devans said:
Sorry Cliffwilkins but I'm unsure as to what your saying. Should I use the Zymol cleaner wax first and then use the hd car wax or are you saying I need another polish?
Does the the zymol cleaner wax help promote the Autoglym HD car wax or does it in fact remove the previously applied wax. After all, these products arent cheap.
There's so much out there (here in the Car Care section, and the Internet as a whole) that it is hard to get lost. It's important to know what each product does and how and when to use it, what Cliff was trying to say, was wax is essentially the last step
When you say 'do i need another polish' are you using a polish already? A polish is a slight abbrasive, designed to help remove scratches and swirls (if you have lots, a compound or a professional detail will help remove these better) A polish should not be used (IMO) on a regular basis. You would apply a wax to a polished car, to help protect the newly polished car. Dependent on its use, washes and durability, wax should be applied on a more regular basis, to protect the paint. If your Zymol Wax Cleaner (as the name may suggest) is a cleaner/soap/shampoo that contains wax to help (as Cliff suggests) keep/apply wax whilst you wash, to the wax already there. For this reason, I use megusirs liquid wax wash, as it's designed to bond/mix with the meguiars wax I have applied. It may be that, other brands (wash waxes) don't adhere as well to other brands (waxes already applied). This is a trial and error thing for you to know what works best for you (time, budget etc allowing). The reason mixed brands may not work, is then into natural Vs Synthetic waxes and coatings, and you're into a whole new rabbit warren reading up on that!
If you want my advice, I hope you find this useful below, others may agree/disagree:
1, Initial car rinse with water to remove dirt (I use a hose, as my car doen't get caked in mud) I would only use a pressure washer for stubborn/heavy dirt
2, PH neutral foam covering to remove and carry any other dirt from paint work, allow to soak in and carry away, but don't let dry. You need PH neutral so that it doesn't remove any previous coatings, such as wax you may have applied already
3, rinse car with water
4, wash car with shampoo of choice using two bucket method (again, actually washing a car can now be a rabbit warren if you're unaware of this method)
5, rinse car
You could decontaminate further with an iron remover, and or clay bar now but this really is for dirty/contaminated cars and not an every time step, or required on 'looked after cars', so I haven't given this a step. If you do this, my recommendation would be then to re-wash car, or at least thoroughly rinse)
Dry car thoroughly (I could again give details on how to do this, just please don't use a leather chamois)
Apply compound to remove deep swirls, marks, scratches. This is not a numbered step, as I am assuming your car isn't in need of huge paint correction (again, not needed every time, and would be for paint in need of correction)
6, Apply polish to help give paint depth. This may remove a wax, so would not advise polishing on a regular basis.
Apply a ceramic coating (if wanted, again, a whole other scenario of exploration, so not having it as a step, but a choice)
7, Apply your wax
8, Possibly apply a quick detailer, to remove any finger prints, splashes, water marks etc
And congratulations, there's a day gone!
I have probably just made this scenario and question worse, but it is important to know what your products do. The term 'polishing a car' gets thrown around a lot and isn't something people actually do regularly, if at all, it gets coined as a term.
Hope that helps. Maybe [&:]
