A little help with products...

[pmanson]

Evening all,

Going to placing an order for a DA polisher sometime next week and at the sametime going to order a couple of other bits and bobs from cleanyoucar.co.uk

I currently have:

Sonus SFX-1 Restore
Sonus SFX-3 Final Finish Polish
Megs #16 Wax
Megs Last Touch

Planning to order:

DAS-6 Menzerna Kit
Foam Lance
Valet Pro PH Neutral Snow

Now I was wondering if I could enhance the shine/protection by using something like Dodo Lime Prime Lite between the polish and wax stages or would I better off adding a Glaze such as Megs #7 instead?

So many different combinations and options!

This "detailing" lark is getting addictive and expensive!

[domster]

Lime Prime Lite is basically a wipe on/wipe off glaze and can be used in the manner you mention. It can increase gloss (Epoch did some gloss meter tests on DW) but it's best on whites and silvers where a shine is more difficult to achieve. On other colours I'd go straight from polish to protectiion (wax/sealant) unless you want to go to town on the detail and add extra stages in deliberately.

Not sure about the Megs product. I tend to use LPL for obvious reasons!

[Buzzkill]

Make sure you have adequate lighting if you haven't already got any - cheap twin halogens from screwfix are a good start. I'd be inclined to do an ipa wipedown after the polishing stage before applying the wax.

Edited by Buzzkill on Sunday 18th October 11:45

[pmanson]

Can I use the LPL instead of an IPA wipedown?

Our two cars are white (Mk MX5) and black (Focus) but they could be joined shortly by a dark blue Impreza.

[PJ S]

Yes, in the context of applying a wax over it, but no if you meant to cleanse the paintwork prior to a sealant being applied next.
LPL, like a lot of glazes designed for under a wax, won't let a sealant bond fully to the paintwork, so this is where the IPA comes in
Also, IPA removes silicones (the undesirable type), so whilst an extra step is involved, it's the best practice, before putting down a wax-glaze or the synthetic glazes now available for under sealants.

You can buy panel wipe/prepsolv from anywhere that sells paint and polish supplies locally, which is essentially IPA.

Edited by PJ S on Sunday 18th October 20:56

[domster]

pmanson said:

Can I use the LPL instead of an IPA wipedown?

No, completely different products.

LPL is laying down cleaners and glaze oils.

IPA is trying to remove everything present.

But both will act as cleansers in their own way.

[pmanson]

Detailing it too complicated! BUT i'm quite enjoying trying to get my head around it

[pmanson]

Ok.

I have two cars to do soon.... one is my white MX5 and the other is a silver Audi A4.

So in terms of polishing etc after a good clean I should be doing the following:

Wipe down with IPA
Coat of Lime Prime Light
Then wax

I assume the IPA gets rid of any dust left from the polish stage, the Lime Prime Light will hopefully add a little bit more depth then wax to add the protection?

[PJ S]

IPA removes debris and oils, the LPL fills the micro voids and pores with oils to enhance the depth.
On white and silver, it's very arguable you'll notice a difference - maybe do half a panel with LPL, and the other half wax only, and see if you can notice any difference yourself.