I like Autobright products, and they can be watered down quite a bit and still work well ;)

I really don't rate there magifoam. Ok it dwells for ages. But stains the drive and leaves the door shunts the same. There supasnow foam works best for me & its ph neutral.

Purple Rain 2.0 is great, but it stinks.

Rappy

Another product I rate is Auto Finesse Citrus Power 1L - Bug and Grime Remover

Make light work of bugs on the front of your car with Citrus Power bug and grime remover, and take care of road grime from the grubbier areas too without removing or effecting car wax or paint sealant layers. Here at Auto Finesse we aim to create the ultimate car care products, Citrus Power is one of the first pre wash solutions that is LSP safe, its gentle but effective formula removes bugs and grime with ease and without scrubbing or deteriorating your car wax or sealant layers, safe for use on paintwork, glass, plastics and more. Its also ideal as a gentle cleaner to care for sealed or polished wheels.


Auto Finesse Citrus Power is a wax and sealant safe pre-wash and exterior all purpose cleaner, perfect for those times when regular shampoo and snow foams just aren’t enough. Unlike most exterior APC’s and traffic film removers, Citrus Power is gentle enough for regular use on your wax or sealant, but tough enough to tackle even the worst winter grime. Whether we’re washing off the bug splatter from a long road trip, prepping the trims of a daily driver for dressing of Revive or Dressle, or cleaning grease and oil from the engine bay of a priceless supercar, Auto Finesse Citrus Power is the product we always reach for.

Auto Finesse Citrus Power is not just a safe citrus pre-wash for dissolving tough debris that washing alone cannot remove. It’s also one of the best exterior all purpose cleaners we’ve ever used! Citrus Power’s gentle nature makes it the only APC we would use for sensitive applications, like degreasing motorcycle engines, or cleaning the lacquered door jambs and enameled badges of classic cars. Whether you need a wax-friendly pre-wash, or a powerful exterior all purpose cleaner, Auto Finesse Citrus Power is the detailing product that you can always rely on to get the job done!

Rappy

Hi Rappy - first good day when I've not got the wife and kids, and I've been off work so I got straight to it.

Washed with car shampoo and then clay'd the car (blue clay and Quick Detailer) and then I used a 'mirror glaze':



Just in case that product didn't seal in my work, I then applied some dark wax:



Altogether, about 4 hours (including a couple of breaks! )

Thanks for your previous advice - any more tips, please?

Do you think I need the mirror glaze AND dark wax? Also, is it safe to clay once a month for the summer (can't say I'd be likely to clay when it gets colder outside )

I was also disappointed that the dark wax didn't 'mask' some of my stone chips, so I thinking of adding in some Black T-Cut into the routine - what do you think?

Cheers

Bloggsy

Hi Bloggsy,

Looking good What Mirror Glaze are you using?. Wax, sealant it's all personal choice.

A temp fix for scratches or chips is a wax crayon

If you decide to fill the chips, don't use the brush they supply. Get a cocktail stick & slowly fill the chip. The tip is less is more. It could take around 3-5 applications to fill.

Clay, only once/ twice a year. No need to clay that often. The tip is to keep a wax/ sealant layer. 3 monthly, 6 monthly, yearly. Again personal choice.

I do use a spray wax & quik detailer after most washes.

Rappy

I'd have never thought to use a wax crayon (We are talking about the one's my youngest uses to draw, aren't we?).

Many thanks for the tip re a cocktail stick (any product you'd recommend as the filler?). As for the glaze, it's Meguiars 7 Show Car Glaze - seems to give it a shone allright, but am I just repeating myself by waxing it afterwards?

Thanks again, mate

Cheers

Bloggsy

Is it a wax? Or a paint sealant?

There's a lot of confusion over the topic of car waxes and paint sealants. More specifically, there's confusion over what's the difference between a car wax and a paint sealant? Such as when you would use one over the other as well as if you need to use both?

Car Wax
On discussion forums, most people think of a car wax as something that contains some kind of naturally occurring wax, as in a type of wax that is found in nature, for example Carnauba wax is the most commonly used naturally occurring wax used in car wax formulations.


