Preparing for my second annual lockdown detail

[omniflow]

Never in a million years did I think we'd still be in lockdown a whole year after my last detail, but it's looking like we will.

One the weather improves slightly and the days get a bit longer, I'm looking to do a 2nd annual detail on my car. I already have polish, sealant and wax (all Blackfire products) and I think they're pretty decent, so I plan to use those again - but am open to alternatives if it makes sense. The car is metallic black, and the products I have were originally marketed as "Fire over Ice".

This time I am planning to invest in a machine polisher, probably a DA-6 if that's still the best value. Of those 3 products above, only the polish is suitable for machine application. Given the plan to use a machine polisher, should I stick with those 3 products, or should I invest in something new?

It's a convertible, so I want to re-proof the canvas roof - I've done this about 4 times so far and pretty much every time has been useless. This time I'm going to use fabsil and paint it on with a brush - again if anyone has any better suggestions please shout.

Finally the wheels - I want to give them a really good clean - probably remove them from the car to do this - and then some kind of wax / sealant to help keep them clean. I have none of these types of products at the moment, so I am looking for suggestions.

[hilly10]

I am going start in the next two weeks using the German Meguiars stuff my daughters company as started to sell it and she bought me quite a bit of stuff for Xmas. It will have a lot to live up to as I always used Swissol products in the past

Always pleased how the TR came up with Swissol

[Summit_Detailing]

You are better off skipping the purchase of a DA unless you are looking to use abrasive polishes to improve the paint condition, which is a whole new thread in itself.
The Blackfire products you may as well apply by hand, as you have done previously.

Fabsil is 'ok' but Gtechniq I1 smart fabric and Renovo proofer offer much better durability.
As with most things prep is the key so the fabric needs to be properly clean (I recommend a citrus based cleaner and a small vikan brush - following the nap of the fabric & multiple rinses with a pressure washer).
It also needs to be 100% bone dry which is difficult to do at this time of year unless you can tuck the car in a warm garage for a few days.
Brushing on the protection is definitely the best application method.

If you are going to the trouble of removing the wheels to deep clean them I'd recommend both a fallout remover (Carpro IronX or Gtechniq W6) and an easy to use ceramic coating which should give you around 12months surface protection (Gtechniq C5 or Carbon Collective Platinum Wheels).

If you want any other specific product recommendations feel free to drop me a DM.

Cheers,

Chris

[omniflow]

Summit_Detailing said:

You are better off skipping the purchase of a DA unless you are looking to use abrasive polishes to improve the paint condition, which is a whole new thread in itself.
The Blackfire products you may as well apply by hand, as you have done previously.

Fabsil is 'ok' but Gtechniq I1 smart fabric and Renovo proofer offer much better durability.
As with most things prep is the key so the fabric needs to be properly clean (I recommend a citrus based cleaner and a small vikan brush - following the nap of the fabric & multiple rinses with a pressure washer).
It also needs to be 100% bone dry which is difficult to do at this time of year unless you can tuck the car in a warm garage for a few days.
Brushing on the protection is definitely the best application method.

If you are going to the trouble of removing the wheels to deep clean them I'd recommend both a fallout remover (Carpro IronX or Gtechniq W6) and an easy to use ceramic coating which should give you around 12months surface protection (Gtechniq C5 or Carbon Collective Platinum Wheels).

If you want any other specific product recommendations feel free to drop me a DM.

Cheers,

Chris

Thanks for this - a couple of additional questions if I may.

From what I understand I should not be looking to clay the car unless it really needs it, so my assumption is that I start with a tar remover, followed by a fallout remover - or possibly the other way around. I've looked at a few products online and most of them say "won't strip wax" or similar. Do I rely on the polish to remove the old wax, or is there another product I need to use after the tar remover and fallout remover but before the polish?

Also - the Gtechniq smart fabric product comes in a spray bottle - can I still apply that with a brush?

Thanks

[Summit_Detailing]

omniflow said:

Thanks for this - a couple of additional questions if I may.

From what I understand I should not be looking to clay the car unless it really needs it, so my assumption is that I start with a tar remover, followed by a fallout remover - or possibly the other way around. I've looked at a few products online and most of them say "won't strip wax" or similar. Do I rely on the polish to remove the old wax, or is there another product I need to use after the tar remover and fallout remover but before the polish?

Also - the Gtechniq smart fabric product comes in a spray bottle - can I still apply that with a brush?

Thanks

No worries at all.

Unless the car is getting an element of machine polishing after the claying stage I'd skip the clay and concentrate on chemically cleaning the paint.

Fallout first, then Tar remover.

I think from memory the Blackfire kit comes with a bottle of Paint Cleaner, so this is your prep/cleaning product, followed by, I think a Paint Sealant and/or Midnight Sun wax which is the protection element and locks in the resins/fillers of the Cleaner in step 1.

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers,

Chris