What Did You Wash, Shine, and or Polish Today

[crowvet]

Finally got a chance to play with cars today. My son bought a Tesla that has been run through car washes and neglected paint. I am pretty happy with the results

Edited July 5, 2021 by crowvet

[Rich]

Washed the Vette yesterday, treated the convertible top today.  Hasn't been done for two years, so I figured I better get to it.  Next up..........the Equinox.  

[Mongosg8]

I did this at my friends job last week. I had to polish the hood due to heavy swirls that were caused from using a truck brush to wash bird droppings off the hood. Apparently their prep dept. wasn't with it.

Love the reflection. 

Adams Swirl correction & Adams Polish with my Flex using 5.5 Orange and white pads

Finished with red pad and glaze. Sealed it with Graphene Spray Coating 

 

 

[RayS]

Mary had a bit of a oops with a pot hole last week and ruined a rim.  Initially, I was going to coat the rim while cleaning the rest of the Terrain, but after a close inspection, it is time to redo it.  

 

While the Terrain looks good from 3 feet away, it still has the Ceramic Spray Coating on it, so we'll get it switched to the Graphene Ceramic Spray in the near future.  I did a complete cleaning of the interior, got all leather areas set with Adam's Leather Conditioner and all the floor mats done with Adam's Rubber Mat & Liner Cleaner, which absolutely works like a charm.

 

The outside was washed with Graphene Shampoo and dried with Graphene Detail Spray.

 

[Captain Slow]

After two plus weeks the SS was in need of a bath. Filthy wheels were cleaned with Adam’s Wheel and Tire cleaner, Adam’s wheel and tire brushes and my favorite Adam’s Turbo Stick. They were then rinsed and treated to a shpritz of Rinse & Coat. The vehicle got foamed with Strip Wash, allowed to dwell, then rinsed and refoamed. Second rinse left the SS near perfectly clean. I washed using Graphene Shampoo and numerous MF wash mitts in a bucket. Sheeting rinse left the SS with hardly a drop on it but the plush drying towel made quick work of the remaining water. VRT  on the cowling, Ceramic Boost on the glass and a coating of Tire Armor on the Michelins finished her off nicely. Interior wiped down with Sweet Pea Interior Detailer. Then it was off to the showers. P U was I ripe!

After a shower and pics I went to look at it’s possible replacement and was ignored by the sales staff inside the showroom and out in the parking lot. I’ll visit a different dealership on Monday since they seemed to not want to take my money and shiny ride. Left there and went fishing but should have just gone home as fishing stunk (as did the pond.) Took a pic as I was walking back to my clean ride. ♥️

 

Tomorrow, bright and early before church,  I’ll wash the wife’s Beast then possibly mom’s Corolla after services.

[Mantis]

My Scat Pack. The newest thing in my lineup is Graphene Detail Spray. I used it last week as a drying aid and this is just a maintenance was with Car Shampoo. 

 The Wheels are ceramic Spray coated and honestly I barely ever have to use any Wheel and tire cleaner on them. Same goes with the tires, they however I use VRT and that stuff lasts a few weeks. This is a week later, after a wash , no tire dressing no Drying agent just washed and dry with Adams Drying towels( You can see them in the garage hung up ).

[RayS]

The newest member of the family arrived at the dealer on Wednesday and was at my house on Thursday evening.  The best part is that dealer never touched the body or interior, not even to remove the transport markings or tape.  The only thing the deal did was remove the transport protective film.  I washed it on Friday morning and continued Friday evening, Saturday and finished it this morning.

 

The Ford Escape Hybrid Titanium edition, replaces the daughters Jag since the mileage and fuel cost was taking a serious chunk of her funds.  Running between four restaurants she was burning about $100 in fuel every 3 days.  Why she chose to punish me with another black vehicle, I don't know.

 

I believe this is the first vehicle that I did not have to clay as the starting point, I did multiple baggie tests and it was as smooth as could be.  There was not even a mushed bug on this vehicle, so it was nice at a great starting point.  As for correcting, it had one small area on one back door that needed a little extra help, otherwise finishing polish was all that it needed.  

 

The first picture is before I started washing it on Friday morning. The next two are when I pulled it out of the garage this morning after getting Graphene Spray Coating top to bottom.  

