Detail exterior only

[2007M6]

After washing, drying, and claying, how many more steps are there?

I know there are many variables, like color, make of vehicle, weather, condition of paint, how often it gets dirty etc, etc. Let's say it's black/dark color car like BMW or Mercedes. The paint is in good condition less than 5 years old with few light scratches here and there. Garaged, weekend driver. Washed once a month. Not doing rinseless or waterless wash at this time.

1. Compounding polish to take out the swirls
2. Use the finishing polish
3. Gloss/Glaze/Sealant (I think these are the same meaning, to bring out the color and seal the paint correct me if I'm wrong)
4 . Finally a good coat of wax (liquid or carnauba) Carnauba last longer right?


Thanks in advance.

[parttimer]

I'd say compound, polish, wax/seal your looking at another 5-6 hours minimum.

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[FPEvo]

Gloss and glaze are in their own category while wax and sealant are in their own.

Glaze and goods are optional. Waxes usually last 1-3 months depending. Sealants usually 3-6 months.

Compound -> Polish -> Glaze/Gloss -> Wax/Sealant

[spiralout462]

Auto Detailing Facts, auto detailing Tips, How to detailing Guides, how to polish, how to wax, DIY detailing, do it yourself guides (http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html)

Great flow chart!

[2007M6]

Aw man. I gotta hit that 4-5 times in 6 hours. I'm gonna walk with a limp after. Thanks again.

[Tato]

Hello. Look you've got good advice. What I can add is for you to don't be so strict about the whole process. It's obligatory to know all steps possible, but once you are going to compound, the following steps will depend at very first on compounding results.

Sometimes the next step can even be a second compounding pass... who knows?

Did it finished LSP ready, or leave some haze and compound marring?

If you finished good with compounding step, you can go directly to LSP (nothing wrong with that 'aber' I don't like doing so), otherwise you can try to 'abbreviate' some steps and use an AIO like pinnacle XMT360 (others at AG are as good or even better). With an AIO after compounding, in one easy step you can polish, glaze and seal in almost same time it takes to put a coat of wax on. Look at the clock, not enough time? Follow with AIO!

The next time you detail the same car (if proper cared and no long neglecting), probably a medium/fine polish on a polishing pad (after claying) will be all needed to restore the show car finish LSP ready.

Meguiar's also offer a 2 step microfiber system with a compounding step + an 'AIO' finishing wax... the very same thing I've suggested above. Extremely effective though.

For more professional results, no doubt doing a dedicate polishing step almost always may achieve a better result...

To 'glaze or not to glaze', that's the question, and again, this is very dependable on polishing results. If your finishing polish was used with a finishing pad, you probably won't get so much from a glaze (not a rule, please!).

What I mean is for you to (of course) maintain your very good plan, but be prepared to use the knowledge acquired here + your experience to dynamically guide your following steps.

Sorry if sounds confusing, I'm brazilian!

Kind Regards, Good Luck.