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How Steve is detailing his white '97 SHO

Disclaimer: I do not endorse any of the products listed here. If any of these products eat the paint, metal and or rubber of your vehicle, I am not responsible.

Also note that we have a Culligan Water Softener (incredible by the way) so all of the water I use has a hardness of between 0 and 1, as we are coming right out of the softener itself. I am sure this will make the products perform better than hard water will.

I am not a car buff (pun intended) but I would like to take care of my new SHO. I thought I was taking care of my Probe, but the Nu Finish I was using is polish and I am sure that helped the crappy 1989 Ford clearcoat come off even sooner. Thus, don't take my word for religion.

I got a lot of the products listed here from other sites, such as the SHOtimes vehicle exterior care page. Some I am trying for myself. I will add products as I use them.

Index:

Detailing Clay - Updated 8/19/97
Washing - Updated 8/19/97
1. Update on mitts
Windshields

Detailing Clay

On several recommendations I picked up some Maguiar's Detailing Clay for around $13.00. It consists of a block of clay and a lubricant. Its job is to remove embedded grime, tar, spots, etc.

At first I thought I would use the clay up, but now its obvious I will run out of spray before that. :)

As I was washing, I could hear the towel dragging across the finish, so I found a section on the hood that had a lot of black and orange grim still, even after the wash. So, I spritzed the lube on and wiped it away, then soaked the area, made half the clay into a pancake and began to rub lightly.

I applied a little more pressure and all of a sudden the clay felt like it was on ice. As I worked it back and forth, the grime began to disappear, slowly, then wallah, it was gone. I worked the area I had tested (about 3x5), wiped up the lube and passed my fingers over the area - smooth as silk. The stuff works!

However, due to its nature of the lube and clay, I don't think its designed for the entire car type of job. Maguiars #1 is for that. The clay will work great for getting rid of any spot grime after a wash between complete cleaning/polishing/waxing. I have no idea if it just takes the grime out of the wax or if it will strip the wax as well.

For a first test, it worked well. But then again, for all I know it could have removed the clearcoat :)

I stored the two chunks of clay in a zip lock baggie to try and keep them moist.

Washing

Washing the car seems to be the biggest debate on the net - To use a car wash or to use Ivory liquid. So far, from what I have gathered, people don't like the car wash because it does not suds well, and others don't like Ivory because of its abrasives.

Being a new car and raining, I decided to wash the car before being detailed at the dealers tomorrow. I bought some Maguiars Car Wash and I'll tell you why. First off, we have a (repeat after me) water softener, so soap seems to be much more efficient than with hard water from a hose. Secondly, its new, so I thought I'd play it safe.

The bottle says to use no more than 4 capfuls. Since people suggested using one cleaning cloth for above the road grime level and one for below, I used 2 caps to 1 gallon of water. The soap suds up incredibly well.

For the top part, the trunk, roof, doors (above the lines) and the hood, I used a Detailer's Choice Chenille Cotton mitt. This worked very well. I rinsed the car off after cleaning it. I then emptied the bucket, rinsed it, then used 2 more caps and a gallon of water for the bottom half.

For the bottom part, the tail end and the face and grill, I used a Detailer's Choice 100% cotton wash pad (with sponge in middle). This worked very well because the sponge allowed the cotton to get into the grills on the front end and into the nooks along the lower side panelling. I was really happy with this. Rinse.

It started drizzling so I pulled the car into the garage. First I tried the Detailer's Choice Genuine chamois pad (as a sponge in middle) and was not happy with it at all. It might be good for nooks however.

I went through 12 Detailer's Choice 100% cotton terry towels to dry the car. These towels did not feel all that smooth, but I did not have a chance to wash them before using them. They felt very thin and I could hear them dragging across the car.

The dragging it turns out was from dirt grime as well as the terry. See my section on the detailing clay I tried out. After I used this, it was pretty quiet.

I'm not sure how it turned out - I don't think I got off all the water (It was pitch black at 9:30pm) so I might need to find some new towels. Also, the car was grimy and not waxed to a shine so that may have had a lot to do with it.

Mitts update

I made the mistake of watching the chenille cotton mitt and pad. What a mess! Chenille all oiver the machine. It was good though, because with the clean, I could see all of the dirt and crap embedded in the cotton fibers even after washing. Definately not good for future washes.

Windshields

My car has not been detailed by the dealer yet but it has a lot of water spots that they will be taking out. While at Pep Boys picking up some RainX as suggested, I noticed that RainX has a cleaning compound as well. I picked up a bottle and decided to give it a test while I have spots on the windshield.

First I used Windex to clean the film and grime off with a paper towel, then buffed dry with a wad of newspaper. The spots were still there in all their glory.

Next, I used a new terry cloth, damp and applied the Rain-X cleaning compound to the upper drivers quadrant of the windshield. I worked it in a circular, overlapping pattern. I applied another dab and repeated the pattern.

The bottle says to rinse with water until the product is gone, but a) Being in the garage at b) 1:00am and c) Not sure how the water runs off the windshield yet I just cleaned the cloth well, soaked it and used that to wipe away the product. This took 3 goes. Then I buffed the remaining water with wads of newspaper until dry. There was still some product at the edges of my pattern, so I think the rinse with water is a good idea, provided you are going to wash the car after this to remove any product that might get on the hood, doors, etc.

I got in the car and Windexed the inside (new car grime), shut off the garage light and turned on the headlights. (BTW: If you do this at 1:00am it is suggested that you write a web page about it immediately after so you can remmeber that you shut off the auto lamps and thus the headlamps are still on in the garage) From what I saw, the top half was crystal clear and the bottom half was spotted and streaked. I have not yet used the Rain-X treatment, I will wait until after the dealer details the car.

Followup: Wow! Its the next day and the difference in the section treated vs. the other sections is amazing! I did not even apply the Rain-X yet, just wiped off the cleaning compound!