Hi all

 

Must.... resist.... self-promotion....

Shug,

Your brethren in this forum can definitely assist, especially since we're familiar with the perils of the Northeast weather. That said, you'll get MANY opinions, all of them good.

Water marks can be due to not only the method of drying the car, but how it was polished and/or washed. Cheap wax could aggravate this. I've used chamois for years, but changed to a blade/microfiber combination with very good, fast results.

A great deal of us use Zaino - don't let the multi-step process confuse you. Or, go with a high-quality carnauba if you want a traditional approach. Mother's is good, but P21S is superb. Zymol Creme or Carbon are popular as well.

Are you willing to invest some $$ to get good product? If you want the soup-to-nuts everything you need to take care of the car, look at spending $250 or so. (includes tools, waxes, soaps, etc)

 

hey Shug



here's my advice on how to apply Zaino...



There is no need for Z1 if you have ZFX. Z1 was used as a base coat for Z2/Z5 but the problem was that Z1 took over 24 hours to cure. ZFX now makes Z1 obsolete. All you have to do is mix five drops of zfx to two ounces either Z2 or Z5.

Here

 

If you are going this route, expect to to spend a lot of time during the clay bar process.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bass
[B]hey Shug

 

I agree with Chip and Steves advice. I switched to Zaino this summer and have been very happy with it. My car is daily driven as well and parked outside. I have noticed that the car takes much longer to get dirty with the Zaino on. The claybar process took me about an hour and a half to two hours to do. Well worth it.

Having a black car, water spots were a big problem for me too. I have found that using a good water blade (I use the California) and a large microfiber towel like Chip said works best. Also, washing the car in the shade makes a HUGE difference because you can dry the car before the sun does, leaving spots. I also wash the car in two or three sections (front to rear) to dry it before spots develop. It takes a few minutes longer but is well worth it.

 

Thanks for the tips

 

SHUG,
The advise from all is very good, especially vrm vrm, but I will add that you will get as many recommendations for polish as you will find polish on the shelves at the store. Stay away from the cheaper, common brand names. You get what you pay for.

I enjoy using Zymol, a great quality wax that I am very pleased with. Others as you can tell use Zaino and Mothers which are also exceptional in performance. Which one is better, you probably are already tired of reading the "Great Debate". I only use 100% cotton towels to wash and dry my S, I will not use anything else. When I am done I was them in very mild soap and rinse them twice and I never dry the cloths using hot air in the dryer and absolutely no fabric softener. We all spend a decent amount of time on cleaning so never be in a rush.

We are all anal when it comes to the care of our cars, you probably notice by the way we all responded so far.

 

Good point - on hot days, I'll hose down the car EVERY time I rinse a section, just to keep it wet until I can dry it myself. (Boy, doesn't that sound counter-productive?? )

Gosh, I remember those days. Sun... Hot... Isn't it supposed to be summer around here?

 

If you do a search on claybar you'll find a lot of posts on it. You can go to Autozone and pick up Magic Clay. it works well.

 

SHUG,

I use Mothers wash soap and Mothers Carnuba Phase 3 wax to keep two Sports Cars looking great (they're red and yellow). There is a Phase 1 and a Phase 2 product, which I bought and have never tried. Occasionally, when there are cone marks (from Autocross) or heavy bug marks I use Mothers Carnuba Cleaner Wax to fix those spots. Mothers also has a clay bar system, which I bought and have not yet tried. I touch up the sports cars with a California Duster and Griot's Speed Shine in between washes. For the Speed Shine I use small terry cloth hand towels bought in bulk in a large package from Sams Club (cheap). Both sports cars are garaged. Mothers is readily available everywhere so no special ordering/planning is required; it's cheap; it smells good; and it works great. Being completely frank, I cannot tell the difference between the way my sports cars look and the way the other folks' properly taken care of sports cars look (Zaino, Meguires, Collinite, and other commercial products included).

My two sedans are both white and I prefer Zymol on them since it has a sky blue tint, and really seems to make them look bight white. My SUVs get whatever is handy.

Everything gets washed with Mothers wash.

I use large terry cloth towels to dry my cars, and it takes two large fluffy dry ones to dry one sports car. I bought a half dozen neutral (tan/taupe) colored bath towels from Sams Club for $4 each. They go through the washing machine and dryer every two car dryings. BTW, you have to wash/dry any new terry cloth towels before you use them the first times, otherwise they are not absorbant enough.

I would suggest that whatever you decide works for you will be just fine, as long as you stick to it as a regimen. They're all good if you're consistent with them. Experimenting is part of the fun too.

Kind Regards, Chris