What products do you use to detail your car?

Joeychgo

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What do you you use to wash and wax your car?

What about the interior?
 
I use mostly stuff from Mequiars.
Exterior:
Mequiars NXT car wash
Mequiars NXT Hi Tech wax
Mequiars NXT booster wax
Mequiars Last Touch detail spray
Mequiars Hot Shine tire spray or Endurance.

Interior:
Mequiars APC cleaner
Mequiars leather cleaner and conditioner
Aerospace 303 protectant for vinyl and plastic.
 
I havn't tried any of the NXT exterior products yet but I will say I'm very impressed with the NXT interior stuff..
 
I use Zaino Bro's products. It's the stuff show car user's use. I used it on my 98 Vette for 5 years and the car looked new. The dealer wanted to know what I used, but I would'nt tell him. It holds up real well in the elements and it so easy to use, it's like cheating. On a new car use a base coat one time, then just spray on a wet coat and buff off. You can see the car shine improve as you do it. It looks wet when your done. It comes off so easy, put it on and buff it off, no waiting. I'm sold on the stuff. On a older car You have to use an "a" and "b" first.. I'm usiing it on my CTS and it improves the shine and none of those tiny little scratches you see in the direct sun that you get with other waxes. I've tried them all guys..

tedevans
04 CTS
 
Mothers.com

I use mostly stuff from Mothers.
Exterior:
Mothers CALIFORNIA GOLD® CAR WASH
Mothers CALIFORNIA GOLD® SCRATCH REMOVER
Mothers CALIFORNIA GOLD® PRE-WAX CLEANER – PHASE 1
Mothers CALIFORNIA GOLD® SEALER AND GLAZE – PHASE 2
Mothers CALIFORNIA GOLD® NATURAL FORMULA PURE CARNAUBA WAX – PHASE 3
Mothers CALIFORNIA GOLD® SHOWTIME® INSTANT DETAILER
Mothers TIRE & RUBBER CLEANER
Mothers WHEEL MIST® WHEEL CLEANER
Mothers MAG & ALUMINUM POLISH
Mothers BACK-TO-BLACK®

Interior:
Mothers LEATHER CLEANER
Mothers LEATHER CONDITIONER
Mothers PLASTIC POLISH
Mothers PRESERVES PROTECTANT
 
Last edited:
Almost forgot to post a picture!

oldschool1016.jpg
Picture whore extraordinary!
 
I have to agree with OldSchool... if I run out of Mother's, I always have Meguiar's as a backup. I have found though, over the last two washings of the TC, that the Dupont Wheel Cleaner with Teflon is a great product. Does a real number on brake dust with LITTLE scrubbing. The teflon coats the wheels and the brake dust build-up is 80% less than it used to be.

 
Wash: Mr. Clean AutoDry Car Wash
Wax: Mequiars NXT Wax
Quick Detail: Meguiars Quick Detail (for shows after car is cleaned and waxed)
Windows: Invisible Glass by Stoner Products
Tires: Meguiars Endurance High Gloss
Wheels:
1a) Clean: A 2 Z Wheel Cleaner (just make sure that the wheels are NOT hot)
1b) Clean: Windex Glass Cleaner (if they are not that dirty)
2) Polish: Mothers Billet Metal Polish (billet/aluminum wheels)
3) Wax: What ever product I am using at the time for the car
Dash: Black Magic Dashboard Protectant (low gloss)
Leather Seats: Zymol (protectant/cleaner and conditioner)
Carpet: Lifter One Spot Remover/vacuum
Paint Cleaner:
1) Meguiars Quick Clay Detailing System
2) Meguiars Scratch X
Clear Plastic: Novus Plastic Polish Kit (Level 1, 2 & 3 Removes heavy & fine scratches, and polishes up dull clear plastic)
Black Trim: Mothers Back to Black
Bug & Tar Remover: Turtle Wax/Prestone Bug & Tar Remover
Engine Cleaner: Simple Green Automotive Cleaner/Degreaser
Underhood Polishing: Black Magic Tire Dressing

Once my car is repainted, I will be lookin into the Zaino Bro's system.......more on that later.
 
