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Need detailing advice... aka Andy come inside.


Doug1647545489

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So I'm trying to keep the paint on my car as perfect as possible. I know as long as I daily drive it that will be an uphill battle. What I'm have issues with is clear coat scratches. I thought I was doing everything right, but I already have a ton of these things. Deep enough to catch with my nail. I believe I did it when I was either washing or drying. They are straight and not circular like when I wax and wipe. What the hell can I do to limit these scratches. I already do the two bucket wash with the catch at the bottom. Always use a freshly washed mit and anything that hits the ground gets thrown away. Clean absorber to dry. Meguires tech wax soap and gold class wax. When I'm done the horizontal surface aren't even that smooth. Sides are very smooth. Seems like the clear coat is way more prone to scratching than my last car.

 

Don't get me wrong the car looks great, but at certain angles you can see the little scratches. Kinda bothers me. I plan on getting someone reputable to machine polish it after the winter to start over. I don't want to fuck it up again. I'm thinking about clay barring it in the meantime to see if I can get it smoother.

 

Oh and here's a pic from the last cars and coffee.

 

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs054.ash2/36047_458096097224_515552224_4993816_4002360_n.jpg

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Are you OCD by chance? Not making fun at all but just going off that pic it looks great. And be realistic if you are daily driving your car it will be near impossible for it to be constantly perfect. You could always keep it in a garage and only drive it when its 70 degrees and sunny but what would be the point?
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clay bar will scratch the clear, its an abrassive

and using an absorber will also scratch

 

if you use a clay bar, make sure its well lubed, and plan on machine polishing out some of the fine scratches afterwards

 

ditch the absorber and use a leaf blower to dry the car

you can also use a large waffle type drying towel afterwards

then use a light hand polish to get any left over water spots off if any are present

then wax as normal

 

also a good foaming gun to presoak the car when washign is good.. presoak with a good foamy mixture, it will loosen the dirt, rinse, refoam and and go to work with your wash mit/sponge.. good job with the 2 bucket technique with the grit guard.. your on the right track!

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I do plan on getting a truck soon but that's beside the point. These aren't swirl marks that you'd expect to get over time. They are full on scratches you can feel. They are 100 % self induced and I need to figure out why. I've only washed it 5-6 times and it already needs some major work to restore the clear coat so I'm doing something wrong.
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I do plan on getting a truck soon but that's beside the point. These aren't swirl marks that you'd expect to get over time. They are full on scratches you can feel. They are 100 % self induced and I need to figure out why. I've only washed it 5-6 times and it already needs some major work to restore the clear coat so I'm doing something wrong.

 

Check your pants/shirts and make sure you're not leaning into the car when washing it and having a buckle or snaps/buttons that may be causing scratches. I know my dad did that on a car and we couldn't figure out why his doors had slight marks on them.

 

Also, are you sure it was your technique and not someone scratching the car out of jealousy or something?

 

Just looking at all the options.

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clay bar will scratch the clear, its an abrassive

and using an absorber will also scratch

 

if you use a clay bar, make sure its well lubed, and plan on machine polishing out some of the fine scratches afterwards

 

ditch the absorber and use a leaf blower to dry the car

you can also use a large waffle type drying towel afterwards

then use a light hand polish to get any left over water spots off if any are present

then wax as normal

 

also a good foaming gun to presoak the car when washign is good.. presoak with a good foamy mixture, it will loosen the dirt, rinse, refoam and and go to work with your wash mit/sponge.. good job with the 2 bucket technique with the grit guard.. your on the right track!

 

Ryan has already summed up what needs to be said.

 

Ditch that absorber. It's the only thing that stands out in your routein as a problem that I see. Leaf blowers are pretty cheap and amazingly effective at getting a good chunk of the water off of the car before you start wiping it with anything. Waffle weave microfiber is the way to go for final drying. (PM me if you want to buy a couple :D ) Also for your final rinse it helps to take the nozel off of the hose and just let water run over the car instead of spraying it with pressure. Sheets water away insead of leaving beads all over the place.

 

Clay will smooth out the rough texture you feel on the horizontal surfaces. It's nearly impossible to clay without inducing some sort of additional marring though. I won't clay a car unless i'm prepared to polish it afterwords.

 

Foam guns are nice too. I highly recommend them for your regular wash regimine.

 

The last thing to look at would be your mits. Generally wash mits are mostly safe. I've been a huge fan of sponges that last year or so simply because it does a better job of pulling in contaminants and keeping it away from he paint as you clean.

 

Something is Def. off though if you're creating scratches you can feel in the washing process as the ones you can feel are pretty f'ing deep.

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Check your pants/shirts and make sure you're not leaning into the car when washing it and having a buckle or snaps/buttons that may be causing scratches. I know my dad did that on a car and we couldn't figure out why his doors had slight marks on them.

 

Also, are you sure it was your technique and not someone scratching the car out of jealousy or something?

 

Just looking at all the options.

 

No it's from washing. The worst areas are roof, hood, trunk lid.

 

How about those soaps that don't require much drying? Any good?

 

I'll try the leaf blower thing, but my leaf blower is an attachment on my trimmer so it will less than ideal.

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