Hello All-
So I've got a small problem. I can't wax a car to save my life. I've tried repeatedly and it always looks horrible. It's so bad that now I'm scared to wax my car, (I'm talking my old car I'm trying to sell before my new Rosey get's here) much less wax Rosey when she arrives. My current car is black so I don't know if that just magnifies my mistakes or if I really am that bad. When I go to wax I'll follow the instructions exactly but it ends up hazing after after I buff it off. It seriusly looks horrible. I"ve ended up getting the car wet again after washing it to get the clouds off. Any help would be appreciated so I keep Rosey looking her best. I've used everything from paste waxes to wash and wax stuff. I need something that's completely idiot proof. HELP PLEASE!!!

Thanks!
Cat

 

Well I would suspect a product and/or application issue. Please tell us more about what and how you use it. An alternative is to peruse the Detailing Forum and read the copious threads and posts on how-to's and what-to's.

 

Who knows, it might be a patience issue. I've tried I think Armor All, Maguires I know for sure, I've got some spray on wet or dry wax from wal mart, not sure of that brand. I think I waxed one time in high school successfully with a paste wax, can't remember though. I'll start with a small section, and follow the directions on the wax the best I can, *couldn't always get it in the shade* It's like it dried too fast or something. After I finish that first section it looks so horrible I can't finish the rest of the car b/c I'm scared of what I'm going to do to it. It's embarrassing the way it looks after the fact. It looks almost greasy but it's not. It's hard to describe. The car I'm selling has been recently professionally detailed so I don't want to mess that up before I trade it in. Would the wax job look better if I actually finished the car? When I use the wet/dry stuff should the car be really wet before i put it on? At this point, I'm like I need to just throw away all my waxing supplies so I'm not tempted to touch them ever again. I try to be a good car mom but it's not working.

 

Yes search through this forum. There are many threads where the basics are answered. Also search for things like Epic and Hydro. These are popular products around here and generous people have offered some helpful advice on how to get MINIs looking great using them.

 

Well you can be sure that others will chime in here, but I'll give it a go.
First most waxes should not be applied in full sun. Doing so will bake out the solvents too fast and not allow the waxes to properly cure. The result is a wax that when removed is hazy and very difficult to get off. So do it in the shade or your garage.
Next, before even getting to the waxing stage, your paint should be properly cleaned and prepared for optimal wax bonding. This typically involves using Dawn to wash the paint and strip the old wax (natural waxes that use Carnauba). Other things may be used instead of Dawn; I've started using P21S Total Auto Wash with good results. After stripping all the old wax and road grime, follow with a rubbing with clay and lubricant. This removes bonded contaminates that are still on/in your paint after the wash.
Now you can get into polishing to remove minor scratches and swirls from the paint, or you can go right to the wax. There are a lot of products on the market but in general anything you can buy at a WalMart is going to be inferior. I personally use products from Prima that include their wax called Epic. Epic is a synthetic wax that is easy to apply and easy to remove. It will last a very long time if you properly prepare your paint and the shine is very nice.
I have written all this knowing that you should probably crawl before you try to walk. An intermediate product would be the Prima Hydro which is a spray-on wax as you dry product that is near foolproof. Again, there are tons of threads to explore on the topic of detailing here on NAM - read some, heck read a lot of them. Then as you start to understand the concept and principles involved you will be able to identify what you have done wrong and how to approach your next attempt.
There are some very knowledgeable Detailers here on NAM, read and learn.

Edit: Here is a source for Prima products (and a NAM sponsor) www.detailersparadise.com enjoy!

 

Thanks for the help, I need to take that carwashing class I was reading about in another thread but being on the East Coast, that's not going to happen anytime. Maybe I can sweet talk my next door neighbor, He's out washing his truck every weekend even with black storm clouds brewing overhead although he doesn't wax that i know of. (no garage, no trees in the neighborhood = no shade)

Will I need to clay bar my brand new car when she get's here? Is that pretty idiot proof? I don't want to hurt my brand new finish...

