Good Question!
Answer: Sure! You can do this if you like, it’s up to you. For the final wipe you can use your favorite quick detailer to give the finish a final wipe and this is a great way to remove any streaks and insure a uniform appearance over the entire car as well as help you to remove any trace residues that you’re eyes might have missed.
D.O. Enthusiasts and Detailers
Keep in mind that this article is written for an
online audience of both enthusiast detailers as well as a few professional detailers that tend to be
very A.R., (Anal Retentive), or as I like to say, D.O. which means
Detailer Oriented, (sounds better, I hate using the term A.R.), and for this audience they’re looking for getting the maximum features and benefits from their
LSP or
Last Step Product, which is usually a wax or a paint sealant and some of these people would prefer not to wipe the finish down with any liquids until after a
window of time has passed to allow all the protection ingredients to fully cure or set-up.
Leaving the maximum protection ingredients behind on he surface
The issue is about leaving as much protection on the surface as possible and the concern is if you wipe the paint down with some type of quick detailer, (a liquid), and a microfiber, (even though it’s gentle, it’s more aggressive than
not touching the paint at all), after just having removed a fresh coat of wax or paint sealant, you’re
disrupting the protection ingredients and probably removing some of them off the surface to some degree. This defeats the purpose of putting them on in the first place because with most D.O. enthusiasts and detailers, the goal is to leave behind as much protection possible.
The Ultimate Goal (The reason most people are waxing their cars)
The idea being to wipe the dried wax or paint sealant off the paint and then
quit touching it until after the protection ingredients have fully set-up so you’ll leave the maximum amount of protection ingredients on the paint to cure or set-up.
So the Final Wipe Technique is a technique for giving your car’s paint a final,
slow wipe to remove any unseen trace residue after first removing the majority of the wax so the paint looks great in any lighting condition while leaving the maximum protection ingredients on the surface.
It also provides comfort to the D.O. Enthusiasts or as they are also referred to as
detailers with OCD which means, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, so they can sleep at night knowing they left the maximum amount of protection ingredients on the surface, otherwise they might not sleep or eat.
In the end, it’s personal preference, give the paint a slow, gentle final wipe using only a soft, plush microfiber polishing cloth or give the paint a final wipe using a soft, plush microfiber polishing cloth together with your favorite mist & wipe quick detailer. Just depends upon your personality and your goals.
Products Mentioned
Mist & Wipe Quick Detailers