School a rookie

[Dragnframe]

Hey guys,

Glad I found the forum here. Looking for some real rookie advice.

I have a 2017 Silverado in the dreaded Black. lol Looking for some advice on some products I should look into getting at first.

I don't have a pressure washer so looks like I will need a foam gun? And which one.

I would like advice on soaps, sprays, detailers and waxes or paint protector to use and when and how often I should use them.

I noticed while washing the black beauty this weekend its got what I call swirl marks, or Ive seen it on here call Holgrams?

What product will get those off of there?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to give me very basic to advance advice any and all info will be helpful.

Thanks

[Whitewater25]

Welcome to your new addiction! Do you have a polisher? Budget? I do not have a lot of experience with black but helps to know what you have on hand and how much you can spend on products. I'm sure some of the others here will chime in on black paint care. Good luck!

[Dragnframe]

Welcome to your new addiction! Do you have a polisher? Budget? I do not have a lot of experience with black but helps to know what you have on hand and how much you can spend on products. I'm sure some of the others here will chime in on black paint care. Good luck!


Don't have a polisher, I got a bucket and a sponge....LOL After reading on here I need to leave the bucket and sponge for the lawn tractor.lol

Budget, don't have one in mind. Ill just a piece here and there as needed.

[Coopers ST]

I hate feeling like I am under pressure to make a purchase, but today is 25% off and $5 shipping even on polishers, so it is a good time buy. That being said...
I would skip the foam gun. It will just use soap, you still need to do a regular two bucket wash. Skip the bucket and sponge? Sponge yes, get a chenille wash mit, one more bucket for a total of two. One will be a rinse with just water, and one with soap. Get a grit guard for each.
Soap, any car wash soap, I personally use megs or griots garage.
You will want some clay, or a clay alternative product. I use real clay, but did just order a Nano scrub with this sale.
Polish is next, on customer cars I usually use HD Speed, it is a one step polish and sealant, I also have Megs ultimate line, and Wolfgang 3.0 line for my car.
You can get the swirls out by hand, but it will be hard. I have a griots garage 6" polisher that I use 5.5" BOSS pads on. It has a lifetime warranty and has treated me well. I bought it when I was just using it for me, if I would have known I would detail some on the side I may have spent more on a flex or Rupes, but really the GG is just fine. I even bought a 3" with this sale.

Once corrected your swirls came from improper washing, and drying, somget some good microfibers, keep them separate when washing and drying, they shouldn't be washed with your clothing and shop towels. You may find it better to take it to a pro once to get cleaned up, then you maintain it.

[pilotpip]

Welcome to owning a dark truck. There's lots of good stuff here to work with. Quality microfiber towels and products will go a long way. I like the McKee's 37 line for a nice balance between price, and appearance of my daily drivers. I also use meguiars ultimate wash and wax, and spray wax. Twice a year, I apply a sealant. I used to use griots paint sealant, but I'm going to give blackfire a try. I've used an All in One, in my case McKee's 360. It did a decent job of cleaning up and polishing, but not as well as a 3 step and the sealant didn't last as long. When I'm using either of those, I use Meguiars gold class soap since it doesn't have any wax in it.

Buckets are fine, just buy a couple grit guards, and use the 2 bucket method as described here.

I'd strongly suggest getting a Dual Action polisher. They're easy to use, and will do far more correction than you'll ever be able to do by hand. Applying a sealant with it takes about 30 minutes as opposed to several hours by hand.

If you're coming from the world of turtle wax, you'll be amazed at how much better the products here work. The griots paint sealant I mentioned above is 2 years old. I've done 4 cars with it and the bottle is still half full. No more buffing off wax until your arm falls off.

[Mike Phillips]

Welcome to the AGO forum....


You don't need a pressure washer, nice to have but you don't need one.


You don't need a foam gun either but that's how I wash my Silverado... here's one of the most in-depth articles I've ever written besides my article on damp sanding.


How to use a foam gun by Mike Phillips (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/sales-promotions-forum-members-non-forum-members/102740-how-use-foam-gun-mike-phillips.html)


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=106679




:)

[Dragnframe]

Great info, really enjoying this site. Finding out I really need to step up my detail game. But , you guys are creating some more questions I didn't know about. What is the grit guard you guys are referring to?

