Help me get a plan to detail my moms car.

[Opiy]

I want to detail her car as a birthday present plus it just needs it but I was curious about the products I have on hand and if I NEED something else to make it nice. Her car just barely gets a drive through wash every now and then.

I am not looking to spend all day on it, but this is what I was thinking and let me know if I should add something or change the order of my plans. I am pretty noob to this detailing thing so it will be good practice also.

1. Blast good with the water hose
2. Meg Ultimate Wash with microfiber mit
3. Clay bar where needed (likely everywhere)
4. Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #6 Cleaner/Wax to help remove some swirls and give it a shine. Orange pad to apply this? I will be using the PC 7424X
5. Spray the wheels with IronX
6. I was thinking of getting some Optimum Power Clean All Purpose Cleaner to clean the tires/wheels with (hub cap wheels) and maybe even use it to clean the engine area, plastic trim outside and inside (diluted).

I haven't decided what plastic protectant to get yet. Suggestions?

I do have Meguiar's Ultimate polish and Meg NXT 2.0 liquid wax if I should use that?
Since I don't have a shop vac I am not sure how I will go about cleaning the carpet and seats. I don't think they are in bad shape, but could use a little cleaning.

Suggestions or comments??

[CM8 6MT]

It looks like you have a pretty good lineup of products to make this one turn out great :D. Take pics once your done!

[rider9195]

Instead of Megs #6 use Ultimate Polish. It will be suited more for removing swirls.

[Bill1234]

heres what I reccomend.
soak car with water
wash and dry rims
wash and dry with 2 bucket grit guard method
clay
dry
interior
dress dash
condition seats
final touches
tire shine

[CM8 6MT]

Instead of Megs #6 use Ultimate Polish. It will be suited more for removing swirls.

Agree

[weekendwarrior]

Above is good advice. In addition, take it to coin op for vacuum interior if you can since you don't have one.

Walmart sells Black Magic wet tire gel dressing kit for $7 , works great , apply very very thin to provided applicator pad, spread over whole tire, let it sit for 30 minutes without driving car, grab terry cloth towel and pad or dab the tire to get rid of extra gel in nooks and raised letters to avoid sling. Let it sit for 3 hours before driving. If its not shiny enough apply again, but it shines pretty well, terry towel brings it down to semi-gloss. Only downside to BMWTG if you drive on dirt roads the tires stay sticky, so they pick up dirt, no dirt roads, dress the tires with it. First though, clean tire well with APC/Dawn mix and firm brush, then dry them or let air dry before dressing.

Don't forget the wheels too, after good cleaning with your IRonx Mothers Synthetic wax OTC at local stores works OK there unless you have something better from AG.

For plastic I'm guessing you mean exterior trim? If you need something in a jif I'f been using Meguiars Gold Class Trim Conditioner, after you apply it let it dry a bit, wipe excess off with MF towel / buff a bit. Then spray wax it, and buff the wax, makes it last longer (at least a few rain storms/washings). If inerior plastic, then try anything you like the look of, I haven;t found a bad one yet really. I even use Meguiars interior detail wipes for small touch ups during winter months. Their stuff for interior works well, for the eninge Meguiars #40 for rubber and vinyl, after cleaning it (that may take another day for you though, I'd worry about the engine another day). You can buy that here at AG.

Like everyone else said, get it clean, dry. Then protect/dress, inside and out.

Take before and after pictures too, print them if you can (Walgreens does that cheap) and show to your Mom and show them to us!

[Opiy]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't expect so many.

I bought the Meg #6 for her car thinking it would have been better. Oh well, I will use the polish and nxt 2.0 instead.

The protectant I have are some Armorall wipes and honestly I don't like Armorall because its so oily. It leaves a nice shine but I don't like the oil feel it leaves behind. The outside of the car has some plastic trim that is looking rough so I wanted to put something on it to bring it back to life but also hopefully the same product that I can use on the interior like the dash so I don't have to buy more than one product.

Here are some of the BOGO items I am very tempted to get. I think they would be great for this project plus other home/hobby jobs.

1.Ultima Interior Guard Plus
2. Sonus ALL-IN-1 Total Auto Cleaner - maybe
3. Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel
4. Pinnacle Clear Coat Safe Wheel Cleaner - maybe
5. Detailer's Universal Detailing Clay
6. The Grit Guard Insert

[spiralout462]

Defineately the Grit Guards are a must imo! Can't really comment on the others.

