cammyfive

I've been following/using Adams for a little over a year now and mainly just the interior maintenance/weekly wash products. I've done paint corrections of my personal vehicle maybe four times and only this last time (3 or so weeks ago) did it actually 'click' where I got the results I wanted and was able to walk away and look at my work and say, 'Wow!!!! That looks great!!!" Prior to that there were always a few things that I couldn't get right (never knew when the polish flashed and how to avoid overworking it, etc) but this last time I really felt good about it. Lately, I've seen a number of threads where first time machine polishers were frustrated....TRUST ME I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL! I think, with maybe a rare exception, no matter how many posts you read or videos you watch, you're not going to get it perfect and will probably walk away a little frustrated.

Moral of the story: Keep at it, practice makes perfect@

This was my time after I did the wheels and tires. This included foaming with a foam gun, washing all the body panels, rinsing, pool rinse and then misting detail spray but not drying yet.

I used a white pad on a PC with some Meguiars specific water spot remover polish and it worked very well. I'd imagine either of the Adams polishes would work equally as well or better. Afterwards, I wiped it down with white vinegar then wiped again with a light mist of Adams glass cleaner. Worked amazingly well.

Very nice looking truck! I'm not really a truck guy but I have to say the new GMC's and Dodge's (excuse me, ahem, RAM's) would be choice if I were in that market.

Sounds about what I do....wheels and tires take 30 minutes (my least favorite part) and then the body of the car takes about 30-60 minutes depending on the wash media I'm using. It's just so strange leaving the soap on the car the entire time!

I awaiting the refill resin for my CR Spotless water filtration system so my maintenance wash this weekend will have to be without which I'm not fond of. I'm aware of the chemistry/idea behind a ph balanced wash shampoo and washing the entire body of the car (not including the wheels) before rinsing any of it off but it just goes SOOOO contrary to the way that is entrenched in my head. If I am to wash all of the body panels before rinsing any of the soap off, how long does it take most of you guys/gals to wash a mid-size car assuming it's not caked in mud.

Me three.

^ Cool! Did you try your finishing polish pass with and without Revive to see the difference?

I have a 2011 Maxima, Super Black, and it corrected pretty easily. I was unsure at first, but it took one pass of orange and one pass of white to get it 95% swirl free. If I would've took a couple more hours, I know It would've come out PERFECT!

 

Here's my original thread: http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/25749-nissan-clear-coat-hard-or-soft-any-tips/?do=findComment&comment=406639

Thanks for the advice! How does it stand up to not swirling up with a careful 2 bucket wash?

the MF cutting pads have greater cutting than the orange foam pads, yes, but they do finish nicer than foam in my experience.

 

I actually don't use MF finishing pads in my regimen but I would imagine with a mild polish the MF finishing pad would complete the job nicely and be LSP ready.

 

I've actually seen Phil @ Detailers Domain use another brand product which is advertised as a one-step polish with the aggressiveness of a compound but it finishes like a final polish, he used it on a Jet Black M3 with an MF cutting pad and it was LSP ready with 2 passes, on black.  I just bought a small bottle of it and will be trying on my wife's Black Rav4 when it gets out of the shop, as the product was designed to be used on fresh body shop paints to correct defects but leave a perfect finish, so to speak.

When I last did a 2 stage polish on my Acura a few weeks ago I went with orange MF pads in conjunction with a Cyclo and Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover 3.0 (which is advertised as you indicated and I suspect what you may have been referring to) and it came out quite nice but I then went to a white foam pad and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze 3.0 for total face melt. Haha. I guess it depends on how much time you wanted to invest as well as how perfect you wanted it.

Distilled white vinegar has sooooooo many great uses. I use it for cleaning FILTHY windows with a cheap MF saturated in it, spritz a tiny bit of Adams window cleaner afterwards to remove the residue and they are literally invisible. I no longer use fabric softner of any type and use a half cup of vinegar in the final rinse. True, they won't coming out with an artificial good smell but they are totally clean and the colors stay bright. Finally, I run a few capfuls through my McCulloch steamer and Rowetta steam iron to remove any hard water traces or calcium build up. Not bad considering that a 64oz bottle of the grocery store brand is less than $2!!!

I've done this as well. Back when I first started I was frustrated by how a totally dry GWDT would not really dry a panel properly until it was a little damp.

The basic chemistry is that the white vinegar is just acidic enough to dissolve any residual detergent soap but not harm clothes/towels. I would THINK that running any empty load with say a cup of vinegar in the detergent tray and an additional cup in the fabric softner tray would clean out 99.9999999% of any remaining impurities in your machine. Probably a good idea every year or so even if you aren't washing our precious MF towels.

I would use the MF cutting/finishing pads on the black paint and especially the soft Maxima paint.  They will finish down nicer on that soft paint than foam will.

That's weird, I was under the assumption that foam finishes down nicer on black point than MF but MF has greater cutting ability for defects.

that nissan WILL be quite a bit softer than the TSX. I've found Honda is working it's way from super soft to just soft....and on my wife's new 2013 Civic it's on the realm of medium hardness.