 

 

 

 

[crowvet]

Performed a mini detail on my new ride today. Mini x 2 as in the size of the car, and the time spent doing it.( I keep it pretty clean, it didn't need much)

[RayS]

I finally got around to getting my truck redone with Graphene Spray Coating.  I did not plan on doing the trunk until the new garage was built, but found out that I'll need to take it on a short trip, so it has to look good.  After doing plenty of other vehicles, it is nice to have my own vehicle done.

 

The truck is 4 years old and has sat outside since it was purchased and it has 21,000 miles on it.  If it wasn't for the trips, it would probably be under 10k miles.  

 

 

[RayS]

I decided to be nice to my son-in-law while he is in Kazakhstan helping the investors open a new a restaurant. He'll be over there for a few weeks and he knows that it is an honor to be asked to travel internationally to help open a new place.  At least when the daughter gets to open another one, it should help the investors in knowing the setup is going to be well managed.

 

Did the everyone else take the summer off and stop making vehicles shiny - seems like this thread hasn't been getting much attention lately.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the son-in-laws F-150 after being being stripped polished and coated with Graphene Spray Coating.  For those wondering about the new garage, I was informed on Thursday on that the materials have arrived and I'm being schedule for the week of October 4th - weather permitting.

 

 

 

 

[falcaineer]

On 9/26/2021 at 5:17 PM, RayS said:

I decided to be nice to my son-in-law while he is in Kazakhstan helping the investors open a new a restaurant. He'll be over there for a few weeks and he knows that it is an honor to be asked to travel internationally to help open a new place.  At least when the daughter gets to open another one, it should help the investors in knowing the setup is going to be well managed.

 

Did the everyone else take the summer off and stop making vehicles shiny - seems like this thread hasn't been getting much attention lately.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the son-in-laws F-150 after being being stripped polished and coated with Graphene Spray Coating.  For those wondering about the new garage, I was informed on Thursday on that the materials have arrived and I'm being schedule for the week of October 4th - weather permitting.

 

 

 

 

 

Had to do a double take since the truck is blue! 😉😂

[Captain Slow]

I have mom's 2017 Corolla for the week while the SS is being made whole, don’t ask.

 

Despite winds gusting to near 50 mph yesterday I started with a foam bath with Strip Wash followed by a rinse then another Strip Wash foam bath. After the second rinse I foamed it with Wash n Wax (grabbed wrong bottle) then got to cleaning the finish.  I rinsed the car and refoamed  using the foam as a clay lubricant. Mom parks outside 24/7 and it shows. That paint, to quote Adam, “was rougher than a night in jail.” The glass was just as bad. Dried the Corolla then pulled it in the garage.

 

My garage has about a zillion lumens of LED goodness. This made all the swirls, scratches and bird dookie etchings quite visible. My PC with 3” inch orange and white pads plus the jumbo SK with 6” MF pads paired with the orange and white Adam’s chemicals made quick work of the undesirables. I used a competitor’s panel wipe then commenced to coating it with Graphene Spray Coating. That stuff went on headlights, paint, wheels and all glass except the windshield. That got a competitor’s glass coating that I’ve nearly finished off. After a dinner of chicken street tacos I headed back out to the garage to cover the vehicle with Ceramic Boost. I also wiped the interior down with Adam’s Interior Detailer with MicroBan, sweet almond scent.  I took the pic below then had Tiramisu with my lovely wife.
 

Tomorrow I’ll coat the tires with Graphene Tire Dressing before I go to the office. Tomorrow night I’ll pull the mats and give them a good scrubbing plus vacuum the floors. I’ll finish with Leather Conditioner on the seats.  Hopefully Mother Nature will leave it alone so when I return it to mom on Friday it’ll still look great.

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Captain Slow

[mc2hill]

A little of 'detail something different' today.  My wife's niece has 'brittle bone' disease, and and was not supposed to live past about 2 years old - well she is now 32 and is getting married on Halloween! 

I have detailed her mobility van several times, but she wanted her motorized wheelchair detailed for the big day.

I was not sure how to tackle this or what I would need, so I packed the small polishers, Interior stuff, pump bottles of Rinseless and Waterless Wash, APC in several strengths, lots of brushes, and of course Detail Spray.

It ended up that is was like cleaning an engine bay - lots of grimy/greasy bits, some plastic and chrome, plus a little bit of an interior cleanup thrown in.

I took off the seat cushions (they were Alcantara) and cleaned them with Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner using the soft bristle Cockpit Brush.

Next I sprayed down the chair with Rinseless Wash to loosen up the grimey stuff, then worked a section at a time with Waterless Wash & a work MF towel.  I went thru several towels before applying Interior Detailer to the plastic fender, and Detail Spray to the plastics.

Finally I scrubbed the tires with Tire & Rubber Cleaner and a small scrub brush, and applied VRT to finish.

Lots of nooks and crannies on this, and I wished I had brought all my Wheel Woolies to get to some of the hard to reach spots.  But my most used tool was a Popsicle stick wrapped around a MF cloth!  

 

Before:

 

 

Before and Afters

 

And the full After shot:

Edited October 28, 2021 by mc2hill

[The Guz]

Took Friday off. Washed the car and took a drive to the Adams store in Anaheim California. 

 

 

[Captain Slow]

Well it ended up raining Thursday, Friday and part of today…oh well

it did look great before the rain though.

 

Edited October 30, 2021 by Captain Slow

[Captain Slow]

Yesterday the SS got a much needed bath as it had been nearly a month since it’s last cleaning. Adam’s Car Shampoo in the foam gun helped break down the road filth and film. I rinsed it then re-foamed leaving foam on while I washed the car. Sheeting rinse followed by blowing car dry left me little work. Wheels got cleaned with Adam’s Wheel Cleaner. Tires got cleaned with Adam’s Wheel and Tire cleaner. Rinsed the wheels then hit them with Adam’s Rinse and Coat to boost the hydrophobic properties of the wheel coating. Tires got Adam’s Graphene Tire Dressing, I’m REALLY liking that stuff!

 

 

This morning after Church mom stopped by for coffee, conversation and Mother’s Day celebrations. After chat-chatting for a good couple hours I excused myself to the garage and did to her Toyota exactly the way I’d done my SS yesterday. Only difference was her car got treated to Adam’s Guard & Gloss. A car friend on the car nerd forum posted he used it yesterday and I remembered how much I loved that product so the Corolla got treated to it.

 

After doing Mom’s car we had pulled pork, brisket and burnt ends, Mac n Cheese, cole slaw, chips, etc. for Mother’s Day.  After dessert of cake and ice cream the extended family left and I finished my detail weekend doing my wife’s Beast. Same products and process as my SS. The paint was treated to Ceramic Boost as an LSP. 

 

Before I sat down to type this out I snuck another piece of burnt end and washed it down with some Rock Hill Farms single barrel. I’m tired but happy with the weekend. Now to get towels washed and in the dryer before bed.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Captain Slow

[RayS]

After over 5 years my tonneau cover got a hole in it and need to be replaced.  The new cover arrived and was put on today and received a Graphene Coating.   For the smaller boxes, I do the coatings in 4 sections and the first picture shows the first section once it was done.  The different the coating makes it pretty substantial.  The second picture is once the entire cover is complete.

 

Of note, with the Graphene Coating, I cannot see it flash so I have to go by feel or 3 minutes, whichever is shorter.

[RayS]

Hard to believe that it has been over 6 months since anyone posted on this thread.  While the majority of my time is spent shining vehicles, this is a different twist since I finished the workbench top.

 

Disclaimer:  The information is not documented or endorsed by Adam's and following the items is strictly at your own risk.  Never use a Pad on alternative objects that you intend to use again on a vehicle.  The ones I previously used for headlights make great donors since they are usually abused, yet have plenty of life left in them for alternate uses.

To get the shine I ended up with 10 coats of Spar Urethane, with #0000 steel wood and/or 600 grit sandpaper and a final sanding with 1000 grit. Anyone unfamiliar with Spar Urethane it has good resistance to UV light, can handle big temperature differences and generally does not crack or yellow.  The top itself is Birch Butcher Block, 26 inches wide with two 8 foot sections.  This was a slow process with a minimum of two days between coats, all actions were by hand.

The polishing was accomplishing with a retired Adams' Headlight Kit using the Blue Pad with Compound, followed by a White pad and One-Stop-Polish and a final once-over with Polish.   The last step was to go over it with Adam's Glass Cleaner and an old microfiber to remove all the residue.

 

One of the things when doing wood and Spar Urethane is to limit the number of passes and don't dwell on any single spot - i.e. keep moving.  I still worked 2 foot sections, actually 2 foot by 26 inches, kept it cool in the garage and worked quickly.

 

I do believe the end result qualifies as shiny and an alternative use for Adam's products.

[Firebuff17]

Ray

That looks amazing!! Jealousy is setting in over here

[Captain Slow]

It was a sunny and balmy 47* F today so I took advantage of the great mid February midwestern weather and cleaned the SS. I used Adam’s Rinseless Wash in my jumbo IK Sprayer with HOT water as a presoak. I used 8 plush MF towels in a 2 gallon bucket to clean the paint and door jambs. The remaining wash medium was used with old MF towels to clean the wheels. I used Adam’s Graphene Detail Spray as a drying aid, one spritz per panel except for hood and roof which got two. My opinion on it has changed 180*.

I’m convinced I had a bad bottle of it last year as I never had good results with it no matter how I used it or how much I used.

Tomorrow after church my wife’s Beast will get a regular wash with foam gun, etc.  It is mega filthy.

Edited February 18, 2023 by Captain Slow

[Captain Slow]

Today was 55*F and sunny.  As promised after church (and after my brother and mom left) I washed my wife’s Beast, her 2016 Durango R/T. It was Uber filthy and covered with road salt, grit, grime and who knows what else. First things first, all four wheels were cleaned with Adam’s Wheel and Tire Cleaner, rinsed then treated to Adam’s Rinse & Coat. I used a strip wash from the guy in Tacoma WA in the foam gun to remove the gunk on the paint. Following a good rinse I washed it with many MF wash mitts in one bucket using Adam’s Car Shampoo. Now before I rinsed it I was thinking that the Advanced Graphene Spray Coating had utterly failed.  NOPE!   As soon as the soap was rinsed off, the water first sheeted then beaded like crazy. I did a sheeting rinse and dried the Beast using Adam’s Graphene Detail Spray as a drying aid. Did I tell you how much I’m starting to dig that stuff? Anyway, I finished up with Adam’s Tire Shine on the Michelins then started taking pics. She’s looking great for 140,000+ miles!

Edited February 20, 2023 by Captain Slow

[Captain Slow]

Now that winter has buggered off and spring has sprung I decided to turn my grey Chevy SS back to black. I used Adam’s Rinseless Wash in an iK sprayer for a foaming presoak then Rinseless washed with multiple MF towels in a bucket. Each panel was dried then given a spritz of Adam’s Graphene Detail Spray. All exterior glass also was treated to the Graphene Detail Spray. Tires and wheels cleaned with Adam’s Wheel and Tire cleaner, rinsed then dried. Again I used Adam’s Graphene Detail Spray for the wheels and Adam’s Graphene Tire Dressing on the Pilot Sports. Door jambs and WeatherTech mats were also cleaned with Adam’s Rinseless Wash. We really didn’t have much of a winter here. We had a snowstorm in December and that was pretty much it for the season so the door jambs and mats weren’t too soiled as they would have been if we’d had a typical winter.

 

Tomorrow I’m ushering the early Easter Service, attending the 8 o’clock service then listening to my wife and youngest daughter sing with the choir at the 9:30 Service. After dinner with mom, my brother and my family I’ll clean the wife’s Beast.  Busy weekend for me, so much for a restful weekend. 😀

Edited April 10, 2023 by Captain Slow

[Captain Slow]

Stuck at work on a Saturday when a lone shower passes through and rains on my pollen covered SS.

 

Adam’s Graphene Detail Spray doing its beading thing quite well.

[RayS]

The son-in-law had to be at Sumter AFB for the weekend, so the Mazda was left at my house and got some much needed attention.  It also pointed out that I need todo some some light research on what I installed in m garage.  I have 5000k LED's in the garage and it is pretty obvious that the difference between their light and nature light is substantial.

 

 

[galaxy]

A little spring cleaning...