Recommendations for quality car wash and wax for new car?

[southernnaturelover]

I've been using Meguiars Deep Crystal car wash and NXT TechWax. Seems to work pretty well.

I've thought about trying Liquid Glass since I've read good reviews on it.

[C8N]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Yes - Calguy's cars look very good and I am impressed.

But "Bob" doesn't even understand what clay does. It doesn't polish the finish. It has no microabrasives in it, can't remove scratches, etc. Clay "grabs" grit on the surface of the paint that doesn't come off with washing. When you rub your hand on the paint after it is washed while it is wet you can often feel tiny pieces of dirt. Clay does a great job of removing that. If as he says nothing will stick to paint with wax on it he would never have to clay his cars.

BTW - I was in Santa Monica three weeks ago. Ate breakfast on Washington Blvd. They were repaving half that street in the morning with brand new asphalt. Anyone driving on the other half of the road had to drive over loose asphalt making any turns. I was driving my son's car and had that unmistakable sound of asphalt sticking to the tires as we turned on and off Washington ave.

Whether he uses correct methods and/or products, is debatable.
Whether he understands what each steps of a detail actually does, I won't comment. I think the important thing is that he does clay... or at least some form of clay.

I agree with you 100% in that you could have x number of coats of wax, but that will not deter contaminants getting on your paint. If wax did such a good job of it, there would be no need for clay at all for those well maintained cars. They may not be visible to the human eye, but you can definitely feel them.

[CALGUY]

Originally Posted by C8N

Whether he uses correct methods and/or products, is debatable.
Whether he understands what each steps of a detail actually does, I won't comment. I think the important thing is that he does clay... or at least some form of clay.

I agree with you 100% in that you could have x number of coats of wax, but that will not deter contaminants getting on your paint. If wax did such a good job of it, there would be no need for clay at all for those well maintained cars. They may not be visible to the human eye, but you can definitely feel them.

I absolutely agree that contaminants DO get on the vehicle finish over time, and need to be removed.
What I differ with from most is how I accomplish keeping these contaminants to a minimum.
Up until a couple of months ago, I had never heard of a clay bar, or claying.
Some one on another forum I belong to, after seeing a picture of my Thunderbird stated," your car looks beautiful,but I'LL bet if you rub your hand over the finish, you will feel tiny specs of dirt or contaminants."
Well, that following morning I did rub my hand over the finish, and I could feel a fine grit to the finish.
Being that I am religious about keeping my vehicles looking their best, I was amazed that the finish was not as clean as I thought it was, even though it looked it.
I read up on clay bars online,and it was then that I decided plumber's putty, being in the clay family, I would try it.
The rest is history.
I stated I never would ever use any kind of soap on any vehicle of mine, and for the most part that is true.
The only time I will ever use soap is when I want to remove wax from the finish prior to claying.
As I said before, soap is a great wax remover, which is why I would NEVER use it at any time ,on any of my vehicles unless I plan to clay the finish afterwards.
As proven by the pictures I posted, plumber's putty works as well, if not better than a clay bar, and the best part is the money I didn't have to spend on one of those clay bar kits.
Bob.

[C8N]

Just as a FYI... clay can remove wax so you should always wax after claying.

[vmaxnc]

Sigh...

[C8N]

^ You don't enjoy these conversations?

[vmaxnc]

Originally Posted by C8N

^ You don't enjoy these conversations?

I enjoy parts of them, yes. Others...not so much.