Newbie Wash Mistake (few Scratches) - Need Advice

[rubberduckee]

Ok - Got a slightly used IS250 and made the dumbest newbie mistake in terms of car washing. I've always gone to the automatic washers to get stuff done with previous cars and after reading the forums I realized that I shouldn't be doing that with my new car.

Washed it the other day by hosing it down first and then starting with the wheels and later with the body. My mistake was not cleaning the brush and the bucket thoroughly after finishing up the wheels. I later found some scratch marks on my car - not many but its obviously enough to to bother me since I keep looking at them whenever I walk up to the car.

What should I do? The rest of the car seems fine (whew) but I have maybe 10 lines on the car that I noticed.

I've ordered everything I think I need (from combing the detailing forum here) including the PC 7424.

Should I spot polish the car? (Is that even possible?) Or do I need to do the entire car?

BTW: As for polishing, One of my biggest disadvantages that I currently have is that I don't have a garage at ,all so my car is parked outside. I know its recommended but can polishing be done under a shaded tree or in the evening? Or will the dust around me really screw things up?

[TOGWT]

Yes you can 'spot' polish'

I don't know what products you have to hand but always use the least agressive first.

[rubberduckee]

Yes you can 'spot' polish'

I don't know what products you have to hand but always use the least agressive first.

Thanks!

I ordered the following:

1 of: Meguiar's M8332 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish - 32 oz.

1 of: Meguiar's M8032 Speed Glaze - 32 oz.

1 PC 7424

1 Set of Sonus Dual Action Foam Pads.

1 of: Meguiar's G-12718 NXT Generation Tech Wax

That should be sufficient right?

I intend to do the following:

1) Wash Car

2) Clay Car

3) Wash Car

4) Spot Polish certain areas using M8332 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish

5) Wax entire car.

Is that a viable approach? Or is there something else (or product) that I'm missing?

PS: I'm not sure if this car has stuff on it prior to the purchase

[TOGWT]

I'm not sure if this car has stuff on it prior to the purchase

Megs DACP should do it. If your unsure of what 'stuff' is on the surface wipe down with a 1:1 solution f distilled water / IPA

[SW03ES]

Before you start polishing we need to address the washing issues that caused the damage. Two things in your post were red flags to me.

1. The technique. Wheels should always be washed LAST. In fact you should wash the car top down. Start with the roof, then the windows, then the trunk and hood, then the sides THEN the wheels. Always wipe in gentle straight lines, and dry the same way using high quality microfiber towels.

2. You said "brush". There are some brushes out there (like Griot's boars hair brush) that people use successfully for washing. I however am not a fan of them, always use good quality lambswool or chenile mitts or sponges. If you're using something like QEW or ONR I like microfiber sponges.

If you get the washing technique down, this won't happen again.

[denslexusgx470]

Before you start polishing we need to address the washing issues that caused the damage. Two things in your post were red flags to me.

1. The technique. Wheels should always be washed LAST. In fact you should wash the car top down. Start with the roof, then the windows, then the trunk and hood, then the sides THEN the wheels. Always wipe in gentle straight lines, and dry the same way using high quality microfiber towels.

2. You said "brush". There are some brushes out there (like Griot's boars hair brush) that people use successfully for washing. I however am not a fan of them, always use good quality lambswool or chenile mitts or sponges. If you're using something like QEW or ONR I like microfiber sponges.

If you get the washing technique down, this won't happen again.

Funny I start with the wheels too. My reason is because not only do I clean the wheels, I have to scrub down the wheel well (which takes awhile and the rest of the body would dry up by the time I get to drying the car). But since I know that it could collect rocks or dirt, I have 2 separate sponges and buckets so after I clean the wheels, on to the body. ;)

[rubberduckee]

Thanks for the tips - really appreciate it.

- This time, I'll start from the top to avoid this costly mistake. My reasoning for washing the wheels first was to get rid of as much dirt and rocks as possible but my carelessness in technique caused me quite a scare.

I've ordered some Meguiar's Wash chenile and will use it solely to wash the car.

As for the wheels, I'll use a brush.

As per denslexusgx470's suggestion, I've bought 3 separate buckets so that I can use one solely for the wheels.

It snowed quite a bit here in Boston today and I can't wait to go wash my car again.

I did find some rock chips on the front part of the car and I'm wondering if I should 'paint' them up or just leave them there. Will it rust?

[mburnickas]

For me, on wheels, if I use ONR, wheels are done last (with seperate MF mitt and WW towel). If I use a acid cleaner (yes I do on certain cars I do), wheels are always done first.

Like SW stated, a MF towel is good for drying. I like a WW towel vs the normal MF towels. just something to think about or FYI on what I do.

