[D_o_S]

Hi guys,

I last detailed my car before winter... that was my first detail...

I would like to do the whole thing again, I will be using:

Meg's Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner
Sonus Clay
Megs QD
Poorboys EX w Carnauba
Sonax Extreme Wax or Poorboys Nattys White

My question is... do I need to strip the Nattys in any way before I use the Sonax? Can I use one over the other (say one layer of Sonax and a layer of PB ontop)?

If I don't have to strip the wax in any way, can I use another layer of sealant ontop?

Also, how do I go about using the paint cleaner and clay? Do I first clean the paint with paint cleaner and then clay, or vice versa?

Thanks.

[UncleWede]

I'm not familiar with the products you mentioned, but:

wash
clay
polish
alcohol wipe
seal
wax (if you want)

wash/clay/alcohol should remove waxes so that the sealant can adhere to the clear coat. You always want the sealant on the paint, then if you are going to top with a wax do it after the sealant has bonded.

[fisherbln]

If you last waxed your car before winter, there is likely no wax left on the paint at this point. Both the paint cleaner and the clay will remove any wax if there is any.

[jopa489]

You should be good to go with that Megs stuff for removing any old wax. Does water bead on your car right now? That's the sure-fire way to tell how your coat of protection is doing - if water's not beading, there's no protection on there.

[racersky]

Hose the hood down and see if it beads and if it does that means you still have protection. Now if it doesn't the water will start sheeting

[pander5]

I'll throw in with the others. 1.) there probably isn't much wax left and 2.) the clay will remove whatever's left.

I wouldn't worry about trying to remove any previous wax and adding a step that isn't necessary.

Enjoy the results when you're done!

[D_o_S]

Yes, the water is still beading, and quite well actually I will let the clay and cleaner take care of it...

[pander5]

What wax/sealant is it that's lasting this long? Sounds pretty good to me.

[racersky]

Originally Posted by pander5

What wax/sealant is it that's lasting this long? Sounds pretty good to me.

I think the question we should be asking now is what car shampoo is he using? Some car shampoo has stuff in to enchance the gloss, or even add some type of protection.

[Envious Eric]

beading isnt the only way to tell if protection is on, and it doesnt prove there is any.

I have done the tests time and time again. I have taken the nozzle off the hose and created an arch to make it HIT the hood, I've let it SHEET and RUN the water off, and I've used the hose fun with a light spray....

when letting it HIT, there was both sheeting and beading
when doing the sheeting, there was only sheeting and almost no beading
when using the light spray, beading was unbelieveable

some sealant have a sheeting characteristic while others bead. almost all carnubas bead from my experience.

if you can throw a towel on a freshly washed car and it slides across to the other side, there is a layer of protection on the paint, if it stops, there is none. Again, there are too many variables as there could be embedded junk in the towel, or the towel has a lot of nap to it causing it to stop on the paint....

I would just get into a routine to wash, clay, polish, seal 3 times a year...ALWAYS DRIVE A CLEAN CAR

[racersky]

Originally Posted by Envious Eric

beading isnt the only way to tell if protection is on, and it doesnt prove there is any.

I have done the tests time and time again. I have taken the nozzle off the hose and created an arch to make it HIT the hood, I've let it SHEET and RUN the water off, and I've used the hose fun with a light spray....

when letting it HIT, there was both sheeting and beading
when doing the sheeting, there was only sheeting and almost no beading
when using the light spray, beading was unbelieveable

some sealant have a sheeting characteristic while others bead. almost all carnubas bead from my experience.

if you can throw a towel on a freshly washed car and it slides across to the other side, there is a layer of protection on the paint, if it stops, there is none. Again, there are too many variables as there could be embedded junk in the towel, or the towel has a lot of nap to it causing it to stop on the paint....

I would just get into a routine to wash, clay, polish, seal 3 times a year...ALWAYS DRIVE A CLEAN CAR

If you clay a car a fresh towel will slide across the surface of a car. Sliding a towel across the hood on a car to see if there's protection I would not call that a way to see if there is any. I understand there can be stuff on the towel that would stop it from sliding across but there is also a factor where the paint has contaminants on it but still has protection.

[UncleWede]

Eric, after the towel slides across the hood and lands on the ground, do you pick it up and finish wiping the trunk?

[D_o_S]

I was using PB EX and Natty's White (applied a liberal amount, had some difficulties getting it off). I don't wash my car often (once a month, maybe, due to time reasons), I am using Meg's Gold Class Shampoo (not too much of it at once), and Meg's QD. The car was not driven during winter.

On a side note, I tried the Sonax Xtreme wax on my dad's car today. It was 1000x easier to get off and on than the Nattys, and I could do the whole trunk with just a little dab, wheras the PB took two...

I will be determining properties over the next weeks... At first appearance, both seem to be beading about the same, but sheeting seems to be better on the Nattys.

[D_o_S]

Guys, has anyone tried letting sealant cure for 1 day, and during the day hosing it down with QD? Not wiping down, just spraying the car with the sealant on it, then leaving it to dry... it has been recommended to me by some local folks, not sure what to think of it?

TIA.

[Envious Eric]

no, thats pretty pointless. the point to a qd is to lightly clean and add slickness. get some blackfire wet diamond and "problem" solved

[D_o_S]

Guys, I sort of have a problem... I just checked my dad's car, and I can tell the Sonax Xtreme is noticeably better in terms of water spots and dirt than the Nattys... what do I do?