I don't know how well versed everyone is in the detailing side of things, but I'd place myself firmly with the noobs. Sure I regularly polish and wax when needed, but never before have I thought about things like 'flake pop' or whether or not the product I'm using is suited to 'mid tones' and metalics, or whether my Zed is suited to carnauba waxes or synthetic polymer sealants, and on and on. If all of this sounds like another language then you're a noob like me. If all of this is bread and butter to you then I can't help you, but you could sure teach me a thing or two!
So with the above in mind I have taken it upon myself to try and learn a few things. After my previous detailing session I was quite disappointed that the products I used were drowning out the metallics in my paintwork, and by trying to achieve that 'wet' look I wasn't doing my Zed any favours. I've spent a bit of time talking to the guys at Detailing World and reading some of the articles at Polished Bliss. Anyway, to save having to listen to more of me waffling on, the purpose of this post was to point anyone who can't get their head around all the different types of products to what I consider the Holy Grail of LSP (last stage protection) detailing for noobs! I can't take credit mind, those boffins at Detailing World directed me there. See this link:
**** http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/choosing-paint-protection.html ***
Now today was supposed to be for clearing out the garage, but since the rain has hampered any of my plans over the past few weeks I had to take advantage of the dry sunny weather and put my slightly better understanding of detailing to the test. Polished Bliss actually recommend the Blackfire Wet Diamond kit for my paint colour, but I couldn't justify the expense right now so I went with their second choice of Carlack long Life as a sealant, though I replaced Carlack Complete with Bilt Hamber's Cleanser Polish as was recommended to me as a slight upgrade on the Carlack kit. I can not recommend Bilt Hamber's range enough, everything they do is outstanding.
So I started with a fallout remover, Bilt Hamber's Korrosol to remove any embedded metals and crud, followed up by a wash with Bilt Hamber's Autowash. I also used their clay for a much deeper clean and their Cleanser Fluid to remove all previous waxes, sealants and polish leftovers. Now to test my new acquisitions.
Bilt Hamber's Cleanser Polish, all I can say about this stuff is it is simply stunning. The finish it leaves behind is better than anything I've used before, all of a sudden in that deep pool of blue those metallic flakes in the paintwork do literally pop, hence the term 'flake pop'. Bear in mind I'm doing this all by hand, I'm told the results with a DA are unbelievable. And it's so easy to use, let it haze and wipe off, no tough to remove residue.
Carlack Long Life, again the results were outstanding. By this time I'm racing against the remaining daylight, so no great pics unfortunately, but this stuff you can keep layering, every new layer improves upon the last one, which is impressive considering just one layer is enough to give that wow factor. I managed two layers before it went dark, the last one I must have whizzed round in about 20 minutes.
I was following the advice for a mid tone metallic, and it's the best return I have ever got from the products used. I recommend the above link as a loose guide for whatever your paint type or even just to get a better understanding of how polishes, waxes and sealants work.
As I say, I was racing against the clock and while I managed to get a few pics taken they don't do the finish justice at all, and no close ups sorry.
And my mirrors finally carbon wrapped and returned!
So with the above in mind I have taken it upon myself to try and learn a few things. After my previous detailing session I was quite disappointed that the products I used were drowning out the metallics in my paintwork, and by trying to achieve that 'wet' look I wasn't doing my Zed any favours. I've spent a bit of time talking to the guys at Detailing World and reading some of the articles at Polished Bliss. Anyway, to save having to listen to more of me waffling on, the purpose of this post was to point anyone who can't get their head around all the different types of products to what I consider the Holy Grail of LSP (last stage protection) detailing for noobs! I can't take credit mind, those boffins at Detailing World directed me there. See this link:
**** http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/choosing-paint-protection.html ***
Now today was supposed to be for clearing out the garage, but since the rain has hampered any of my plans over the past few weeks I had to take advantage of the dry sunny weather and put my slightly better understanding of detailing to the test. Polished Bliss actually recommend the Blackfire Wet Diamond kit for my paint colour, but I couldn't justify the expense right now so I went with their second choice of Carlack long Life as a sealant, though I replaced Carlack Complete with Bilt Hamber's Cleanser Polish as was recommended to me as a slight upgrade on the Carlack kit. I can not recommend Bilt Hamber's range enough, everything they do is outstanding.
So I started with a fallout remover, Bilt Hamber's Korrosol to remove any embedded metals and crud, followed up by a wash with Bilt Hamber's Autowash. I also used their clay for a much deeper clean and their Cleanser Fluid to remove all previous waxes, sealants and polish leftovers. Now to test my new acquisitions.
Bilt Hamber's Cleanser Polish, all I can say about this stuff is it is simply stunning. The finish it leaves behind is better than anything I've used before, all of a sudden in that deep pool of blue those metallic flakes in the paintwork do literally pop, hence the term 'flake pop'. Bear in mind I'm doing this all by hand, I'm told the results with a DA are unbelievable. And it's so easy to use, let it haze and wipe off, no tough to remove residue.
Carlack Long Life, again the results were outstanding. By this time I'm racing against the remaining daylight, so no great pics unfortunately, but this stuff you can keep layering, every new layer improves upon the last one, which is impressive considering just one layer is enough to give that wow factor. I managed two layers before it went dark, the last one I must have whizzed round in about 20 minutes.
I was following the advice for a mid tone metallic, and it's the best return I have ever got from the products used. I recommend the above link as a loose guide for whatever your paint type or even just to get a better understanding of how polishes, waxes and sealants work.
As I say, I was racing against the clock and while I managed to get a few pics taken they don't do the finish justice at all, and no close ups sorry.
And my mirrors finally carbon wrapped and returned!
