AIO or two-step process?

[Mike Phillips]

I have a 2014 Ford Explorer that we bought this past March.

It is Tuxedo Black.

Please read through this article before trying to use a cleaner/wax for a one-step on black paint. Might save you some time. Even though you're not doing production detailing, as in detailing a car for money as fast as you can, you're still talking about doing the same procedure.

High quality production detailing by Mike Phillips

Here's a portion....

The normal procedure historically for doing production detailing is to use a one-step cleaner/wax for the paintwork after the normal steps of washing, drying and claying if the paint is contaminated.

While a one-step cleaner/wax, applied by machine might work well on light colored cars, the issue is this approach will tend to leave micro-marring or a light haze in the clear layer of paint on darker colors and the hardest color of all to work on and that's black paint.

The micro-marring tends to be caused by the abrasive technology together with the pad choice and even caused in part by the machine application as the action of the pad spinning and/or oscillating against the paint leaves a tale-tale sign from the process that shows up to our eyes as a hazy appearance.

Because most daily drivers tend to be trashed in the sense the paint is filled with swirls and scratches, in order to provide enough correction ability to create a visible and even dramatic visual difference, (in the eyes of your customer), some type of abrasive technology is needed together with some type of chemical cleaning ability plus any polishing oils and last but not the least important, some type of protection ingredients be they synthetic, naturally occurring or a blend of both.

Trying to clean, polish and protect a swirled out dark or black colored clearcoat finish is for the most part asking too much from today's available technology. It's pushing the envelope too far at least if one of your requirements is to put out high quality work you can associate with your name.

You should always do a test spot to she what works best and always go with least aggressive first.

Sage advice....


To the OP, Pjstockford,

You can test your cleaner/wax and do so on the hood. Then move the Explorer into bright overhead sunlight and make sure you're not seeing any DA Haze or "Trails" that mimic how you moved the polisher over the paint.

It's important to inspect with good light and you really need to do this on a horizontal panel.

If all looks good then go for it using the cleaner/wax. If not, then you'll be glad you tested and inspected before buffing out the entire Explorer.

Also test M205 as on softer paints I've seen micro-marring. Just test first.

My article I linked to above shows me using the Flex 3401 with Optimum Finish a LIGHT CUT POLISH to clean up the paint and then I sealed it with Optimum Car Wax. This was a high speed production detail but the point or lesson of the write-up was that when working on black or dark colored vehicles, in most cases, in order to get a owner or customer pleasing finish you need to not use an AIO or Cleaner/Wax and instead use a high quality polish and follow this with a dedicated non-cleaning wax or sealant.

It always comes back to the fact that modern clearcoat paints are scratch-sensitive.

Here's my article that explains this....


Clearcoats are Scratch-Sensitive


As for the dealership....



DON'T WASH CAR !!!!!!!!!!!

[parttimer]

Mike is for sure right on a black car. I tried black diamond total polish and seal my black car, hazed it and needed a finishing polish. I might add some of this is pad dependant. I've have been loving d151 on a white ccs pad. I tried it with a pink but it left haze.

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[Pjstockford]

THANK YOU very much for the advice! I'll definitely read the articles ... and I may be using the XMT light swirl kit after all. I was pleased with the results on our 2005 CRV, which I've posted in another thread also. Again, maybe the short cuts aren't so short after all in this case!

Here's the CRV results:

[Pjstockford]

By the way, here's the Explorer I'm going to detail. This pic was taken after I washed it and threw on some Pinnacle Sig Series II for protection until I can do a proper detail. It's not terrible. I just want it to stand out in a crowd of the other bazillions of Explorers on the road just like it.

[Every_detail]

What do you have on hand? Swirl-x is pretty decent for removing minor marrings and swirls and can buy it OTC.

[LaFawnduh]

Here are my results!







Before an after obviously. The garage has a white ceiling. That's why it doesn't look black. But here's the actual car

This guy actually got some good results using Meguiars Black Wax. Seems like swirls were minimized.

I've had good results with BF TPNS on my black jeep - no marring as Mike points out. But a test spot led me to use a finishing pad over polishing. Got desired results with less aggressive approach.

[andygold]

On this forum, it was recommended to use WG Uber AIO, and a white CCS pad to do a brand new 2015 black (no flake) Nissan. The vehicle needs little to no correction.

After reading the above, it seems like the advice I was given might not be the way to go. Does this new WG product do away with the issues mentioned above?

[Paul A.]

Every Honda I've done has been on the soft side of the paint hardness scale. Conversely, every Ford I've done has been medium to hard on that same scale. What may have worked on the Honda may not be enough for the Ford. Safest thing to do is try what worked on the Honda first although i like Mike P's idea to try both approaches you mentioned as tests and see which one you like better.

And evaluate in bright sun!

[wils91]

i was able to get good results on a black Fiat 500 using a Megs MF finishing disc and D151. left no marring and really cleaned the paint up save the deep RIDS, but removing them wasn't the goal. the paint was soft, had to be careful of towel marring during wipe off




my wife drives a 2015 Explorer, also Tuxedo Black.

the paint is HARD. i had some type of spotting on the hood that fg400 and a Orange LC flat reduced, but wouldn't remove. i ended up using a meguiars MF cutting pad and D300 and finished with Reflect and a black/gray LC Flat to remove the tics and holograms.
ended up with this.

[expdetailing]

Not to hijack the thread, but do AOI type products nearly ruin the pads, or make cleaning the pads difficult to clean due to sealants in AOIs?
If yes, or maybe, I thought the OP might want to consider this point.