detaildoc

Looks like a good busy regimen.

I agree. Zaino is too plastic and sterile for my taste. I know Zaino recommends cotton, but most people do not recommend cotton. A high quality MF Towel is a lot safer. Okay so what product would YOU recommend? :) If you want a sealant, I would recommend Opti Seal or Ultima Paint Guard Plus. If you want a wax, I would go with P21s100%, Pinnacle Souveran Paste, Clerkote Carnauba Moose Wax, Collinte, Swissvax, Lusso Oro, Natty's, Chemical Guys, etc.

Hey no fair you beat me to it!!!!! Don't forget to post pics. You answered my question about polishing when you told me you had swirls and then ddoc said what you were using...so sounds like you are good!!!! As to swirls on my car, I have only used the spray car washes....I will never go to a auto car wash that has anything touching my cars paint. Did that with my last car and regretted it; also used cheap crap on my wheels and ruined them on my last car....that is why I started this post. Thanks to ddoc and SW03ES and mrburnikas and others, I won't make that mistake again and I will use good stuff. Now, I am probably not going to ever grow up to be like my hero detaildoc (ha ha), but I want to at least seal the paint and wax the car every so often to make it look good when I want it to. detaildoc is a mad man with his regimen (detaildoc were you in the Army?). Phew, I am not sure I could keep up with that and do my hobby (golf). On the PC or UDM, I may do that in a year or so also....but right now, I want to do it by hand. But hey rtj, you are now the expert huh (don't forget to post pics). Pretty soon I will have a second hero...you! ha ha! Stay away from any type of brushes. Use a high quality wool mitt or Lowe's Grout Sponge by Proline to wash.

Hey no fair you beat me to it!!!!! Don't forget to post pics. You answered my question about polishing when you told me you had swirls and then ddoc said what you were using...so sounds like you are good!!!! As to swirls on my car, I have only used the spray car washes....I will never go to a auto car wash that has anything touching my cars paint. Did that with my last car and regretted it; also used cheap crap on my wheels and ruined them on my last car....that is why I started this post. Thanks to ddoc and SW03ES and mrburnikas and others, I won't make that mistake again and I will use good stuff. Now, I am probably not going to ever grow up to be like my hero detaildoc (ha ha), but I want to at least seal the paint and wax the car every so often to make it look good when I want it to. detaildoc is a mad man with his regimen (detaildoc were you in the Army?). Phew, I am not sure I could keep up with that and do my hobby (golf). On the PC or UDM, I may do that in a year or so also....but right now, I want to do it by hand. But hey rtj, you are now the expert huh (don't forget to post pics). Pretty soon I will have a second hero...you! ha ha! Too funny. Yeah, I will admit, I am pretty obsessive about my regimen, but so is every single one of us Autopians. Keep reading the Autopia forums and you will be detailing like a pro. How obsessive am I about detailing? Well, here are some pics of my detailing supplies. I got a bunch more in boxes.

I agree. Zaino is too plastic and sterile for my taste. I know Zaino recommends cotton, but most people do not recommend cotton. A high quality MF Towel is a lot safer.

Yeap. That is why I would never get a black car. I am too OCD to deal with a black car. Getting the Porter Cable would be a great investment. It is a great tool, and very safe to use, especially if you stick to Sonus SFX 2 and 3 or Ultima Paint Prep Plus and polish with a white Lake Country Pad, or my favorite for those products, the DAS Green Pad.

Everything looks good, except for #5. USING AN MF OR ANYTHING TO WIPE OFF DIRT IS A NO NO. Doing that, even with a Quick Detailing Spray can scratch the paint. It is a lot safer to hose it down and it won't take that long. Post some pics when you are done.

Yes, it does have a clearcoat. My car is a smoky granite. Love that color. Follow the same recommendations you have read in this thread.

1) Nothing to be afraid of regarding Sonus Paintwork Cleanser. It will not hurt your paint at all or remove any clearcoat or paint, especially if applied by hand. You can apply it with a soft foam applicator or even a microfiber applicator, rubbing it in until it spreads well, then remove it with a clean MF towel. Do about 2 x2 square feet at a time. By hand it won't polish at all, it will simply clean the paint and leave a smoother finish. Trust me, you won't harm your car with this stuff. Even when applied by machine with a soft pad, you could do it every 3 months and not harm your car, it is that mild 2)As I clarified for him, you should not clay if you don't plan to polish by machine right after as claying will induce some marring. CLAYING ALWAYS INVOLVES THE USE OF A LUBRICANT. The Sonus Clay Bundle includes a lubricant and it is also sold by itself. Yes, the website does mention it, this is a quote from one of their pages: "NOTE: For paint surface protection, this product must be used with Sonus Glyde Clay Lubricant."

I hear you. Though she seems to know a lot about leather care and I do appreciate her advise, she still refuses to recommend products while putting down others. I did PM her twice and finally she recommended a leather cleaner, guess which one she recommended? Yeap, the one from her company. However, I did read a post in which she praised Leather Master.

I agree, leather protection is better, but in this case he is asking about the leather scent. Sonus leather Conditioner is safe to use and it will bring back that new leather scent. He can always follow up with Leather Master Protection Cream, which I would also recommend, and that will take care of the protection while still getting the benefits of the leather scent. I take it you have been reading Judy's posts : )

Yeah, that's the avatar I use on other forums like Autopia. I think that by polishing, RJT means using the Sonus Paintwork Cleanser and applying it by hand, which really won't polish (correct swirls), just do some paint cleaning which will be good.

