winfij

So, I spent about three and a half hours cleaning the outside of the S yesterday:

1) hose down
2) hand wash

then onto the Meguiars 3 stage system:

3) Paint cleaner
4) Polish
5) Wax

ran out of time to get onto the interior (glass, dash, leather and carpets).

My question is - what are the mechanics of ongoing maintence?

Should one strip the wax from the car regularly (by washing with fairy liquid) then redo from the start.
Or just polish on top of the existing wax
Or just wax on the current wax?

If one applies polish without stripping the existing wax, what is one actually polishing? Not down to the paint presumably?

I realise a lot of people on here use Zaino/Zymol, but presumably the same sort of issues apply?

I've looked on the wash/wax forum, but there's nothing really addressing this on there I could see.

Does anyone wish to share their thoughts or details of their regime?

Cheers,

John

Lurking Lawyer

John, I'm a Zymoleer - every six months or so, I wash the car with Fairy to get the wax off, rinse it, wash it with Zymol auto-bathe and then HD-Cleanse it. This is the Zymol product which strips away oxidised paint and makes the surface smooth and glassy. Rinse and wash again, and then wax it.

For the periodic waxes in between, I rinse, wash with aut-bathe (so that I don't strip all the wax off) and then wax on top.

It's hard work with the HD-Cleanse step, but well worth it.

Fletch

A similar process for myself Mark apart from the Fairy step.
I would have thought this is redundant. If your using the HD-Cleanse that would strip the wax. Or am I missing something?
And after the HD it's straight on with the wax. Does the extra Auto-Bathe step make a difference?

Lurking Lawyer

No, you're not missing anything, Chris - the same thing had occurred to me, but it was what I was told to do by the learned Jedi Wax Master, Tifosi Red , when I was but a mere Zymol padawan I suspect it's a belt and braces measure and that you lose nothing by skipping the initial wash.

Ali_McBlue

How often do you guys clay bar?

Did mine for the first time this weekend and love the silky smooth finish . (But don't want to have to go through the whole process again in a hurry .)

Lurking Lawyer

About once every six months, Ali.

I found myself with a few spare hours this afternoon and gave the car it's 6 monthly HD cleanse - I found it had much the same effect as claybarring, in that the paintwork was much smoother and glass-like after doing it, and with much less effort than the claybar. I know you should ideally do both together, but I couldn't be arsed.......

Ali_McBlue

Not long after I finished mine (about 4 hours work in all) I came out to see a wacking great lump of bird sh1t on the bonnet.

Thank heaven for Meguiars detailing spray

Fletch

Like Mark I tend to use the claybar twice a year, but I use the HD-Clense more often, maybe every three or four months. I tend to do a lot of motorway driving and pick up a lot of crap, so she needs a lot of looking after.

I have it on good authority, from my local Zymol distributor and expert, that after you've got ten coats of Zymol wax on your car you will need to strip it all off anyway and start again from the HD-Cleanse stage. I'm not 100% sure why. Probably any more than 10 and you start to loose the luster.

san2000

Fletch....my regime so far has been similar to yours.
I do tend to do the whole process......Autobathe/dry/HD-cleanse/wax each time though.

Is this too often? (doing it on average 3-weekly at the mo)

(although obviously not today......shhhhhhh!! )

What's the advantage of the claybar? Do I need to get some?

Fletch

Hi San,
I would advise against doing the HD-Cleanse every time. You want to try and get a good few coats of wax on the car for more protection. The more coats of wax the more the stones will just bounce off. If you believe the hype, but it's difficult to prove.
Do it as required. If your picking up the odd bit of tough muck, like tree sap, tar, & small animals etc. then I'd go for the HD-Cleanse.
Give your bodywork a feel. If it's still glassy smooth (all over) then no need to HD.
My front end is starting to feel slightly "grainy" so I'll be going for the full HD very soon.

IMHO, (and most others) the claybar is well worth it. It will clear off anything the HD-Cleanse misses, and leave the paintwork smoother that glass.
If you take very good care of your car. i.e garage overnight, only drive in the dry, never let anyone near it, etc. then you probably only need to claybar once a year. The more abuse your S gets the more likely you'd want to claybar more often. (Twice a year for me).
I've not compared the two but the Meguiars claybar is a damn site cheaper than the Zymol. Shop around.

Good luck mate, and may the force be with you.


Disclaimer.... No animals were injured in the making of this post.