kaj41354

On the very first order I placed with Adam's, they sent me out one too few spray bottle tops.
 
So I contacted customer service -- the next day they sent me three new tops.
 
Last week I ordered a microfiber wash mitt, and they sent me a wheel wash mitt by mistake.
 
So I contacted customer service -- the next day they sent me the microfiber wash mitt I ordered and said, "Keep the wheel wash mitt, you'll need it sometime!"
 
Adam's may not always get things right the first time, but their customer service people always make it right, and fast!

Last year I purchased a 1952 Chevy Styleline Dlx that is all stock with 87k miles and original paint.  The car looked like it had rarely been washed and waxed and when it was it more than likely went through an automatic car wash in the past 40 years or so.  the paint was heavily oxidized and has lots of small marks/scratches, etc.  I have been a little hesitant to try and polish but it finally got to me and I decided to see what could be done to at least make the car look black instead of 50 shades of gray. Did half the trunk as an experiment.  Clay barred, finishing polish and paint sealant. It is far from perfect but since the trunk was pretty bad, I am more than pleased with the results.  Now to do the other 95% of the car.  Cant wait to see how it finishes.

Last year I purchased a 1952 Chevy Styleline Dlx that is all stock with 87k miles and original paint.  The car looked like it had rarely been washed and waxed and when it was it more than likely went through an automatic car wash in the past 40 years or so.  the paint was heavily oxidized and has lots of small marks/scratches, etc.  I have been a little hesitant to try and polish but it finally got to me and I decided to see what could be done to at least make the car look black instead of 50 shades of gray. Did half the trunk as an experiment.  Clay barred, finishing polish and paint sealant. It is far from perfect but since the trunk was pretty bad, I am more than pleased with the results.  Now to do the other 95% of the car.  Cant wait to see how it finishes.

Last year I purchased a 1952 Chevy Styleline Dlx that is all stock with 87k miles and original paint.  The car looked like it had rarely been washed and waxed and when it was it more than likely went through an automatic car wash in the past 40 years or so.  the paint was heavily oxidized and has lots of small marks/scratches, etc.  I have been a little hesitant to try and polish but it finally got to me and I decided to see what could be done to at least make the car look black instead of 50 shades of gray. Did half the trunk as an experiment.  Clay barred, finishing polish and paint sealant. It is far from perfect but since the trunk was pretty bad, I am more than pleased with the results.  Now to do the other 95% of the car.  Cant wait to see how it finishes.

Last year I purchased a 1952 Chevy Styleline Dlx that is all stock with 87k miles and original paint.  The car looked like it had rarely been washed and waxed and when it was it more than likely went through an automatic car wash in the past 40 years or so.  the paint was heavily oxidized and has lots of small marks/scratches, etc.  I have been a little hesitant to try and polish but it finally got to me and I decided to see what could be done to at least make the car look black instead of 50 shades of gray. Did half the trunk as an experiment.  Clay barred, finishing polish and paint sealant. It is far from perfect but since the trunk was pretty bad, I am more than pleased with the results.  Now to do the other 95% of the car.  Cant wait to see how it finishes.

I've been thinking about changing the bike to Ceramic Spray Coating and decided today was the day.  The bike has not been out this year so it was exceptionally dirty and really needed some time spent on it.   The first order of business of was to get it outside and take a picture and then hit it with a strip wash.   I'm sure you can see the dust, pollen and who knows what in the first picture.  The bike is a 2002, Suzuki GS850 Intruder and is 100% original.  The kickstand and tires are the only things that have even been on the ground.  

 
After the strip wash and dry, it was into the garage to start the process of making it pretty again.  I had just enough marks that I decided to go with Scratch and Swirl remover and an Orange pad.  The second picture shows the difference with 1/2 the tank completed.    With the exception of the tank and a couple other small areas, everything else was done by hand, but I am confident that that a Micro Polisher would have been helpful.   

 
Next I turned my attention to all the plastic that looks like chrome.  I decided to give the Scratch and Swirl Remover a try and was pleasantly surprised at how well it clean up the turn signals as show in the next two pictures.

Now I was able to turn my attention of the real chrome and since I ran out of the old product I was using, I was able try my recently purchased Metal Polish #1 and #2.  I have to say that I am absolutely blown away by how easy it is to use and the results, which are shown in the next picture.  Please note the chrome parts under the shiny area, that is how everything looked to start.  The point being that it not only cleaned it up, which the other product I previously used did also, but I'd say Metal Polish #1 and #2 was half the effort.
 

