Full on wash or is there an alternative

by **WR1 Bro** » Fri May 09, 2008 10:22 am

I noticed last night that the car was covered in dust. Basically since it was last washed it has sat in the garage.

Is this the sort of occasion that the likes of Megs Last Touch, Zymol Field Glaze etc come into their own.... or, is the only safe method to rewash the car?

Any thoughts?

by **Clark** » Fri May 09, 2008 1:18 pm

Some people like to QD (quick detail) the dust off with the likes of Last Touch but personally i'm dead against it as it does scratch/marr your paintwork. The Ice Blue of the WR1 wont show any of said defects because it's so light and flakey but i still wouldnt like to do it incase there's more than just dust lying on the surface.

If you do insist on QD'ing it off then use Last Touch as opposed to Field Glaze as the Zymol is pretty much justa wax top up and isnt as well lubricated

If it were me i'd either use a lambswool duster to safely remove the dust or foam the car with a foam lance and then rinse off before drying the car off with a waffle weave towel or leaf blower

by **WR1 Bro** » Fri May 09, 2008 1:23 pm

Yes, I think my gut feeling was suggesting that there is no substitute for the foam gun and wash....

My neighbours already think I mad... If I started pointing a leaf blower at the car I think they would try and have me sectioned.

by **Clark** » Fri May 09, 2008 1:25 pm

Who cares! you should start doing it, especially with Zymol on your car.

Rinse the car with a watering can or open ended hose and then blast what little water remains on the car with the leaf blower, job done in 5 mins

Thats how we dry all our cars at work and at home

by **WR1 Bro** » Fri May 09, 2008 1:30 pm

I guess it really make sense as it removes another contact with the paint...

Friday afternoon shopping for a leaf blower!

by **WR 1mposter** » Fri May 09, 2008 6:11 pm

WR1 Bro wrote:I guess it really make sense as it removes another contact with the paint...

Friday afternoon shopping for a leaf blower!

That makes 2 of us doing some shopping !

All I need now is for Clark to tell me what to buy in regards to every aspect of cleaning goodies for the whole car :wink:

by **Clark** » Fri May 09, 2008 11:33 pm

Where do i start? I could end up costing you a fortune! :lol:

by **robwils** » Sat May 10, 2008 10:34 am

I would be interested in a bit of advice on which cleaning stuff to get (and where), on a budget of course. :wink:

Any chance ??

by **Clark** » Sat May 10, 2008 11:41 am

I'll post up some guides and pieces of info, maybe the mods could make it a sticky or something? I'll get them up when i get a spare half hour (at work just now)

Once you read the guides etc, then i can answer anything else you may need to know

by **ScoobyDan** » Sat May 10, 2008 1:22 pm

I was so tempted to quick detail the car yesterday as it was just a little dusty, so I tried it on a couple of the windows and the colour of the cloth afterwards convinced me it was a bad idea. :shock:

Anyway, I foamed and rinsed the car and dried it off with a waffle weave towel and a bit of quick detailer. A bit later on I decided to put another coat of Zymol on but because it was so warm I ended up using loads of it !! Think I better get saving for a new jar :wink:

Might just save my money though as I dug out my old bottle of Jeffs Acrylic Prime and did inside all the door shuts with it and when I saw all the flakes and pop in the paintwork it reminded me why I used to like it so much !

I did consider polishing off the Zymol and trying the Jeffs again on the rest of the car but after all the months of effort building up so many layers I couldn't bring myself to do it :lol:

by **Clark** » Sat May 10, 2008 3:28 pm

What Zymol are you using mate and are you applying it by bare hands or applicator pad?

by **WR 1mposter** » Sat May 10, 2008 4:06 pm

Clark I use zymol concours and use my hands !

by **WR 1mposter** » Sat May 10, 2008 4:08 pm

Clark wrote:Where do i start? I could end up costing you a fortune!

Which polish, wax, wheel, interior,enginebay, glass ? :lol:

by **ScoobyDan** » Sat May 10, 2008 4:39 pm

I also use the Concourse but I have always struggled applying it by hand so I use the foam Zymol applicator pads because they fit in the pot nicely. :lol:

Clark, How do you think Raceglaze 55 compares to Concourse ?

by **Clark** » Sun May 11, 2008 9:13 pm

Apply the Concours with an applicator pad mate. Zymol tell you to apply it by bare hand but its a load of rubbish in all honesty. It means you use more of it quicker and you cant lay down a nice even,thin layer - which in turn makes it more difficult to buff off and causes alot of smears in warm weather.