This is not true, it will remove other wax...sort of. See TOGWT's above post for a good explanation. Hey SW03ES, wanted to validate something with you and detaildoc. I plan (when the darn weather gets warm) to use the Ultima Paint Guard Plus first...let it cure for 12+ hours and then use P21s-100 carnauba wax. That should work right? Yes it will work just fine, I do it all the time, in fact, I am doing that tonight. Once the Ultima has cured, it will not be removed by the application of P21s100%.

I have tried the Lexus conditioner and it does not come anywhere near to the original new leather scent. In fact, it smells awful, very chemically. Zaino is too strong and in my opinion it smells like an old leather mitt. I recommend Sonus Leather Cleaner and Conditioner. These products, instead of using heavy perfumes (like Zaino) it brings back the natural leather scent without the use of perfumes (which is only temporary). Try them, I think you will like them. When you first apply them, the scent is not great, but about 30 minutes later, you will smell the difference. You can get them here: http://www.autopia-carcare.com/car-leather...er-cleaner.html

If it does not end up too dirty or with heavy grime you can probably just hose it down at full pressure and then QD.

I also strongly recommend the Z8 as a topper. Z8 will add more depth and warmth, reducing some of that plastic sterile look of Zaino sealants.

Sure, you can, some warm water will help. As long as you don't have ice on the car you should be fine.

Lol! I would have known what he meant had he spelled out the name fully :D. The solution for me when it is raining and I really want to detail (if you have an available garage) is to wash with ONR in my garage http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-no-rinse.html. It is still a good idea though to pre rinse the car first with a hose to remove excess grime and dirt. I love this nozzle http://www.autopia-carcare.com/bai-hn-10c.html at autopia, simply one of the best I have used. Your wife is going to hate me, I am turning you into an addict :)

Yes, their customer service is excellent and Lynn Phillips is just amazing, she really is all about customer service. For all your future purchases, you can also add the coupon "autopia" for a 10% off or "shipfree" (or maybe it is "shippedfree") for free shipping on orders over $75, but you can only use one code so see which one would save you more money.

Nice car. Paint looks in good shape, though hard to tell from the pics. Best way to see swirl marks is under the sun and taking pics up close. Second best way is under halogen lights, I have these ones from sears http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_0...eyword=halogens They are usually on sale for $20 and they work great. You will probably be fine without polishing, but if you clay, will have end up having the need to polish by machine, trust me.

Yes, all Lexus Obsidian lack clearcoat. What is JGT? When I do the Ultima, I usually do it during a weekend when I am not planning to use it for 1 1/2 days, that way I don't have to worry about washing it again. For the Ultima, you only really need one MF. Apply all 3 coats of Ultima without buffing. Wait until the 12 hours after the last coat, then do the buffing. You will need approximately 2-3 to buff off the wax. You will also need 1 - 2 for the QD. I have about 10 MF's so that I don't have to wash them after each use. When you wash your MF's do not use powder detergent. I recommend you wash them with Woolite Original (liquid). Do not use bleach or fabric softerners. Wash them in warm or cold water and hang them out to dry. Try not to put them in the dryer, but if you have to, dry them in low.

Yes, all Lexus Obsidian lack clearcoat. What is JGT? When I do the Ultima, I usually do it during a weekend when I am not planning to use it for 1 1/2 days, that way I don't have to worry about washing it again. For the Ultima, you only really need one MF. Apply all 3 coats of Ultima without buffing. Wait until the 12 hours after the last coat, then do the buffing. You will need approximately 2-3 to buff off the wax. You will also need 1 - 2 for the QD. I have about 10 MF's so that I don't have to wash them after each use.

You're welcome. Three coats of UPGP seems to be the magic number for this product to produce amazing results.

One more thing for you guys. If you are not ready to clay and then polish, I recommend you get the Sonus Paintwork Cleanser and apply it with a foam or Microfiber applicator. This will also do some cleaning of your paint to get rid of contaminants and will leave the paint really slick.

You should not have to wait. Cars that come straight from the dealer are still exposed to the elements and are not always protected with high quality wax or sealant or even any at all. Most of the time the dealers just apply a glaze to give it shine and hide the swirl marks that are already on the paint from all the hosing down and drying of the car at the dealer. Think about it this way, do you really think the dealer will be waxing or applying a sealant every month on 100's of cars they have there to keep them protected? No way! When you take delivery of the car, it appears really clean, but that is just surface appearance. First thing I did was wash it and clay it, and the clay came out pretty dirty even though it was a new car. Apply some wax or sealant now. Nice list of supplies. Adding a wax or sealant does not get rid of the swirls. If you have swirls, then you would need to polish. In fact, I would not recommend adding a sealant if you have a lot swirls because sealants really highlight the underlying paint structure. This is one of the great things about sealants because they really make your paint stand out and the flakes pop; however, they will do the same for swirls if you have not polished. If the swirls are not so bad, you might be able to get away with it. Do you have a pic of your car and the swirls/scratches? To add a sealant you really need a well prep surface. If your car is brand new, they might not be so bad, depending on how the dealer washed it, but from my experience, most cars from dealers already come with a bunch of swirls. If you are going to add both a sealant and a wax, I would do the sealant first. If you are using Ultima Paint Guard Plus, I recommend 2-3 coats 12 hours apart, then 12 hours later (this is the curing time for that sealant) you can add the wax. Absolutely ditch the boars hair brush and never dust your Lexus with the California duster. The swirls and scratches will definitely show up even more on a dark color car. Remember, Lexus clearcoat and paint is one of the softest around, so you have to be extra careful.