Also, what is a good dual action polisher I should look at.?

[LEDetailing]

Try to use as little pressure as possible when washing and drying your truck. I would also recommend washing it early in the morning, at dusk, or indoors. This will minimize water spotting.

Mike Phillips best advice, find a product you like and use it often. Try to maintain a washing routine. Wash your truck at least twice a month or weekly if you really get obsessed.

Some of my favorite products on AG:
-Meguiar's Hyperwash car shampoo
-Optimum car wash
-Wolfgang Uber rinseless (must have)
-Blackfire Wet diamond paint sealant (awesome gloss and slickness)
-Meguiars D143 non-acid wheel and tire
-Piannacle Souveran paste wax (once you use this wax, you'll understand:)

Good luck. Order today 25% off is a great deal!

[Hammer77]

Weekly is considered obsessed? I didn't get the memo. I got problems

[LEDetailing]

Grit guards (GG), are a plastic piece that goes in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket. The GG has a open grate system and is raised off the bottom about 3 inches. The GG keeps, sand, dirt, and debris from getting reintroduced into your wash mitt. Heavy dirt/debris sinks to bottom of bucket. Add a Grit guard washboard and it adds a more convenient washboard to release the dirt and debris from you mitt. some guys stack two GG's on top of each other to further reduce the dirt and debris. Read up on the two bucket wash method (2BM) and you will probably enter the detailing rabbit hole:)

[LEDetailing]

Weekly is considered obsessed? I didn't get the memo. I got problems

I put 2 miles (since last wash) on my Lexus parked in the drive way. I had to wash it due to frost causing dusty looking mess.

You are right, once a week around here is par for the course. Once a season is about right for the average car owner:(

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

All of the advice listed is pretty solid IMHO, but if you're looking to keep it simpler since you don't have a polisher, I take car of a guy's black Silverado (he actually just traded it in for a black F250 *gasp*) and he runs it through the automatic wash because he always wants it clean and shiny, he doesn't care about the marks the automatic wash puts on his truck.

I use Poorboys Polish with Carnauba Blue which cleans the paint, has a mild filling ability (fills the swirl marks temporarily rather than removing them permanently like in a true paint correction) and then put on a coat of Collinite 845. I do this for him sometime before the winter so it has a nice layer of protection for New York roads in the rough season and the truck comes out looking really nice.

You can use the Poorboys polish as much as you like, it doesn't take very long to do the whole truck, and you can certainly do it by hand without feeling like your arm will fall off.


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[Dragnframe]

Ok, I think my game plan will be a 2 bucket system with gritt guards, and a micro fiber mitt. I'll get a big blue drying towel.

After its washed what would I apply? Being there is only 1,000 miles on the truck as of today do I need to do a paint de
Contamination? Should I do a wax or a paint sealant or both?

What would be a good dual action polisher to start out with?



Thank again for all the info.

[LEDetailing]

I would decontaminate with and iron remover (Mckee's iron remover or Carpro Iron-X) and follow it up with a clay mitt, towel, or bar. Read about the "baggie test" to see if you need decontamination. Almost a guarantee you will have some tar at some point with as much area as a truck. Look into Stoner's tarminator for tar removal.

You can put a wax on top of sealant, but I would just start with a sealant. So many choices. I like Blackfire wet diamond and Finish Kare 1000p. If you do want a good quality inexpensive wax, go with Poorboy's.

Polishers: Griots or Porter Cable.

[pilotpip]

You would be amazed at how much contamination a new vehicle can have from assembly, sitting in a lot, and shipped via rail or truck. I would wash it, use a decontamination spray such as Iron-X, clay, then polish and seal as you wish. Do it right the first time, and you'll be amazed at how much less it takes in the future.

There are a number of good polishers available here. The standard "entry level" ones are the Porter Cable, and Griots GG6. The PC is a little better on price, but the GG comes with a lifetime warranty, and is a shade more powerful. I have a PC. It's easy to use, and if I put too much pressure on it, the rotation stops which helps prevent damage.