COATING PRIMER

Coatings differ greatly from traditional waxes and sealants. They area a class of reactive silanes/silazanes that, upon reaction, bond to each other and to the paint surface for form a matrix of Si-O, which becomes the new functional surface of your vehicles paint. The Si-O bond and the bond to the paint is a covalent bond, that is, it is quite permanent as opposed most sealant that form a hydrogen bond to the paint.  Though other reactive chemistry and resin carriers are used, the ones about are the most common.

Coatings range from semi-permanent to permanent. If properly prepped and maintained, they will last anywhere from 2 years to 11 years (I can't really say longer as there are no vehicles I am aware of with a paint coating being on longer than 11 years) but I don't expect that coating to fall off the car at this point. One important thing to consider is that, if you always want your car swirl free, you will be polishing it in the next 2-3 years to remove swirls that have developed from normal use, and in the process, you would remove the coating. That is not to say you can't get more than 3 years without damage, but generally, a daily driven car lives in the real world and much of the potential damage to the paint is out of the owner's control.  So the question becomes, does a coating that lasts longer than 2-3 years provide much benefit beyond that 3 years?

Coatings offer many benefits that cannot currently be realized with the available sealant offerings, but there is a catch there, I'll explain. Most coatings on the market recommend a silica based topper be used. The very high silica content of premium coatings is susceptible to water spots from hard water, to alleviate this, a topper is used with a lower silica content. This topper offers many of the same benefits with the exception of the hardness of the high silica content, now your topper is the functional surface. So you can get nearly all the benefits of a coating from just the topper, the exception is the hardness.

The hardness of coatings is greatly overplayed. You'll see many listed as having a hardness of 9H, and many people associate this with the Mohs scale of hardness and the inclination is to assume this hardness has a direct relation to scratch resistance. One brand has capitalized on this and even has an offering called Mohs and Mohs+. The thing is, the 9H referenced is actually based on the pencil hardness test, which is a very common method for testing all sorts of coatings. The 9H pencil is a mixture of hardened clay and graphite (definitely not the diamond of the Moh's scale). In reality, most coatings are about 4-6 on the Mohs scale. Depending on your paint, coatings may be much harder or only a little harder. Most german paint is very hard, with a few exception, while japanese paints are very soft; american cars are somewhere in the middle. The hardness of a coating is much more valuable on a japanese car than a german car. Considering that your car is being blasted with sand (quartz, mohs 7) all the time, the hardness is not all it's cracked up to be IMO. Certainly if the aluminum oxide in polishes can remove a coating, so will the steel wheel of a lighter, or a key, or the sand on the road.  Based on my testing I've found that the hardness has little to do with scratch resistance, it is more the slickness of the surface that help resist damage.

Coating do have other benefits as well. They release contaminant much easier that a sealant (anti-fouling), so you are less likely to put swirls in your paint as a result of you wash and dry techniques. They also hold their gloss better than wax or sealant so a coated car will look nearly the same a year later as it did when it was coated. Coating are also extremely hydrophobic, which makes for great pictures of water beads, but they also sheet water very well. This sheeting combined with the anti-fouling means that after a rain, your car will look really good even without a wash.

Coatings are also lower maintenance. obviously they don't need to be applied frequently, but the anti-fouling properties means that washing is easier as well. You should, however, reapply the topper every 4-6 months.

Coatings offer a unique glassy look that can't be achieved with waxes or sealants. FINALLY A SHORT THOUGHT!!!

Coatings have an actual thickness to them and since they become the functional surface, they also take the swirls and scratches. when you need to polish to remove scratches and swirls, you are removing less clearcoat in the process. This is a huge advantage if you want to polish frequently, but don't want to respray the car eventually due to thinning clearcoat.

Coatings are generally more chemical resistant than sealants and waxes.  Waxes can be stripped easily by most strong chemicals.  Sealants are more resistance, but tend to strip if exposed to stronger acids.  Coatings fair very well against most chemicals.  That's not to say that you should intentionally spray your vehicle when wheel acid or engine degreaser.  Those strong chemicals can degrade your coating with frequent use or long dwell times, but generally your vehicle will be well protected against the occasional contact with a strong chemical.

