New to detailing

[sekharsomu]

Hi

i have a mini cooper country man(Blazing red with white roof)

I am new to car wash and detailing ...so a few questions ...please dont mind if they are too basic

I already own Meguiars gold class wash


So i wanted to do the following for exterior washing ..(2bucket method in coin wash as i live in APT)

Wash: Meguiars gold class

Dry :Absorber chamois (already purchased)

Detailing:CG Black Light Hybrid Radiant AND (https://www.chemicalguys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=GAP%5F619%5F16&CartID=9)Hybrid V7 Optical Select High (https://www.chemicalguys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=GAP%5F619%5F16&CartID=9)

(OR)

5050 wax

Questions:

Which is better black light and v7 combo or 5050 wax ?

If i do any of this process can i wash my car on weekly basis?

if i were to wash my car on 7 to 10 day what would a good detailing process to follow ?

Any other better product suggestion for detailing as i am yet to buy from CG.


Interior:

My car is leather all black interior :


1. CG Leather Cleaner & Conditioner Complete Leather care---for leather seats and steering (https://www.chemicalguys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SPI%5F109%5F16&CartID=2)

2.CG InnerClean - Interior Quick Detailer & Protectant---for other interior parts (https://www.chemicalguys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=SPI%5F663%5F16&CartID=3)

3.Chemical Guys - Signature Series Glass Cleaner for glass windows and front and rear mirrors (https://www.chemicalguys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CLD%5F202%5F16&CartID=4)


Please do let me know if above is good choice or i would need more product or if am going over board.

Does any one know if gamma seal lids of CG fit pepboys buckets?

i have written to there customer care and almost a week i never heard back ..so it would great if u guys can help me decide


---Somu

(https://www.chemicalguys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=GAP%5F619%5F16&CartID=9)

[Ebg18t]

Why do people flock to CG?

[Cabrio]

Hello sekharsomy - the only CG product I've worked with is the Black Light, another forum member had introduced me to it. Needless to say I am blown away with it. I have a black car so I can't attest to how it would look on your red/white paint. As for your wash frequency, I think it all depends, but I typically do a weekly waterless wash (also now stepping into the rinseless wash scene) every week with a "full wash" every couple of weeks.

[sekharsomu]

Why do people flock to CG?

May be because of there resource material lot of videos on youtube on how to DIY.

and great reviews and reasonable pricing i guess for example when i wanted to buy leather products i found that in general
Leather Honey Leather Conditioner is the top of the line product but only 8 0z but if you take CG they have good number of review both cleaner+conditioner(2 separate bottles 16 0z each) which felt is a VFM without much compromise

Advertising:May be there ads and how they explain a stuff and sell them as combos (blacklight+v07 combo as shown in video)has an effect

[Ebg18t]

May be because of there resource material lot of videos on youtube on how to DIY.

and great reviews and reasonable pricing i guess for example when i wanted to buy leather products i found that in general
Leather Honey Leather Conditioner is the top of the line product but only 8 0z but if you take CG they have good number of review both cleaner+conditioner(2 separate bottles 16 0z each) which felt is a VFM without much compromise

Advertising:May be there ads and how they explain a stuff and sell them as combos (blacklight+v07 combo as shown in video)has an effect

I love the marketing; Gets people everytime. :xyxthumbs:

Welcome to AG there are a ton of resources here. Some people will help fill in your questions about CG since it appears their customer support has left you hanging for 1.5 weeks.

There are a lot of product options out there. Make sure you look everything before buying into the CG marketing.

[lane5515]

Why do people flock to CG?


I hear you - I got caught up in their marketing gimmicks a few years ago. I blew a lot of money on a lot of crap from CG. They have a few good products but overall I'm not impressed.

[zx10r Elle]

Welcome sekharsomu,

If possible can you please provide a more defined goal/objective? As it stands now it just looks like all you intend to do is wash and 'wax' the vehicle. And if so the only real issue there is the chamois, return it to the store for a refund and use that money to get some nice microfiber towels as they will last longer, work better and be more flexible in functionality.

For the leather, as long as its clean you've more or less won the battle as being dirty is what degrades leather faster than anything else. Then any form of care will keep it in a more 'healthy' condition.

Weekly wash routines vary from person to person, bare minimum if we were to assume the paint system is fully corrected and sealed then 2BM, rinse, dry, clean interior, treat/dress then leave alone til next wash session as then is when most the damage in the form of swirls, marring etc. occurs to the paint system.

