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[Frank in Toledo]

I have lurked and read quite a bit here in the last few weeks. There is a lot of very good information here.



Back in the day, like the ‘40s, I remember a neighbor [Paul] that detailed his car on a very regular schedule. He didn’t use much soap and when he did it was mild and he used very little. He claimed it ruined the finish and the wax.



The wax was of course Simonize a very hard paste wax that took forever to do. People using this wax usually, as my neighbor did, kept a large shaker of, what I believe was cream of tartar. Every surface was highly polished.



My neighbor had a large collection of towels, washcloths, chamois, and brushes for various parts of the process. The body and the glass were never washed with what was used for the wheels. Paul told me to never use a circular motion, “that caused spider webs”, he would say. Always use a straight, forward to back motion when doing anything to the finish.



He used at least 4 buckets; never used a nozzle on the hose. He said you must sheet the water, not blast it. The windows not only were washed and polished; they were waxed as well.



Well, the neighbor drove that dark green 1946 Oldsmobile for about ten or twelve years. It always looked as if it had just come out of the show room. Paul always told me that if you take good care of your car, it would take good care of you.



I still exercise his philosophy, but with a twist. I have learned here the new products that make detailing more fun, less work, and get excellent results. I hope my British Racing Green Cooper S lasts as long as Paul’s ’46 Oldsmobile.



The word detailing was never used, as I recall, but there sure was a lot of detailing going on back then.

...just a new twist...