The downside to coatings are their cost and the prep work. Coatings need to bond to the paint, so there cannot be any polishing oils or old wax/sealant on the paint. This is usually removed by polishing and/or with a body prep solvent. Since coatings will be on the paint for several years, its important to remove as many swirls and scratches as possible or they will be visible through the coating, So instead of a 20 minute wax job, a coating process will take many hours. They have to be leveled as you are working or you will get high spots that must be polished off, so installation can be tricky. They will lose their hydrophobic characteristics over time, that does not mean the coating is gone, it's just lost some of it's benefits.  This can be resolved by adding a topper or sometimes a strong decontamination can bring the beading and sheeting back.

Coatings do require maintenance, as mentioned. They should be decontaminated every 6 months and a topper applied to maintain the hydrophobic and anti-fouling properties. They are NOT a license to neglect your paint. If you neglect them, they will fail like anything else.

Finally, with regard to warranties, read them carefully.  I have yet to see a warranty that is better than what you would get at a dealer, period. There is an exclusion for scratches, swirls, marring, scuffs, scrapes and chips. There is an exclusion for damage from automatic car washes, incorrect wash techniques, brushes and contaminated wash tools. There is a exclusion for neglect or carelessness as well. The vehicle must be brought to an installer yearly for inspection and maintenance. So if you have a bird bomb or water spot, the coating should be able to withstand that for a little while. If you end up with an etching from those, then you waited too long and were 'careless or negligent'. See where I'm going? You are not paying for a superior warranty, you are paying for a superior product, but you need to care for it like anything else.  Some warranties cover flaking and bubbles, I've never seen any coating do that and I doubt it's even possible, so it's a good warranty, but no different than if I told you that I warranty the pigs I sold you will not fly.

The coating market is ever expanding, but below are a few recommendations and a little information on their properties, note that this is limited to consumer grade offering as several of these products listed below have a Pro-only offering that is only available to authorized installers..

• Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Surface Coating - Very easy to use with up to 3 years durability, most are seeing 1.5-2 years in the field.  Spray on coating that is super slick but does not add any hardness.  
• Duragloss Enviroshield - Very Easy to use with up to 2 years of durability. Moderately slick spray on coating that does not add hardness.  This is a very economical entry into coatings.
• Carpro CQuartz Classic & UK - Moderately difficult to apply, durability of 2 years with a measurable thickness and hardness.
• 22PLE Coatings - Moderately difficult to apply, with the exception of HPC which is fairly easy.  durability of 2 years with a measurable thickness and hardness.  These are very glossy.
• Gtechniq - Moderately difficult to apply, durability of 2 years with a measurable thickness and hardness. Their EXO coating is very glossy and slick.

Detailing Workshop Process

This weekend we held a second workshop covering basic and advanced washing as well as basic paint correction.  Those in attendance had an opportunity to try out products and polishers they may not otherwise have an opportunity to use, as well as get some helpful tips from myself and another local detailer, Diman Ngin.  Once complete, they should have the knowledge and confidence to perform similar work without oversight. 

This was a ton of information for these guys to take in, and it's easy to get caught up and forget to ask questions, take notes or photos.  So for the benefit of those folks that spent their entire day working on a B6 A4 Avant, I'm treating this as process write-up as if I had done the work myself.  

Process

• Wheels cleaned with Meguiars DUB wheel cleaner and wheel woolies (from Griots garage)
• Arches cleaned with Meguiars Super Degreaser D108 (another APC would do fine)
• Tires cleaned with Meguiars Super Degreaser D108
• Prefoamed with 3oz Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Gloss and 3oz Ultimate Snow Foam in an MTM foam cannon (substitute an APC for Ultimate Snow Foam)
• 2 Bucket Wash with Chemical Guys Citrus Wash Clear
• Wheels Protected with Carpro Hydro2 Lite
• Mechanical Decon with Simoniz Claymagic Blue, SM Arnold Speedy Prep Towel and Nanoskin Autoscrub pad with Optimum No Rinse (2oz/gallon) as clay lube
• Sealed with Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection (dark colors) or Menzerna Powerlock (light colors)
• Waxed with Pinnacle Signature Series II paste wax (Son1c wax is another good alternative)
• Trim Treated with Carpro PERL (3:1 dilution), Ultima tire & trim guard V1 (Wolfgang exterior trim sealant or poorboy's world trim restorer would be good alternatives)
• Glass was cleaned with Isopropyl Alcohol and distilled water
• Vehicle was polished with HD Speed by 3D/HD car care
• Polishers & pad combos were: EVO 21 with rupes UHS pad, DAS pro plus 15mm with griots BOSS orange pad, Flex 3401 with lake country white hybrid pad, griots 6" DA with wizards orange long throw pad, harbor freight 6" DA with lake country cyan hydrotech pad
• Paint was finished with Meguiars Synthetic Express spray wax D156 to remove any tape lnie residue
• Glass was coated with Pearl Nano Windshield Coating