Even with the likes of Vintage we apply it to the whole car with an applicator pad and leave for up to an hour. It buffs off with ease and you use hardly any of it :wink:

Dan - In all honesty, i dont think there is any difference between concours and 55 in terms of looks, however i havent fully seen how durable the 55 is yet so cant comment on that side at this moment in time

I will get some guides posted ASAP guys, which should help some of you out

by **The Swede** » Sun May 11, 2008 9:52 pm

Clark wrote:Apply the Concours with an applicator pad mate. Zymol tell you to apply it by bare hand but its a load of rubbish in all honesty. It means you use more of it quicker and you cant lay down a nice even,thin layer - which in turn makes it more difficult to buff off and causes alot of smears in warm weather.

Even with the likes of Vintage we apply it to the whole car with an applicator pad and leave for up to an hour. It buffs off with ease and you use hardly any of it

Dan - In all honesty, i dont think there is any difference between concours and 55 in terms of looks, however i havent fully seen how durable the 55 is yet so cant comment on that side at this moment in time

I will get some guides posted ASAP guys, which should help some of you out

Don't agree. Using Zymol since 5 years and always use hands. If you use applicator, it absorbs some wax and only the rest goes on the car. If you use hands, the hand does now absorb Zymol.

Just try really only putting a tiny bit of wax on your hands and then work it open very well.

I waxed 2 cars every 2/3 months for 4 years before my Concours was empty.

by **The Swede** » Sun May 11, 2008 9:54 pm

WR1 Bro wrote:I noticed last night that the car was covered in dust. Basically since it was last washed it has sat in the garage.

Is this the sort of occasion that the likes of Megs Last Touch, Zymol Field Glaze etc come into their own.... or, is the only safe method to rewash the car?

Any thoughts?

Typical if you wax the car regularly: static electricity => gets dusty

Just hose down with clear water.

I tend to use a filter on my hose that gets the chalk out of the water. It allows to get dust away without 'biting' the wax off and without 'stains' afterwards.

Then dry the car with a microfiber. Will be spotless

by **The Swede** » Sun May 11, 2008 9:56 pm

WR1 Bro wrote:Yes, I think my gut feeling was suggesting that there is no substitute for the foam gun and wash....

My neighbours already think I mad... If I started pointing a leaf blower at the car I think they would try and have me sectioned.

Your neighbour would be right. Leafblower will move the dust along the car while it will hold on to it as the car is earthed. This will give tiny scratches...

Clear water, all the way.

by **WR1 Bro** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:33 am

Clark wrote:Apply the Concours with an applicator pad mate. Zymol tell you to apply it by bare hand but its a load of rubbish in all honesty. It means you use more of it quicker and you cant lay down a nice even,thin layer - which in turn makes it more difficult to buff off and causes alot of smears in warm weather.

At first when using Concours I didn't like applying it by hand. I then tried Destiny and found that was nicer to apply by hand and I've since got used to applying by hand and I think it works really well.

What I'm interested to try is leaving for an hour before buffing. What pad or cloth do you use to buff off the Zymol after letting it sit for an hour? I currently use a PC so if you can suggest a suitable buffing bonnet then please let me know and I'll get one ordered.

My process would be so much if improved if you could wax the entire car esspecially if you are applying the wax by hand. If waxing and buffing a panel at a time you waste what is left on your hand.

Simple process:-

1) Wax car
2) Sit back and drink a bottle of super chilled white Burgundy
3) Buff car
4) Sit back feeling proud as fook!

by **The Swede** » Mon May 12, 2008 8:01 am

WR1 Bro wrote:What I'm interested to try is leaving for an hour before buffing. What pad or cloth do you use to buff off the Zymol after letting it sit for an hour? I currently use a PC so if you can suggest a suitable buffing bonnet then please let me know and I'll get one ordered.

I wouldn't let the wax dry. Don't forget the wax only becomes wax as it bonds to the car. The temperature and oxygen make the reaction happen that it turns into wax.

The 'application' is actually 'completed' as you buff the half dried wax slowly on the car. The wax itself then is evenly opened while the carriers and being absorbed by your microfiber.

If you let the wax dry completely before you buff, then there is nothing to be evenly opened and you'll have patches with lots of wax and some with none.

by **Clark** » Tue May 13, 2008 7:12 pm

The Swede wrote:
WR1 Bro wrote:Yes, I think my gut feeling was suggesting that there is no substitute for the foam gun and wash....

My neighbours already think I mad... If I started pointing a leaf blower at the car I think they would try and have me sectioned.

Your neighbour would be right. Leafblower will move the dust along the car while it will hold on to it as the car is earthed. This will give tiny scratches...

