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I'm a product junkie! I love trying out new products and then trying them again ... and again with other products I love to see if they will work into my regular routine. Like food, I don't stick to just one routine or one set of products but have a number of favourites and a number of favourite combinations.

Shampoo, Wash Mits and Drying

First thing ... throw away your sponge!

Second thing ... throw away your chamois! Unless you're me, of course, in which case you abhore drying towels and will be cold in your grave before giving up your Autoglym Synthetic Chamois :)

You can tell I like my chamois, but advice you'll read on detailing forums really is right - use two buckets and use a sheepskin mitten for delicate paints and a microfibre covered sponge for a slightly stronger bite if necessary.

While I am not sold on "grit guards", I find the two bucket method to be right - before returning your mitten or sponge into the bucket of suds, clean it out in a bucket of clean water. This is prevent the transfer of grit back onto the paint. Using either a sheepskin mitten or a microfibre sponge, my technique it to gently squeeze water to create a little wave ahead of the mitten or sponge that gently lifts dirt from the paint. Whichever drying method, I like to hose the paintwork down with gentle free-flowing water to remove as much standing water as possible.

So, shampoos:

Finish Kare 1016
Zymol Auto Wash
Dodo Juice Supernatural Shampoo

By far, my favourite shampoo is Finish Kare 1016. Using 1 fl oz per gallon of water, this shampoo has a slickness in the bucket, which translates as a very smooth finish on the paint, gives a good clean and leaves the surface with a fantastic gloss! Drying off is a doddle, too since many shampoos leave a waxiness that drags the drying towel or chamois, but not Finish Kare 1016 - this interacts with the underlying LSP to improve slickness and revive beading.

Aside from that, two other shampoos that are very close in terms of performance are Serious Performance Ultra Gloss Shampoo and Duragloss 901, the latter of which has a gorgeous cherry scent :)

Zymol Auto Wash is a no-frills shampoo with a heavy leaning towards natural ingredients. Perfect for a "posh wax and wax" 8)

For maintaining the purest finish from Dodo Juice Supernatural wax, I like their Supernatural shampoo - again, no scent, no colouring, just pure shampoo designed to clean paint, revive the wax and assist the sheeting of water during the drying stage.

Polishes

Polishing your paint is the only way to remove paint defects, such as oxidisation, bird etching, scratches, swirls and water marks. Machine polishing is the most effective way and the most effective of machines is the rotary polisher. I use a Kestrel SIM 180, which is not an expensive polisher and has a good feature set. Personally, I found that polishing with a dual-action or orbital polisher took so long that all the fun came out of it and so took up the rotary more out of a desire to show off a kind of elite skill than anything since I was very happy maintaining good paint by hand.

I used the 3M Finesse-It III Paint Rectification System:

3M Finesse-It III Fast Cut Plus Polish (3M50417)/Green Pad (3M50487)
3M Finesse-It III Extra Fine Polish (3M80349)/Yellow Pad (3M50488)
3M Finesse-It III Ultrafina SE Polish (3M50383)/Blue Pad (3M50388)

Combinations of pad and polish and even a single drop of a different polish can make these products a most versatile set for all colours and paint types.

For older cars in dire need of a basic clean-up, I tend to adopt the Meguiars Mirror Glaze range and Soft Buff pads:

Megiuars #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish
Meguiars #80 Speed Glaze
Meguiars #9 Swirl Mark Remover 2.0
Meguiars #3 Show Car Glaze

Other machine-orientated polishes I adore for specific jobs are from Autobright:

Autobright Used Car Glaze
Autobright Great White
Autobright Top Line
Autobright Foam Pad Polish

Autobright Used Car Glaze is a "one hit wonder", whether used on a compounding pad to work the abrasives most effectively and really work the cleansers, or on a finishing pad to maximise the use of the filler and sealant this is a truly stunning product for fast clean-up of used cars.

Autobright Great White is a kind of all-in-one product, but designed for use by machine - it is a good polish with a cut slightly below Menzerna Intensive Polish (PO85RD 3.02) and works out to leave a layer of carnauba protection behind. Ideal for one hit applications by machine.

Autobright Top Line is a cut below most defect removing polishes and a cut above most finishing polishes making it a most useful product indeed for cleaning up newer and well kept cars - essentially, a pre-wax cleanser.

