First Post, and I have some questions...

[Walshman]

First off, I have been a longtime lurker here and this is a great site for people like me who are interested in learning the latest and greatest about detailing.

I have read much discussion on here concerning IPA wipedowns, prepping the paint, and mineral spirits. If I understand correctly, I can clay and polish and then complete a wipedown with either IPA or mineral spirits before LSP or caranuba. Basically, just spritz and wipe with a MF as far as the IPA/mineral spirits? Any curing time in between?

If I feel that my car does not need polished then I can clay, use a paint cleaner, and then apply an LSP or caranuba. Is this correct? If so, what is a good paint cleaner or pre-wax cleaner? Shouldn't the clay serve as this purpose? I thought clay would strip the car of any wax?

Reason for the above questions is that friends of mine like to come over and detail their cars and usually want to get their DD completed as quickly as possible and are not interested in the polishing step (nor as anal as I). I usually clay their cars and skip directly to a Duragloss sealant. Now I am wondering if I should at least use some sort of paint cleaner after the claying has been completed? Does this make that much of a difference?

I personally enjoy detailing my vette and just want to know the best way to care for the paint. In the past the steps for my own car were to have the car washed, clayed, polished, sealed with an LSP and then a week later washed again and topped with a caranuba. Are their other steps I am forgetting or a different way I should do things in your opinion?

Lastly, for swirls and imperfections in remote areas is it necessary to polish the entire car? Why not spot-polish the areas with imperfections? From what I understand it is not good practice to polish more than a couple times per year so it would seem to make more sense to spot-polish rather than polish the whole car. Not looking to get out of extra work, but I don't understand why the whole car should be polished if there are only swirls on the hood, for example?

Anyways, thanks in advance for any opinions and advice that you have. My wife just bought me the Flex 3401 for Xmas, so I'm just trying to get prepared for vette season! Thanks again!

[LuxuryMobile]

First off, I have been a longtime lurker here and this is a great site for people like me who are interested in learning the latest and greatest about detailing.

I have read much discussion on here concerning IPA wipedowns, prepping the paint, and mineral spirits. If I understand correctly, I can clay and polish and then complete a wipedown with either IPA or mineral spirits before LSP or caranuba. Basically, just spritz and wipe with a MF as far as the IPA/mineral spirits? Any curing time in between?

There is not curing time for an IPA wipedown, in fact it is just a "wipedown"

If I feel that my car does not need polished then I can clay, use a paint cleaner, and then apply an LSP or caranuba. Is this correct? If so, what is a good paint cleaner or pre-wax cleaner? Shouldn't the clay serve as this purpose? I thought clay would strip the car of any wax?

There are a ton of different good paint cleaners and it will come down to personal preferance, I like the Wolfgang and Pinnacle ones. The clay may strip any wax but may also leave behind some marring that the paint cleaner can clean up. Sometimes this step is often skipped if applying a LSP by machine, but if I were you, working on your own vehicle, I wouldnt skip the paint cleaner.

Reason for the above questions is that friends of mine like to come over and detail their cars and usually want to get their DD completed as quickly as possible and are not interested in the polishing step (nor as anal as I). I usually clay their cars and skip directly to a Duragloss sealant. Now I am wondering if I should at least use some sort of paint cleaner after the claying has been completed? Does this make that much of a difference?

If applying by machine, the sealant and pad combo will most likely be enough to take care of any marring, assuming the vehicle was in decent shape to start with.

I personally enjoy detailing my vette and just want to know the best way to care for the paint. In the past the steps for my own car were to have the car washed, clayed, polished, sealed with an LSP and then a week later washed again and topped with a caranuba. Are their other steps I am forgetting or a different way I should do things in your opinion?

Sounds right, an LSP or last step product doesnt have to be a sealant, it can be a carnuaba based wax. I would top your Vette with a quality sealant and allow for proper cure time then follow up with a carnuaba based wax monthly if you enjoy it.

Lastly, for swirls and imperfections in remote areas is it necessary to polish the entire car? Why not spot-polish the areas with imperfections? From what I understand it is not good practice to polish more than a couple times per year so it would seem to make more sense to spot-polish rather than polish the whole car. Not looking to get out of extra work, but I don't understand why the whole car should be polished if there are only swirls on the hood, for example?

