If you had a brand new white F150 and found alot of rail dust on it(looks like tiny rust) and you had all zaino products available, what products would you use and what steps would you take. I have never waxed a car and need full complete instructions from start to finish.

 

After a dawn wash, Z-18 clay bar. Then a mild polish which Zaino does not have. Meguiars #9 is cheap, readily availble and easy to use. Then start layering Z2.

 

I’ll add a bit to what APT posted.

1. Wash truck with the dawn dishwashing soap. This will strip any wax or grease residue that may be present on the paint.

2. Get a 20oz size or so plastic spray bottle. Fill it 2/3 full of clean water. Put about half a cap (from the Zaino car wash bottle) of the Zaino car wash in with the water. Put the spray nozzle back on and mix solution.

You will use this to lubricate the paint when claying the truck.

3. Use the Zaino, or any good brand of clay. If it is the Zaino clay it comes with two pieces in the bottle. Take one and separate it into 2 pieces. Main reason for doing this is IF you DROP it on the ground you MUST throw the clay away. Do NOT bother trying to get the dropped clay clean because you will never get all the little dirt specks out, some you won’t see but if you try to use it after dropping on the ground you WILL see nice little scratches in your paint.

Now with your piece of clay in hand, spray the mixed solution on an area of about 1 sq foot. Spray generously (the solution is cheap so don’t worry about over kill) if you spray to lightly if will dry up quick, which makes it easy for the clay to STICK to the paint (no problem) except when it sticks you’re most likely to drop it. Move the clay back and forth until it feels smooth or feels like it needs more lubrication. You will know if you are picking stuff up because it feels a bit rough, or kind of like clicking while you go back and forth. When it is real smooth you know the area is done. You may also find most the truck feels smooth as you clay, but down around the fenders, bottom of the door etc will most likely be the areas that need the claying.

As your claying you want to turn the clay frequently, knead it where your turning the area of the clay you used into itself to expose an area of clay that has not been used yet. If you use the same area of the clay, especially after you feel a rough spot on the paint surface you will be dragging the stuff you picked up across the paint. Myself I would recommend after you do 1 – 2 areas to knead the clay and use and area that hasn’t been used yet.

4. After you finish claying wash the truck again, this time use the Zaino car wash.

5. Dry the truck using 100% cotton towels (made in the USA). The good brands not the cheap crap from overseas, because even though they say 100% cotton they have other materials in them that could scratch the paint. There may be other recommendations for drying from other post so you decide which suits you best.

6. After the truck has been dried your ready to polish using the Zaino. If you do not have the ZFX I would HIGHLY recommend you get the ZFX. The following is assuming you’re using the ZFX, if not the dry time may be much longer after you put a coat on.

7. Mix the ZFX with the Z2 using the 2oz bottles provided in the kit. If you fill the bottle close to 2oz then you will want about 8 drops of the ZFX. Mix well for about a minute. Let sit for about 5 minutes while you get things ready.

8. Get your applicator ready by wetting it and ringing it out good. This helps so it doesn’t absorb a lot of the polish. After the 5 minutes re-shake the bottle again and now your ready to polish. On the sides of the truck, doors, fenders, tailgate etc put the polish on in an up and down motion (not circular) just straight up and down. Put it on LIGHTLY I would say about a dime size amount of polish on the applicator will do about a 2 foot section or so.

On the hood, do the same straight application, from the windshield to the front of the hood, not from one side to the other, from the windshield to the front of the truck.

9. Once you are done applying the Zaino with the ZFX I would wait about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes find an area you can run you’re finger across to see if it is clear and shinny or if it looks smeared.

It WILL be HARD TO SEE the Zaino polish, more so on white paint. I have silver and it is a pain to see. You will have to look at it at an angle until you can tell.

You want to make sure that it is NOT smearing. It won’t hurt the paint, it will mean the Zaino has not dried completely and it will be a PAIN IN THE @SS to take off. If it does smear with the finger test wait another 30 minutes or so.

When it is dry, it is very easy to buff off. If you feel like you’re really having to buff the heck out of it to get it off (towel DONT feel like it glides right across the paint) then it is not dry and its just smearing around.

IMPORTANT, when buffing off the polish to use same type of towels (100% cotton made in the USA). Turn your towel frequently when buffing off the Zaino polish, like any other polish/wax.

Once your done buffing off the first coat you can apply the second coat (only if you’re using the ZFX) otherwise I think you have to wait like 8 hours in between coat. When using the ZFX you can only put a max. of 3 coats on in a day. You should really notice a nice difference after 3 – 5 coats. Some people use the Zaino Gloss enhance (detail spray) in between coats. I have done it before and not done it and didn’t notice any real difference. So myself I wouldn’t waste it between coats.

Hope that helps a little, good luck…

 

I'm not a Zaino fan (but I do play one on TV)...

Let me make a slight addition to 01's procedure (which is very good might I add)....

Chopping the block of clay into two pieces is ULTRA important. If the clay hits the ground, it's trash. No questions. Period. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

By chopping it into two pieces, you now have two clay bars and won't get hit nearly as hard in the wallet when you drop it. It will happen... trust me. Been there, done that. It hurts to throw away a $10 block o' clay because you were a bonehead and couldn't handle the goods. LOL!

I can't stress this enough...

Back to your regularly scheduled Zaino production...

RP

 

Thank you so very much for all of your replies. I now need to get some money to buy these products then wait for a fiarly overcast day because i dont have a garage. Oh yeah, how often do you think this whole proccess should be done? every three months?




p.s. THANK YOU!

 

Do you have any Zaino yet? If not I will give you a "suggested" list after I get home tonight.

No, the dawn wash is basically for the first time to get any wax or grease residue off the paint. I would say maybe once a year for the clay.

