Full exterior detailing procedure - whats important/vital?

[Mike.a.h]

So not so long ago I bought my first nice car (Audi A4 S line Final Edition 2009) and as a result its the first time I've had to really care about the paintwork of the car! (Last car was £800).

So I've decided to have my first attempt at detailing but I've become a bit baffled with the endless amounts of products available to buy so I just wanted to clarify the procedure I think I've settled on, see if it sounds fair to the more experienced group here and if anyone believes I have missed anything out.

• Renovo soft top cleaner, reviver, proofer (allow to dry)
• Rinse
• Snow Foam
• Rinse again
• Clean wheels (for the time and effort I'd probably rinse again to make sure no dirt made its way to the body)
• Clay bar with quick detailer as lube
• I have a deep key mark on the car (Not to primer) was going to wet sand that here but was unsure if it should be before the clay bar given I imagine it will produce grit
• Cutting compound (do I do this on the whole car or find really localised bad spots?)
• Polish then finishing polish (or is general polish generally fine? hard to know whats marketing and whats worth it without trying)
• Glaze
• Wax

Is it worth using ceramic over wax? If it is I assume you cant glaze before a ceramic or it wont adhere to the surface, if so will it look as good?

What products to people recommend? The Meguiars stuff and Menzerna polishes keep coming up a lot in searches. Auto Glym seems to be fairly good value for money on amazon at the moment for a reputable brand.

Thanks for any help!
Mike

 

[Adam14]

Tackle your wheels before going anywhere near the paint work as these are the dirtiest areas.
Some people like to rinse before a snow foam, others don't. Personal preference really.

I tackle the door jambs after wheels, then SF, rinse, contact wash (2 bucket). Your method doesn't actually mention a contact wash, this should be done. Snow foam won't suffice.

0 point putting a ceramic over the wax. If you wish to ceramic you really need to go to town with the decontamination stage (fall out remover, tar remover then clay bar) and then polish. You also don't mention using a tar remover or fall out remover. If you plan to polish/compound then you need to remove as much contamination as you can, otherwise the polish is not gonna do a lot as the pad will just be pulling this dirt around.

I'd also be very hesitant wet sanding your paint if you've not done it before or aren't very experienced as it is easy to go wrong and will look horrendous.

Products wise it is personal preference. Bilt hamber (most on here will agree) are extremely good products and fair value. Snow foam, fall out remover, shampoo and other products are hard to beat.

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[Mike.a.h]

Sorry I've made a few mistakes in my initial post. Forgot the wash stage entirely but I was intending on doing that.

As for ceramic I was really meaning ceramic vs wax not as a second coat.

I have seen fall out remover and tar remover but these were ones I wasn't sure were marketing or important.

As for the wet sanding; it's a pretty deep scratch and I think it's the Only way to get rid of it without a SMART repair, there's always a first time to do anything so I suppose there's only one way to find out really unless you have a better suggestion that would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Taxboy]

Adam's advice is very good. I would definitely get some tar remover as you will be using it again over time anyway.

I to would be very wary of wet sanding. You don't mention a machine polisher. If not then I definitely would not try to do this by hand.

My suggestion would be to decontaminate the car and use something like Bilt Hamber cleanser polish which has fillers in and top with a cheap and easy spray sealant e.g. Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer. This would give you a clean and shiny new car from which you can then decide if you want to take detailing it further. You might be very happy with the finish it leaves.

You need to remember when you look at pictures of fabulously detailed cars the vast majority of the finish is down to all the prep and machine polishing to remove swirls etc. The wax / sealant is there to protect and lock in the finish.

Good luck and enjoy your new car

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[spartacus 68]

I'd stay well away from wet sanding. At some point you'd need to polish that out and it's impossible getting a professional finish doing it by hand. My wife had a Cobalt Blue A2 with light scratches, and that's a difficult colour to work with.

With car washed, clayed, and tar spots removed. I use a damp microfibre cloth with a small amount of petrol to rub over panels. Use nitrile gloves. It's very effective and you'll see the contaminants lift. Once the whole car is done, you can use a mild detergent contact to wash and rinse again.

Polish, I've used a few but for effective swirl mark removal I've settled on Menzerna 203S which will give a 4/10 cut. Use with an orbital machine, foam cutting pad, damp of course. Work in a shaded area, keep the machine setting at slow to medium speed until your confidence increases and watch panel edges. It's easy to burn paint because the compound dries out or you overwork an area increasing heat. Be methodical, take your time and work in horizontal sweeps, concentrating on a single single at a time.

With the panel complete, I use another damp microfibre cloth with methylated spirit to wipe down to remove any remaining polish and to degrease. Apply wax of your choice. Collinite 476 with a damp microfibre pad goes on a treat. Leave for 5-10 minutes and remove with dry microfibre to leave haze free pristine panel.

Step back and admire your work.

Meguiars glass polish is excellent. Apply with clean damp microfibre cloth. Remove with dry cloth. Windscreen wipers, run a little methylated spirit on clean damp microfibre over blades to remove contaminants. Rain-X on glass will give short term effect but is pleasing.

Tyres, again Meguiars tyre dressing applied with a paintbrush gives a professional finish and is quite long lasting. Smells great too.