Sealant Primer

You rarely see the term sealant on the shelf of the car cleaning section of the auto parts store, but stop over to a detailing supplier and you'll see a whole section of the webpage or store devoted to these products.  In reality, most of what you find of the shelves of the auto parts store are sealants, they've been labelled at wax because that's what the average Joe is looking for. While waxes contain primarily natural ingredients and coatings are strictly synthetic, sealants represent the first step the industry took from wax toward coatings.  Sealants are primarily synthetic, but may have some natural ingredients.  These synthetics are generally a long change silozane molucules of Polydimethylsilozane (PDMS), they have a similar structure to long chain hydrocarbons with a backbone of alternating silicone and oxygen and methyl (CH3) groups off the backbone. .  There may also be what are called 'reactive silicones'.  These ingredients react with the PDMS and cross-link them together into a matrix.  They may also provide bonding to the painted surface, normally this is an electrostatic or hydrogen bond, but some stronger bonds may exist depending on the formulation of the sealant. 

Due to the cross-linking and bonding of sealants, they tend to last 4-6 months.  They are quite hydrophobic and have what I describe as a sterile, high shine.  They are the easiest protectant to apply.  One can apply a sealant with a polisher and finishing/waxing pad and be done in a few minutes without breaking a sweat.  They also wipe off with ease.    

Because of the cross-linking chemical reaction, sealants do have a cure time.  It's important to read the instructions to determine what the time is, it can vary from 8-12 hours normally.  There are a few products that are nearly cured by the time you wipe them off. 

Note that there are a variety of sealants with different application methods.  Typically a sealant is applied, allowed to haze and wiped off.  There are also Wipe-on wipe-off sealants that do not need to haze.  Finally, there are wipe-on walk-away sealants that disappear as they are wiped on, that that point, you are done.

The durability and ease of use of sealants lend themselves to the novice DIYer on their daily driven vehicle.  Some of my favorite sealants are listed below, it's important to note this is limited to traditional sealants, silica sealants will be addressed another time.  

• Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection
• Menzerna Powerlock
• Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant
• Ultima Paint Guard Plus
• Blackfire Crystal Seal

Wax Primer

When you walk into the auto parts store you are bombarded with a shelf full of products called 'wax'.  The term has also found it's way into detailing terminology as a verb, that is: to apply wax.  While the term wax can be used generically to define a last step protectant,  many detailers will be a little more choosy in their use of the term.  You may hear them say they are going to 'seal' your car rather than 'wax' it.  We'll discuss sealants in a future article, today we fill focus on the product most people THINK they are apply to their car. 

Here's the deal though, with a few exception, what you find in the auto parts store isn't a pure wax.  There's really no way to get a 'pure' wax.  Pure carnauba wax comes as flakes and is as hard as concrete, you'd never be able to apply or remove it.  So what we mean by 'pure' is a product that doesn't contain any dedicated cleaners.  Look carefully at the label next time, there's a good chance your container says 'cleaner wax'.  While this isn't a bad thing, it's important to recognize that a cleaner wax is actually a form of an all-in-one.  It's good at cleaning paint and good and protecting it, but not great at either.  A cleaner wax is a good product to use if your paint has oxidation or embedded soiling and you want to combine the steps of deep cleaning the paint and protecting it in one.  But if the paint is in good condition or you've  polished the paint with a dedicated polish, then the cleaner wax is a wasted step.  

Carnauba wax in general does not have great durability, it will normally last about 4-6 weeks depending on your environment, and is not very resistant to chemicals.  What it lacks in durability, it makes up for with it's looks.  It's often described at a warm, wet glow and many other types of protectants strive to achieve this look.  In reality, you would be hard pressed to see the difference between a sealant and wax side by side, but that subtle difference does exist.  It's important to remember that the 95% of the looks is in the prep rather than the protectant.  To complicate matters, even most waxes today have some sealant mixed in to increase durability and that can take away from the subtle difference in looks.  

