great cleaner for window. I have some wurth products too that I used, a rubber preseverative etc.

PS21 wheel cleaner I would avoid... If you leave it on for more than a couple minutes your asking for problems. It can stain alloy wheels. Their Orange degreaser I would avoid as well. It leaves a film and you can "glaze" your rotors.. dont ask how i know lol

Blue magic is another good product, excellent metal polish and can be combined with the ps21 cleaner to work out tough spots on the paint.

Oxyscrub for cleaning carpets works amazingly well. My car when I got it, had all this red Texas dust in the carpets. After soaking them in the tub for about 5 minutes, they turned out looking like new.

First Concours for the NNJPCA on Saturday.. looking foward to it. Should be a fun day.

I like the Oxyscrub thing. Haven't tried but will. Been using a steam cleaner for years, but there's always slightly gray water left (I hope it isn't dye). Will try it.

Since my first days of concours I've used Simichrome for many things - works really well on bumpers so long as you give one final go-over of something like Glass Plus.

More importantly, let us know how the concours goes this weekend!

If my goldfish memory doesn't kick in, I'll take a camera and post some shots

The oxyscrub I think if left to soak too long could start to remove the die.. so I just let it foam up for a couple minutes then rinsed it off quick in the shower. I tested it on rear seat pieces 1st and was pleasantly surprised wow well it worked. I did notice some die removal from the black coca matts in the tub. But once they dried they seemed fine. I cant say for certian it was the oxy or them just being submerged in water that was the cause of that.

Was funny, stopped for a coffee this afternoon and someone pulled up next to me and started chatting about the 71 teener he bought new. Was shocked my car didnt have any rust on it. These cars always seem to draw alot of attention.

This forum is proving very helpful as I plan my attack to clean up my new-to-me nearly all original car. Keep at it!

Lotsa vendors for these kind of car care products. I'm partial to a Tacoma, Washington firm, Griot's Garage. They have a website and, once you order, they will send catalogues (which they call Handbooks) every couple of months. Their products rank up there with the finest you can buy. Their prices are reasonable and the customer service is a model for any mail order/internet company.

This thread could also feature little tricks we may have learned over the years. For example, when cleaning glass, one of the best "towels" you can use is newspaper. Not the color funnies, but just newsprint on white paper. The printers ink is just abrasive enough to yield a high gloss, streak free polish to the glass.

Two vendors I like:

Autopia
and
Autogeek

I'm using the following products:
PorterCable Polisher
Sonus Dual-Action System (DAS) foam pads
Poorboy's Medium Super Swirl Remover (SSR 2.5)
Poorboy's Light Abrasive Swirl Remover (SR1)
Klasse All-In-One Car Wax
Klasse Sealant Glaze
P21S carnauba
Sonus Acrylic Glanz
Meguiars Quick detailer.
Mequiars for interior vinyl/rubber treatment and leather treatment.
Mothers Back to Black on the exterior rubber/plastic.
Assorted micro fiber towels for drying and detailing.

For window glass, nothing beats vinegar/H2O and newspaper, especially on tinted windows.

Also, microfiber towels are simply amazing for a variety of applications.

For chrome that out shines the rest, clean with a glass cleaner - I use Windex - after polishing. It gets the surface ultra clean so that light just bounces off it. Really makes a difference.

This forum is a good fit on the site. I love all the details, colors, textures and shapes that a finely prepared car presents. While that applies equally to stock and non-stock cars. There is a real elegance to an 'as delivered' car. Unfortunately, it's not pratical to drive one of those on a regular basis. Bottom line is that the temt is big enough to hold all viewpoints. JMHO

Jeff:
I like "Vinylex" by Lexol - works great and does not leave a film.