 

That's believable. The thing with Honda/Acura paints, they seem to use the exact same color (including same color code) for their blacks for years. Mine is an '09 and the black is Crystal Black Metallic which is still used today and was used on most of their models up to 10 years ago. It's an amazing color fresh after a full correction but seems very prone to micro-marring.

I think my best bet is that within a day or so of buying the car brand new to do a full correction/new car prep and nano coat the paint afterwords. I bought mine used and at the time I didn't notice the crazy amount of clean coat etching.

I cant seem to get away from super soft paint to save my life! My current car, a black Acura TSX, is a nightmare to keep up with. The only thing that keeps my sanity with it is applying a quick coat of Adams Buttery Wax after every wash since it has some fillers.

As the current top contender for a new car I plan to buy this Fall I'm curious as to what everyone has found the paint to be (hard or soft clear). I'm thinking either Super Black (I'm a glutton for punishment given my current black car) or the Dark Garnett (very deep red).

No problem!  Best price I could find was Costco, but that was about 4 years ago when we bought ours.  Great product!

I use a CR Spotless system and LOVE it! I actually ordered a 4 pack of the replacement resin for $150 from Costco. Had to order online as they don't stock it in my local store.

Little background here..... I've always enjoyed detailing my car and tried to get serious about it a little over 10 years ago, back before I was aware of forums such as this. I bought a PC and some pads and just got frustrated and end up selling most of what I bought after some very mediocre attempts (had a 2001 Honda Prelude Type SH at the time). Over the last decade I always took my vehicles somewhere to have them detailed but was also extremely let down by the results. This time last year I found out about Adams Polishes and got in touch with a local dealer/detailer. He did a great job on my previous car and I got hooked ever since.

As I learned more and more about this little craft of ours I always wondered what else is out there. I was told by some others on other detailing boards that Adams was OK but Brand X was substantially better. I went on a quest and bought quite a few other products from other brands thinking that there was some merit to the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. Now I did find a couple of products I really like that Adams does not carry (very impressed with CR Spotless water filtration system and LOVE Wolfgang compounds and polishes) I learned the rather expensive way that Adams makes some world class products that are easy to use and give pretty darn good results. I'm always open to finding something that maybe truly better in the future but for now, I'm an Adams fan and loyalist.....except for a couple of things.

I was fortunate enough to have the best of both worlds during my first 'real' attempt. An Adams detailer let me "help" him detail my car. It was really an invaluable experience as he was able to coach me on some of the things you can't really learn from a video (despite how good they are): how much pressure to apply, how fast to move when making a pass, how long to work the polish, etc. I hang out as his shop a good bit and enjoy just watching/continuing to learn and lending a hand if he has a lot going on. Doesn't hurt that he's an Adam's dealer too so I usually end up with some product in my trunk when I leave.

I use 2 ounces of the Revitalizer with good results. Are you saying you add vinegar in addition to the Revitalizer?

Not exactly. The MF Reviltalizer has all the cleaning power necessary. The distilled white vinegar add to the fabric softner tray (if your machine has one) is dispensed with the final rise cycle. It's purpose is to ensure that 100% of the detergent/soap/suds are rinsed from the towels.

I've found that adding a half cup of distilled white vinegar to the last rinse/fabric softner cycle of my normal laundry regimen keeps my clothes brighter by being just acidic enough to make sure all of the detergent is totally out of the clothes, I was wondering if this would help while laundering MF towels? I use Adams MF revitalizer with a warm wash and double rinse (no fabric softner or anything else) but was curious if this would be beneficial any any at all.

This is the only way I can get great results from the product - literally slathering it on the seats and then closing the doors and letting it sit for several hours (preferably in the sun). After that I buff off any product that hasn't fully soaked in. Works great that way but streaks like crazy when using sparingly per the instructions on the bottle, at least for me anyway.

Well i decided to let a local do it. He says no way im fixing most of it with a cyclo. I just dont have time for it right now anyways.

I was in your shoes not too terribly long ago. I'm no means the expert many of the guys that have already chimed in this forum are, I've really just moved from a beginner to intermediate at this point, but I definitely went through a similar frustrating learning curve. When I first started I used a PC and mainly foam (orange and white) pads. I checked my work consistently and all looked great until the next day when the car was out in the sun I wanted to throw up - swirls, hazy paint from either over or underworking the products, spots I missed, etc. I spent some quality time with an Adams detailer helping out and asking tons of questions. Slowly but surely, I'm perfecting my technique. It does suck, but the only way to get better at this hobby of ours is through time and trial and error. I don't know of anyone that reached perfection, let alone 90% of that, the first time they used a machine. Keep at it and eventually it will kinda click.

What's the concensus on a truly "touchless" unmanned wash? You know. The tunnel you drive in that foams the car then has a series of high pressure sprays and when done you drive under that huge blower. I've thought od using that and then misting with detail spray and drying by hand. I, too, lack a garage.