There is no right or wrong protectant to use on your own car.  If you have the time to regularly apply a carnauba wax to your car, then  by all means do so, many people consider waxing as their therapy.  I generally recommend a carnauba wax for show cars and garage queens.  Waxes will last much longer on these vehicles and take them over-the-top in looks.

If you do decide that a wax is what you prefer, make sure you look carefully for a pure carnauba wax rather than a cleaner wax.  There are many great options out there and I've listed a few of my favorites below.

• Son1c Wax Carnaubavore
• Dodo Juice
• Pinnacle Signature Series II
• Poorboy's World Natty's Red Paste wax

A Paint Correction Progression

This will be a slightly different article in a show and tell form.  It's very difficult to illustrate the image of paint correction verbally, so pictures like these truly do speak volumes.  This write-up will follow the steps and progression of paint correction on a single panel of a 2002 Audi A8L.  This particular car is Brilliant Black.  German cars are known for generally have hard paints.  This particular era of Audi is notorious for the hardness and this particular color is know for being very scratch sensitive.  We have a combination of a paint that is difficult to remove defects from, easy to scratch and in the case of brilliant black, shows any defects left behind.  To further complicate matters, the paint was in very bad condition (but salvageable) and the owner wanted to achieve as much defect removal as was safely possible.  Wetsanding may have been an option, but my personal preference is to avoid wetsanding on factory painted daily driver vehicles.    

Several test spot were done on the vehicle to determine what process would achieve the desired results.  It took approximately 2 hours to determine the various combinations used on different areas of the car.  This is an essential step in removing the defects while preserving as much paint as possible.  Don't do a single step to an entire car only to find out the results were not what you wanted.  Spend the time up front to determine what process will work and repeat over the entire car, reevaluating as you go and making necessary adjustments.

Initial condition.  You can see the severe swirls.  These swirls are also hiding much deeper defects that stand out once the majority of the defects are removed.  There is no way to discern the type of lights used by the reflection. 

The first step in the process was with a rotary polisher, wool pad and Pinnacle Advanced compound.  This is a very aggressive combination; it will quickly level defects and has the potential to burn through paint if not used properly.  Below is a photo following the rotary step.  You can see very fine and uniform swirls marks.  These are not remaining from the initial condition, but were actually installed by the rotary and wool pad.  It's important to understand that aggressive combination like this will leave their own defects that need to be refined with additional steps.  The two light sources now have some definition, you can see a bezel exists around each light.

Because there were some defects from the initial condition that remained, a middle step was used to refine the rotary holograms and to remove remaining initial defects.  This was done with a 21mm dual action polisher, microfiber cutting pad and a non-diminishing abrasive compound.  This allowed for quick removal of the defects, a uniform finish and the ability to stop compounding as soon as defects were satisfactorily removed.  Below is a photo following the refining step.  What you will see is a slight haze in the paint.  This is the result of an aggressive microfiber cutting pad and an digressive compound.  Even dual action polishers can leave their own defects behind.  With a slight tweak to the process, this haze may be imperceptible on a lighter colored paint and we could move on to protecting the paint.  But on darker colors a final polishing step is necessary to finish the paint to near perfect clarity.  Here, some additional definition in the lights is visible and you can see some additional detail in the bezels.   

To remove the remaining DA haze, a 21mm dual action polisher was used with a polishing pad and finish polish.  This combination only required a few passes to remove the haze and left the paint perfectly clear,  Below is the final result.  You'll see the deep, uninterrupted reflection in the paint, the detail in the bezel of the light is clearly visible.  In the initial condition, the light source was not even distinguishable.   

It takes substantial skill to determine a combination like this and react to changing conditions in the paint.  It also takes solid commitment to see the work through the 15+ hours it took to correct this paint, but the final pictures of the fender below perfectly illustrates why we go to these lengths. Nothing compares to black paint when it's done right. 

Engine Detailing

It certainly isn't the glamorous part of detailing, but keeping your engine bay clean is an important part of vehicle maintenance.  Aside from looking nice and keeping flammable debris away from a hot engine bay, having a clean engine bay makes it much easier to identify any leaks or damage.  

 Modern motors and electrical equipment are pretty well protected from weather and water, but care should still be taken around these components.  Additional care should be taken around things like the air intake, alternator and any valleys, seals and belts.  It's best to use tin foil or bags to mask these areas off and only wipe them with a towel loaded with cleaner.  

