The Official Washed and Waxed Thread!

[SlimKlim]

Pulled the ladies out yesterday morning to give them a quick bath before it got hot.

[ScottyB]

consider me another believer now in paint sealant. i guess i should say, i never doubted it, but i just didn't realize how much this stuff kicks ass.

i've used P21S 12700W Carnauba Wax forever as my last-step product but my stock ran out. gave this stuff a shot since its considered very easy to apply and pretty affordable as sealants go, especially on sale. unreal results with just hand application with a dimpled foam pad. did our black xterra, immediately took it to the mountains the next day and coated it in thick grey dust from gravel road driving and bugs from coming back at night, and after a quick hose and wash the finish felt like slick glass again. the water beading is way beyond what i could ever get with wax. this SUV is outside every day and gets used hard as an actual utility vehicle, so if this stuff lasts 6 months i'll be thrilled.







the paint on this thing is 13-year old garbage. it spent much of its early life outside 24/7 and is covered with fossilized sap, scratches, bug gut acid marks, and rock damage. but from 10 feet, man, it looks almost new, and that's all i could ask from an hour of my time and no orbital buffer.

its worth mentioning that i probably did the entire car with maybe a 2 tablespoons of liquid. this bottle will probably last me 5 years or more if i only do both cars twice a year at most.

[ScottyB]

total garbage cell phone shot but i grabbed this last night in the kroger lot when the sun was looking cool on the paint.


about 6 mos overdue for a wash/wax but i spent most of sunday getting it de-grossed after 2 camping trips, and a couple 600+ mile roadtrips 2 of which were to the coast. didn't have time to clay because i spent that time getting the trim rejuvinated.

• Optimum car wash w/Lake Country foam wash sponge
• Sonax High Speed Wax
• Meguires headlight polish
• Chemical Guys All-Clean+ APC diluted for wheel cleaning
• Chemical Guys All-Clean+ APC diluted for interior cleaning and carpets
• Optimum tire shine
• Meguires Odor Eliminator interior spray
• Nextzett Cockpit Premium
• Chemical Guys Tire + Trim Gel

you can check out the first pic in my xterra project thread to see how utterly beat the bumper/arch/door/cowl trim is, which sucks because the xterra has a ton of plastic all over it. when the car was new it was a rich grey, its been faded to almost white now. the Chemical Guys Trim Gel is incredible. its a bit oily/greasy until it soaks in and i had to apply it heavily to get a uniform spread so i'm withholding judgement on that aspect until a follow-up application, but if this coating lasts a while its going to be one of my favorite products just for the transformation aspect. cleans up super easy too with a microfiber wipedown on the surrounding paint. as a bonus its also recommended as a tire gel, so i can get two solid functions out of the product.

[Goodspeed]

A few shots I took on Sunday.  I finally went over the car with my orbital and Griot's "Boss" Fast Correcting Cream which is incredible stuff.  I basically had the paint dialed in in under 2 hours when I used to to multiple stages of polishing in 6-8 hours or more on previous cars.  Combined with their foaming sprayer (I can wash a car in 1/4 the time it used to take) and this was easily done in an afternoon.  Can't wait to do the IS next!

[CaptainHenreh]

oooh yass.

[.RJ]

more info on foaming sprayer pls

[JPolen01]

That thing looks gooooood

[Goodspeed]

more info on foaming sprayer pls

This thing. The quick-detach reservoir, once filled lasts for at least a few washes and the spray nozzle by itself is also really good.  I don't know what I was doing with my car washing life for years without this besides being a total ignoramus.

That thing looks gooooood

Thanks, the car was a solid 5 or 10 footer before as the paint was beat, lots of swirls and deposits.  Now, not so much.

[JPolen01]

Do you use that on a garden hose like their description says? Most of the others I've seen require a pressure washer to generate the foam. I'm interested if it works without a pressure washer.

[Goodspeed]

Do you use that on a garden hose like their description says? Most of the others I've seen require a pressure washer to generate the foam. I'm interested if it works without a pressure washer.

Works perfectly on just a standard garden hose.  I can't stand 20 feet away and get foam on the car (probably), but I can't imagine needing any more pressure with it

[.RJ]

Hmmm. I need this in my life.

[JustinG]

I was gifted a pressure washer and foamer attachment for Xmas.

What wash are you guys using? Is the chemical guys stuff made for the foamer good stuff? Should I use wash made for a foamer or can I just use the generic Advance Auto Meguiars stuff?

Chemical Guys CWS_110 Honeydew Snow Foam Car Wash Soap and Cleanser (1 Gal) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OTW646/ref...pAb7NWTB8R

[balactm]

Hmmm.   I need this in my life.

I agree.

Goodspeed,

Griot's has recently surfaced it's way into my life, though I have very little experience. Is everything as good as it seems?

[D_Eclipse9916]

I was gifted a pressure washer and foamer attachment for Xmas.

What wash are you guys using? Is the chemical guys stuff made for the foamer good stuff? Should I use wash made for a foamer or can I just use the generic Advance Auto Meguiars stuff?

Chemical Guys CWS_110 Honeydew Snow Foam Car Wash Soap and Cleanser (1 Gal) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OTW646/ref...pAb7NWTB8R

What foamer attachment did you get?

[JustinG]

I was gifted a pressure washer and foamer attachment for Xmas.

What wash are you guys using? Is the chemical guys stuff made for the foamer good stuff? Should I use wash made for a foamer or can I just use the generic Advance Auto Meguiars stuff?

Chemical Guys CWS_110 Honeydew Snow Foam Car Wash Soap and Cleanser (1 Gal) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OTW646/ref...pAb7NWTB8R

What foamer attachment did you get?

DUSICHIN SFL-001 Pressure Washer Jet Wash 1/4" Quick Release Adjustable Snow Foam Lance, Foam Cannon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WPKHFA6/ref...sAb90C5QVD

[D_Eclipse9916]

How about something like this? The reviews I noted said that the chemical guys came highly recommended. Please keep in mind I know nothing about this..
https://www.costco.com/Chemical-Guys-Car...63992.html

[JPolen01]

^People love that Honeydew snowfoam it seems.

[SlimKlim]

Yeah that's what I've been using with mine, no complaints.

[JustinG]

The Chemical Guys one looks just like the one I posted. But looks like they want $50 for it.

[ScottyB]

maintenance detail to get some pollen and greasy hand prints off the paint from the suspension install.  still needs a full strip and base layer sealant, or better yet an aggressive correction and polishing but this was better than nothing.

ONR sprayed on between full wash and quick detailer dilution level
Duragloss 951 Aquawax (love this stuff)
Chemical Guys TVD tire and trim gel
Einszett Cockpit interior dressing
Griot's Garage Interior Cleaner 

results










2 things - 1, to whoever owned this before me, how the shit do you NOT FEEL your wheels being ground to dust to get a curb rash on a wheel this hard and 2, this caliper was replaced right before i bought the car and after 6 months now it looks like the hull of a shipwreck.  do i wire-wheel this thing clean again and hit it with caliper paint or just buy a new, more expensive loaded caliper with a proper corrosion coating on it?  brakes work fine, its just this one caliper looks horrific