Paint Sealants
On discussion forums, most people think of a paint sealant as something made from synthetic polymers with no naturally occurring wax type substance or other naturally occurring ingredients.

To add to that confusion, some people think you need to use both usually performing a practice commonly known as Topping in which a person would first apply a paint sealant to seal the paint and provide perceived maximum protection followed by the application of a car wax, usually one that includes Carnauba to give the resulting final finish warmth and glow.

(Warmth, Glow, Pop, Sterile, Plastic are all discussion forum buzz words used to describe and differentiate the appearance results produced by either a paint sealant or a car wax)

Whether it's a car wax or a paint sealant, you only need to use one or the other, not both. You can use both if you like, that's personal preference, but you don't have to. Meguiar's has been teaching people the 5 Step Paint Care Cycle since 1981 when they introduced Trigger Wash which was the first "Mist & Wipe" type product that we've all come to refer to generically as Quick Detailers. The name Trigger Wash was dropped and the mist and wipe product that actually created/defined the category in the industry was named Quik Detailer. (Before 1981, because there was no such thing as a mist and wipe type quick detailer Meguiar's taught the 4-Step Paint Care Cycle)

The 5-Step Paint Care Cycle is a common sense approach to regular car care maintenance which breaks the process of maintaining a vehicle's paint into 5 distinct categories or steps. This would include,

Step 1: Washing
Step 2: Surface Prep
Step 3: Polishing
Step 4 Protecting - This is the step where you would apply either a car wax or a paint sealant
Step 5 Maintaining


Now follow me on this, you can figure out what a product is by the step or category it is placed into. If a product removes defects off or out of the paint then it fits into Step 2: Surface Prep.

If a product is applied to the paint with the end-result goal intended to be protecting the paint then it's placed into Step 4: Protecting no matter what the name is on the label of the bottle or can.

It is in the step or category that both groups, waxes and paint sealants belong. This being true, (and it is), then when it comes to protecting your car's paint, after you have done any necessary washing, surface prep and polishing, (and optional step), to prepare the paint then at this point you only need to choose and apply one type of product to coat over, seal and protect the paint. You can if you like apply one, two or more applications of this same product that's your choice but it's not necessary to apply an application of each type of product.

While you don't have to apply a coat of each type of protection product, some people choose to do this for a host of different reasons, usually for perceived better protection or perceived better appearance, but you don't have to, it's your option, not a rule.

One coat of a protection product to protect the paint with a recommendation for a second coat to insure,

Uniform appearance, unform coverage does not teach applying multiple, multiple applications of a paint protection product to create a thicker and thicker layer of this product on the surface because the surface of your car's paint will only hold so much product and after you've created a uniform coating, any more product applied simply replaces what is already there or is wiped off as excess residue. To date, no one has ever proved that layering, that is multiple applications for a product increases the thickness of the coating being applied.


The difference between a wax and a paint sealant
The difference or the distinction between what is a wax and what is a paint sealant, (according to forum consensus), is that a "Car Wax" contains some type of natural waxy type substance. A paint sealant contains no natural wax but instead is made from man-made or synthetic materials with the the catch-all term of polymers being the most common word used to describe what's in the can or bottle. There are currently no "Wax Police" so companies can pretty much use any word or term they choose to label their products.

According to the forum consensus definition of a paint sealant, is an all synthetic paint sealant but the word "wax" was chosen as the descriptive word for the label because the majority of enthusiasts in the world understand what a car wax is and when and how to use it. When the average do-it-yourselfer walks into an auto parts store to purchase products to wash and wax their car, they are looking for a Car Wash and a Car Wax.

Rappy


 

yes a simple kids wax crayon

Megs 7 is a polish, not a wax or sealant.

Rappy

With you now!

What about black T-Cut after claying (would that be a 'compound' to help bring out the paint)?

Cheers

Bloggsy

Yes, but it does not contain diminishing abrasives, and will add scratches.
Rappy