You can of course just polish certain areas of the car that look like they need polishing. Often times, ideally, each panel should be treated indivually. Sometimes the hood, roof, and trunk area are way worse then the door panels and fender. Just be careful if you just polishing your hood or trunk that the surrounding areas match up (in terms of paint condition/correction)

Anyways, thanks in advance for any opinions and advice that you have. My wife just bought me the Flex 3401 for Xmas, so I'm just trying to get prepared for vette season! Thanks again!

You will be hooked if your not already, and congrats on the new machine.

[BobbyG]

I have read much discussion on here concerning IPA wipedowns, prepping the paint, and mineral spirits. If I understand correctly, I can clay and polish and then complete a wipedown with either IPA or mineral spirits before LSP or caranuba. Basically, just spritz and wipe with a MF as far as the IPA/mineral spirits? Any curing time in between?

I use a 50/50 mixture of Isopropyl Alcohol and water to wipe down a panel after doing some polishing. This accomplishes two things; dissolves polishing oils and surface contaminants allowing me to see if more correction is needed and prepares the surface for sealant and wax.


If I feel that my car does not need polished then I can clay, use a paint cleaner, and then apply an LSP or caranuba. Is this correct? If so, what is a good paint cleaner or pre-wax cleaner? Shouldn't the clay serve as this purpose? I thought clay would strip the car of any wax?

Yes and Yes,

For the most part claying will remove most embedded particulates and residual waxes. As a second step a paint cleaner will certainly remove what's left.

Most of us have daily drivers and while we'd like to have our finishes swirl free it isn't really practical. Most will clay, use a paint cleaner or one step polish, and a nice wax to make the finish glow and provide some protection against the elements.


Reason for the above questions is that friends of mine like to come over and detail their cars and usually want to get their DD completed as quickly as possible and are not interested in the polishing step (nor as anal as I). I usually clay their cars and skip directly to a Duragloss sealant. Now I am wondering if I should at least use some sort of paint cleaner after the claying has been completed? Does this make that much of a difference?

"We" are members of of very small minority that strive for perfection. Most folks are satisfied with the most basic wash and wax and could care less about the painstaking effort we put into our craft.

When I was young, wash and wax was about all I did until I started educating myself. For many a wash, clay, and a One-Step product like Klasse All-In-One or Menzerna Sealing Wax APO 60 will satisfy 90% of what makes a satisfied customer.


I personally enjoy detailing my vette and just want to know the best way to care for the paint. In the past the steps for my own car were to have the car washed, clayed, polished, sealed with an LSP and then a week later washed again and topped with a caranuba. Are their other steps I am forgetting or a different way I should do things in your opinion?

Most of what you've mentioned is spot. Depending just how anal you'd like to get you can drill down in the polish phase and use several different grit polishes and pad combinations.

On my Vette I like to use Menzerna PO85RD as a final polish. This is the finest of polishes that I'm aware of and leaves a mirror finish when used. After polishing I like to seal the finish, let cure, then apply a nice wax for depth and protection.

I week later if I wash it my last step is to go over the entire car with a spray wax like Pinnacle Spray Wax or Optimum Spray Wax. These are about as difficult to use a a detail spray but really maintains a glossy shine and adds additional protection.


Lastly, for swirls and imperfections in remote areas is it necessary to polish the entire car? Why not spot-polish the areas with imperfections? From what I understand it is not good practice to polish more than a couple times per year so it would seem to make more sense to spot-polish rather than polish the whole car. Not looking to get out of extra work, but I don't understand why the whole car should be polished if there are only swirls on the hood, for example?

Spot or panel polishing is very normal. Depending on the weather or time of year this is exactly what I do. I might do an entire panel or two and continue this way over the next couple of weeks just to keep ahead of what nature's throwing at me. Keep in mind I can get away with this on my own vehicles but an outside customer my not appreciate this approach...:laughing:

Once a full paint correction is completed the finish is much easier to maintain if a routine maintenance regiment is applied. This is the most efficient way to approach this.


Anyways, thanks in advance for any opinions and advice that you have. My wife just bought me the Flex 3401 for Xmas, so I'm just trying to get prepared for vette season! Thanks again!

If you've never used the Flex 3401 you're in for a real treat, you'll love it! :props:

[Walshman]

Thanks for all of the detailed answers. This certainly clears up many questions that I had.

[ScottB]

Welcome fellow Vette owner ... see they gotta covered.