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rent a car and dont worry about where you park

So this wasn't a crazy job but I coated my mom's new Equinox over the 3 day weekend.  She's had the car for about 6 months and it has around 7k miles so its in great condition.  Started off with a good wash on Friday night with Adam's strip wash followed by clay.  The next morning, I did a quick debadge of the rear hatch and then hit the car with my Rupes 15 and Paint Finishing Polish.  The paint had some really light swirls but nothing major. 
 
Prep and coating went well for my first time messing with a coating.  I thought it would be a little more finicky but it layed down very nice.  Hit it roughly 22 hours later with Ceramic Boost and boy was she shining.  It left the metallic blue paint looking deep and glossy and so slick!  I feel like I have about a half a bottle of coating left so now I'm planning on attacking a few things around the house. 
 
I didn't get any great pictures as it rained almost all weekend but I took a few, enjoy!

So this wasn't a crazy job but I coated my mom's new Equinox over the 3 day weekend.  She's had the car for about 6 months and it has around 7k miles so its in great condition.  Started off with a good wash on Friday night with Adam's strip wash followed by clay.  The next morning, I did a quick debadge of the rear hatch and then hit the car with my Rupes 15 and Paint Finishing Polish.  The paint had some really light swirls but nothing major. 
 
Prep and coating went well for my first time messing with a coating.  I thought it would be a little more finicky but it layed down very nice.  Hit it roughly 22 hours later with Ceramic Boost and boy was she shining.  It left the metallic blue paint looking deep and glossy and so slick!  I feel like I have about a half a bottle of coating left so now I'm planning on attacking a few things around the house. 
 
I didn't get any great pictures as it rained almost all weekend but I took a few, enjoy!

So this wasn't a crazy job but I coated my mom's new Equinox over the 3 day weekend.  She's had the car for about 6 months and it has around 7k miles so its in great condition.  Started off with a good wash on Friday night with Adam's strip wash followed by clay.  The next morning, I did a quick debadge of the rear hatch and then hit the car with my Rupes 15 and Paint Finishing Polish.  The paint had some really light swirls but nothing major. 
 
Prep and coating went well for my first time messing with a coating.  I thought it would be a little more finicky but it layed down very nice.  Hit it roughly 22 hours later with Ceramic Boost and boy was she shining.  It left the metallic blue paint looking deep and glossy and so slick!  I feel like I have about a half a bottle of coating left so now I'm planning on attacking a few things around the house. 
 
I didn't get any great pictures as it rained almost all weekend but I took a few, enjoy!

Looks great!  I just did my mom's car over the weekend too.

I think it has been my favorite DS so far.

I think it has been my favorite DS so far.

I think it has been my favorite DS so far.

Seems to make the grass grow stronger at my house.

You have no idea the benefits of being 14.

I would definitely get a hex grip to try out.  They're all I use anymore. I keep one for each product (buttery, paint sealant, one for exhaust tips and dirtier areas) to keep from cross contaminating.

I tried out a prototype version of the Merino Wool Wash Mitt, and did not think it was too heavy.
 
The older Merino Wool Wash pad was the typical white and brown color, but I think the all white version is actually better, since it makes it easier to see any contaminates or dirt on the fibers, so you can rinse them out before going back to the paint.

Don't need anymore sealant at this time but I've been waiting for a non-glove style merino mitt for a long time.

Very nice, I recently undercoated my truck with Fluid Film which is similar to what you used.

And I have a left arm for the CO flag...

I have a moon man sticker that I would trade for a Colorado flag sticker.

The last two responses sum it up great. Some other brands have a sort of eye dropper top to pour out a few drops at a time, and they work well too. The 50ml bottles that we use do have a pour style top, but it is very controllable. Turning the bottle upside down for a brief moment and giving a small shake or two will let maybe 4 or 5 drops of the coating pour out onto the applicator in a nice straight line. There is essentially zero product waste of over-application when using it sparingly in this method. Immediately securing the cap back onto the bottle after every 'pour' will ensure that the bottle stays fresh for a long time as well

I would think the coating would crystalize in the sprayer nozzle and cause issues.  The coating needs to stay sealed from air, hence the pour and cap method.

Yeah, what he said.  The green never felt right for what it was marketed for. I ended up using it for finer metal polishing.

Wheel Cleaning and Polishing
 
While I routinely deep clean the wheels and tires twice a year when I take them off to rotate them, after 2.5 years they were in need of a machine polish to remove minor swirls and a few larger scratches from having fun in the sand dunes.
 
I lifted the truck with my new Ranger Quickjack to remove the wheels.
 

 
 
After pressure washing to remove most of the crud, I cleaned barrels of the wheels with All Purpose Cleaner, and used Tire & Rubber Cleaner on the backs of the tires.
 

 
 
Switching to the fronts, I hit them with the Foam Cannon using Strip Wash, then did the tires with Tire & Rubber Cleaner.
 

 
 
After drying with the Master Blaster Revolution, I brought them into the garage for inspection.  There were minor swirls as shown on this center cap.
 

 
 
The first step of machine polishing with the Rupes Nano was done using Correcting Polish and the Rupes Blue Coarse Pad.
 

 
 
The 1.5-inch pads on this little machine made it possible to polish the tight areas.
 

 
 
The second step of machine polishing with Finishing Polish and the Rupes Yellow Fine Pad.  This photo shows the use of the 2.75-inch pad for polishing the faces of the wheels
 

 
 
Level of correction was very good.
 

 

 
 
Next up, Ceramic Coating!
 
 

The only things i don't buy as a gallon are VRT, Tire Shine, Leather Cleaner, and Leather Conditioner. Everything else, I buy as a gallon and some might last 2 year at the most.

They should be using a Nano
 

People falsely get intimidated by the eraser wheel and assume it'll damage paint easily - fact is that the wheel is quite safe to use if you follow the tips provided above. Just keep it moving. The material is designed to crumble and fall apart as a dust as its worn away (like a pencil eraser on paper) so the potential to damage to paint is actually quite low.

The only real chance for damage is from high heat and thats if you hold the thing in one place for a long time or apply pressure to it. If you stop frequently to check temp, keep the wheel moving, and don't press hard even the most unskilled person can use one safely.

I've lost count of how many badges I've removed with the wheel, full pin stripes, etc. On the black AP dually I removed a stripe that ran the entire length of the truck - think of that... a crew cab, long bed dually. Did the entire thing with 1 wheel in an afternoon and not a bit of damage.
 
Don't let the fear mongers plant seeds of doubt, it really is the easiest way to remove the badge residues.

I've eraser wheeled probably 100 badges. Never had an accident. Just keep the rpms down with the drill and have it turning so that the wheel is "pulling" the adhesive up and not just rubbing on it.  Diluted isopropal alcohol to finish off any gooey spots and polish to perfection.

Consider using H20 Guard And Gloss as your maintenance product after using liquid paint sealant.  The second coat of liquid paint sealant would be just to ensure even coverage.