My First Detailing effort, Black A3

[J8TT X]

Thought it was time to get the car ready for autumn.
Never detailed before but learned a lot on here so thought I would give it a go.
I used 2 buckets, grit guard, wash mitts, microfiber drying towel, Applicator pads and microfiber polishing clothes.

washed with Meguiars Ultimate wash and wax
AG Surface Detail Claybar / Rapid Detail as lube
Washed again
Dryed
Polished with AG Super Resin Polish
Waxed with Meguiars Ultimate Liquid Wax

5hrs later with a sore neck, shoulders and arms :

(Excuse the poor pictures/kerbed alloys)

Before:


During:



After:



As I have not tried other products I cant really give a good opinion on the stuff I used but I am happy with the results!
let me know what you guys think, am I missing anything?

Looking at getting some window cleaner and something to clean the black plastic trim inside and out. any ideas?

this morning:

 

[sidibear]

Looking good.

For windows I use A/G glass polish and rain x.
For trim I use Aerospace 303.

 

[matt summers]

nice! not done anything similar myself, hows was the claybar to do?

 

[frazzeld]

What do you think about the Rapid Detailer is it any good? does it wipe away easy or leave the cloth very wet?

 

[J8TT X]

nice! not done anything similar myself, hows was the claybar to do?

It was my first time with claybar, read a lot and looked at a few videos on youtube.
Wasn't difficult at all.
Just make sure the car is wet with either lube or water and rub it down.

 

[J8TT X]

What do you think about the Rapid Detailer is it any good? does it wipe away easy or leave the cloth very wet?

Rapid Detailer came in the claybar starter pack, I used as lube and not as a cleaner.

After I washed the car I didn't dry it, a few people said it is pointless drying it as the water helps with the lubrication.
the rapid Detailer did help a lot with keeping the claybar rubbing smooth over the paintwork.
But honestly next time I would just use water.
I also didn't wipe the excess lube off, as I washed it afterwards it was a bit pointless.

 

[manor13]

how much of the claybar did you use? looks a lot. I am currently using the same bar and cut it into 3 each section being good for a full car. for a shampoo I would use a basic shampoo with cleaner if your claying as your wasting the wax enhancement that the megs may provide. See Brotek and look at some of Angelwax's shampoos I have been using them for about 3 years and would recommend them if you were local i'd let you try some of the special reserve i have

 

[J8TT X]

how much of the claybar did you use? looks a lot. I am currently using the same bar and cut it into 3 each section being good for a full car. for a shampoo I would use a basic shampoo with cleaner if your claying as your wasting the wax enhancement that the megs may provide. See Brotek and look at some of Angelwax's shampoos I have been using them for about 3 years and would recommend them if you were local i'd let you try some of the special reserve i have

I broke the claybar into 50p size pieces and used it till it got dirty, folded and used it again till there was no more clean sides. It was my first time so its all a learning curve for me. Still got enough claybar to do the car again maybe twice.

As for shampoo I only used what I had, I didn't see the point in buying a different type of shampoo. Maybe in the future :icon_thumright:

 

[Innocence80]

Looking good and well done on the attempt. I washed mine last week and took a chunk of lacquer of the rear bumper!

 

[ex911driver]

Looking good and well done on the attempt. I washed mine last week and took a chunk of lacquer of the rear bumper!

Did you use a pressure washer?

 

[Innocence80]

Nope, I used a sponge and bucket of water with some shampoo wax stuff, then dried it with a microfibre and then polished it with some autoglym polish.

 

[ex911driver]

You may want to invest in a wash mitt and another bucket so as to avoid any scratches to your convertible.
2 bucket method ,1 for shampoo and 1 to rinse your mitt also you could get a couple of grit guards to go in the buckets to keep muck at the bottom and stop it going back on the car.

 

[Innocence80]

You may want to invest in a wash mitt and another bucket so as to avoid any scratches to your convertible.
2 bucket method ,1 for shampoo and 1 to rinse your mitt also you could get a couple of grit guards to go in the buckets to keep muck at the bottom and stop it going back on the car.

Im a woman i do not go into detail and i did use a wash mitt not a sponge