Please critique my process

[whatever7]

Please critique my process:

I’m new here. Just bought a 2018 model year car which appears to be in very good shape (it’s silver so harder to see swirls). I’m not a detailing fanatic but I would like to get the car started off right and keep it that way. Back in the early 2000’s I did get into detailing a little and therefore do have some old equipment (like my PC7424). After reading tons and watching videos, here’s what I’ve arrived at, and I’m hoping you all will give it a once over.

1. Wash (I don’t know what the dealer put on it in terms of protection, so do I need some sort of aggressive-ph wash here to get it “back to zero?”)
2. Iron X
3. Clay
4. Polish (should I use a good all in one or should a fine polish be good enough?) Which pad should I use?
5. Something like carpro eraser to get ride of polishing residue
6. Spray seal
7. Graphene
8. Some sort of quick detailer to enhance gloss?

I want it to look good, but I don’t want it to cost a fortune and I want it to be easy to re-up every six months or so. Thanks in advance.

[Desertnate]

Here are my thoughts, I'll align my comments to the numbers your provided.

1. Just wash the car with a quality car soap. If you're going to polish it, it won't matter what the dealer put on there before; you'll polish it off.

2. Not sure this is really necessary, I feel it's more bennificial on white cars when you see "rail dust" spots embedded in the paint.

3. Yes. Must do this one if you're going to do the full job right.

4. An AIO is an option ONLY if you are not going to be doing a coating. More on that in another step. Your paint will drive your pad and polish selection. The last thing you want to do is get just a mild pad and polish and find out your products don't have enough cut to even do a basic job. I recommend getting a compound and a polish as well as a couple different cut levels of pads. Then do test spots starting with the least aggressive combo to see which one works out the best for you. Mike Phillips has tons of material about test spots. Even if you don't use everything on this job, having options available to you will be handy at some point in the future when you might have to correct some more severe marring or light scratches.

5. Not always needed, but it won't hurt. It depends really on what you will apply as your final layer of protection.

6/7. Not sure what you're trying to do here. What do you mean by "Graphene"? It's simply a ingredient many brands are putting in their products right now (with plenty of debate on whether it really does anything). Depending on the brand you'll find it in tons of VERY different products. When looking at protective products always go with the most durable one first and then put the less durable one on top, if at all. If you going to go with a durable sealant or coating, that will go first and the spray sealant will be on top and you'd want to apply that a week or two after the application of your protective product. Also, if you are mean you are doing a "Graphene" coating, you do NOT want to use an AIO in step 4 as it interfere with the coating bonding to your paint.

8. After washes it will work fine, but I wouldn't apply anything right after you put down your protective product. You can change it up with your sealant spray. I've done things like a QD wipe down after most washes and a sealant spray-like wipe down once every month/six weeks.

[whatever7]

Here are my thoughts, I'll align my comments to the numbers your provided.


6/7. Not sure what you're trying to do here. What do you mean by "Graphene"? It's simply a ingredient many brands are putting in their products right now (with plenty of debate on whether it really does anything). Depending on the brand you'll find it in tons of VERY different products. When looking at protective products always go with the most durable one first and then put the less durable one on top, if at all. If you going to go with a durable sealant or coating, that will go first and the spray sealant will be on top and you'd want to apply that a week or two after the application of your protective product. Also, if you are mean you are doing a "Graphene" coating, you do NOT want to use an AIO in step 4 as it interfere with the coating bonding to your paint.

By graphene I mean a graphene coating, like 303, Adams, or Turtle Wax. I guess I was thinking that a sealant would be good to apply before the coating. Am I off-base on that?

ALso, I wasn't aware that all-in-ones would interfere with that. What will NOT interfere with that? A separate compound/polish 2 step process?

[Desertnate]

By graphene I mean a graphene coating, like 303, Adams, or Turtle Wax. I guess I was thinking that a sealant would be good to apply before the coating. Am I off-base on that?

The spray graphene coatings are really very durable spray sealants, even though they have "coating" in the name. However, since they are the most durable product in your process should would go on first. Also, since you're going with one of those types of products, I would NOT use any other spray sealant. I'd simply add another layer of those products when you think it's needed. They are so easy to use there isn't really a point of using another spray sealant.

ALso, I wasn't aware that all-in-ones would interfere with that. What will NOT interfere with that? A separate compound/polish 2 step process?