The first thing to consider when tackling an engine detail is level of effort.  We look at engine cleaning as either cosmetic or intensive.  Cosmetic cleaning focuses on visible surfaces whereas intensive cleaning focuses on all the nooks and crannies you may never see without a mirror and flashlight.  

For the average owner, a cosmetic cleaning is most appropriate.  It can be done in a relatively short amount of time and requires only a few tools and products.  We focus on the underside of the hood, the wiper cowl, the top of the firewall and the top of the engine.  It is best to break up the engine bay into manageable sections so that cleans don't have time to dry.  Start with the underside of the hood and work your way down.  Then consider which direction water flows in your engine bay and start at the high point and work your way to the lower areas, this usually means starting at the back and working forward.  Begin by spraying an all purpose cleaner or degreaser on the surface and allow it time to dwell and start to break down soiling.  Next, utilize a soft bristled brush or towel to agitate the cleaner .  Then, rinse any cleaners and residues with a gentle water stream, I recommend getting a garden sprayer with a wand for this task, you can rinse the entire engine with well under a gallon of water, minimizing the potential for water issues.  Next, wipe dry any remaining water.  Once the entire engine bay is clean, you may want to start the motor and allow it to warm up slightly to aid in drying any water you can't reach, another alternative is to use a leaf blower or compressed air to blow dry any remaining water.  Finally, apply a dressing to surfaces and allow it to penetrate before buffing to an even finish.  This type of cleaning is best done every 3-6 months depending on the use and environment.  Keep in mind to never spray anything on a hot engine, the air intake or alternator.  

For show cars and special interest vehicles that may be judged or otherwise scrutinized, an intensive engine cleaning may be appropriate.  For this type of work we make every effort to remove soiling from every crevice possible.  This requires many different tools and often a little ingenuity to figure out how to get into a tight spot.  We follow a similar to process as noted above, working top down and in the direction water flows, but instead of stopping in the areas we can see, we continue further down to get areas less visible.  To get to these areas we may use special brushes or other tools.  If it's an area we can't reach, we may consider the use of very strong chemicals, extra dwell time or removing parts from the car.  Ideally this type of cleaning only needs to occur once every few years and in the case of a show car, probably only once or twice in a lifetime.  

Aside from the brute force of cleaners and brushes, there are a few tools that can make engine cleaning much faster and easier.  A steam machine will output superheated steam (well above water's boiling point) at higher pressures.  The steam works to emulsify dirt and grease and the pressure works to flush it away.  Steam machines also have the advantage of using very little water and what water is there, evaporates quickly.  A further advantage is that often no cleaners are required at all, the engine can be cleaned with just water, which eliminates some risk.

Another option is the Tornador cleaning gun.  This tool has a mixing valve allowing it to spray solution from a tank, or just air.  It also has a rotating tip that creates a vortex effect causing the solution to agitate any soiling on the surface.  The Tornador requires a substantial air compressor, but allows for the use of a very small amount of liquid to clean an engine, in the neighborhood or 12 ounces.

Vehicle Drying

We've said before that mast defects are wash induced, and this is absolutely true.  But we are referring to the entire wash process, not just the contact washing.  This includes the drying of your vehicle.  

Drying is one of the most likely places to cause swirls in your paint.  This is because drying often involves very little lubrication on the paint surface, a very low nap drying media and potential soiling that was not removed.

There are a variety of ways to wash a car and we'll summarize them below

Sheeting/Flooding Method - This method uses water to dry your car.  It sounds silly, but it's entirely possible to get your vehicle 95% dry by getting it wet.  The idea is to use a very gentle flow of water and the surface tension of a well protected surface to pull the water off the paint.  Because the water would rather cling to itself than the paint, a sheet of water will pull itself off the car.  Some droplets may remain.  If possible, that should be done with Deionized water so that the droplets can dry without leaving waterspots.  Otherwise, one of the follow-up methods works well to address remaining drops.

Forced Air Method - This will probably get you the most strange looks from neighbors.  The method involved using forced air form an air compressor or a leaf blower to push water off the car.  We recommend a dedicated leaf blower for this task, and one can be purchased for under $50 will do just fine.  Cordless models, while convenient, just don't have enough force to be economical at the time of this article.  This method is great for getting water out of cracks and from around side mirrors.  It will leave a small amount of water than can be removed with one of the follow-up methods.

