I love detailing cars. Nothing like taking a car that’s nice, but suffering the woes of too much commuting, and cleaning it up, buffing it out, and really making it sparkle. Or taking an already nice clean car, and getting it ready for the nearest casual show’n’shine event. I have two adult daughters, each with a car that gets used daily and never spends a night in the garage. It’s become somewhat of a father-daughter(s) project that we do together when either kid/car combo are near me, and we have the time.
My guess is that you may have “waxed” your car, or had it detailed at the beginning of summer, but now as we near fall weather, it’s time to do it again. All that protection you applied to your car’s paint, upholstery, and rubber trim has long worn off during the summer, so it’s time to hit it again with the anticipation of fall and winter weather coming soon. Plus who doesn’t like a clean, shiny car – and it’s true that they run better too.
With this installment I’ll use primarily Mothers Polishes Waxes and Cleaners. You may ask about the line of car care goodies made by that other big car care products company that starts with an “M.” They make fine stuff and I use it. But today we’re not mixing our metaphors. Keep in mind too that I’m talking about light to medium duty detailing for modern cars with basecoat/clearcoat paint that’s in generally good shape. If you have single stage paint, paint that’s seriously faded or otherwise damaged, or old school lacquer paint, that can be a much different animal. Consult with the folks at Mothers about how to attack unique car care or paint surface problems, and make sure you’re using the right products.
Today the subject is daughter Mo’s 2008 Ford Focus SE, factory painted Vista Blue Metallic Clearcoat. The paint has some nicks and scraps and touch ups, but otherwise is original and in pretty good shape.
The most important first step is to ensure the car is really clean. Use degreaser to clean up rocker panels or any other areas with surface grease or gunk on them, as you can’t polish or wax over that stuff. We usually take it to a full service car wash prior to detailing, because they vacuum the cabin, wash windows in and out, and generally get off the accumulated dirt and scunge. If not, Mothers makes several concentrated, bio and paint friendly car wash products ready for your bucket and wash mitt (and they’ll even sell you an excellent bucket and wash mit). Again consult their crack customer service types or their website for info on what’s right for your car and the job at hand (www.mothers.com).
After the car is really clean, and dry, it’s time for a clay-bar treatment. Think of Mother’s California Gold Clay Bar as an exfoliation treatment for your paint. It strips away built up solids, bird stains or other surface contaminants, leaving the paint’s pores open and ready for polishing. It may sound strange or scary to take an abrasive clay bar to your paint, but it’s not. Spray a two-foot square surface with Mothers Showtime “quick detail spray” to lubricate the paint, and then rub the bar gently across the surface. You’ll see the gross gritty bits building up on the clay bar, and you’ll even hear the bar cutting into the gunk as you wipe it across the surface. Make sure to keep the paint wet with Showtime or the clay will stick and drag on the surface. As the ick comes off, you won’t hear the soft scraping sound anymore, and you’ll feel that the paint has become smooth to the touch.
Now dry that section and move on to the next. For wiping off Showtime, wax removal, or even just cleaning your windows, I recommend one type of towel, that being Mothers fabulous amazing Microfiber towels or polishing cloths. The bright yellow golish ones you see at many car washes and good detail shops. Many detailers use and recommend ultra soft, cloth diapers that have been washed oodles of times. They’re fine too, but I find that the Microfiber towels, even though super soft to the touch, have a bit more grab to them, and really dry off the Showtime and/or remove wax to perfection. Continually refold the towel to expose clean dry surface, and switch to a new clean towel often. And wash them often, remembering not to use fabric softener or bleach, nor any “Bounce” type sheets in the dryer.
I hate to try to wipe wax or polish residue off of black rubber surfaces that I may have accidentally contacted during polishing or waxing, so I usually treat the black rubber trim first, which makes removing any polish residue easy. Mothers makes a wide variety of products of rubber trim, my favorite is VLR, designed, appropriately enough, for use on Vinyl, Leather, or Rubber. And it’s also the greatest stuff for the black woven vinyl convertible top on my Mustang. Another is Mothers Protectant, a little shinier than VLR, but also makes rubber and plastic trim shine like new and helps protect it from the elements and guard against cracking. Another of their famous products for this type of job is Back To Black – very effective stuff and restoring the look of plastic and rubber trim, although I find it just a bit too greasy. But you can always apply some, and then later wipe down with a clean cloth to remove any surface residue if the initial result is too shiny.
We all first detailed cars by hand with small cloth or foam pads, but I was always envious of the professional detailers that had power buffers (you know guys and power tools!). I’ve since become a big fan of orbital buffers, which simulate a circular hand motion and won’t burn through your paint. Mothers makes a nifty “palm buffer” that’s light and easy to use, with easily removed and attached washable foam polishing pads. It’s called the Wax Attack polisher, and not only saves a ton of time and elbow grease, it’s really effective at buffing and polishing the paint’s surface to a high scratch free gloss. It’s sold on the Mothers website eStore, and the $80 kit includes a bottle of cleaner/polish, a protectant wax formulated especially for use with a buffer, polish pads, and a microfiber polishing cloth (although you’ll want and need more than one, but no worries as Mothers also sells them in twelvepacks). I’ll never detail another car without this little guy, and the kit gives you much of what you need to do the job.
Everyone has their own philosophy about what is best; synthetic waxes, natural waxes with real carnuba, one steps, or multi step processes. For best result, I submit that multi step processes usually give a better result and last longer, but if you don’t have time (or the desire) to polish then wax, try Mothers Carnuba One Step cleaner wax. It does everything well, is made for modern paint finishes, and is long lasting. Otherwise, you’ll be thrilled with the result by using the two stage Power Polish and Power Wax products that come with the Wax Attack buffer kit. It’s great stuff.
Now clean the glass, polish the chrome, and treat your tires, rubber and interior for that new car look feel and smell, then go for a drive – you’ve earned it. And to keep the car looking great, you can wax “in between detail jobs” using Mothers Spray Wax, and keep it nice with the company’s wax infused car wash and Showtime Detail Spray.
You can buy it all at your nearest automotive retailer, or at the eStore on www.mothers.com.
Stay shiny!
No amount of wax buffing or polishing will help this poor FJ40 — too bad!