Cleaning/ Detailing Products

[tomsquad418]

What are you guys using to clean the inside and outside of your trucks? Carpets and interior leather/ trim and the outside?

Also have somehow gotten a few scratches on my door... haven't made it into the paint but scratches on the clear coat? Any recommendations on how to get them out?

Thanks!

 

[chicagofan00]

I've used Griot's Garage products for many years now and have been very satisfied.

However, now that I've got two little ones I almost never have the time to do a wash of the truck myself and just take it to a touch less car wash once a month or so. I try to keep it looking good in between washes with some of the waterless spray from Griot's and some micro fiber towels and then a few of their other products for the interior as well.

For the windows, I always use the Rain-X 2-in-1 spray.

 

[JayceeP]

All you need for the exterior, including wheels, is Optimum No Rinse. Best product. If you want to jazz up your tires, just buy some tire shine. On the inside, I've tried Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner but I also find just using a damp microfibre works equally as well on all interior surfaces.

 

[tomsquad418]

Does any ever use simple green? I used that on my 03 and it worked wonders cleaning the tan interior but on these new models the leather is more supple (mine is also black this time)

 

[JerryWest_44]

I use the same regiment I've been using weekly on my Lexus.


Wheels
---------
Meguiar's D108 Degreaser using a Boer's Brush

Wash
--------
2-bucket wash with grit guards using a Wash Mitt
Meguiar's Ultimate Wash/Wax G17748

Dry with Micro-fiber towels

Wax
-----
Ultimate Quik Wax G17516 or the larger D156 X-press Wax

Interior
---------
Quik Interior Detailer G13616 or the larger D149 Quik Interior Detailer

Great on =all= interior surfaces including the LCD screen

Windows
---------
Stoner Invisible Glass

 

[cardude2000]

I use the same regiment I've been using weekly on my Lexus.


Wheels
---------
Meguiar's D108 Degreaser using a Boer's Brush

Wash
--------
2-bucket wash using a Wash Mitt
Meguiar's Ultimate Wash/Wax G17748

Dry with Micro-fiber towels

Wax
-----
Ultimate Quik Wax G17516 or the larger D156 X-press Wax

Interior
---------
Quik Interior Detailer G13616 or the larger D149 Quik Interior Detailer

Great on =all= interior surfaces including the LCD screen

Windows
---------
Stoner Invisible Glass

thats a good process I assume you use a grit guard in the buckets too. I do something similar but use a foam cannon (with foam from 'the chemical guys') and a drying aid. (could even use your D156 for that) to the wash process.

 

[tomsquad418]

Do y'all find lexol or meguirs works best on interior?


Anything on scratches? Came out to my car and found this....

 

[Danny3737]

Does any ever use simple green? I used that on my 03 and it worked wonders cleaning the tan interior but on these new models the leather is more supple (mine is also black this time)

Be careful using Simple Green on leather or you could ruin it. I use Maguiars leather cleaner with a fingernail brush and a clean damp rag/towel.

 

[cardude2000]

Do y'all find lexol or meguirs works best on interior?


Anything on scratches? Came out to my car and found this....

View attachment 180873 View attachment 180874

Local paint shop for the scratches and griots interior detailer and/leather care spray w/bristle brush dash and seats.

 

[2016YUKONSLT]

I need a really good leather cleaner. My rear seats seem to attract sunscreen lotion when we go to the pool or beach... Damn wife for putting stuff on kid before going...

 

[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.