The Mother of All "How to Remove Swirls from Your Viper's Paint!"

[laney487]

got it! i did get my trunk perfected your video is simple and easy to understand! im just going to spend a couple hours a day and do the car then ill get to them tight spots! looks like you can get about 95% of everything with the 6 inch.. whew boy is it looking great! you dont realize how dull the paint has been until you do this now im going to be the envy of the car meets! so do you like to use the paste wax and apply that after finished or do you like the spray waxes or spray ceramics? ive actually been quite impressed with they hybrid solutions ceramic spray based on tests that project farm did on youtube and have used that on my truck for a year now with nice results.

[Junkman2008]

Okay, before I answer that question, what do you think wax is for and what does wax do for the appearance of your paint?

[laney487]

imho i think wax is over-rated and isnt worth the effort from my previous experience, i have used like i said some of the spray waxes and stuff and seen it has helped with water beading, however after doing this polishing the water is proly going to bead awesome now anyways. Not sure i beleive the hype that the wax somehow protects the paint, because i feel like it is too easy to end up just dulling and scratching the surface again using wax,(i have seen good ole hand wax used on old pickups with dull paint and the wax did make it shine more) but wanted your opinion if i should apply anything to it or just wash it and be happy, i typically wash the car every week, i live in a dry dusty environment, (west texas)

[Junkman2008]

Okay, so your response tells me that you really don't understand what a TRUE wax/sealant is used for. First off, rubbing mashed potatoes on a old, rusty dull truck will make the paint shine because of ONE REASON.

Rubbing ANYTHING on dull paint will make it somewhat shine because the act of rubbing something is the same exact thing as the act of POLISHING.

POLISHING is what makes paint shine. WAX IS A PROTECTANT. If you polish your paint to what you think is perfection and then apply some wax which causes it to shine more, then you were never done POLISHING it! I had a video posted for about 8-years where I challenged any detailer on Youtube to prove that statement wrong and NO ONE ever took up that challenge. The reason why is any detailer that knows his or her stuff, KNOWS this is true. You polish your paint to perfection and THEN you add your wax and/or sealant to PROTECT the shine that you have just achieved from polishing it. It is NOT for making te paint look any better or different than it already does because WAX IS A PROTECTANT, NOT A APPEARANCE ENHANCER.

Now here's the eception to that rule. There are products that lazy detailers use called AIO's (All In ONE's). These are products that contain POLISH AND WAX. They are used to do what you are doing right now, but limit the process to ONE STEP. So the product is supposed to compound, polish and protect the paint in ONE STEP.

THEY ARE GARBAGE PRODUCTS.

Detailers will use them to get your car in and out of the shop very fast without really doing the work that you are paying them to do. Or, they will charge you a cheap price and your car will look good for just a few washes and after that, the old damage starts to show back up. That's because they hid that damage using an AIO product that contains a GLAZE. A glaze does not REPAIR paint damage, it is used to HIDE paint damage. After a few washes, all that damage shows back up again. That's why I NEVER USE A GLAZE or any type of AIO product.

So I have said what a WAX and/or sealant is used for but what YOU need to see is some wax/sealant in action. This video shows WHY you must protect the shine that you have achieved from polishing before something gets on the paint and etches right through and into clear coat. Once that happenes, you're talking about wet sanding or a paint job, neither of which you don't even want to think about. Your paint is butt naked right now and is as vunerable as it can be to damage. If a bird was to poop on your naked paint and you didn't remove it RIGHT AWAY, that spot will forever be etched into your clear coat. Hard water stains and bird poop are deadly to your paint. So are bug guts. You don't go to sleep with that stuff on naked paint unless you want to always be able to see those stains until you repaint the car.

Here is a picture of my car without ONE DROP of wax. Once I added my protection, the paint didn't look any different because a TRUE wax is a PROTECTANT, not a shine enhancement product. Also notice how deep the shine is. People who know nothing about Corvettes would ask me if it was new. This car is 22-years old.

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Here's how I protect my shine. Pay attention to the products that my annotations say that I use now, not what I show in the video.

[laney487]

Wow Junkman you have educated me! boy i was taught wrong by the guy who taught me to detail when i was 16 lol.. my cars always look good but not as great as yours i ordered the products you notated.. just so im right you use the porter cable to put that on right, which pad? and just a quick cross hitch pass correct? then the wax do you just put it on by hand then with a applicator sponge? or do you have a video for that too that im not seeing lol?

Junkman you have educated me so much.. golly now i gotta do my power wagon after i get the viper done! i am going to be busy till spring for sure!

[Junkman2008]

I apply both my sealant and my carnuba paste wax by hand. You can use the PC to apply the sealant but you won't be able to get into the tight areas. You also won't get a even coverage, especially since you have never done it that way before. If you did apply the sealant using a PC, you would use the dark gray pad but again, I would advise against doing that. Do it by hand. Keep in mind that you CANNOT expose the car to any weather while doing the waxing process as I describe so the car will have to be garaged for the entire process. You DON'T want any dust settling on the car but DO NOT cover it, especially during the sealant curing process if you use a sealant. Make sure that you READ THE BOTTLE. It will have instructions on it.

You are about to go down a rabbit hole. It's deep, but common sense will keep you from getting lost. If someone gives you detailing advice but cannot explain the logic/theory behind that advice, don't follow their advice. They are just repeating what they have heard and probably are repeating it incorrectly. Nothing about detailing is rocket science. It really is just common sense.