First Time Detailing Help Please

Damo - S3

Damo - S3

Registered User
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
67
Reaction score
2
Points
8
Location
Preston, Lancs
Hi, any help / advice would be much appreciated :)

i have a couple of questions, im pretty new at detailing, and more than likely gone for noob products lol but in fairness i've been short of cash and already have some products from the past i've never used so want to use them up first.

the products i have for the time being:

waterless wash and wax (i use between proper washes and im not including for the detailing process im looking to do)

AutoGlym - shampoo, clay + lube/detail spray, glass polish, resin polish, sealant

(I have two of them bags you get when you buy the car from audi, hense all the stuff in them lol)

Valet Pro - Achilles prep, House Wax (aka Banana Wax)

Smartwax - RimWax

Sprays include demon shine and Naviwax Liquid detailing wax (I love this stuff i think its amazing, bought it as a test and love it!)

This is the stuff i have that i can think of from the top of my head. Some of the stuff im just testing like the valetpro stuff, my goal is to get the full kit recommended in other links.

whats the best way then to get the best results from these products? am i right in thinking pre-rinse, wash, rinse, leather dry, clay, archilles prep, sealant, polish, wax, then put the detail quick spray wax ontop because i love it lol? leaving around around an hour to polish after sealant? simply as it says on the label wait an hour before polishing i think.

im looking to do this tomorrow, and i have washed it around tea time tonight and haven't been out in it since the wash just to make it easier tomoz.

many thanks
 
Hi mate

You want the polish on before the sealant as the polish will strip the sealant if you do it the other way round, when you say sealant what is it extra gloss protection if its autoglym?If it is i wouldnt wax on top of it no need to.super resin polish is a good underated polish in my eyes if you can stretch to it buy some autoglym HD wax and put on top of SRP you cant go wrong with it,but dont buy from halfrauds have a look online its much cheaper,if you have no cash then SRP EGP combo is a good way to go.With regard to the waterless wash be careful with this dont use if your car is to dirty as it may scratch i personally wouldnt use any products like that for afraid to swirl/scratch paintwork.

Hope is helps

Andy
 
cheers guys, im slowly piecing everything together. i did do the detail and wrote a review with pics on another thread. i really want a DA polisher as i still have some light swirl marks i need to get rid off lol. just stuck for choice and which one/kit/polishers/pads to buy lol.

damo
 
The choice is massive isnt it! I felt the same, but just follow pb guides...they know what theyre on about.And good luck.If you do get an orbital, try it out on the wifes car first.
 
yeah i will do thanks fella. im swinging more to DA6 is it? its on Juicy Jens's site and another one too. looks good and has great reviews for noobs like me :p haha wife's car im only 21 ;p
 
do your neighbours then!!!! On a serious note though, get a doorskin from the scrappy.You can phuk about on it till your hearts content before you touch the pride and joy.Im a clumsy **** and its what i will do when i get mine
 
  • Like
Reactions: plezz
id rather use a 50cal machine gun on my neighbours car matey! but we'll leave that one for the rant and raves thread lol. yeah i was thinking about doing that think i will do tbh :)
 
I've had a DA for just short of a month now. I'm liking it and it's not as scarey as people seem to make out, at least not on the Audi, as long as you have common sense. I've used Dodo Juice Lime Prime and Meguiars #205 polish with it so far. This has given a nice finish on the panels I've had time to do but hasn't touched a light scratch on one of my doors. So Audi paint is indeed as rock hard as they say. Hopefully that gives you some confidence. :)
 
cheers scotty. think im going to get one of the kits from Juicy's site, the DA does sound really appealing. Can you use it for just polishing too without the paint correction? Sounds dumb i know but from the gist of things i've heard many people talk about DA's for paint correction but not many seem to talk about it as just a polisher lol. Reason im asking is because if i buy it i don't really want to be spending for example, £150 on a DA kit for the sake of using it twice a year if im only using it on my S3. I'll try to get some business use out of it when i get better at paint corrections and detailing. i've seen the main video's and instructions from the likes of meguir's and i must say i do want one just unsure if the want, qualifies the needs lol

damo
 
Can you use it for just polishing too without the paint correction?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I'm using mine for just improving the finish of the paint which is why I didn't buy a kit. I'm not looking to correct the paint. I bought a DAS6, one Hexlogic White pad and the Dodo Juice Lime Prime. This has given me a great introduction to the process.

The Lime Prime is a pre-wax cleaner with very mild abrasives. As such it is not for correcting the paint.

