Which wax/paint protection products

[Raj]

I didnt find any suitable place for this topic as all other rooms were about serious mechanical things so posting this here.
I always used Meguiars quick detailing, quick wax for in between top ups, Autoglym products for claying, polishing, bumpers, plastics, leather seats, alloywheels and glass.

My favourite was Colinite 476s for wax. The old method of using autoglym products for all individual parts as needed and finishing with colinite is very labour intensive job and started getting severe shoulder pain while buffing so stopped it.

For Land Cruiser, I cant think of doing the old way as its surface area is too large. I thought of trying new products like ceramic coating for paint, Gtechniq leather coating and carpet protection etc. Found this Meguairs hybrid ceramic wax. As per videos it appeared to be very easy to use and effective so tried on Accord as LC is gone for repair.

I used three coats of this new ceramic hybrid wax but was not impressed with its water beading so finally applied all time favourite colinite on top. I felt colinite is the winner.

short video of water behaviour. Will try on LC once its back.

Which is your favourite wax for paint. how hard is it to apply and buff. What other products you are all using for plastics, leather, carpet dash.

 

[Towpack]

I'm more than happy with TurtleWax Colour Magic. The "problem" I've found with Autoglym and many other polishes is they dry white. On a light coloured vehicle or one with perfect paintwork it's no problem but on old dark coloured paint with stonechips it just makes them stand out. Not an issue with the correct Colour Magic stuff. I've also started using Meguires Ceramic Detailer which adds a "SI02 Hybrid Ceramic Layer". Well maybe but it's certainly adds to the shine, beads water just like the vid and is dead easy to apply.

Maguires Ulitimate Leather Balm for the seats.
External black plastic trim gets Autoglym rubber/plastic restorer or some stuff called Blink which is just as good and can be used inside the car but not on steering wheel or pedals etc.

 

[Raj]

Yes I agree with the polish problem, I did end up with bad polishing many times. I used to apply polish again on white dried up patches and buff off immediately. Finally got a machine polisher but that was even worse, it took off paint from accord and had few scratches as well. Old way of using hands felt safe.

With the Sio2 hybrid ceramic wax I expected lot more. Will try on another car and test. I am trying to standardise the process and products on other cars before touching LC.

 

[Gary820]

My kind of topic
So the landcruiser which gets its fair share of use, has scratches on every panel but gets a good clean.
I use a lot of products from a company called car chem and valeting products.
Their cutting compounds, polishes, ceramic waxes and various quick detailer.

This is finished with a ceramic based wax

Can see a scratch that runs below the handle, it starts at the headlight and ends at the taillight!
Not a bad reflection

Water beading is really good and it gives a shine to the old girl.
It does have a lot of swirls but pointless doing a full paint correction as first laning trip will undo it.

Now the beemer,
This is ceramic coated, gets a regular wash and can be done contactless, snow foam and rinse = done. Comes in handy in winter for a quick wash.
Even though it has a ceramic coat I use a ceramic based detailer as it really enhances it. Water beading is excellent, can use a hose pipe to literally dry the bonnet! Water sheets off.

The wheels are ceramic waxed, they get changed for winter wheels, so while off they get fully cleaned up and re waxed.
Makes them easy to clean, bmw brakes are quite dusty.

Interior is a mix of products from the companies mentioned above plus leather care company.
Leather in both gets deep cleaned and have leather balm to keep it nice and supple/protected

Carpets protected with products as above.

I use ceramic detailer on the external glass which works like rainx but lasts longer.

I like a clean car

 

[Raj]

external

Wow that’s a professional level detailing. I will read your post again few times n see pics on laptop.

 

[Juddian]

I've tried highly recommended waxes and the like in the past, but these days i've gone back to simple Turtle Wax liquid polish, i can do the whole car in about half an hour in any weather so long as its dry, so no great shakes to give them both a going over when the mood takes me.
Some of the other waxes are no boubt better, but its such a ball ache that i find myself putting the job off.
Yes to colour magic too, easy to use and if the paint's getting on a bit with myriad light scratches it covers quite well.

Gary, above, takes things to a whole other level and the results are fantastic.

Maybe my thing is underneath keeping the tin worm at bay.

 

[GeekOKent]

Was waiting to see how long before @Gary820 shows up and makes the rest of us look like time wasters.

 

[chadr]

I don't even bother to wash my 90 because of Gary!

 

[Raj]

Whole car in 30 mins is really great. I used to spend 1 week per car twice a year, doing panel by panel. Now I do in 4-5 hours. M trying to improve n finish in 1 or two hours.

 

[Raj]

M gathering courage to detail LC.

 

[Raj]

Thinking of amount of work in detailing this big car, I thought of vinyl wrap but that seems to be out of my budget

 

[Gary820]

Well as it's raining currently I took a pic through the window, that's the water beading I get in rain.

It's a lot of work detailing them especially the bigger it is, worth it though imo. When it's done all you have to do is maintain it.
Even when the 80 gets dirty it's easy to clean.

 

[Towpack]

That's what I get with the McGuires stuff. You can easily blow the car dry with a bike/pet/dryer or just leave it to roll off when the vehicle is moved.

 

[Raj]

done

That beeding looks like a charecteristic feature of ceramic. It’s evenly spread pearls on top of bonnet close to wipers and the beads taper down with more clear surface towards bottom end. I had colinite wax on top of ceramic so my beads looked different

 

[Gary820]

Do like Maguires products, one reason I went with the companies I use is cost. Brilliant quality stuff and cheaper as buy bulk, it's made in house too.

 

[Raj]

You

I am testing all the megs stuff on accord n will use the finalists on LC

 

[Raj]

I agree. I looked at car chem products. They have all the product range that Megs has. I ll try turtle wax ceramic polish Juddian mentioned as well. Next expt on Lexus. Wash, clay using chemical guys clay mitt, polish with turtle wax ceramic polish, wax with colinite 476s, apply autoglym or car Chem ceramic spray and top up with megs hybrid ceramic wax. It ll take a week to complete. If it’s good will do to LC once it’s back

 

[Raj]

I have this problem of trust with car washing. I cant do it due to shoulder pain etc but I cant trust any other cleaners so I somehow gather courage and do it on my own or never clean it at all. Does any one have this problem.

Luckily I dont know anything about mechanical stuff so I happily give it to any garage

 

[Raj]

Towpack, +1 for autoglym plastic and bumper restorer. I tried olive oil trick for interior plastics. it worked well. Gary, now I found time to switch on laptop n looked at your black LC. its amazing.

 

[frank rabbets]

Scratches. If your car has a laquered finish you might be able to polish it out. First lick your finger and dab it on part of the scratch. If the scratch momentarily disappears it means the scratch has not gone through to the colour coat. In this case you can polish out with brasso or similar.
When I used to spray cars I used to rub the finish coat down with 1000 grade paper and then brasso the whole car to a mirror finish. Days before lacquer coat. I used to buy brasso in gallon cans. Now at 74 yo I wake up in agony if I lie on my right shoulder. I need another nerve block injection I think.