Bert

It would do a so-so job on sap that has baked into the paint but that would probably require a strong concentration of APC or maybe even a degreaser or claying.

When I am getting ready the detail a car and I want to remove all of the old wax/sealant/road grime/etc., instead of Dawn, I will use a strong concentration of a citrus wash which is just a pure wash, it has no conditioners or anything in it so all you have is a really clean surface to start claying. There are a few companies which made such a wash.

For really neglected, dirty leather, as strange as it sounds, I generally get better results from an APC in cleaning those bad jobs than a dedicated leather cleaner. I generally stick with leather cleaners for well cared for leather since leather cleaners seem to be a little more gentle than APC. I was just wondering if Adam's APC at full strength would be too much and I would need to dilute it some.

Is Adam's APC too strong to use on leather? The old APC concentrate I used to buy was designed to be diluted 10:1 for leather and light cleaning, 4:1 for engines and other strong cleaning.

The videos from the guy who calls himself WaxDaddy: the Godfather of Wax are even better.

Hey Adam. While it is nice to pull a product right out of the box and use it, I would prefer it be concentrated so I could adjust how strong I want to make it. Also, by it being concentrated, customers can buy more in the same size container since they add the water after receiving the product so customers essentially save on shipping. One APC I have used is designed to mix 4:1 for strong cleaning or 10:1 for regular cleaning. With that type of concentration, that gallon of APC lasted me for a LOOONNNGG time. I have also noticed some companies sell products in both forms, concentrated and ready to use. One sells their detail spray ready to use in a spray bottle or the concentrate in a regular bottle that you mix with three parts water. I don't know how difficult it would be for you to sell APC the same way.

I just received my Adam's APC and I was wondering if this is an APC meant to use right out of the box or is it a concentrate that you dilute with water depending on how strong of a mixture you need? I have seen both (use as is and dilute to preferred strength) but I was not sure which this was. Thanks.

Phil sells Optimum's No Rinse Wash and Shine which is a very nice no rinse wash. Of the 4 or 5 no rinse washes that I know of, it tends to be a favorite. While I don't consider myself a tree hugger, once I used up the rest of my traditional wash, rinseless washing is how I plan to wash from now on.

You mentioned you have a Pontiac, traditionally GM's have very hard paint some my comment that you may need to use the wax pad is not longer applicable. Where were you when you finished that night? I am guessing you had used the swirl and haze remover with the Orange pad and then used the Fine Machine Car Polish with the white pad but you hadn't gotten to the wax stage?

When you say "would i have to do the steps all over again" I assume the steps you are talking about are: wash -> clay -> swirl remover polish -> fine polish -> wax You should wash the car again before polishing obviously but you should not need to clay the car again or use the more aggresive swirl remover polish, holograms are typically not very deep and a fine polish with a polishing pad or a fine polish should be able to remove them. Then you should obviously rewax the car.

Holograms can be tricky but when using a DA versus a Rotary (which is trickier), that can be avoided. The most common reasons I see for holograms is: -Finishing with too aggressive of a pad. -Finishing with too aggressive of a polish -Working polish too long and polish dries up on you and you are "dry buffing" -Not working polish long enough so the abrasives do not break down completely -Using too much polish -Using too much pressure towards the end of the polishing. The first two are pretty easy to fix. When looking at pads, if the paint is really soft such as Honda or Infinity paint is, you may need to finish with a finishing pad rather than a polishing pad. In the Adams line up that is the Wax Pad. The least aggresive Adam's brand polish is the Fine Machine Car Polish. For the third point (working the polish too long that it dries up), you may need to shrink your work section so you are spending less time per application. I often us a 1.5 foot by 1.5 foot section but that may be too large for some polishes, 1 foot by 1 foot may be more appropriate. For the fourth point (not working the polish long enough), maybe you are not giving the abrasives enough time to break down completely and not allowing them to eliminate the holograms. The fifth point (using too much polish) is similar to the fourth point in that if you use too much polish, the machine does not have a chance to break down the large abundance of abrasives so when you stop, some of the large, none broken down abrasives are still leaving marks in the paint. The last point (using too much pressure at the end of polishing a section) can also result in hazing. Before switching over to a rotary, when I used to use my DA, when polishing a section, at first I would use a decent amount of pressure to get more cut out of the polish and pad. However, as I was going, I would be letting off pressure and towards the end I would actually be lifting slightly so less than the weight of the polisher was pressing on the paint. Doing so helps burnish the paint and reduces the likely hood of holograms. I hope this helps.

In my opinion, it looks as if both parties were wrong in this case, the owners of the business and the vetran. The business owner should have used some sense and put the US flag on top or at least have them level on either side of the business. I have seen Mexican estiblishments like this and find it respectable. One even had a sign that said "God Bless the USA and Mexico" in English and Spanish. Very tasteful in my opinion. The Mexicans who live around me are starting to celebrate the 4th of July just as the do Cinco de Mayo. On the other side, my assumption is that the vet did not take the time to address the concern with the owner first and arbitrarily cut the flags down which in my opinion does not shine a great light on this country. I may be a little sensitive in this due to my family being treated pretty harsh when they entered the country and move on to Louisville, KY in the mid 1800's.

I am starting to see some families go back to spelling and pronoucing their names as they were originally. Like your name, adding the "i" at the end for many Italian names. In German names, adding consonants back such as Helmann with two n's at the end, etc..

I use a rotary and wool to correct swirls and other paint marring, to clean up the haze from compounding I use the rotary with either a wool polishing pad or foam polishing pad and to finish the paint, I use the rotary with a finishing foam pad to maximize the gloss lastly. If I need to use a paint cleaner, I use my dual action polisher with a finishing pad. If I am using a wax I generally will use the DA with a finishing pad. If I am using a sealant, I will generally apply those by hand since they tend to be watery.

I already use 24/32 ounce bottles with the high volume sprayers, they just say Home Depot or Lowes on the bottle instead of the product name. I just attach a label so I can identify what the product is easily. Since I RARELY ever buy detail spray, APC, carpet cleaner or other similar high use products in less than a gallon (unless it is the first time I use the product) due to saving in bulk, whether the product comes in 16/20/28/32 or whatever other size doesn't really matter to me. Other than the initial purchase when I try it out, I will probably never buy it in that small of a container again. Along with the 24/32 ounce bottles I have on the shelf in the garage, I have a 6 (or is it 8?) ounce bottle in the glove compartment with a few micro fiber towels for bird turds or if while sitting at a light I notice the interior windows could use a touch up.