AIO's are a mild polish with a sealant or wax added in, hence the name. You're able to polish and protect the car all in one step. Since you're using one of the spray products and not something like a more durable coating or coating "lite", you will probably be OK. Also, if you use an AIO, you won't need to do step 5 in your original process. Keep in mind not all AIO's are equal in their cut. The couple I've used (Megiuars, Griots) were pretty mild. They worked fine on soft paint, but did little/no correction on harder paint.

If you want the cleanest surface for protection and need to do some sort of correction, polishing and then wiping down with an Eraser-like product is the way to go.

Depending on the paint, your products, and the level of correction you want to do, it may not require a 2-step process. With some test spots, I've been able to figure out the right combination which allows me to correct my vehicles in one step. For soft paint I use a polishing pad and a finishing polish. On hard paints I'll either use a compounding pad with a finishing polish or a polishing bad with a compound. I only two step if there is a serious problem I need to correct.

[whatever7]

The spray graphene coatings are really very durable spray sealants, even though they have "coating" in the name. However, since they are the most durable product in your process should would go on first. Also, since you're going with one of those types of products, I would NOT use any other spray sealant. I'd simply add another layer of those products when you think it's needed. They are so easy to use there isn't really a point of using another spray sealant.



AIO's are a mild polish with a sealant or wax added in, hence the name. You're able to polish and protect the car all in one step. Since you're using one of the spray products and not something like a more durable coating or coating "lite", you will probably be OK. Also, if you use an AIO, you won't need to do step 5 in your original process. Keep in mind not all AIO's are equal in their cut. The couple I've used (Megiuars, Griots) were pretty mild. They worked fine on soft paint, but did little/no correction on harder paint.

If you want the cleanest surface for protection and need to do some sort of correction, polishing and then wiping down with an Eraser-like product is the way to go.

Depending on the paint, your products, and the level of correction you want to do, it may not require a 2-step process. With some test spots, I've been able to figure out the right combination which allows me to correct my vehicles in one step. For soft paint I use a polishing pad and a finishing polish. On hard paints I'll either use a compounding pad with a finishing polish or a polishing bad with a compound. I only two step if there is a serious problem I need to correct.

Thank you. I was thinking of graphene as a substitute for wax, so I was thinking I would seal and then "protect" with graphene, but I guess I've got it wrong.

My car is an Audi, which I think has hard paint, and there are no real issues to correct. Could you recommend a good process since it sounds like I've got some things confused?

[weekend warrior]

whatever7.....I am no expert that's why I am called weekend warrior....like to keep things simple...this is what I did to get ready to use sealant

washed with DAWN yes Dawn....I got a lot of flack from our members but some members use it also
Clay
Blackfire paint prep
blackfire one step....it cleans...polishes and protects
top it with blackfire SIO2 paint sealant

the car is very glossy and I am happy...lots of luck

[Desertnate]

Thank you. I was thinking of graphene as a substitute for wax, so I was thinking I would seal and then "protect" with graphene, but I guess I've got it wrong.

A good rule of thumb is to always put the most durable product on the bottom. In the case of a traditional sealant or a long lasting coating, they go on the bottom and any less durable product on top is really just there to make the base layer last longer and/or change the appearance. In this scenario, those graphene sprays claim to be more durable than a traditional spray wax, so they become your base layer.

Again, since the products you mentioned are sprays and should be easy to use, I'd just layer the product on itself as needed rather than using two different spray products.

My car is an Audi, which I think has hard paint, and there are no real issues to correct. Could you recommend a good process since it sounds like I've got some things confused?

German cars in general seem to have harder paint. A VW I owned and a neighbors Porsche I worked on were VERY hard. Both those vehicles and Audi's are all part of VAG and have similar paint. Even though some colors may be harder than others, they are still generally pretty hard.

If the car is in good shape I found I can do a one-step on hard paint using a white Lake Country Flat or ThinPro pad and something like Blackfire Compound or Wolfgang's Total Swirl Remover. Both finish down quite nicely and despite the Blackfire being listed as a compound I found it to only be slightly more abrasive which allows it to correct slightly faster. If there are some heavier swirls and scratches I'll step down to an Orange colored pad from the same Lake Country lines and use a compound, but will keep an eye on that combo leaving some haze behind which will take a finishing polish and lighter pads to clear up. Sadly I've been using the same products for a very long time and can't recommend any others based on experience. I've recently purchased some Griots BOSS products I'll be trying out this spring.

If you still want to use an AIO, they may work if you use the right pad combination. I've never used an AIO on hard paint, but think you'd have to use a more aggressive pad to get good correction. Hopefully someone here can chime in on that topic to give you some options.