[denslexusgx470]

I did find some rock chips on the front part of the car and I'm wondering if I should 'paint' them up or just leave them there. Will it rust?

I presume that it may rust due to the fact that you get snow in your area (which is mixed with salt and other stuffs). Here where I live, I have a couple paint chips, and they never rusted. I have one in the front of my GX on the hood, and I always forget to have it touched up and it's been about 2 or 3 years since it happened. I found 1 paint chip on my 4Runner, and that too I keep forgetting to touch it up. :whistles:

If you don't want the touch up to look bad, ask your dealer about a professional paint touch up guy. My dealer did a couple touch ups on my GX before, it won't look as perfect as brand new but better than if I did it myself. ;)

[SW03ES]

As long as you don't use the same bucket, mitt, or towels for the wheels as the rest of the body then my all means they can be done first.

I also should have specified waffle weave MFs for drying.

As for rock chips, you do want to touch them up if only with a clearcoat to keep the metal from rusting. The hood is galvanized so it shouldn't rust through, but the surface of the exposed metal will rust if left untreated.

[rubberduckee]

Update:

I think I"m a moron as I still cannot figure this out. I washed my car today and it ended up having new lighth scratches again and one or two visible scratches. This is getting frustrating. I had separate buckets but did not have the mitts with me, instead i used a couple of MF to wash the car.

Perhaps its just the curse of being in Boston and having tons of snow and salt around. I already have my PC and stuff coming in the mail but at the way I'm going, I'll probably end up scratching my car again.

The problem is that I don't have a garage or driveway to wash the car and hence I have to go to a self-serve area which has the craziest water spray which even scares me when using. I was stupid enough to try to fill the water in the bucket with the spray - obviously a newbie sight when foam is drenched all over the place.

I have to somehow get this right and at the same time, I'm so afraid of damaging the car further.

I will try the ONR option and get a bunch of waffle weave MF.

[SW03ES]

Its the MF towels, they're not deep nap enough to wash the car with.

Are you thoroughly pre-rinsing the car before washing?

[mburnickas]

Use ONR and I think you might be rubbing to hard with the soap and mitts or MF towels. Let the items weights do the work.

I use (1) OZ ONR and the two bucket method sometimes and sometimes not. Either way, comes out mint. I use (1) WW towel and mitt for car and another set for tires.

Some pics of my car with ONR etc.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=34951

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=35514

[ducatist4]

Duckee

I purchased a 92 ls that the paint was a little better than "Good". I like using products by the name of "Wizard Car Care". I have a good friend that ownes a body shop and this is all they use.

When I polished the car it looked O.K. The thing that I noticed is that the better the finish got Inoticed more

imperfections. Scratches, rock chips, etc. Maby some of the imperfections were already on your car and you are polishing everything around them and they are more noticable.

For me this is not a 4 hour process. I will polish on a car for days. Then when I think I am done I notice the car in the bright sunlight and it has a bad case of the swirlies.

Don't be so hard an yourself, youll get it.

BTW my car is that dark jade green that looks black.

[backwoods lex]

I used to use microfiber mitts until I discovered wool. You can buy a Eurow/Detailers Pride wool mitt at Walmart for like $5. It's super soft and because there is no medium between my hand and the mitt, I can adjust the pressure of my hand more accurately (meaning I won't put too much pressure on the surface). Best wash tool I've used so far.

I do the wheels first so that the rest of the car won't get water spots, but I always use a different bucket and mitt for the paint.

[rubberduckee]

>>Are you thoroughly pre-rinsing the car before washing?

I drive to a self serve place and start off by 'hosing' the car down ($3.00 for 4 minutes) with the rinse option - which is powerful enough that I'm not even sure if its good for the car. I was just reading some article that was released in the UK about the dangers of spraying your car wheels because of the 'micro' holes it creates in the wheels due to the pressure.

>>Use ONR and I think you might be rubbing to hard with the soap and mitts or MF towels.

Yeah, you might be right - but I mean, if there is 'dirt' how do you even remove it? The moment you

In anycase, I'm going to try again - I haven't yet polished the car like until I get this right. I'm waiting for some items to come in and I'll try washing the car again. Here is what I'm going to do:

1) Drive to self service facility and hose the car down with water to get rid of most of the dirt

2) Clean the wheels and rinse.

3) Drive back (its like 1 mile away) and use the two bucket system with Plush mitts and wash the car

(I can only fill buckets of water at home as the self serve facility's water pressure is too great for me to even fill a 20 quart bucket - just spills out)

4) Rinse and then dry with Sonus drying towel which I just received today. Will 'dab' instead of 'wipe'

Trying to avoid as minimal contact as possible.