So I've read through all the posts and I'm psyched about detailing my car by myself for the first time! Only problem is that I only have a couple hours a day, rather than several hours at the same time. So I've been thinking about how to approach this. I'm armed with a clay bar, Glide and wax. What do you think would give me the best results?

1. Wash off the wax and clay bar the entire car one day. Then another day, rewash it and wax it.

or

2. Wash off wax, clay bar and wax half the car one day, then the same for the other half another day (obviously being careful not to wash off the wax I applied the previous day!)

The car is a year old and has not been detailed yet. I'm really looking to get off the little brown goo spots and seal it up. Planning to this whole process once a year. Oh, and I don't have an orbital waxer, so it's all gonna be done by hand

 

#1

 

#3. wash and clay, then Hydro. call it a day.

 

Oh yeah? I got some of that Hydro stuff! So you think Hydro is a suitable substitute for a proper wax?

 

hydro is proper wax

 

If the car will be garaged between sessions, go with #1, otherwise go with #2.
No point letting dust get on the paint before you wax, so unless the paint is clean, don't wax it.
Mark

 

A proper wax that needs to be re-applied at least every other wash.
Banana Gloss will last about 5-6 weeks.

A good quality sealant/wax, will lasts a least 6 months, longer with proper washing and applications of Hydro.

Mark

 

+1. Recently adopted this. I had the advantage of doing it with ONR (Optimum No Rinse) which you can wash just one panel at a time and then go through the entire process.

I would wash (ONR), clay, polish with swirl, glaze with Amigo, and then apply Epic on one section. Would take me 20-40 minutes per section (ie Door, bonnet, etc) so it was manageable bites for me.

 

What kind of wax are you planning on " washing" off? Most synthetic waxes will not wash off with car wash solutions.

I tend to do what cadfael_tex does if time is limited.

Mark

 

Day 0 (and several days prior) lots of research on this forum
Day 1, washed
Day 2, clayed
Day 3, Epic
Day 4, took critisism from spouse for not letting her drive the car while it sat in the garage getting pampered
Day 5, Banana Gloss & Hydro
Day 6, enjoyed the fruits of my labor
Day 7, rain

 

This is all very helpful. So assuming that I wash and clay on day 1, then proceed to next steps in the future. I assume that it's fine to re-wash a couple days later and then apply wax right away?

 

should be no problem at all.