DREWBUSH

I have seen this also on many vehicles with clear plastic lenses. If the glass gets a white haze to it, I have found that its usually due to someone wiping the lenses with an ammonia based glass cleaner or something that harsh. Usually they will clean the inside glass, then notice there cluster is dirty and wipe it with the same cleaner/towel. I have had good results with a plastic polish or headlight restorer wipes.

I just started using the "other guys" clay block, which is sort of the same synthetic material as the mitt, but smaller. I would have gotten the mitt, but i literally got the block 2 weeks before the release. It saved me a huge amount of time. My daily sits outside 24/7 and gets crapped on everyday, bug guts and other junk. The synthetic material knocked it off with almost no effort. I do find if you press to hard or roll it on its edge, it will grab or leave a scuff mark as others have said. Light pressure and lube. I cant say about leaving marks, since my vehicle needs correcting already( i correct once a year, and LPS twice a year. So I wont know until winter time. Well, actually I intend on cleaning the wifes new golf in the next week or two. And I will report back then.

I started filling my foam gun with warm/hot waster. Not hot enough to burn your skin, but like a hot shower. I then add my soap and give it a little shake. I think it helps the soap mix easier. By the time I get all my other items out and buckets prepped, the water in the gun is closer to ambient temp. That way im not worried about accidently striping any protection off my vehicles.

When I service a car at the shop and leave hand prints in the dirt thats in the engine compartment. I will usually give it the "poor mans detail", basically mist it with WD40 and wipe down all the plastic trim. 99.5% of the customers do not open the hood and look, but I dont like leaving signs that I had been in there. The hoods are usually only opened maybe once or twice a year and the dirt is pretty heavy.

PM sent

Did you thoroughly clean out your foam gun after the first use? You might have had residual in it that may have caused some sealant removal.

Haha. Clear!!!

Its heavy pollen season here in Socal also. By the time I am done washing and drying, you can already see it sitting on the paint. I think its an uphill battle trying to keep it clean. So I just will let it sit, until the next week when I wash it. Otherwise I would have to wash it every morning before I head into work.

Sort of on the same topic, how would you prep raw aluminum for coating? I have an old bare aluminum bicycle that I hate to keep polishing every month. Would love to just coat it and forget about it.

Assume the price from the dealer is the price of the part and labor? So the labor rate is probably in the mid $125 an hour range, plus the part. So they probably are quoting just over an hour per door to do it. It also depends if the seal is just a press fit on the lip of the door, or is it secured from the inside with retaining screws.

and one more for good measure.

speaking of needing a detail. This Bentley came off the delivery truck like this. Basically they pulled the protective cover off and bam, factory installed swirls. Our detail guys hate doing them, because Bentleys are the most work to correct. There were at least 4 different sections of beautiful swirls from a rotary polisher. And thats black paint.

Thats a good idea, my Subie blackens the tips pretty quick too. Hope someone chimes in on this.

I concur. We finally got a wet winter here in Socal, and i finally got around to applying this to two of my vehicles. It does work well. But the big benefit is how smooth my wipers glide over the glass. Theres no chatter, or blades skipping. And as stated, clean up is a breeze. A little goes a long way with this stuff. I could probable due 30 windshields at least with whats in the little bottle.

Really depends on the dealer and or manufacturer. At my shop, we are all high line German cars, and all new and used cars get detailed before being sold. But the wife bought a VW from another dealer up the road and it had zero protection on it. They just pull the protective material and wash it.