Dodo Juice Lime Prime Pre-wax Cleanser - prep and pre-wax. fresh from the dodo.

I don't have a garage or any spotlights so correcting the paint would be difficult for me anyway as I'd find it difficult to measure my progress. So I'm happy to get a good finish with the DA and put some wax on top. The Meguiars #205 I bought as a bit of an experiment to see if I could get one particular scratch out which I didn't manage. It might be still be possible if I buy a more aggressive pad for the DA.

So as you can see I'm still learning but I think it's worth it. Also worth noting is that I am doing one panel at a time on my car as I'm pushed for time (young kids). Don't be afraid of doing it this way as I'm sure if you are reading a lot you'll be finding that most people seem to do a marathon day or weekend polishing the car with the DA. I simply don't have the time for this so am doing it a bit at a time.
 
thanks for the info. I don't have a garage or spot lights or anything either lol :( i'll defo look into that thanks scotty, i do have a couple of pre wax cleansers such as AG Super Reslin Polish & Valet Pro Achilles Prep. I'd recommend both of them to you especially the Valet Pro simply for the price. Its really good stuff. I bought that & Valet Pro house wax (aka banana wax) in a little bundle together from I4DETAILING - UK based online detailing & car care superstore i think it was around £13 for both, both are 500ml bottles but do last. I used a lot less of the prep than i did of the AG polish for example.

With regards to time, im only a student so at weekends i do have a lot of time if im not doing uni work or have valet bookings, but i will try out the panel by panel method.

Thanks again. Damo
 
I offered Scott the option of VP Achillies Prep but we decided to go for the Lime Prime but both these are great to do an enhancement.

The DA can be also used to apply glazes, sealants and liquid waxes so it has many used beside just correcting as long as you have the right pads to go with the products :)
 
When you carry out the paint correction you are effectively polishing out defects. You could, although defintitely not advised(!!), go in with the harshest polish and the most aggressive pad you can find and remove the swirls and some of the scratches (some may be too deep) but you would probably be removing far more paint than you need to. Annoying as it is with a new gadget, taking it slowly is the best option. You only have a certain amount of paint to play with, there may be a repair, someone may have polished out a scratch before leaving thin paint in an area, plenty of reasons to take things slowly and as mentioned above try and get a scrap panel, ideally the same make and colour of your car to practice on. The art is to get the best finish without compromising the paint which means knowing when to stop, which isn't easy!

As for using a DA only once or twice a year, well you probably wont use it every time but as well as polishing they are very good at applying glazes and filler heavy product like Autoglym SRP, they break the fillers down much easier and quicker than by hand. I had an original UDM for my first machine which burnt out the motor bushes eventually but as I had done all the machine polishing I needed to do I wasn't overly bothered about buying another. A few months later I bought another lol, they just make things so much easier and I'd now struggle without one! Would also recommend using a soft pad and a glaze the first few times on your car too, not aggresive and will get you used to using the machine on horizontal and vertical panels
 
Thanks PadTwo, i think i will get a DA and use the polish's and wax / sealants i already have before i go onto anything else. I'll be taking it easy thats for sure but with that being said im confident i won't botch things up... i hope lol.
 
Just a quick update, i bought a DA with the Meguirs Microfibre 5"pads and the polish that came with them. i used the pads with Valet Pro Achillies Prep & House Wax on my mums '08 Volvo, (Darkish Metalic Silver, sort of gun metal grey looking). she had many swirl marks scratches etc etc, and i used the above on speeds 2-4, and i must say what an outstanding job. really impressed. all the swirl marks have gone, most scratches have gone apart from a small amount but aren't that noticeable. I didn't bother taking before and after pics because if im honest i wasn't expecting great results being my first time and all, but im chuffed with the result & now i want to use it again! i think i'll use it on the S3 in a few weeks once the wax has worn off a bit because its too nice to get rid of now lol.
 
will do thanks, just wanted to test it and use it before i moved onto something else as im a bit skint with birthdays and what not atm :(

whats the best way to keep the pad clean?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Jon Roach
Detailing, first time visit
Replies
16
Views
2K
Jon Roach
Jon Roach
cam87
detailing help please :(
Replies
14
Views
1K
steeve
steeve
J
First Time Cleaning on S3 - Detailing in Bristol
Replies
4
Views
1K
N8
N8
H
plz give me some advice, first time detailing my car
Replies
5
Views
965
hayhayc86
H
stuart scott
first time
Replies
2
Views
859
John @ PB
John @ PB
Top
Back