The Zaino will last about 6 months on your paint, but some of us put on a few coats every few months or so. The key to keeping it look good is to get about 5 coats on, and then always use the Zaino car wash followed by the Zaino detail spray.

I'll get back to you later this evening...

 

To expand on that....

Clay should be used as needed. Basically, after washing your vehicle, rub your hand across the surface. If you feel a bunch of 'bumps' or rough spots, it may be time to clay.

I wouldn't think that many environments would require clay more than 2 or 3 times per year but, if you're near a railyard or living deep in the heart of the city where stuck on contamination (ie: bird poo, bugs, sap, tar) may be more frequent, I suspect that you might have to do it more often than that.

My general rule of thumb is that if it doesn't feel like 'glass', it's probably time to clay and wax.

Mind you, once you clay your vehicle, it would be a VERY good idea to go back over the clayed areas with your wax/polish/synthetic of choice as the clay will affect the protection in the utilized areas.

Have fun!

RP

 

First, good points RockPick. He stated it better then I, as far as feeling the paint and seeing if it is needed or not. On mine I have only clayed the entire truck once in the two years I owned it. I had to clay it again after some body work and paint was done to it because of some over spray they left. Now mind you that you could not see the over spray, it looked shinny but you could feel it. Going over it with clay and it was very smooth again, like glass.

If you haven’t bought any Zaino products here is what I would recommend.

ZFX $19.95 It is a “flash cure accelerator. It greatly reduces the drying time of the polish and makes for a better bond as well. Using the ZFX will enable you to put up to 3 (no more) coats on in a day. I would say you could do 3 coats in about 2 hours or so.

Now the price may seem high, but it is worth every penny. It is a real small bottle and when you see it your like “why did I pay so much for so little” the little bottle will last for 1 1-2 to 2 bottles of the Z2 car polish.

Using the ZFX on average will cure the polish within 30 minutes or sooner depending how humid it is outside. When I say cure I mean where you able to buff off, it is dry. Without the ZFX it could take hours waiting for a coat of polish to dry. I know from experience. Also if you do NOT use the ZFX you can really only put on 1 coat of polish a day. I believe you have to give it 8 – 12 hours between coats. With the ZFX you do not have to wait at all. Once it is dry and buffed off your can immediately put on another coat.

Z2 $12.95 This is the polish for clear coat, and light colored vehicles. That do not advertise it for light colors, but if you talk to others who have used Zaino they will recommend Z2 for light colors and Z5 for dark colors.

As for the Z5 it is advertised as a polish for “swirl removal” it does NOT work and will not remove swirls, it does not have any abrasives. So if you ever need to remove swirls you will need a different product. I am sure RockPick or some others could recommend a good product by Meguires.

Zaino is great for shine and durability however they do NOT have any products for prepping the paint if needed, scratches, swirls etc.

Z6 $9.95 This is the detail spray, it is labeled as Ultra Gloss enhancer and it does, not a lot but it makes it a little more slicker, and it has an antistatic properties in it, like other good detail sprays. I myself would NOT use it between coats because I have not found it adds anything. I would only use it after your done with your last coat of polish and after every wash.

Z7 $7.95 This is the car wash soap. If you wash your truck a lot you may want to buy two bottles of this and the Z6 detail spray. It cost $7.95 for shipping one product or more so it may save you a few bucks buying a couple of both.

Z18 $16.95 This is the Zaino claybar. There is no reason you have to use this particular clay, if you have another brand you like that is a little cheaper then by all means use it. Again RockPick and others may be able to recommend you a product. In any case you want to get some clay.

Now I don’t know how you like your tires. Myself I do NOT like the shinny tires but more of a natural look. Zaino has a tire shine product that works great for me. You put one coat on and it looks natural if you put two coats on you can get shinny. It really works great because after you put it on and buff it off there is NO greasy feel to it and it too has real good durability. I put it on maybe once every 4 – 6 weeks.

If you’re interested it is:

Z16 $12.95 Perfect Tire Gloss, it is a big bottle, I want to say 20oz, not sure but it last a long time and can be used on all the plastic trim and as the tires NO greasy feel and NOTHING runs off the plastic and marks up the paint like Armor-all. I know with a white truck anything that runs from the plastic will look like crap against the white paint. I put a coat on, buff it off the plastic about every 4 – 6 weeks. It too has an ultra violent light protecting in it so the plastic does not fade over time. I have had my truck for 2 years now and the plastic looks like new, even when parked to a new truck at the Ford dealer you can not tell the difference between my plastic trim or an 03’s plastic trim.

So if you get everything, you’re looking at $80.70 + $7.95 shipping. If you go without the Z16 then $67.75 + 7.95.

I want to say I believe you can get about 10 – 12 coats of polish out of the Z2 maybe more I am just not sure. So this will last quite a while, except the Z6 (detail spray) and the Z7 (car wash).

It is very durable. I put 3 coat on before last winter and it lasted 6 months through all the snow and salt and approx. 20 – 30 car washes, no Z6 (detail spray) I bought my first Zaino because of that and the fact you do NOT need to use a buffer on it.

If you have any more questions just fire away, and I or the others can help you out. Again good luck…

NOTE: I should define what I mean by "buff" I don't mean using a buffer, just using a 100% cotton towel made in the USA.

 

I should also say that you CAN apply and buff off Zaino in the sun. It will not hurt the paint or anything. However you will end up using more polish if applying in the sun and it is always better to do it under the shade or somewhere like that.

 

I think it's true with any wax/polish/synthetic... a cool surface will yield better results...

Just my two cents...

 

I concur, theres my $2.00

 

$2???!? Damn...that's a royal rip off!

 

Yep, If you're going to go to the Zaino system, get a few bottles of Z6 and Z7, or you'll be re-ordering all the time.