bunnywafer
11-05-2015, 06:23 PM
Hi all,
I'm not a complete novice to detailing, but I'm new (only done about 3 jobs so far - just on my own personal cars). I wanted to winterize my car today but I ran into some problems with the prep work, so I've decided to hold off on waxing until I get some answers.
Basic info:
Car: 2012 Honda Fit (daily driver)
Products: Wolfgang Auto Bathe, CG Clay Luber, clay bar, Nanoskin sponge, Collinite 845, WG Deep Gloss Paint Sealant, WG Detailer, other random samples, tire cleaning/gloss
Limitations: No garage, cold weather coming soon, I drive through an active construction zone both ways during my commute (unavoidable), low-to-medium pressure hose.
Problems: Issues with Nanoskin, clay bar residue, rainbow swirls?, paint chips, tar
The details:
So first I washed the car. I use two buckets, a sea sponge, and WG Auto Bathe. No issues with washing.
Next I tried to use the Nanoskin sponge, which I have used before. Used CG Clay Luber. I noticed when I took it out that the surface was kind of sticky. I tried using it anyway, but it left residue (I guess rubber? Not sure exactly what the surface of this thing is). The surface appears to be deteriorating and I've only used it once before. Like I said it's sticky, part of it is peeling away from the sponge, and when I rinsed it with water, the surface started sticking to itself.
Hopped on here and read some people were having problems with CG Clay Luber and the Nanoskin products. Read I could use clay to remove the residue the Nanoskin left behind.
So then I clayed with a real clay bar (also with Clay Luber). While claying, I noticed there is a TON of road tar and other debris in my wheel wells. As noted above, I drive through an active construction zone on my commute. Also they just tore up and re-paved my neighborhood a few weeks ago. I tried to spray the debris out with water, but my hose isn't very high pressure (I can't get the nozzle off... I would have to replace the whole hose to replace the nozzle with a better one).
Anyway.... I was able to get the tar off the paint with the clay bar. I tried using the clay in the wheel wells too but it didn't seem to work very well.
While claying, I noticed a few things that I thought were odd...the clay seemed to work better at removing imperfections with less lube... like there would be a smudge or some tar that wasn't budging at all until the lube was thinning out or drying, then the clay took it right off. This seems counter-intuitive to me, since I always thought more lube was better. Second, sometimes the clay would remove stuff, but it wouldn't stick to the clay. This usually happened with pinpoint black dots (that I assume were road tar). The clay would dislodge them, but then they would just be there on the surface, floating in the lube....
When I was done claying I washed the car again. Then I noticed I had alot of clay bar residue all over the roof, some on the hood, and some on the driver's side of the car (which is the side that was facing the sun). I didn't have this problem at all the last time I clayed the car. The differences are last time I used Wolfgang brand clay lube, and also this time I think I got a little lazy about wiping off the lube, so it may have dried on there.
I tried to remove the residue (which looked like streaks as well as some areas that looked like the surface of a basketball like I've seen other people talk about) with clay lube and a microfiber, but it didn't seem to work very well. Additionally, now on the hood (and maybe elsewhere), there are rainbows that weren't there before.
At that point I was fighting daylight anyway so I just decided to quit for the day and try again some other day. Only other issues I noted is there are ALOT of small chips in the paint on the front, and there are a couple of pinpoint areas of rust on some of the paint chips.
So here are my questions:
1.) Is my Nanoskin (with its sticky surface) beyond salvation?
2.) What is the best technique / product to clean the wheel wells? If I need to get a new hose / nozzle that is higher pressure that's fine (I've been meaning to do it anyway)...
3.) What went wrong with claying? Why did it seem to work better with less lube? Why didn't all the debris stick to the clay? Maybe it's time for new clay? Why did I get all the residue this time?
4.) What's up with the rainbows? Are these "holograms"? What do I do about them?
5.) How imperative is it to paint over all the chips before winter? Will wax protect them over the winter? (I'd prefer to paint them in the spring with better weather and longer days...) I usually use Collinite 845 as my wax.
