questions and pics from today's detail of my S4! *long*

[ngng]

So, I am a complete detailing noob. Today was as nice day, so I figured it was my a good opportunity to detail my car to protect it for the impeding winter.

Before I worked on the car, there were some paint marks from assfucks opening their doors into my car and some other misc road damage. There was also some spider webbing which I wanted to remove.

Tools:
-shit ton of microfber and towels
-fire hose nozzle
-clay bar
-Adam's Detail Spray
-porter cable
-einszett Perls shampoo
-Menzerna Super Intensive Polish
-Menzerna PO106FA
-einszett Glanz wax
-CCS yellow, orange, red pad

wash and clay
I started by washing the car using the einszett perls shampoo, I dried it off with some microfiber towels, then I proceeded to clay the entire car. DAMN there was a TON of shit in the paint!! I used 1/5th of the original bar and 4/5th of the Detail Spray (is this normal for an entire car?). I kept folding the bar over and over. Should I throw away the clay I today? This process took me like 2-3hours!!! My arm was so freaking tired.

menzerna SIP
I was unsure if I should have used the SIP or the PO106FA first, from what I have seen...looks like I should have used the PO106FA? Anyhow...I used the SIP with the orange pad and hit the car. Using the PC, I spread two rings of SIP 1" from the edge of the pad. I then smeared the product over a 2x2 section of the car. I turned the PC to 3 to evenly distribute the product. Then I switched to 5 and did up/down/ left/right movements. I was unsure when the polish was "done". So maybe that's why I still have some webbings?

I spent a few hours doing this. Looking at my watch I realized I'd be running out of daylight quickly, so I decided to skip the PO106FA. I DID hit the hood with the PO106FA and a green pad (I can't really tell the difference?). After I used the SIP on the entire car, it looked very glossy, but I could still notice some spider webbing. Perhaps I need to spend more time?

wax
With daylight quickly running out, I decided to switch to wax mode. I was a little disappointed I had the webbings still, but decided it was better than when I had started. I put the red pad on, and did a small ring on the pad with the einszett glanz. I smeared this on the car in a 2x2 section, switched the PC to 3, and made sure the evenly distribute the wax. I waited for 1-2 minutes for the wax to dry, then removed it with a blue cloth. This process was much quicker...hopefully I did it right? I am hoping it will offer protection through winter? When I DO reapply teh wax, do I need to repeat the clay, polishing, then wax? Or can I just wash then wax?

conclusion
What a long ass process!! I had a harm time holding the PC vertically when I was doing the sides of the vehicle. The vibrations from the PC on 5 was out of control! props to you pro-detailers. I was disappointed that I was unable to remove all the spider webbing, but maybe next time. I am very happy with how glossy the car looks! OMG . I was a little unsure if I should have used both the SIP and naon polish? Or should I just use one? Any tips, tricks, suggestions would be appreciated!

AND THE PICS!







I know this looks bad, but I'm actually VERY happy with it. Before the detail there was red paint from the girl who backed into my car. I'm just glad my car doesn't have lipstick on it anymore ;)

[Grouse]

Looks very good.

[Grouse]

For the first clay 2-3 hours is normal with blue clay.

Gray is way more aggressive. the trade off is you have to remove the marring caused by the grey clay when polishing.

Rule of thumb. if you plan on polishing you clay. If you plan on claying you polish.

Correction with the PC is about a 10-18 hour process on audi paints. It's not easy, it is rough and hard work. It sounds like you might have used a bit to much product. 4 pea sized dots on a 2x2 area. Sip will smooth out, get grabby, then smooth out again. after it smooths out a 2nd time is when you are actually doing the work. you want to stop just before it dry's out. That is not an easy thing to learn.

Normally you would not want to skip from orange sip to red pad sealant. I can understand with time running out on you.

In cooler weather it takes a bit longer for glanz to set up. With glanz 1/4 oz will do the whole car. Spread it very thinly on your pad and re-apply thinly to the pad. The thicker glanz goes on the harder it is to take off.

[Buegie]

Basically you want to use a product aggressive enough to eliminate all of the swirling/RIDS (in your case, its the SIP). Because of that aggressiveness though, it will probably induce some of its own marring. Thats why you have to step down to something like 106 to clean up the surface.

And if you didn't know, Audi paint is some of the hardest in the detailing world. Its very time consuming to correct, especially if you're using a PC. You would need to do multiple passes at speed 6 on the PC in order to get it perfect.

To answer your other question, claying and polishing will strip the wax off of the surface. So if you are just looking to add another layer of wax, you don't want to do either of those things.

[ngng]

Basically you want to use a product aggressive enough to eliminate all of the swirling/RIDS (in your case, its the SIP). Because of that aggressiveness though, it will probably induce some of its own marring. Thats why you have to step down to something like 106 to clean up the surface.

And if you didn't know, Audi paint is some of the hardest in the detailing world. Its very time consuming to correct, especially if you're using a PC. You would need to do multiple passes at speed 6 on the PC in order to get it perfect.

To answer your other question, claying and polishing will strip the wax off of the surface. So if you are just looking to add another layer of wax, you don't want to do either of those things.

I did not know either of those things! So, come 3 months, I should just apply more wax to protect the paint? Then in ~6 mo, when it's a tad nicer re-clay, polish, and wax?

[ngng]

For the first clay 2-3 hours is normal with blue clay.

Gray is way more aggressive. the trade off is you have to remove the marring caused by the grey clay when polishing.

Rule of thumb. if you plan on polishing you clay. If you plan on claying you polish.

Good to know, thanks...today my arm feels like it was attacked by 240958ty tetnus shots. I was amazed how much I could remove with it.

Correction with the PC is about a 10-18 hour process on audi paints. It's not easy, it is rough and hard work. It sounds like you might have used a bit to much product. 4 pea sized dots on a 2x2 area. Sip will smooth out, get grabby, then smooth out again. after it smooths out a 2nd time is when you are actually doing the work. you want to stop just before it dry's out. That is not an easy thing to learn.

wow..10-18 hours, I spent 6 TOTAL! yikes. I was moving the 1-2"/sec. As for product, I think I used a LOT more than I should...no splatter though! I used 1/2 of my glanz waxing the car :( Didn't know 1/4 would do the whole thing. Does the PO106 work like SIP as well?

Normally you would not want to skip from orange sip to red pad sealant. I can understand with time running out on you.

In cooler weather it takes a bit longer for glanz to set up. With glanz 1/4 oz will do the whole car. Spread it very thinly on your pad and re-apply thinly to the pad. The thicker glanz goes on the harder it is to take off.

[Buegie]

I did not know either of those things! So, come 3 months, I should just apply more wax to protect the paint? Then in ~6 mo, when it's a tad nicer re-clay, polish, and wax?

thats the idea, yes. You do usually use too much product when you first start out. More is definitely not better, like someone already said, a few dots of polish is all you need for an area.

[Twista616]

conclusion
What a long ass process!! I had a harm time holding the PC vertically when I was doing the sides of the vehicle. The vibrations from the PC on 5 was out of control! props to you pro-detailers. I was disappointed that I was unable to remove all the spider webbing, but maybe next time. I am very happy with how glossy the car looks! OMG . I was a little unsure if I should have used both the SIP and naon polish? Or should I just use one? Any tips, tricks, suggestions would be appreciated!

Looks great...but now you know why people think detailers charge soo much...they dont realize how much work actually goes into it...and you skipped a couple steps too! Overall, nice job...and its just a start, dont expect perfect results when your in the beginning stages... you'll get the hang of it!

[DetailersDomain]

nice work looks like all your questions were answered.