The Squeegee Method - We strongly discourage the use of squeegees due to the potential for the material to leave scratches, swirls or marring.  Even if the material is safe, it is possible for it to pick up a contaminant that can damage your paint. 

The Chamois Method - We strongly discourage the use of chamois due to the potential for the material to leave scratches, swirls or marring.  Because the towel has no nap to it, it cannot pick up any contaminant on the paint, and thus, there is a potential for the contaminant to get dragged across the paint and cause defects.  Even if you perform the perfect car wash and leave nothing on the paint, it is possible for something to settle on the paint between the time you got it clean and the time you dry it. 

The Blotting Method - This method can be used to dry an entire car, but we prefer to use it as one of the follow-up methods to the primary drying method.  In this method, a towel is placed on the paint and blotted to remove any water.  The towel is not dragged across this paint.  This blotting action limits movement of the towel on the paint and thus reduced the risk of defects.

The QD method - This method utilizes a plush towel and a quick detialer or spray wax to add lubrication to the surface while you are wiping.  This is also a favorite follow-up method to a primary drying method.  This can also serve to add additional protection or a final shine to the paint in one step.

Pre-washing procedures

We've discussed many times that most defects in paint are actual caused by poor washing techniques and this is one that is often overlooked, even if you are already doing it.  As the name suggests, it's the procedures we do before washing the car.  More specifically, the steps before a contact wash.  The purpose of the pre-wash is to remove and loosen as much soiling as possible before moving to the traditional contact wash.  This may be as simple as rinsing the car.  Some of the common methods are listed below.

Basic rinse with a garden hose

Rinse with pressure washer

Apply an all purpose cleaner or similar product with a garden sprayer and allow to dwell

Foam cannon with a snow foam solution, car soap or all purpose cleaner

Foam gun with a snow foam solution, car soap or all purpose cleaner

The term foam cannon refers to a tool that is attached to a pressure washer and produces a thick lather of foam.  The foam gun is a tool that attaches to a garden hose and applied a bubbly solution of soap, but it's not shaving cream.

Basic Wheel Cleaning

This is the dirtiest part of the car and should be cleaned first as the grime and cleaners may sling on to the paint.  This step should include the wheels, tires and arches.  You may also want to do the initial cleaning of the exhaust tips at this time as you will use a similar brushes and cleaners

I always start by spraying the cleaner on the wheels to start breaking down the dirt.  While that dwells, I will spray the tire and arch and agitate them. Once the tires and arches are done, I'll go back to the wheel and agitate the cleaner.  Finally, rinse all 3 at the same time.  Do this process working only one corner at a time so that the cleaners to not dry on the surface.

Here's some of the tools and tips for each part:

Wheels 

Spoke brush, wheel woolies, lug nut brush, brush or mitt for face.  Spray first and allow to dwell while doing other parts.

•       Specialty Cleaners – Safe for 99% of wheels. Targeted iron cleaners

•       Alkaline Cleaners –Careful Use, may damage some finishes, best for organics

•       Acid Cleaners – Worst Case Scenario, best for inorganics

Arches

Long handle brush with long flagged bristles, alkaline All Purpose Cleaner (APC)

•       Always enter from the bottom. 

•       For lowered cars, use a jack or leave them alone (see no evil).

Tires 

Short handled brush with short, stiff bristles (carpet brush), alkaline APC

•       Start spraying from the bottom, promotes even distribution and avoids runs that can create an uneven cleaning

Final

Rinse wheel, arch and tire at the same time.  Work one corner at a time.

Basic Wash & Wax Tips

For some people have a detail done is a regular occurrence, but for most it's a special event.  Once your vehicle has been detailed, it's essentially to keep up with regular wash and waxes to maintain the condition.  Frequent washing also limits bonded surface contaminants that require more effort to remove.  Below is some general guidance for washing and waxing.

• Always use the two bucket method for washing.  Using grit guards further reduces the risk of wash induced swirls.
• Dry your car with the sheeting method or a dedicated leaf blower.  Your neighbors may think you're crazy, but your car will look way better than theirs.
• After major drying apply a spray wax while removing the last few drops of water to add lubrication and achieve that 'just detailed look'.
• Decontaminate your vehicle on a regular basis with detailing clay or a clay alternative.
• Look for a pure wax or sealant rather than a cleaner wax.  They tend to last longer and are easier to apply and remove. Use the cleaner wax to deep clean and protect the paint in one step on a less frequent basis.