Looking to detail my own car

[arcenite]

Looking to clean up the paint on my car a bit... what do I need to do? I've never even waxed a car before, so I'm pretty nervous.... I've heard people talk about clay bars and stuff, but again have no idea what they're for.

Please help!

 

[Mutilator]

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/how-to.html

 

[tigris649]

http://www.autopia.org/forum/guide-detailing/
http://paintcare-n-detailing.com/pinnacle.html
http://autogeek.net/detailingtips.html

 

[yelo333]

Summer Is In Full Swing And It's Time To Get Your Car Looking Great!

 

[Heller]

thanks, does auto detailing for side cash and offed to prep(Clean etc) my car and claybar it for $100. is that reasonable? his car is one of those older f150 Harley Davidson editions and that thing looks like it came off the showroom floor and hes got 100k on it so im sure he knows what hes doing.

my ride is a 2007 scion tc that i recently purchased and you can tell its never been waxed, and in florida you have to take care of your car if its sittin outside..

 

[CurseTheSky]

If you think it's worth it, go for it. For me, I'd never pay more than $20, and I'd still expect good results (my girlfriend's younger sister is awesome at it, never complains, and you have to force her to actually take the cash). I guess it depends how valuable your time is to you. By hand is almost always better than an automatic car wash though.

Personally, I've done well with a simple wash (spray down with water, water + car soap in a bucket, scrub with sponge), dry, and follow-up with a wax paste by hand. It does take a while to apply the wax and buff it back out (especially by hand) but the results are excellent. The two biggest pieces of advice I can give are patience and setting. Make SURE you're washing and especially waxing out of direct sunlight, on a cool surface, and somewhere where a bunch of dust isn't going to get blown onto your car. A shady driveway is fine as long as you don't live on a dry dirt road with a decent amount of traffic.

 

[sdifox]

I just clayed my car last night after touchless machine wash. Car is shiny. Later today or tomorrow I'll machine wash again and then wax. Prob 5 coats with my el cheapo Simoniz 8" waxer/polisher.

 

[sdifox]

Woke up early today, went to touchless wash, came back and waxed the car. Now it's nice and shiny. I even bothered to put the tire shine gel on.