How do you use a "detailer" spray?

A

alexman

Member
People talk about using a "detailer" as an alternative to washing when you're car isn't dirty enough for a proper wash. Jay Leno mentioned this in one of his videos "it's not good for a car to get it wet.. I'll often just use a detailer spray".. I've tried using a detailer spray and detailer (micro fibre cloth) when the car is clean but just dusty from dry driving, but is this safe for paint?

Directions suggest to spray on paint and rub off. This worked well, but isn't there risk of just pushing the dirt off with the cloth and causing lots of little scratches?
 
Any dust on the car is made up of minute particles. I always wash my car before making any attempt to use a cloth on the paintwork. Using a detailer spray without removing the dust will in my opinion cause minute scratches as the dust is moved across the surface of the paint like a fine grinding paste. If you have a good base coat of wax on the car then a flush with clean water should remove most of the dust and then a clean with a wash mit (I find a sheepskin mit is the best). Use two buckets of water one to wash with and then after each pass another to clean the mit. It sounds like a lot of work but once you have the paintwork clean and well polished dirt will be easy to remove. There lots more on detainling in general on various sites.

And beware this could be the start of OCD if your not careful...... :D

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/index.php
 
If you have left your car out for a day in the open air it will have a fine covering of dust. Wiping this off with a cloth and a QD will scratch the paintwork for sure. I have a feather type duster in the boot for removing light dust and bits from car if I can't wash it.
 
QD is safe as long as the car is not covered in sand that you sometimes get in the rain or road grit a little brake dust will not scratch the car if you use a QD to wipe it off just go lightly you do not need to use any pressure on the cloth i often use a QD to remove very light dust but i use no pressure at all just the weight of the cloth and i soak the area in QD then i dab it first then turn the cloth and lightly wipe to finish plus i use a very deep pile cloth and any sort of scratch you will get from that is going to be very minor and polish out very very easily by hand you will not go through the clearcoat.

Most detailers will give the car a final wipe with QD around an hour after waxing it is amazing how much dust can settle in that time.

As above a duster of some sort first is a good idea then QD
 
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