New To Detailing a Car - Which Products Should I Consider?

[Coatingsarecrack]

Folks,


I'm looking for advice on what to purchase from wash up to waxing. I prefer to do this by hand, rather than a buffer, because I'm scared of ruining my car with one. Thanks to everyone in advance for any advice!

Appreciate any help!
-Bill

I’m a 1st time D/A user and just corrected, polished, and coated my car. Nothing to be afraid of. I jumped into the deep end and got a long stroke DA and it was know problem. I’m sure I didn’t get professional quality results but 1000 times better than what you can do by hand. Almost all horror stories you hear are about rotary polishers and not dual action polishers. You could hold pad in same place for 30 seconds and not due damage to most paint on newer cars.

Your car will look way better with polishing and if you get on a schedule you will avoid most major issues. Good luck and have fun


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[Desertnate]

I'll try to avoid throwing too many product recomendations at you as it will get overwhelming fast. Others have already given good advice there, and I'm sure there is more to follow. I'll approach it from catagories products/tools to get you started and comfortable with the detailing. You don't have to buy hundreds of dollars of stuff when starting out. Start simply and then grow into your new hobby. Even from the list below, you don't have to get all this stuff all at once.

Here is what I'd look for:

- Washing/drying: Good wash mitt, buckets, quality drying towel, quality wash shampoo, 2x good wheel brushes (long one for the barrels, soft flat one for the faces)

- Exterior protection: Start with a good, easy to apply sealant for the paint, a good exterior trim protectant, a good tire dressing, a and quality Waterless Wash to mix up for use on bird droppings/drying aid/post wash water spot removal/door jam cleaning etc.

- Interior protection: A good interior protectant

- Decontamination/correction: Clay bar, easy to use compound and polish (to cover all situations), several 5.5" medium polish and cutting pads (to cover all situations), DA like the GG6, 5" backing plate (if not already on the polisher)


Later on you can add stuff like wheel cleaner, leather cleaner, APC, and bug remover to make sure even more garage space is taken up by detailing supplies!

[757CA]

Thanks folks for the awesome replies!