[CM8 6MT]

The protectant I have are some Armorall wipes and honestly I don't like Armorall because its so oily. It leaves a nice shine but I don't like the oil feel it leaves behind. The outside of the car has some plastic trim that is looking rough so I wanted to put something on it to bring it back to life but also hopefully the same product that I can use on the interior like the dash so I don't have to buy more than one product.


For this I would recommend Meguiar's Ultimate Protectant. It will give you a nice shine without that greasy oily look & residue that cheap Armorall gives. You can also use it on exterior trim. Its available almost anywhere.

[mwoolfso]

I want to detail her car as a birthday present plus it just needs it but I was curious about the products I have on hand and if I NEED something else to make it nice. Her car just barely gets a drive through wash every now and then.

I am not looking to spend all day on it, but this is what I was thinking and let me know if I should add something or change the order of my plans. I am pretty noob to this detailing thing so it will be good practice also.

1. Blast good with the water hose
2. Meg Ultimate Wash with microfiber mit
3. Clay bar where needed (likely everywhere)
4. Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #6 Cleaner/Wax to help remove some swirls and give it a shine. Orange pad to apply this? I will be using the PC 7424X
5. Spray the wheels with IronX
6. I was thinking of getting some Optimum Power Clean All Purpose Cleaner to clean the tires/wheels with (hub cap wheels) and maybe even use it to clean the engine area, plastic trim outside and inside (diluted).

I haven't decided what plastic protectant to get yet. Suggestions?

I do have Meguiar's Ultimate polish and Meg NXT 2.0 liquid wax if I should use that?
Since I don't have a shop vac I am not sure how I will go about cleaning the carpet and seats. I don't think they are in bad shape, but could use a little cleaning.

Suggestions or comments??

Even with your process above you are looking at least 8-12 hours of work; maybe longer since the car hasn't been detailed properly in awhile.

1. Rinse entire car with water (don't dry)
2. APC Wheels and Tires
3. IronX Tires
4. Wash car w/ Dawn Ultra
5. IronX Car
6. Clay bar entire car (no questions asked; do the whole car)
7. Megs UP (white pad)
8. IPA or Megs Wash
9. Megs Cleaner Wax or NXT 2.0 (light or regular polishing pad; so green or white)
10. Optimum Car Wax Spr

** Clean wheels before car; I find it is just "cleaner" to do it first. Also, with the car still wet any overspray will hit a wet surface and be less likely to harm the LSP (not that it will hurt in your case this time around ;)
** Good idea on using an APC to clean tires, wheels, engine and plastic trim. Make sure you get a concentrate so you can vary the mixture depending on the surface and amount of cleaning you want. Overall, using an APC saves money. If you want to splurge then go with Mothers Wheel and Tire cleaner; great stuff
** Using an orange pad with Megs UP isn't a great idea; it won't finish well. If you do have swirls and UP/white doesn't cut it, then go with Megs UC/orange, then finish with Megs UP/white. Regardless of what you do, lock in your process with a test spot activity.
** IPA step is just a mixture of Isopropyl Alcohol and water. 10:1 mixture of water to IPA will be enough to remove the polishing oils from Megs UP. If you do not do this step with Megs Ultimate line of polishes the oils will mix in with the products used after this step; increasing the chance of introducing haze and definitely affecting LSP durability.
** On #9, either product will be fine; both have cleaners and will pick up a ton of dirt so have 2-3 pads ready
** OCW will be the product that adds months of durability to the vehicle; and also saves you time on future. The durability of the cleaner/waxes in #9 are not great

[Opiy]

I went ahead and bought a little more product to do this project with.

303 Aerospace Protectant 16 oz
The Grit Guard Insert - Silver Buy One, Get One Free!
CarPro Tar X Tar & Adhesive Remover 600 ml.
CarPro Iron X Iron Remover 500 ml.
Optimum Power Clean™ All Purpose Cleaner 128 oz.
Sample 1 : Wolfgang Black Diamond Tire Gel


Now I have to wait until around Wed. before the package is likely to arrive to so maybe next weekend I can get something done. If I don't forget I will take some pics :xyxthumbs: