Detailers Unite

[Rich 65]

I am a "little older" with 2 kids active in school and extra curricular activities, a house with a yard, a dog and a working spouse so yes time is at a very big premium.

 

[IronMan0737]

Various types of sealants are great to apply once in Spring and Fall, and this is of course after you remove contaminants using your method of choice. Instant detailer with soft disposable towels and light strokes does this job for me. Kneading and fumbling with a tiny clay bar is maddening and time consuming.

To people who like to wash and polish every couple of weeks, more power to ya. But sorry, I'm not one of ya.

And a few people have dissed front mudguards on CX-5s. Well I don't have mine on yet, and even hitting small puddles I have mud on my SIDE MIRRORS. That's a no-no! So yeah, unless you're in a flat place with fair weather and good roads, you kinda need mudguards.

 

[mentalcase]

I'm one of the guys who enjoys to wash an polish at least twice a month. When back in 07 when I was in college with much more free time, i'd wax once a week. I guess I had a problem.

My plan was to wash, correct, and apply opticoat in another week or so but I just noticed my first scratch on my passenger side door so I need to put that off. It's going to require some touchup work. I'm bummed to say the least.

 

[SayNoToPistons]

Polish twice a month????????

 

[Surfsup]

Well if you don't want to opticoat right away and get the scratch fixed (depending on the depth it can be polished/buffed out...?) you can put on some fleetwax. Its one of the longest lasting straight up waxes made and not too difficult to put on. Light, very light coats and you're fine to buff off...

I just put it on my soul red. Looks awesome. I expect it to last through the end of summer (one coat). Collinite Fleetwax. It's $15 at a marine store. Pick up a bottle of Amazing roll-off. Diluted 1:1 it is great for wheels. Straight up on the wheel well mud and dirt just melts away. Great product.

 

[mentalcase]

I may look into fleetwax. How's the shine?

I realized today after a detail that I really enjoy waxing and washing my car too much for Opticoat lol.

 

[MazdaDriverNJ]

That time of the year is almost upon us, well here in NJ we are still being subjected to freezing temps, but I'm talking about spring detailing!!!

This week finally it warmed up in NJ too
Cleaned out everything; vacuum and interior seat/dash cleaning, finally switched the mats from original all-weather to WeatherTech (front only, back seat had WeatherTech already), installed side window deflectors (again, finally - holiday gift was sitting in the garage since December!). So happy to have the car look nice and clean again after this dirty winter

 

[TURBOJ1]

Yup - can't wait either. I am more of a traditional wax on wax off kind of guy so no orbital for me. I was a big Sonax fan when I had my Saab but now I am going to try the Mother's Reflexion line. For the first wash of the spring I go to the local car wash so the underbody gets a good rinse. I do a very basic with no wax or anything. I get home and then do all the plastic trim. Then I give her a coat of polish then finish with a wax. If I feel good I will rotate my wheels and while they are off, detail them. I like to use a glaze and then a wax on the rims. When I do this, I rarely need to use a wheel cleaner, just a cheap car soap. I read somewhere that you should treat your rims like you would treat the car's paint - so no cheap acid based wheel cleaner for me. I am usually too tired or too excited to drive the car to get to the interior so I leave it for the next weekend. For leather I use Lexol and for vinyl/plastic I use Vinylex. Can't wait to see my Jet Black Mica really shine (I got it in Nov )Good clean N.J. fun!

There is NO COMPARISON!!.....try orbital and you will never go back, as in it makes an obvious difference

 

[mentalcase]

This week finally it warmed up in NJ too
Cleaned out everything; vacuum and interior seat/dash cleaning, finally switched the mats from original all-weather to WeatherTech (front only, back seat had WeatherTech already), installed side window deflectors (again, finally - holiday gift was sitting in the garage since December!). So happy to have the car look nice and clean again after this dirty winter

It definitely was a gorgeous weekend in NJ. I spent it installing a new headunit and detailing.

Where in Central NJ are you from?

 

[Gio26NJ]

I think we all cleaned up this weekend same here took out the Dyson to vacuum up every little piece of stone and dirt lingering around the all weather mats. Washed down the mats with soap and my wheel brush. Finished off with a nice coating of 303 Aerospace Protectant on the whole interior and the plastic trim on the outside. Lookin fresh to death until tomorrow's thunderstorm.

 

[Surfsup]

I may look into fleetwax. How's the shine?.

Pretty good but not as glossy as 845. You can top it with 845 though, which is a breeze to put on/off. fleetwax is 476 in a bigger can. It is known for it's durability. You might not want it as it lasts 5-7 months!

 

[mentalcase]

Pretty good but not as glossy as 845. You can top it with 845 though, which is a breeze to put on/off. fleetwax is 476 in a bigger can. It is known for it's durability. You might not want it as it lasts 5-7 months!

If I can wax on top of it to increase the shine I'm good to go. Woke up this morning to a wonderful yellow film of pollen. Gotta love spring.

 

[mentalcase]

I think we all cleaned up this weekend same here took out the Dyson to vacuum up every little piece of stone and dirt lingering around the all weather mats. Washed down the mats with soap and my wheel brush. Finished off with a nice coating of 303 Aerospace Protectant on the whole interior and the plastic trim on the outside. Lookin fresh to death until tomorrow's thunderstorm.

Good to see some NJ people on here.

 

[Rich 65]

" Collinite Fleetwax. It's $15 at a marine store. "
I'm curious - with all the great car products out there why would you go for a marine product?

 

[Felt_Rider]

I'm not sure what sort of sickness has come over me, but since spending time on the CX5 last fall I have a desire to dig a little deeper in the detailing world. What sucks is that I am time crunched between work and training so it's not as if I have a moment of time sitting around bored looking for something to do.

I ordered a Porter Cable polisher yesterday, a 5" backing plate, some various pads and a few other detailing items to go along with the other items I bought last year. I am looking forward to the spring cleanup on the CX5, but the learning experience with all these items is going to happen on my wife's 07 Mazda 3. I have lots to learn and that will be a good car to experiment before I give it a try on the CX5. More reading to do on the detailing sites.

I really like using a clay bar after using one for the first time last fall, but I am looking for a good non-abrasive polishing compound to use with the polisher on the Mazda 3. Any suggestions or preferences?

 

[Surfsup]

" Collinite Fleetwax. It's $15 at a marine store. "
I'm curious - with all the great car products out there why would you go for a marine product?

Do a search at autopia or autogeekonline and you'll see collinite is very popular for cars. Durability, looks, better than lots of car products out there and costs less. What's not to like?

 

[Surfsup]

I really like using a clay bar after using one for the first time last fall, but I am looking for a good non-abrasive polishing compound to use with the polisher on the Mazda 3. Any suggestions or preferences?

Non-abrasive? All polishes have abrasives...

 

[Felt_Rider]

Non-abrasive? All polishes have abrasives...

Thinking about something like this product for the CX5

"Detailer’s Coating Prep Polish is a non-abrasive chemical polish that deep cleans automotive paint, ridding it of below-surface contaminants that will prevent a coating, paint sealant or wax from properly bonding."

http://www.autogeek.net/coating-prep-polish.html

However, my wife's car could probably use something more aggressive.

 

[Surfsup]

I don't think that is a "polish" in the sense of a polish. That seems more like CarPro Eraser or Griots Paint Prep.

Shot of the CX5 Soul Red looking like a liquid Jolly Rancher...That's one layer of Collinite Fleetwax from a couple weeks ago, washed and dried yesterday with Prima Hydro. Ah yea...

 

[IronMan0737]

Went to Advance today - they were having a sale.

Got Turtle Wax Ice spray wax today for $10

And these were only 4.50 apiece:
-A2Z wheel & tire
-Armor-All interior detailer in lemon scent
-Mother's Showroom detailer spray
-Rain-X 2-in-1 aerosol

Two packs of shop towels for $5.

They threw in a free 5 gallon bucket.

Doing my girlfriend's '13 Civic today and then my CX-5 later in the week.