The seat received Leather Conditioner and then I started on all the red sections with Hand Polish to make them nice and shiny, followed by Surface Prep and then out came the Ceramic Spray Coating.  Just so there is no doubt, I only put the CSC on the red and non-heat conducting areas, the exhaust and engine did not get coated.   Here is the end result, the first picture is with the garage lights off and the second with them on. 

 

I am very pleased with how it turned out, but I also will tell you that as small as the bike is, you'll spend plenty of time getting all the small places cleaned and polished.  I'm sure I'll find some spots on Sunday when I put Ceramic Boost on it that I missed.  That is just part of having a bike, they take time to take care of keep looking good.
 

First try washing them again with a milder Wheel Cleaner, heck even just Car Shampoo may improve them. Dry them completely then use either Hand Polish if Clear Coated, or Metal Polish #2 if raw metal.
 
When using the Wheel Cleaner do only one wheel at a time, in the shade, when the wheel is cool, and do not let the product dry on the wheel. Rinse thoroughly after agitation.
 
The tire should clean up by scrubbing with Tire & Rubber Cleaner or TAR.

Hey guys, I have laded myself a big job. Its a husky airplane, I will attach an image but the customer wants me to come clean it. This is my first aircraft I've done, and hopefully it will lead into more so I want to be through. I would love all and any help with tips and tricks and pointers. Please be critical because I want to make an impression on this guy! I am traveling to him (30 minutes away) to his house, which has the hangar attached, which is attached to the runway... This guy is quite wealthy. And suggestions on price as well would be appreciated as well. Please comment any thoughts or advice. I would very much appreciate it. My thought on the way to clean the plane is use rinse-less wash, in a big pump sprayer with a wand and lots of towels because i know the underside will be covered with grease and oil. Let me know guys. Thank you so much! (Not his actual plane. Just the same model) 

Send me a PM and I'll get some warranty sprayers out to you!

Everything sold out within about 28 minutes. 600 shirts and 200 extra bottles of the Detail Spray, so 800 bottles total. I knew this one was going to go fast!

I always plan to correct/polish the paint when claying.

I would use Waterless Wash on all of the powder coated pieces and on all the black plastic & rubber I would use Tire & Rubber Cleaner.
If you have any oil or grease on the painted parts you may have to use APC & you can do that without spraying with water.
Once clean use VRT and In & out Spray especially on all of the black plastic.
Hope this helps.

Interior Detail spray can make the black plastic look amazing.  It doesn't last very long, maybe a couple of weeks for a garage queen, but it looks sharp.   
 
@Dan@Adamsrecently told me about using Revive Hand Polish on powder coated parts.  I have used it on my truck running boards that I messed up and a few other items I had around the house and it does an outstanding job.  It is one of those product uses that I wish I had of known about years ago.

Yes, the Paint Sealant will work fine on the vinyl graphics.  Make sure to remove any extra product from the edge of the stripes. 

Hi Andy, and welcome to the forum, 

I do apologize that no one got back to you on this thread, I'm just seeing it now! Do you have any pictures of these white dots showing up? Are they on paint, glass, textured plastics, or all areas? Make sure to always shake up the Ceramic Boost bottle thoroughly before every use to mix all of the chemicals back together. You could also try to clean out the spray nozzle in a bottle of water only - it's possible that some of the chemical dried up in the spray, which is then going onto the surface of the vehicle. Spray water through the nozzle until only clean water comes out, let the nozzle dry, then insert it back into the bottle. 

With Ceramic Boost, less is more, so I typically only use 2 or 3 sprays for a panel, and I always use two towels with it - one towel to spread the chemical onto the surface evenly, and then a second towel to wipe away the remaining residue. I would also recommend for the surface to be fairly cool to the touch when you apply it. 

The other thought I have is how recently have the vehicles been clayed or polished? If there is some bonded contamination on the surface, that may not allow the Ceramic Boost to wipe away as easily, which could be the culprit for the white dots. As a test, you could try to clay a small section, Surface Prep, and then apply Boost in that spot to see if it differs from the rest of the vehicle.

Let us know how it works out, thanks!

Adam's now sells a 2-step system comprised of Compound and Polish. Compound replaced both the Heavy Correcting Compound and Correcting Polish, while Polish basically replaced the Finishing Polish. The pads are still color coordinated. Hope that helps!

First off, Welcome!
 
You don't say if you are using a machine for the polishing, so I will respond as if you are working by hand.  The rubbing compound should be fairly aggressive, so using a finishing polish to refine the paint more is always a good plan.  Think of it like sandpaper in woodworking - start with a low number grit to remove the 'big' stuff, then finish with a higher number grit to smooth out the surface. 
 
