Thanks greg. I have used your water sheeting method for some time now, and I love it! Blotting not wiping. That's helpful. I have been wiping with minimal pressure.
When your done drying, do you typically use a quick detailer spray? If so how do you avoid swirls then?
Idusted my car with the Cd but that swirled her. Then I tried dusting with zaino z6 and cotton towels. That too swirled her. Should I try a mf for this step? Should I even be attemting this step, or should I be washing hith water? I think my wash detail is good. I use the two pail method and cotton cloth with little pressure. How would I know if it's not?
I recently trashed all my cloths thinking they were too rough. I bought the softest 100% cotton towels I could find. I have yet to try them.
Any help Greg would be appreciated.
I too have learned a lot of proper detailing from Greg and some of the other senior posters (CM5GO, TCM, Atomic80 among others).
One of the tips I picked up was to use the CD method for determining what scratches and what does not. Take a new CD (preferably one you don't care about ) and rub your favorite towel/rag/sponge/mit across the shiny back. Keep to one direction. Now examine under a good light, maneuvering the CD so you can really see the surface.
Are there swirls or scratches? I discovered right away that the cotton towels I was using were scratching like mad. I moved on up to microfiber towels, and was lucky that the first brand I picked did not scratch. However, I was still getting swirled. More CD experimenting, and I found that the stitching used on the outside edges of the MF towels was also scratching! I cut all the edge seams off.
Still introducing swirls, albeit at a much lesser rate, I tried the last item that was still touching my paint: the sheepskin mit. I tried it dry against the CD, and completely swirled it. I knew it couldn't be that bad since my car was not that bad, so I tried it with soap and water just the way I wash it. This did not scratch the CD. I now keep the mit soaking wet and very soapy while cleaning.
Understanding and identifying your swirl sources will provide the most swirl reduction for the least amount of effort. As Greg has said before, you cannot keep it swirl free, you can only control the rate at which swirls are introduced.
Originally posted by rebel1 When your done drying, do you typically use a quick detailer spray? If so how do you avoid swirls then?
Yes - I do. At this point you've removed much of the dust, so swirling will be LESS. If your car has gotten wet since the last wash, however, there is still a lot of grit adhered to the surface. Washing is probably a better choice. But during the summer months I was able to keep the Porsche looking great for 3 weeks without a single wash by frequently dusting, and occasional detail spraying. For this I use MF wipes, and I try to constantly roll my hand as I move so that any dirt I might pick up is no longer in contact with the car. Watch the towel carefully. If it picks up noticeable dirt in a single wipe, the car is probably too dirty to risk it.
Quote:
I dusted my car with the Cd but that swirled her. Then I tried dusting with zaino z6 and cotton towels. That too swirled her. Should I try a mf for this step? Should I even be attemting this step, or should I be washing hith water? I think my wash detail is good. I use the two pail method and cotton cloth with little pressure. How would I know if it's not?
The Calif Car Duster won't scratch as long as you're not pressing it onto the surface. I HAVE seen it move oils from a wax or polish around, or even leave little of its own parafin, if you dust when the car is warm. Take a MF wipe and a little detail spray to it and see if they go away. One thing I do whenever I suspect scratching (swirling) is to make one or two strokes in the same area, but at 90 degrees to the original ones. If the swirls don't move, they were there in the first place. If the old ones disappear and new ones appear in the new direction, you're moving something on the surface. If you still see the old ones AND you see new ones in the new direction, STOP - you're adding swirls!
__________________
'00 M5 - The Ultimate Ultimate Driving Machine! Greg's M5 Page
'01 996 TT - Greg's Porsche Turbo Page
'00 A6 4.2 - doesn't deserve a web page
I use the same sheating method with the leaf blower. Honestly though, one coat of Z5 and all whirls are gone. I can't find any. I also swear by clay bars. Zaino brand doesn't seam to work any better than the ones I've tried at Pep Boys (forget the brand).
You'd be amazed at the crap that comes off of a car that looks completely clean.
FYI. Zaino vs Zymol vs Meguiar's Gold Class. Not sure if this is the same Meguiar's that was mentioned by Greg or not. Interesting reading though.
rebel1 www.neatitems.com has some great mf towels as does www.yosteve.com and Meguiars You can also go to www.autopia.org where you can find many reviews and comparisons of different brands. For drying I have found that in addition to Greg's drying technique, the "big blue drying towel" from Classic Motoring Accesories at www.properautocare.com is very hard to beat. Hope this helps
Bill
__________________
2006 E63 M6 Silver Gray/Blk/Carbon
2006 E60 Black/Black/Aluminum-SOLD
2006 Infiniti QX56
2005 Range Rover
2002 M5 Titanium Silver/Silverstone/Aluminum- SOLD
) and rub your favorite towel/rag/sponge/mit across the shiny back. Keep to one direction. Now examine under a good light, maneuvering the CD so you can really see the surface.
Linear Mode
