Cleaning/ Detailing Products

[08HoeCD]

I've used a ton of different products over the past 25 years of washing/detailing cars, and I'm convinced that the following brands are worth more than twice their price in terms of ease of sourcing, ease of application & removal and long-lasting results.

All of the following are easy to use, cost not much at all, last long and keep life simple, even on pitch black cars:

Anytime overall cleaner or interior detailing: Jay Leno's Garage
Anytime detailer spray: Meguiar's Ultimate Qwik Detailer
Wax: Collinite 845
Paint correction: Mequiar's Ultimate Compound
Regular washes without dragging out a hose: Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine

 

[nj16yukon]

Aerospace 303 for tires and interior surfaces. Great stuff if you prefer a clean/matte look instead of glossy.

 

[TxChevyz71]

for interior stuff:

I like the Mckees 37 Total Interior Cleaner
Interior Surface protectant.
Fast Detailer
All in one Leather lotion

I like them because I don't get the chemical smell from the meguiars. and when in my shop with the overhead door down, I dont get high off the QD

For Exterior:

Wash: I like the Duragloss 902, cheap and foamy

If I can get away with it, I will use a 1 step polish. Normally either Mckees 360 or HD Speed depends on how much correction is needed.

I still like the meguiars Ultimate compound and Ultimate polish. They work well and pretty much idiot proof to use. For more aggressive needs, I like Meguiars M105, and M205.

Top it off with Collinite 845!

I use the Mckees 37 Rinse Free Wash n Wash mixed to QD mix.


I dont think you can go wrong with anything from Meguiars, Griots, Poorboys, or Mckees. They all make good stuff. Most of it is trial and error, That's why I have a shelf full of stuff I had to buy and experiment with until I found what works for me.

 

[PNWMuseumman]

Last weekend I went down to Groit's with my dad and had them give me a run down on Cleaning and conditioning my wife's 02 Nali seats. The guy demo'd their cleaner and the leather rejuvenation, I can't recommend both of those enough, The section he did (which was not an already clean happy section of leather) turned out fantastic, and that was with leaving the rejuvinator on for 5 minutes instead of the hour it should be on for.

He highly recommended multiple times that you use a magic eraser with the interior cleaner. He said it is FAR superior to any brush.

I'll be cleaning and conditioning the rest of her car this wekend (hopefully, that is depending on if I can bring myself to stop hanging out with our 6 m/o. I feaking love that little guy, making it really hard to do projects like this because he can't be with me out there.) Anyhow, if I do get it done, I'll post some before and afters.

Have an awesome weekend everybody!
Chris in the PNW

 

[TxChevyz71]

Yep majic erasers are truly majic in detailing.

You can even use them to try to get paint transfer off fenders etc with no damage.

That's cool on going down to Griots. Neat you are close enough to go by there.

They have some free car care classes there on the weekends. I've been there and visited, very cool place. Their car museum is drool worthy. I was there when they unveiled the BOSS 15 and 21 polishers. Good stuff!

 

[stevot22]

I have a black '04 Z71 that used to be the family hauler, but is now my weekend/tow vehicle.

I have used many of the product/product lines offered by Meguires and Mothers to very good effect, but happened upon Poor Boys products at a car show. Excellent products with a responsive Forum website where the company owner often responds to posted questions.

Was advised to check out the Auto Geeks website and armed myself accordingly to restore the Z71's finish. Once you get the paint shaped up it's easy to maintain with detailers and non-cleaning wax/sealer, especially if your vehicle is garage kept.

The regimen:

1. Clay Bar to clean the paint. Use with any Quick Detailer. Meguire’s makes a kit that I found at Walmart. Dry with microfiber towels.
2. You may want to consider masking off your plastic trim with blue painter’s tape at this point, especially if you plan on using a buffer
3. Poor Boys Pro-Polish to remove fine scratches/swirls or Pro-Polish 2 for heavier scratches. Any clear coat safe rubbing compound can carefully be used to take out or minimize a deep clear coat scratch.
4. Poor Boys Black Hole Glaze; 1 application. Fills in minor imperfections and adds depth. Awesome for dark colors.
5. Poor Boys EX-P Sealant; 2 applications. Take your time with this to get total coverage, adhering to instructed wait times; one hour before removal & the second application the next day. Your base finish is now complete.
6. Top coat with Poor Boys Natty’s Black Paste Wax or, if you prefer liquid, Natty’s Liquid Blue; 1 or 2 applications.
7. Poor Boys Bold N Bright Tire Dressing.
8. Mother’s Chrome Polish for the Wheels. Poor Boys Wheel Sealant for painted wheels.
9. If your plastic exterior trim starts fading, Poor Boys Trim Restore works great.
10. Einszett Premium Cockpit Cleaner will clean all interior surfaces leaving no residue; works great for matte-finishes.
11. Poor Boys Spray and Gloss detailer for light dust between washes. This stuff leaves the finish with that just waxed look. I also have the QD+ detailer, but have found that a bit trickier to use on dark colors as it is prone to streaking if you use too much (guilty as charged).