Thanks for any thoughts / advice.
I'm not a complete novice to detailing, but I'm new (only done about 3 jobs so far - just on my own personal cars). I wanted to winterize my car today but I ran into some problems with the prep work, so I've decided to hold off on waxing until I get some answers.
Basic info:
Car: 2012 Honda Fit (daily driver)
Products: Wolfgang Auto Bathe, CG Clay Luber, clay bar, Nanoskin sponge, Collinite 845, WG Deep Gloss Paint Sealant, WG Detailer, other random samples, tire cleaning/gloss
Limitations: No garage, cold weather coming soon, I drive through an active construction zone both ways during my commute (unavoidable), low-to-medium pressure hose.
Problems: Issues with Nanoskin, clay bar residue, rainbow swirls?, paint chips, tar
The details:
So first I washed the car. I use two buckets, a sea sponge, and WG Auto Bathe. No issues with washing.
Next I tried to use the Nanoskin sponge, which I have used before. Used CG Clay Luber. I noticed when I took it out that the surface was kind of sticky. I tried using it anyway, but it left residue (I guess rubber? Not sure exactly what the surface of this thing is). The surface appears to be deteriorating and I've only used it once before. Like I said it's sticky, part of it is peeling away from the sponge, and when I rinsed it with water, the surface started sticking to itself.
Hopped on here and read some people were having problems with CG Clay Luber and the Nanoskin products. Read I could use clay to remove the residue the Nanoskin left behind.
So then I clayed with a real clay bar (also with Clay Luber). While claying, I noticed there is a TON of road tar and other debris in my wheel wells. As noted above, I drive through an active construction zone on my commute. Also they just tore up and re-paved my neighborhood a few weeks ago. I tried to spray the debris out with water, but my hose isn't very high pressure (I can't get the nozzle off... I would have to replace the whole hose to replace the nozzle with a better one).
Anyway.... I was able to get the tar off the paint with the clay bar. I tried using the clay in the wheel wells too but it didn't seem to work very well.
While claying, I noticed a few things that I thought were odd...the clay seemed to work better at removing imperfections with less lube... like there would be a smudge or some tar that wasn't budging at all until the lube was thinning out or drying, then the clay took it right off. This seems counter-intuitive to me, since I always thought more lube was better. Second, sometimes the clay would remove stuff, but it wouldn't stick to the clay. This usually happened with pinpoint black dots (that I assume were road tar). The clay would dislodge them, but then they would just be there on the surface, floating in the lube....
When I was done claying I washed the car again. Then I noticed I had alot of clay bar residue all over the roof, some on the hood, and some on the driver's side of the car (which is the side that was facing the sun). I didn't have this problem at all the last time I clayed the car. The differences are last time I used Wolfgang brand clay lube, and also this time I think I got a little lazy about wiping off the lube, so it may have dried on there.
I tried to remove the residue (which looked like streaks as well as some areas that looked like the surface of a basketball like I've seen other people talk about) with clay lube and a microfiber, but it didn't seem to work very well. Additionally, now on the hood (and maybe elsewhere), there are rainbows that weren't there before.
At that point I was fighting daylight anyway so I just decided to quit for the day and try again some other day. Only other issues I noted is there are ALOT of small chips in the paint on the front, and there are a couple of pinpoint areas of rust on some of the paint chips.
So here are my questions:
1.) Is my Nanoskin (with its sticky surface) beyond salvation?
2.) What is the best technique / product to clean the wheel wells? If I need to get a new hose / nozzle that is higher pressure that's fine (I've been meaning to do it anyway)...
3.) What went wrong with claying? Why did it seem to work better with less lube? Why didn't all the debris stick to the clay? Maybe it's time for new clay? Why did I get all the residue this time?
4.) What's up with the rainbows? Are these "holograms"? What do I do about them?
5.) How imperative is it to paint over all the chips before winter? Will wax protect them over the winter? (I'd prefer to paint them in the spring with better weather and longer days...) I usually use Collinite 845 as my wax.
Thanks for any thoughts / advice.