I bought my first clay bar kit today...although my truck has never been cleaner, it wasn't as shiny as I had thought based on what everyone said. I started by washing it with Meguiars Gold, towel dried it, then clayed it. I used Megs quick detailing spray as my lube and even though I just just gave it a very thorough washing, the clay bar picked up quite a bit of dirt. After claying I washed it again and towel dried it. I then used Megs liquid wax and did the entire truck. Maybe it was the type of wax I used, but I wasn't all that impressed with the final outcome. The claying went great, truck has never felt smoother, but I'm not happy with the finished product. Is liquid wax not recommended? Can anyone suggest something that I may have forgotten to do? Possibly polishing it before waxing? Not using liquid wax?

I tired to post photos, but after 5 minutes, it timed me out. I'll keep trying...in the meantime, I'm open for suggestions as to what I have to do the next time.

 

Paste wax is much more durable and longer lasting, Meguiars Gold Class wax isn't too favored, the NXT is though.

 

when i clay i never wash it afterwards. Here is my order wash, clay, #7, #26, then nxt 2.0

 

What you did was great for normal maintenance between full on details. The way it sounds is that the paint could be in better shape. It's going on 3 years old so it could probably really use a good polishing. It seems like thats the step you missed as far as the prep work. It's the most important step to get the shine everyone is after. If the clearcoat is swirled or marred just from washing, whether properly or not, over time you're going to create swirls. It'll just take longer and they'll be less noticeable when washed properly. Since you're already using Meguiars products, I'd recommend #80 to start with and then go from there. If you need more you can step up to #83 or even #105 which is a pretty uniquely aggressive product. Do yourself a favor and pick up a good machine such as the PC 7424 to make your life easier and produce better results. That's not to say you can't achieve good results by hand, you're just going to kill yourself trying. I don't know how deep you want to get in so I'll stop there. If you're serious about getting your truck in to shape, then we can continue. Just be prepared to spend some money as it can be expensive initially, and can get even more expensive if you get hooked like the rest of us. It's an addiction.

 

I spoke with the people from Adam's Polishes once about that. They said that removing the clay residue before using their Revive Polish isn't necessary, and it actually saves time to just polish through it. I tend to atleast quick detail or do an IPA wipedown before polishing to get rid of the reisude so there's nothing in the way of the polish breaking down and properly coming in contact with the paint. I've never washed after I clayed though.

 

You must polish Daniel-son. Detailing isn't just a 3 step (wash, clay and wax) process. It has many many many steps depending on the condition of the paint.

 

Detail for a man, his vehicle will look good till it rains, TEACH a man to detail and his vehicle will look good AFTER it rains.

 

Good saying

 

Thanks guys...being that my truck is only 3 years old and never been in an accident, the paint is indeed in very good shape. There are some minor swirl marks, but nothing major. Don't get me wrong, it looks pretty good, but I think forgetting to do the polishing might have been what happened. Now, if only I could get away from the wife and kids for another 4 hours next weekend and do it all again I'd be all set.

 

Are you my long lost brother?
You sound just like me about the wife and kids. I just called "Weekend" and wasn't bothered to much for the two days it took do up the black hole. Like you I will have to call another "Weekend" to finish it up.....That ought to go over well

It is worth the effort tho, my black truck has NEVER looked so good.

 

claying is the best part of the cleaning process, besides using th DA. Even though your paint is 3 years old and is in good shape. Try 80 on it and i guarantee you that you will see no swirls in the test spot and much much more in the non-test spot. Also, try doing the nxt 2.0 then the 26, 12 hours or so later.

 

If you are doing this by hand, after the clay, I'd use Megs DC step 1 or Megs ColorX. Then use Megs NXT 2.0, and the liquid is fine. Use the NXT very sparingly and polish it in with the foam pad on the whole truck before removing it.

 

Okay, one thing I didn't think of...I just recently got some new wheels, 17x9's so my tires stick out a good 1.5 -2 inches past the fender...needless to say my truck is now filthy from all the dirt kicked up from driving to work today. Will mud flaps take care of this? Not sure I will like the looks of the mud flaps sticking out this far from the truck...kind of takes away from the "tough" look I was going after by getting wider wheels. Anyone else have this problem? Will mud flaps take care of this problem?

 

I don't think mud flaps will unless you stick them out as far as the tire goes. Otherwise just get some sweet a$$ fender flairs, from Bushwacker.

 

Ehh, not sure I agree with this.

Also, to the OP... various things can improve the overall look of your vehicle. As others have basically mentioned, anyone can 'wax' a vehicle... it's the preparation steps that will really set the boys apart from the men. This is why some of us can spend a day or better of prep time so that a sealant and wax can be applied.

Also, there's no golden rule for the polish. Also, keep in mind that the term 'polish' is a loose term that may refer to an abrasive polish (used for problem correction -- ie: swirls, micromaring, and maybe even oxidation) whereas there are others that will use the term polish for a very simple step that only adds 'look' (depth, gloss, luster) to the paint and offers no corrective abilities. Some of these terms are getting tossed around in this thread and are generally not clear on how the product should be used or what it's being used for...

As a rule, the steps are as follows:

1. Wash
2. Dry
3. Clay
4. Correct the paint
5. Correct the paint
6. Correct the paint
7. Correct the paint
8. Maybe, correct the paint
9. Move to your LSP product(s).

As you can see, while it may not take that many 'correction steps', it is the bulk of any good detail. Again, any Joe-Blow can slap a coat of wax on a vehicle and say 'that sure is purrrrrrrdeeee'. It takes someone that is really serious about the look and a person that has the desire to set their vehicle apart from the others to go through all of the necessary steps to achieve a great finish.

-RP-