HizHonor said:
I have to agree with OldSchool... if I run out of Mother's, I always have Meguiar's as a backup. I have found though, over the last two washings of the TC, that the Dupont Wheel Cleaner with Teflon is a great product. Does a real number on brake dust with LITTLE scrubbing. The teflon coats the wheels and the brake dust build-up is 80% less than it used to be.

Your car is a 90's car so you have the cast instead of the turbines. Do they also have clear coat?

It sounds like DuPont is more of a SEALER than a cleaner.
 
They are clearcoated... remember I had that discoloration problem a few weeks back? The Dupont is definitely a cleaner AND sealer. I'm pleased with the results and you know how picky I can be! :p

OldSchool1 said:
Your car is a 90's car so you have the cast instead of the turbines. Do they also have clear coat?

It sounds like DuPont is more of a SEALER than a cleaner.
 
Mequires Quick Detailer - " I live by it "
Mequires Hot Shine Tire Spray
Eagle Nano Wax - " Pretty impressed with the outcome, but will definently be changing to Mequires once the bottle is done. "
Microfiber towels - of course !

Lastly, some stainless steel cleaner for household appliances on the mufflers !
:D
 
Another Vote for Zaino. Downside is that it is very timeconsuming to put on. But its pretty much the best stuff you can get IMO. ZYMOL is what i use when i don't have time for zaino... it is a pretty fast way to detail a car.
 
When I bought my car the previous owner was a real car guy and was a fanatic about cleaning and waxing. He told me that the car had been clayed twice and had 3 coats of Zaino on it with a fourth coat put on the day before I picked it up. After I had the car for awhile Meguiars came out with NXT wax and I decided to give it a try. I washed the whole car then I clayed, polished and put NXT on half of the trunk lid. I then had my wife and 15 year old son take a look at it and tell me if they noticed anything and they both said that the one side of the trunk lid looked a lot better. Up until that point I was going to spend the 50 bucks on the Zaino but now 13 bucks and about an hour my car looks fantastic. Geno has seen it a number of times and can't believe it is my daily driver.
 
HizHonor said:
They are clearcoated... remember I had that discoloration problem a few weeks back? The Dupont is definitely a cleaner AND sealer. I'm pleased with the results and you know how picky I can be! :p
OK.
Next one of us to the parts store gets an extra bottle for the other. I'll probably be there Wednesday as I'm winterizing the blue car.
 
Zaino is great stuff, however, your paint better be great also. It will really enhance that orange peel. I switched back to the Meguiars Professional series as it is more forgiving to paint that isn't perfect. This is on a '95 Black Mustang, so you know how hard it can be to keep up a black car that old.

Also, I was using Mother's Wax, but just bought a new bottle of #24 Meguiars. It feels much better and looks a little better as well, IMO. I polish with the #7 twice a year also.

BTW...that Zaino does smell great also. The detail spray is an awesome product.
 
lsbit said:
...
This is on a '95 Black Mustang, so you know how hard it can be to keep up a black car that old.
...
I can dig it.
kinda like keeping a Black 1990 clean :)
I cheated though. This has a 2003 FORD paint job :)

 
i use meguirars gold class...tried some others but just dont seem to work as good as this.

interior i could use some help finding the right leather treatment and something for my dash trim area on the top and the door panels... any suggestions appreciated :)
 
i use:
mcguires gold class car shampoo
westley's bleechwite on tires to get them nice and natural black again.
lots of mr clean magic erasers for dirty interiors
Ibiz leather sheen for interior
Ibiz tire shine water based, never hurts paint
Ibiz instant detailer( also known as waterless car wash)
for buffing dull paint i use Clean Cut compound
and for a finishing buff to bring out the most amazing shine and remove all scratches and swirls i finish a car with mcguires color X on a 8 inch super fine foam polishing pad and low speed on a variable speed buffer.
 
Jamie, when you are buffing a dull finish with clean cut compound, what kind of pad are you using? wool or what color foam pad?
 

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