Autobright Foam Pad Polish is simply a perfect finishing polish for machine use, filling the air with a gorgeous licquorice aroma and leaving the most deep finish you could imagine, with a long work time to really burnish in that finish. Imagine the finish jewelling away under the pad in your mind and as you lift the pad away ... it appears!

By hand, I have to recommend Autoglym Super Resin Polish - this is an all-in-one polish, which has a chemical cleaning action and can remove some oxidisation and water marks, a light abrasive and good filling agents for polishing and diminishing the appearance of swirling and light scratches and an acrylic sealant finish. Autosmart Platinum is another astonishing product for hand use and while it contains more modern filling agents which do not wash out as easily as Autoglym Super Resin Polish. For new and well kept paint that simply needs a little lift, I turn to Autoglym Ultra Deep Shine. Used as an all-in-one, this does just that - it delivers a deep shine, swirls filled and a layer of sealant left behind.

There is, of course, no reason why you could not use a finishing polish which will be rich in polishing oils, a dedicated swirl mark remover or even a pure polishing glaze:

Duragloss 671 Swirl Mark Remover
Sonus Professional Hand Applicator

For pads, I often simply use the 3M pads hooked onto a vectro hand strap but the Sonus Professional Hand applicator has two firmnesses of foam for two grades of cut. When used with Duragloss 671 Swirl Mark Remover the pad can be flipped over to the yellow side for a little more bite, if necessary, and back to the black side for improving the depth of finish.

Cleansers

You might well have gathered that all-in-one products have some chemical cleansers in there, but there are a good number of dedicated cleansers on the market and a couple that I keep in are:

Dodo Juice Lime Prime/Lite
Serious Performance Paint Cleanser
Car-Lack68 Nano-Systematic Care
Menzerna Top Inspection

Best used as a wipe-down after polishing to cleanse the surface back to pure paint or to help remove oxidisation by hand, these products do much the same job as any pre-wax lotions and prepare the surface to receive a wax or sealant.

I like to use Serious Performance Paint Cleanser when I am going for an all synthetic session on white and light coloured cars but prefer Dodo Juice Lime Prime/Lite as a precursor to a fine wax. The Lite version does not contain abrasives, which are sometimes useful if a little swirl mark removal is required as well in preparation for the wax. Dodo Juice Lime Prime and Lime Prime Lite, especially have some glazing oils which add to the depth of the final finish.

Car-Lack68 Nano-Systematic Care is worth a mention at this point. In fact, it is an all-in-one product that gives a light polish, cleanse and leaves behind a sealant layer and is much akin to Autoglym Super Resin Polish in many ways, without the resin fillers. Perfect as a preparatory layer to its sibling Long Life Sealant or prior to one of the Collinite waxes as a means of surviving the winter!

Of course, a simple wipe-down with isopropyl alcohol diluted half and half with distilled water will achieve much the same effect, as will a light spritz of inspection products, such as Menzerna Top Inspection.

Glazes

Having talked about polishes and gone some way into discussing glazes with some of the cross-over products, what exactly is a glaze? Well, historically it was simply an oily finishing product often with some filling action that left a wet look on paint finishes with a deep clarity.

As discussed above, swirl mark removers often contain some kind of glazing action as do pure polishes like Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze. Here are a couple of my favourite dedicated glazes:

Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze with Acrylic Shine
Autobright Purple Haze
Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze

The Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze with Acrylic Shine product is superb for using after all manner of polishes and really gives a dramatic improvement when following on from a hand polish and used as part of a series of layers that might follow on with a sealant, it is an excellent choice.

Autobright Purple Haze is a close relative of Autobright Foam Pad Polish and formulated for hand use goes a long way to offering that deep finish that can be left by Autobright Foam Pad Polish when used by machine.

Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze is actually a pure polish, high in renovating oils and quite a unique product. It can be used as often as you like and after whichever layer you like to further deepen that finish. Used on the show car circuit to give a final wipe of deep oily wetness over the top of waxes at the show, such layers can also be locked in with another coat of wax over the top. This layering method is very effective as producing a dramatic depth of finish. The rotary equivalent of Meguiars #7 is #3 Machine Glaze - superb when applied by rotary and can be applied by hand, but not to the same stunning effect as #7.

Similar, is Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite (as detailed above), which lends a very glossy depth to the routine but does contain cleansers so cannot be used in the same way as Meguiars #7 but is very similar in application and look on freshly polished paint.