 

Two things you need to do: 1) Download OctaneGuy's video on the two-bucket wash and 2) Buy OctaneGuy's DVD on how to use a random orbit polisher. Initially the DVD will show you how to take care of your paint even without a polisher, later - who knows?
Watch your neighbor. If he is using two buckets and a lambs wool mitt, he is probably someone to get to know. My neighbor washes his car as much as I do, but he uses one bucket, a sponge and bath towels (he even throws the sponge on the ground).
Most of all, read some of the threads and get over your fear of doing damage. As long as you follow sound fundamentals you can't really hurt anything. Yes, even a brand-new MINI can use clay and if you follow the rules (don't reuse dropped clay & keep the paint lubricated) you can't hurt a thing.

 

One thing you said that caught my eye - you said the car has recently been detailed by a professional...

How long ago was that? It may not even *need* wax.

 

i tried epic this past weekend, it went.... okay. For some reason it seemed like i wasnt putting enough on. i would constantly have to apply more epic to the skinny pad thingy from DP. Also, a lot of areas never hazed... should it really haze up or just parts?

Also, i got some on the black trim which left some white marks, although it cleaned off for the most part, im now kicking myself for not ordering the Black WOW stuff with my last order. Now i gotta pay shipping for just the black wow, unless you guys can recommend me a different off the shelf product to use in the meantime.

 

Well I can send you a bottle of Black Wow using First Class mail--will add $2.84 to the price.

 

Do you have any pictures?? Black paint needs special care. If you've subjected it to car washes, the paint will be heavily swirled. Even if you hired a "pro" to work on it--we still don't know how good that pro is. He may have further hologramed the finish without you realizing what that means.

A heavily swirled black paint job will look grey instead of a rich black. Based on the fact that it looks better when wet--sounds to me that the paint is in need of some heavy cleaning with clay bar and a good waxing, and being black, I'm sure will benefit greatly from a polish job.

But pictures under full sunlight would definitely help us so we can help you.

Richard

 

how do you strip off epic, or other synthetic waxes? Also, whats the best way to prevent getting a clear bra line.... i guess i was being too sloppy with it but its truly a pain to clean off the edge of the clear bra.


hmm, i may take you up on that offer octane guy...

 

The black car is my current car- '02 T-bird. and I got it used and the paint was pretty flawed. The body shop recommended getting it buffed and polished to make the paint look better for resale. I'm trying to get it into the best shape to either sell it or trade it in for my Nightfire Red Mini which is on it's way across the pond. It looked great after it was buffed and polished but yes, heavy on the swirl marks. It had some spots that looked a lot like water spots but I couldn't get them to budge hence me trying every wax and polisher out there on the market. When they polished and buffed it did help most of those spots fade to black you could say. Is it even worth claying the T-Bird since it'll be gone in a month. Will I get a significant amount more for it if I invest the time, or at this point is it not even worth it. I'll try to take some Pictures tonight.

As for the new red beauty coming my way, I've been reading up on some of the other threads and I'm going to try to keep it simple so I don't mess it up from the beginning. I'll try the steps you and Heather oulined for SinMini a while ago. I'm still just really paranoid. When ya'll say to work in the shade, are you pulling the car in and out of the garage to alternately wax and rinse and all that fun stuff? I thought my neighbors were insane out washing their fleet of cars every weekend and here I am joining them already.

A simple cheap game plan for making the T-Bird gorgeous to ge top dollar for trade in would be greatly appreciated. Thankfully I'm in South Carolina so it's not too cold to be out washing cars during the winter.

Thanks to everyone for any help you can offer! Me, Fabio (T-Bird) and the future Rosey greatly appreciate it.

 

Might not be possible, it is a T-Bird.
Also if you are doing a trade in, don't worry about the paint. For the most part the value in trade will not change unless the condition is very, very good. Just relax and get ready for your MINI.

With the MINI, take the advice given above and get the OG video and DVD. Follow the directions and you will be good. Have fun with the MINI.