I have a Porter-Cable buffer I use only for polishing. All other products I apply/remove by hand. Auto Geeks has good quality microfiber towels that I use for anything to do with the paint and keep them segregated from the towels I use for other things; washing them separately. I find that the 16x16 size works good for product removal because you can fold them over a couple of times, getting alot of use per towel. The Walmart microfiber towels are good enough for wheel/interior cleaning.

 

[PNWMuseumman]

I have a black '04 Z71 that used to be the family hauler, but is now my weekend/tow vehicle.

I have used many of the product/product lines offered by Meguires and Mothers to very good effect, but happened upon Poor Boys products at a car show. Excellent products with a responsive Forum website where the company owner often responds to posted questions.

Was advised to check out the Auto Geeks website and armed myself accordingly to restore the Z71's finish. Once you get the paint shaped up it's easy to maintain with detailers and non-cleaning wax/sealer, especially if your vehicle is garage kept.

The regimen:

1. Clay Bar to clean the paint. Use with any Quick Detailer. Meguire’s makes a kit that I found at Walmart. Dry with microfiber towels.
2. You may want to consider masking off your plastic trim with blue painter’s tape at this point, especially if you plan on using a buffer
3. Poor Boys Pro-Polish to remove fine scratches/swirls or Pro-Polish 2 for heavier scratches. Any clear coat safe rubbing compound can carefully be used to take out or minimize a deep clear coat scratch.
4. Poor Boys Black Hole Glaze; 1 application. Fills in minor imperfections and adds depth. Awesome for dark colors.
5. Poor Boys EX-P Sealant; 2 applications. Take your time with this to get total coverage, adhering to instructed wait times; one hour before removal & the second application the next day. Your base finish is now complete.
6. Top coat with Poor Boys Natty’s Black Paste Wax or, if you prefer liquid, Natty’s Liquid Blue; 1 or 2 applications.
7. Poor Boys Bold N Bright Tire Dressing.
8. Mother’s Chrome Polish for the Wheels. Poor Boys Wheel Sealant for painted wheels.
9. If your plastic exterior trim starts fading, Poor Boys Trim Restore works great.
10. Einszett Premium Cockpit Cleaner will clean all interior surfaces leaving no residue; works great for matte-finishes.
11. Poor Boys Spray and Gloss detailer for light dust between washes. This stuff leaves the finish with that just waxed look. I also have the QD+ detailer, but have found that a bit trickier to use on dark colors as it is prone to streaking if you use too much (guilty as charged).

I have a Porter-Cable buffer I use only for polishing. All other products I apply/remove by hand. Auto Geeks has good quality microfiber towels that I use for anything to do with the paint and keep them segregated from the towels I use for other things; washing them separately. I find that the 16x16 size works good for product removal because you can fold them over a couple of times, getting alot of use per towel. The Walmart microfiber towels are good enough for wheel/interior cleaning.

That's one hell of a regimen... Pics of the before/after? or at least the after?

The 6-month old doesn't let me do things this time intensive (the little monster is too much fun to play with), so I have to live vicariously through others...

 

[stevot22]

That's one hell of a regimen... Pics of the before/after? or at least the after?

The 6-month old doesn't let me do things this time intensive (the little monster is too much fun to play with), so I have to live vicariously through others...

Totally understand. I use the wax the car(s) thing as mindless therapy, but once you get the paint prepped and poly-sealed, the maintenance is fairly minimal.

I don't have definitive before/after pics, but offer these after pics for your viewing pleasure.


Best Regards.

 

[PNWMuseumman]

Totally understand. I use the wax the car(s) thing as mindless therapy, but once you get the paint prepped and poly-sealed, the maintenance is fairly minimal.

I don't have definitive before/after pics, but offer these after pics for your viewing pleasure.


Best Regards.


View attachment 181341 View attachment 181342

Totally understand. I use the wax the car(s) thing as mindless therapy, but once you get the paint prepped and poly-sealed, the maintenance is fairly minimal.

I don't have definitive before/after pics, but offer these after pics for your viewing pleasure.


Best Regards.


View attachment 181341 View attachment 181342

That looks great!!!

Nothing better than a clean black NBS Z71... Although I may be a little bias...

Thanks for the pics!

 

[HiHoeSilver]

That looks great!!!

Nothing better than a clean black NBS Z71... Although I may be a little bias...

Thanks for the pics!

Except a clean white one! Lol. Truck looks great.