Sealants

With a normal laying approach following the polish, glaze, seal and wax order it is right to discuss sealants at this juncture although sealants are perfectly good without a topping of wax and vice versa. In fact, on white, light colours, light metallics, dark metallics and even black metallic a sealant will offer a wet look and help the flake in metallics really pop out. There are a number of hybrid products that are marketed as "waxes" which are in fact for want of a better word - sealants.

Traditional wisdom that said sealants wick water away where wax beads up really gets messed up nowadays, as does the saying that waxes produce depth and warmth where a sealant will be glossy and bright. I tend to use sealants on my white car, but love the look that a wax offers on my black car. Here are a few of my favourite sealant products:

Duragloss 601 Pre-Bonding Agent
Duragloss 105 Total Performance Polish
Serious Performance Super Sealant
Finish Kare 1000P
Chemical Guys Jetseal 109

The Duragloss 601 Pre-Bonding Agent works together with a sealant like an epoxy to assist the sealant in bonding and strengthening the finish. Used with Duragloss 105 Total Performance Polish, even on white a deep finish can be achieved with some warmth that beads up as well as any wax.

Serious Performance Super Sealant is a perfect partner to their Paint Cleanser and works especially well, as Chemical Guys Jetseal 109 does under a wax, under a final layer of a glossy sealant, like Finish Kare 1000P.

Finish Kare 1000P is by far the best sealant I have used. Manufactured in paste form the finish is truly glass-like - not glassy as in bright, which it is, but glassy as in like when you look into a mirror and can see the structure of the glass as well as the reflection. It can give the appearance of an extra-thick layer of clearcoat! I like to use this after the Duragloss 601/105 Total Performance Polish combination for a perfect finish on white.

Finally, Chemical Guys Jetseal 109 is a very strong sealant which works especially well after Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze with Acrylic Shine, but does need to be followed with a wax for a good beading effect.

Waxes

Just as I have found a small number of sealants which I regard as perfect from the vast array on the market, I have a small number of waxes which I like to use. One could say that a wax is a wax is a wax - it should not interfere with the finish and especially so following a machine polish, a wax should simply protect that perfect finish and while that purist apporoach is most laudable we might in fact want some effects out of our wax products.

One such effect is depth and another gloss. These nuances are discussed and debated at length on detailing forums, but the other thing I want out of a wax is ease of use and my favourites are kept in for all these reasons:

Dodo Juice Supernatural
Swissvax Best of Show
Pinnacle Souveran
3M Show Car Paste Wax

Before going into further detail about how I like to layer a paste wax over a liquid wax for a perfect effect, I'll just outline what it is I like about these waxes.

Dodo Juice Supernatural is my favourite pure wax - it is manufactured without scent and without colour with only two ingredients: Carnauba Wax and Beeswax. Simply put, the purest wax for the purest look.

3M Show Car Paste Wax is pretty much my favourite engineered wax, pipped only by Swissvax Best of Show or perhaps Pinnacle Souveran. It leaves a perfectly boosted finish which is bright, glossy and with some extra depth but not darkened. Cited as the wax to use on blacks and red, I think it is perfect on all colours and paint finishes. Pinnacle Sourveran is most certainly best suited to blacks, reds and other high pigment colours - it has a darkening effect and an astounding depth when left in the sun to cure for a few hours. Both of these have wonderful fruit scents - coconut and banana.

Backing up a step, I like my paste waxes to be the final layer and to do that without interfering with the underlying layers. Liquid waxes are argued to last as long as paste waxes, but there is something in a paste wax that I just like to reserve for that last step protection product. What I want out of liquid waxes is depth and darkening ... and a couple that I really adore are:

Autobright Carnauba Better Wax
Meguiars #26 Hi-Tech Liquid Carnauba Wax

The Autobright Carnauba Better Wax is a buttery wet wax and everything you would expect out of Chemical Guys Butter Wet Wax, but buttery :) Meguiars #26 Hi-Tech Liquid Carnauba Wax has an astonishing darkening effect, but can be difficult to use at times - I find Autobright Carnauba Better Wax does everything I want at that stage, but keep coming back to Meguiars #26 Hi-Tech Liquid Carnauba Wax to see if I can really get it to work for me, especially after using Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze or Meguiars #81 Hand Polish. Needless to say, Autobright Carnauba Better Wax is a ideal topper to Autobright Purple Haze, or indeed any glaze.

For the winter months, I have a couple of tins and a bottle from Collinite that I just love using:

Collinite 476S, 915 & 845

For the full run down on Collinite waxes, please see my weblog but what I will say here is that these are by far the longest lasting waxes available. Due to a high solvent content, these waxes are best used after a polish or an acrylic sealant or all-in-one polishing product for while I highly recommend Car-Lack68 Nano-Systematic Care (which is also retailed under the Klasse and Jeff's Werkstat labels) with an optional layer of Car-Lack68 Long Life Sealant. Perfect winter products!

Spray Waxes and Spray Sealants

I also use a small number of spray waxes and spray sealants which I like to be able to pop a quick spritz of bling onto a finish to really set it off in good light:

Autosmart Reglaze
Chemical Guys Blitz
Lucas Slick Mist
Duragloss 951
Dodo Juice Red Mist

Autosmart Reglaze is a versatile product that can perform a number of functions depending upon the concentration, from a glass cleaner, to a waterless wash to a spray wax to a quick detailer. While the initial look is superb, it tends not to last too long. Worthwhile nevertheless.

Chemical Guys Blitz is really a hybrid wax/sealant in spray form - apply to a pad, wipe over and allow to haze before buffing off. I like this one to get a quick layer down if the weather is threatening.

Going one step further, Lucas Slick Mist and Duragloss 951 may be used as "wax it wet" type products, incorporating a drying aid and offering a layer of sealant onto the paint in one step - very useful for the winter months and Duragloss 951 is the perfect maintenance spray for Duragloss 105.

Last of all, Dodo Juice Red Mist is a unique product which evaporates very quickly indeed so a refined technique is necessary, but the darkened and smoothed look is staggering! Beading is astonishing, too! I like to use this product in very good light to really crisp up an already perfect finish into an unbelieveable finish 8)

Quick Detailers

Whether used to assist drying, remove dust or fingerprints from a cherished finish or simply to pop a layer of bling onto a washed car, quick detailers are really useful and I tend to stick to just a couple, now:

Serious Performance Quick Detailer
Serious Performance Show Detailer

Both products are available in a strong concentrate of 500 ml which makes up 1 gallon of product. The quick detailer is a no-frills product. It has some light cleaning agents in there which help remove newly formed water spots and some lubricating polymers which make it ideal for dust removal, a drying aid and just to freshen up a surface.

The Show Detailer is just that - it is a different product altogether and high in shine enhancing polymers with some good anti-static properties, making it an ideal product for refreshing a surface with an eye-popping shine. Furthermore, it acts much like a "wax it wet" product when used as a drying aid although protection is not as strong as with dedicated spray sealants.

Dressings, Trim Treatments and Tyre Shine

I have tried a lot of products in this category and keep coming back to Autoglym for their Vinyl & Rubber Care, Bumper Care and Instant Tyre Dressing products, but having found Autosmart TNT Treatment I have a product that I can use on all internal trim, external trim and tyres. While not lasting as long as the individual Autoglym products on the exterior, it is such an easy product to use that it remains a favourite of mine:

Autosmart TNT Treatment
Autoglym Bumper Care
Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing

For application of external trim and tyre products, I like to use foam. Take a conventional washing sponge and cut it into small sections suitable for application to the sizes of your external trim or tyres.

Cabriolet Roof Care

No contest:

Autoglym Convertible Hood Kit

Autoglym Convertible Hood Kit will leave your roof protected and beading as well as your paintwork. Use once a year towards the end of summer and take care not to get the protectant on your paintwork unless you intend to undertake a strong cleansing or polishing session.

Leather Care

Again, no contest:

Gliptone Leather Cleaner (GT12)
Gliptone Leather Conditioner (GT11)
Gliptone Gentle Leather Cleaner (GLIE10)

Aside from smelling like proper old-fashioned car leather, these products simply work. I like to massage the conditioner into the leather by hand rather than with an applicator - use latex gloves to protect agains skin irritation.

For cleaning work, I use a pure bristle nail brish for heavy soiling and like a simple microfibre towel for light cleaning.

Automotive Detailing Albums on Picasa Web

SAAB Classic 900 Convertible (DH) 16/07/2008

SAAB 900 Convertible polished with 3M Fast Cut Plus, Menzerna Power Finish, Autobright Top Line, Autobright Foam Pad Polish & 3M Ultrafina SE and finished with Swissvax Best of Show

SAAB Classic 900 Turbo (PH) 29/06/2009

SAAB 900 Turbo polished with Serious Performance Fine Cut, Autobright Top Line, Autobright Foam Pad Polish & 3M Ultrafina SE and finished with ValetPro Artemis Wax Seal

FIAT Punto MK2B Sporting de-swirled with 3M Fine Cut and 3M Ultrafine SE polishes, topped with Collinite 915 Marque D'Elegance

FIAT Punto MK2B Sporting (DF) 12/05/2009

Renault Megane Coupe de-swirled with 3M Fine Cut and 3M Ultrafine SE polishes before sealing with Car-Lack68 Nano Systematic Care

Renault Megane Coupe (MD) 06/05/2009

Jaguar XJ8 detailed with Autobright Perfection polish, topped with Collinite 915 Marque D'Elegance wax

Jaguar XJ8 (SGH) 18/10/2008

FIAT Bravo SX detailed with Bilt Hamber Auto Balm

FIAT Bravo SX Detail (Ed) 18/10/2008

SAAB Classic 900 Convertible Pinnacle Souveran Detail (DH) 14/06/2008

Classic SAAB 900 Convertible detailed with Car-Lack68 NSC and Pinnacle Souveran wax

SAAB Classic 900 Convertible Detail (SA) 18/05/2008

Classic SAAB 900 Convertible detailed with machine-applied Sonus polishes, Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze and Collinite 476S & 915 waxes

Proton Persona GLSi detailed with Autoglym SRP & UDS, Collinite 476S Super Doublecoat Wax and Meguiars for the external trim

Proton Personal 1.5 GLSi Detail (Ed) 09/02/2008

SAAB 9000 Anniversary Detail (WJ) 17/11/2007

SAAB 9000 Anniversary detailed with Autoglym SRP, Car-Lack68 NSC and Collinite 476S Super Doublecoat Wax

Daimler Six detailed with Autoglym SRP and UDS, topped with Meguiars NXT Tech Wax

Daimler Six (SGH) Detail 31/05/2007

Daimler Six detailed with Autoglym Paint Restorer, Autoglym SRP and UDS, topped with Meguiars NXT Tech Wax

Daimler Six (SGH) Detail 12/04/2007

Automotive Detailing Albums ~pjgh

SAAB 900 Convertible prepared with Dodo Juice Supernatural shampoo and mitten, then cleansed with Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite by rotary on a 3M finishing pad and topped with Dodo Juice Supernatural V2 wax - the purest look for the purest finish!

SAAB 900 Convertible enjoying a little fun with Crystal Noir

SAAB 900 Convertible treated to a winter gloss revival with Autobright Purple Haze and Autobright Butter Wax

SAAB 900 Convertible prepared with Dodo Juice Lime Prime and waxes with Dodo Juice Purple Haze, Banana Armour and topped with Supernatural waxes

SAAB 900 treated to a de-swirl with Duragloss 671 Swirl Remover

SAAB 900 polished with Serious Performance Fine Cut Polish and then split down the middle with one side treated to Serious Performance Finishing Polish & Super Sealant while the other side enjoys Finish Kare 303 Foam Pad Glaze & 2180 Ultra Seal Polymer Sealant followed by Finish Kare 1000P Hi-Temp Sealant on the bonnet and Finish Kare 2658 Pink Wax on the roof

SAAB 900 Turbo washed with Duragloss 901, cleansed with Duragloss 652 and then pre-bond and polished with Duragloss 601 & 105

SAAB 900 Turbo washed with Zymol Auto Wash, polished with Autoglym Super Resin Polish and finished with Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection

SAAB 900 Turbo washed with Zymol Auto Wash and finished with Armor All Hi-Shine Soft Paste Wax

SAAB 900 Convertible prepared with Car-Lack68 NSC and finished with Pinnacle Souveran Wax

SAAB 900 Convertible prepared with Car-Lack68 NSC, Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze for Meguiars #16 Professional Mirror Glaze Wax

SAAB 900 Convertible corrected with Autoglym Paint Restorer, polished with Autoglym Super Resin Polish, glazed with Autoglym Ultra-Deep Shine and waxed with Meguiars NXT Tech Wax