 

The thing is when you see the results of doing it right, you don't mind getting out there and washing a lot!

 

MINIkitty...where on the East Coast are you located? Maybe another MINI owner can assist you. If you are near Charlotte NC, I would offer my assistance.

 

I'm in Myrtle Beach. Why I'm concerned about the paint on the T-Bird is that when they did a preliminary appraisal they HATED my paint and I think the value went down because of that. I did get it detailed last week but I'm not sure if they waxed it big time. It was only a $60 detail and it took them a little over an hour. They did buff and polish and it looked amazing. Thanks to the sand in the air though, my car's already dirty again. I'm trying to figure out how to give it a good spit shine before I take it for the official trade in without having to get another detail. I bought some Meguires Clay on my way home and some turtle wax spray wax that I figured I'd try. Maybe I practice on the Bird before the Mini get's here. Can't wait!

Thanks for all the help. I was going to take pics but it was cloudy this afternoon so they wouldn't have turned out that good.

 

$60 Professional Detail

Yeah, that's pretty much what I expected. Take a black T-Bird and properly polish it out--will take 8 to 10 hours or longer to do it right, not 1hour.

They probably used a buffer and glazed the heck out of the paint--I'm sure your paint probably looks something like this in the sun--and if not...if you wash it, it will look most certainly look like that once the glaze is removed.



I agree with the other comment---if it's a trade--don't mess with it. Maybe get some Hydro and wash the paint with some Mystique and call it enough. Meguiar's makes good clay so you did good there. The spray wax isn't going to do much for making it look better.

I'm pretty certain that once you clay the paint--it will remove all the fillers that were used in the detail. A PC and some Swirl would actually be your best friend, but you've had to weigh whether spending $200 plus a weekend of your time is worth it to improve the finish.

Richard

 

It's so dusty right now I can't picture what the shine looks like right now. I'm going to wash it tomorrow and hopefully the sun will work with me and I can get some pictures. I don't think whatever they did could have made it worse. It actually looked pretty darn good after they finished with it. (compared to what I had managed in the past) Power tools and my car scare me. I'd rather get the hand waxing/polishing/rubbing thing down before I upgrade to power tools. a lot more wiggle room...

I've got someone interested in buying the car and she liked the finish so at least one person will be happy with it if she gets it. Poor Fabio, so mistreated. He's had most of his flaws since before I bought him a year and a half ago so who knows what was done to him before me.

 

There is a large misconception about the safety of power tools. Most people think of the rotary buffer when they think of power tools, but variable speed orbitals that we talk about here on this forum like the Porter Cable are safe and easy to use--can't mess up unless you try really hard.

I'm not saying that the $60 detail didn't make the paint look better. But what I'm trying to inform you is that this is known as a production detailer and the way they work is to mask flaws and even their own machine generated flaws using what are known as glazes. Your paint will look pretty decent for a few weeks until you wash it, then you will see the problem.

That's great you have an interested buyer!! Congrats

Richard

 

Well I thought I had posted an update here but I guess it never went through... oh well. I washed the car on Saturday morning and it looked great. I even clay barred some of the bigger problem areas i.e. the hood, trunk and other known paint flaws on the doors to see if i could help them. I managed to not mess up using the clay bar. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. I've posted pictures in my gallery of my car before and after. At least I was able to use the T-Bird to build my confidence for when Rosey get's here.

Thanks to everyone for all the help.

 

Looks good Kitty. It gets even easier as you progress and the results keep improving as well.
Thanks for the photos.

 

Looks great. If I were to own a North American car, that would be it

Mark

 

The car's great but he's definitely lived up to his name of Fabio (Pretty but high maintenance) 13 trips to the shop in a year and a half... no wonder I'm getting a brand new car with a full warranty. Hopefully Fabio's mystery problems have been fixed and he won't act up at his new home. I love the car but I don't think I'll miss it. It's bad when the mechanics are telling you to get rid of it.

 

Thanks for the pix. Yep, a PC with Swirl would do wonders for that paint!

Very telling!