Clear water, all the way.

Sorry but i totally disagree, i've been using the leaf blower on cars for over a year now and even on those with perfect paintwork there is never any marring inflicted

by **Clark** » Tue May 13, 2008 7:24 pm

WR1 Bro wrote:
Clark wrote:Apply the Concours with an applicator pad mate. Zymol tell you to apply it by bare hand but its a load of rubbish in all honesty. It means you use more of it quicker and you cant lay down a nice even,thin layer - which in turn makes it more difficult to buff off and causes alot of smears in warm weather.

At first when using Concours I didn't like applying it by hand. I then tried Destiny and found that was nicer to apply by hand and I've since got used to applying by hand and I think it works really well.

What I'm interested to try is leaving for an hour before buffing. What pad or cloth do you use to buff off the Zymol after letting it sit for an hour? I currently use a PC so if you can suggest a suitable buffing bonnet then please let me know and I'll get one ordered.

My process would be so much if improved if you could wax the entire car esspecially if you are applying the wax by hand. If waxing and buffing a panel at a time you waste what is left on your hand...

Thats why i dont like applying by hand, as soon as you've "primed" your hands with the wax you soon waste it all by wiping them clean again before buffing it off the panel. This is why i much prefer applying by applicator pad and there are several more advantages of this method.

1) you can leave it on the car longer without fearing of it becoming difficult to buff off as the layer is so thin it comes off with ease. The longer you leave it the more time the wax has to cure rather than if you apply by bare hand, sometimes you can have a tendancy to buff off too quickly and prevent the wax from bonding 100%. We have done tests with the 2 methods and you definitely get better durability from pad application in our experiences.

2) you only need the one cloth when buffing off, whereas when applying by bare hand i found you may need several cloths to prevent them clogging up with excess wax.

3) less clogging up means less smears and "holograms"

4) once the applicator is primed, you hardly need any more on the pad to do the rest of the car so you use considerably less than hand application.

If you have rough skin etc then it is actually possible to marr your paintwork as well. When we did our Zymol training they advised us to wear gloves if your skin was anything other than in good condition

Many people do still insist on bare hand application, whether it's because they actually prefer this method or some just like the "novelty" side of it, i'm not going to tell you what you should and shouldnt do, i'm just giving my thoughts from having alot of experiences with Zymol waxes and feel i have found the easiest method

As for using the PC for applying/buffing off waxes, dont bother. Just stick to doing this side of things purely by hand mate. I use Poorboys Deluxe Mega Towels for removing waxes/sealants etc as they are incredibly soft and are good quality, so they will stay soft for ages provided you look after them

by **WR1 Bro** » Wed May 14, 2008 6:56 am

Thanks Clark. Great to learn from your experience.

by **The Swede** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:19 am

Disagree with Clark:

1. I never lose the wax that's on my hands. Just put less and wipe your hands better to the bodywork. There is sure more wax staying in your applicator and drying inthere while you buff the panel than you'll get wax on your hands.

2. Why the heck do you clean your hands ? You don't buff the car with your hands. You use a microfiber towel to buff so your hands shouldn't touch the body of the car.
You're right to argue that the towel gets a bit induced with wax.
Solution: use more towels and wash the towels after you waxed the car. Finish the buffing by going with a clean towel all over the car after you're done completely. That will ensure any wax marks left by a slightly dirty mircofiber will completely go.
Using only one or two towel to buff the entire car is even worse than buffing with a bit of wax on your hands. After you have buffed your first panel, the towel is already completely dirty with wax residu. By the time you're on the 3rd panel, you are buffing with a towel that can only leave hologrammes.
Especially on a black car, you can see straight away when you buff with dirty towels.

3. Leaving the wax to try too long on the car when using a Zymol just dries out the wax and makes that you get patches where there is no wax. To counter this, you can put more wax to ensure every sq mm is covered... but that's why you use so much wax...

As said, used the 'hand' method since I started working with Zymol 5 years ago and the first pot of Concours lasted me nearly 4 years doing both cars every few months.
And the result has always been great with protection being perfect with the cars still being in excellent condition even after the abuse they take in Finnish wintertime.

by **WR1 Bro** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:03 pm

Clark - Please excuse the Swede's manner... he is foreign.

by **The Swede** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:26 pm

WR1 Bro wrote:Clark - Please excuse the Swede's manner... he is foreign.

What are you complaining about again ? Clark isn't English either !

:mrgreen:

by **Clark** » Thu May 15, 2008 12:40 pm

I think we shall agree to disagree on this one mate as i dont want to go offending or falling out with anyone after my first month of being registered on here :lol: