Proper washing after paint sealing

[ku4zs]

I ordered two of Gary's products, the paint sealer and the polish (I think? its the really thick pink stuff, correct me Gary if I am wrong). I have questions on how to maintain the coating over the long term, between sealings. Here is what I did on my original detailing.

1) Washed entire car with Eagle 1 car wash (blue stuff in large bottle, smells good ) and dried with LOTS of microfiber towels (they get "soaked" pretty quickly and no longer pick up water but leave little water trails behind them). I should have gotten a leaf blower, maybe next time.

2) Clay bared the car with Meguire's kit. Took a while to get the hang of holding the bar flat against the surface, etc, but I got it down now, and it realy picked up a lot of dirt. Dried the surface after each area with microfiber.

3) Used Gary's pink polisher, in small sections, and wiping clean with microfiber before moving onto other section. Used a terry cloth polisher (little round pad that is stuck onto a velcro plastic handle).

4) Used Gary's paint sealant, applied to entire car, didn't wipe off till later. Applied a reasonable amount to each area, wanted to make sure that every square inch of the paint got some on it. Let sit for about 20 minutes, came back and wiped off with microfiber.

That was my original detailing, took me 3 hours to do, and a lot of sweat. Question on that, should I have put two coats of that paint sealant on the car, or is one sufficient?

Next, how about maintenance. I don't know what I can or can't do to wash the car, since I do not know what will remove the paint sealant. Should I just wash with the car wash juice and dry? Will clay bar remove the sealant? Should I be careful to gently rub surfaces dry with microfiber to prevent removing the paint sealant? Is the waffle weave towel you sell (Gary) better at drying than regular microfiber? (I have to switch towels every minute or so of drying since they get to where they don't pick up water but spread it around).

[cerberus]

I'm not even going to try to speak for Gary here, but can touch on a few until Gary makes it around to answer completely.

One application of sealant is enough. I don't know that you really need to claybar all that often, but you may need to reseal, not sure on that. I wouldn't worry to much about removing the sealant so long as you're using car wash soap and drying. Gary will probably tell you can touch that up PolySeal between applications of sealant. I think the sealant should last about 6 months with normal washing, drying, etc. By all means, get a microfiber waffleweave towel. It's scary effective in drying as it acts like a big sponge. I know exactly what you're talking about as far as trying to dry with the microfiber towels. With the waffleweave, I don't feel any need to blow off what I can, I just lay that out and swush, it soaks up the water and I wring it out.

Couple of other things which have made life easier. I've had pretty good luck kinda dabbing and pulling out the water from the grills with microfiber towels. It kinda creates a sponge effect and pulls the water out of those front grills. Also for long detailing jobs I sometimes slop junk on surfaces which are a pain to get clean of product. Stuff like the grills in front and on the hood. Some of the rubber trim seals. Places like that. I grabbed a roll of thin painters tape and just masked those areas off first. It takes a few minutes, but if I'm going to spend half a day detailing, I save time in total by not having to clean up those areas where I might slop over and create a time consuming mess.


HTH.

[ku4zs]

Thanks for the reply. I bought a leafblower today from wally world, only $26. Should make drying alot easier. I'll order a waffle weave towel for next time.

[turbomangt]

cerberus did pretty good. for starters get my DVD it has it all in their on how to on car care. use only car wash soap no luandry soap or dish soap, you will be fine, clay twice a year is good, polish and seal in that process. polyseal inbetween say once a month is good, your finish will be in great shape. I like the waffle weave and leaf blower for drying, the regular size micro fiber are too small for drying, thats why the WW is 25x36, a decent size for drying. gary