forgive me, but these have probably been answered time and time again.

i'm wanting to clean up my car, and have a coupla questions. first off, can Meguiar's Dual-Action Cleaner/Polish be my first step, or do i need to use something before it to cut old wax?

second, what should my second step be...? the zaino process, i assume?

third, is there some sort of magical product that will bring my window trim back to life? i don't even know what the material is, but what once was black is now faded and cracked. what can i use? or is it ruined?

thank you very much!

 

Always start with the lightest (less abrasive) polish you can get away with to remove your swirls.

Using DACP as a first step depends on how bad your car is swirled up. It is a little aggressive (6 on a scale of 1 to 10) and really needs a PC to be used properly. DACP will strip off all your old wax, sap and water stains. You don't need anything before it other than a wash.

After DACP you'll want to step down to #82 (Swirl free polish) because you'll need to remove some hazing caused by DACP. You could also use 3m SMR for light or dark cars. It too is less agressive than DACP.

You could use Zaino, Wolfgang, NXT or any number of Carnauba waxes as your protection step. Keep in mind that polishing gives your car most of its shine.

You can try 303 on your trim but once it is faded and cracked it is usually dried out and ruined.

 

You could try this product from Griot's for faded trim: Griot's It won't help with the cracking but may make it look better.

 

I agree assuming you have something like a dual action orbital polisher ie Porter cable , makita, dewalt..

otherwise, the DACP and swirl removal by hand may not produce the most desirable effect for you