Again though, it depends on what 'Your' goal is with the vehicle.

As an example; the current system on my vehicle allows me a 3 to 4 week window before I need to be concerned with a wash if needed, the sealant itself will last upwards of 6 months without concern. The only weekly involvement is refreshing 303 applications to seats and trim. Other that that, any other work on the paint system is because I want to.

Chemical Guys are fine, some other lines have a more comprehensive selection of products and more reliable customer service record.


Steve

[sekharsomu]

Hi Steve,

I just want to keep my mini shining and new because its my first car and love it so much.but again am very new to all this and as i live in apartment i am constrained to wash it in a coin operated car wash (2 bucket method).i am no big fan for waterless wash. so i am trying to check if my steps and products are right for my car?

so say i have used blacklight+v07 can i still continue to wash my car every week or how should be the maintenance process?

detailed steps and product suggestions would greatly help(currently i only bought Meguair's gold class wash+Meguair's quick wax+chamois+Peak Drying Towel)


i mostly use my car to office and home which should put roughly 20 miles per day .

--Somu

[sekharsomu]

As for chamois i have already used it ... if its not good to use chamois for drying i can buy microfibre towel i already have few ..please do let me know.

--Somu

[Ebg18t]

As for chamois i have already used it ... if its not good to use chamois for drying i can buy microfibre towel i already have few ..please do let me know.

--Somu

Get a nice microfiber waffle weave towel for drying.

If you don't like waterless, how about looking at the Rinseless? I'm not a fan of waterless, but love the Rinseless process.

[sekharsomu]

Get a nice microfiber waffle weave towel for drying.

If you don't like waterless, how about looking at the Rinseless? I'm not a fan of waterless, but love the Rinseless process.

Sure will order them ...what is rinseless..can you suggest some product to get an idea ?

[Ebg18t]

Sure will order them ...what is rinseless..can you suggest some product to get an idea ?

https://youtu.be/D2i0YPz_DBE

That link is Mike talking about them.

I currently use:
Wolfgang Uber Rinseless Wash, no rinse car wash (http://www.autogeek.net/wolfgang-uber-rinseless-wash.html)

Read this thread from Mike: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/new-car-care-products/96297-review-how-wolfgang-uber-rinseless-wash.html

[Cabrio]

Hi Steve,

I just want to keep my mini shining and new because its my first car and love it so much.but again am very new to all this and as i live in apartment i am constrained to wash it in a coin operated car wash (2 bucket method).i am no big fan for waterless wash. so i am trying to check if my steps and products are right for my car?

so say i have used blacklight+v07 can i still continue to wash my car every week or how should be the maintenance process?

detailed steps and product suggestions would greatly help(currently i only bought Meguair's gold class wash+Meguair's quick wax+chamois+Peak Drying Towel)


i mostly use my car to office and home which should put roughly 20 miles per day .

--Somu

Congrats on it being your first car! You will no doubt have an attachment to it and want to take great care of it. Yes - absolutely. You can wash frequently and I agree with the others that the microfiber route is the one to follow when it comes to drying. You may even want to pick up a QD, quick detailer, to assist in the drying while adding some addional protection and maintaining the shine.

As a note - with my DD which is a large SUV, I pretty much only do full washes every other week and I've started to do rinseless washes on it during the winter months. It also has a coat of Wolfgang ceramic coating on it. My garage queen is a different matter. Pretty much every 2-3 times I drive the car I'm doing a waterless wash and I fit in a good full wash fairly frequently. Both cars look fantastic.

Have you looked into coatings? How old is your mini?

[sekharsomu]

not sure how to look into coatings...but its has Permaplate sticker on it.
its 2013 countryman s with just 7k miles and is a very good condition as far driving and look is concerned ..its 2 year 6 months old

[Eldorado2k]

@OP. Eventually you'll get around to doing enough research into waterless washing and try 1 out. And if you're lucky you'll get your hands on 1 of the better ones [most WW products are of high quality and user friendly]
Then you'll realize how much easier life can be compared to dragging out the hose & bucket everytime you want to have your vehicle looking the way it outta everyday. [in a perfect world]

Except your situation requires even more of a hassle than the normL person, because you actually have to trek it to the car wash just to do that already time/labor intensive job of washing your vehicle...😌

You'll see 1 day.😊 Meguiars D115.