If you will do more cars in the future, you should look into polishing with a machine - it is much faster and produces better results.  A random orbital, dual action machine (Porter Cable, Adam's Swirl Killers, etc.) is fairly simple to learn to use, and if you are mindful with the operation of them the only way they will damage the paint is if you drop them on the car!

Hi there, there are some great suggestions in here! As far as finding our products, yes we're mainly an online-based retailer; however, many Chevrolet dealerships now carry some of our product line, including a Waterless Wash Kit with the 16oz bottle and Waterless Wash Towels if you would like to try it out before grabbing the gallon.

Waterless Wash is without question one of the products I use the most. It's great for removing dust and light dirt, cleaning up an engine bay, door jambs, and I use it as a drying aid after a full wash sometimes too! I like that it's ready-to-use - no diluting or mixing needed, just grab the bottle and start spraying.

I'll typically use around 2-4 ounces for a light cleaning, but for heavier cleaning of bugs on the front bumper and so on, I will end up spraying more heavily and use 8 ounces or so, just like Chris mentioned. So usually 2-4 vehicles per bottle. Then you would get 8 full bottles out of a gallon. If cleaning one car at a time, the spray bottle is fine and my hand doesn't cramp up from squeezing the spray trigger. If I'm going to be cleaning multiple vehicles (like at one of our events), I'll use the IK Multi Pro 2 Sprayer to make the process a little easier 👍

If you are looking to save money and don't mind mixing, Adam's Rinseless Wash can be diluted 1oz to 16oz of distilled water to make a Waterless Wash-like spray solution. So you could actually make 16 spray bottles from one 16oz bottle!

Yes, it can, and no, it won't make it shiny, but it will darken/enrich the color. When you apply it, it may look shiny at first. Don't panic! The gloss will subside. Reference my picture directly above.

I use the Adam's Glass Cleaner on my entire helmet, shield and all.  It just makes it easier to go over the entire helmet in one shot.  If I get into the heavy bugs, then I'll use Waterless Wash on them and then I go over them with Adam's Spray Wax, including the shield.  Just be aware that it does make them a bit slippery when you grab them. 
 
I have not tried HGG, but do not know of any reason why it wouldn't work with the exception that I get challenged with streaks once in a while when using it on white vehicles.   
 
I just went out and took a picture of how it looks for reference and yes it needs to be cleaned. 

They did.  But it wasn't the same and didn't last long.  I like the vent sticks better than having something hanging in my cars.  

I'm familiar with it enough to know that a good Strip Wash will remove it and then you can start with a Clay, Polish and Surface Prep before applying the Graphene to ensure that you have a clean vehicle.   The most important part of any product application is the preparation and when you get into coatings that are designed to last a year or more is to ensure your preparation is spot on.

Slick & Slide isn't recommended as a drying aid, it tends to streak and not work well. Graphene DS can be used that way, though.

Hi Joey, and welcome to the forum!
 
Our ceramic coating offerings, and now our graphene coating offerings can have a little bit more tension to the feel of the paint than something like a sealant or wax, since once they cure and bond to the paint, it is leaving a microscopic "glass" layer on the surface. This is why we say to maintain the coatings about once or twice month with something like Ceramic Boost, CS3, or the new Graphene Detail Spray, as the spray products will bring back that super slick feel onto the surface of the coating. Sometimes even just a wash with Mega Foam or Wash + Coat soap will remove any small impurities and bring back a more slick feeling to the surface.

So basically the coating gives you the more durable protection against stains, etching, light scratches/swirls, and so on, plus the hydrophobic water-repelling behavior, and then the maintenance products will add the slick feeling back on top! 

The Guz nailed it ^^^^. 

If you clay the glass, I would recommend using Glass Cleaner as the clay lubricant, rather than Detail Spray. 

For the exterior trim, yep I would use the Trim Cleaner on black plastic trim, clean it at least twice. Then I would go back over it again with Surface Prep two times, to make sure that it is 100% clean. With textured plastic, once you apply the coating, it cannot really be removed, so you must have it as clean as possible first. You MUST also level and wipe away the coating from plastic trim to ensure that it does not leave any type of white residue afterward.

For headlights, I would Clay, Compound (optional if needed), Polish, Surface Prep, and then coat. The Trim Cleaner is not necessary for headlights.

For paint, you're correct in that you would clay, Compound (optional if needed), Polish, Surface Prep, and then coat - same as headlights 👍