[nissan214]

Good morning All
Today I'm going to the store to get some detailing stuff to wash my baby tonight.
I was wondering what you all thought would be some good products to buy.
I think im gonna buy the Turtle wax ice wax and the Meguires Hot Shine tire stuff.But what about the soap,what type of cloth to use( i have a bunch of microfiber) what kind of wash rag etc........
I don't mind spending a couple hours detailing either
Thanks for all the help guys

 

[jtack]

Black is tough. I would surely use microfiber for everything (washing and drying). I have heard good things about Meguires NXT. I personally use Blackfire but you will not find that at outside of mail order. To eliminate swirl marks keep a separate washing mitt for the dirty areas and a cleaner one for the not so dirty areas. If you dont use two separate wash mitts, then make sure you rinse the mitt really really good before moving on from the dirty areas. I use a silicone blade to eliminate the need for lots of towels for drying. The silicone is also good for not leaving swirl marks too.

 

[DucatiSS]

Personally my detailing area looks like an add for Griots Garage. ( but that is my little OCD issue) :laugh: One important thing that I always start with is 3 different color 5gallon buckets all with a car wash product specifically for vehicles and their own micro fiber wash mitts. I start on the top & hood of the vehicle with one bucket, then I grab another bucket and do the sides till about 10-12" from the bottom where the dirt generally is then I use the 3rd bucket for the lower sides then the wheels and rims.

Using this technique I have found that I transfer few contaminants to the paint.

Always wash a cool (temp. ) truck and don't let the water bead up before drying. I also use a vac & blow to blow out the crevices where water tends to sit before using a micro fiber towel to dry it off. I have also used the blower with great success so that another towel never has to make contact with the paint.

You also should look into using a clay bar product on your truck at least once a year.

 

[959frontier]

Ill have to be honest and say i didnt care for the ICE wax. Left a lot of swirls that took alot of wiping to get off. The meguires nxt and the hitec wax were really good and last for awhile. Tried black box and was really good for a off the shelf liquid carnuba.

 

[toryroyce]

I used to love Meguires Tech Wax, but the Nissan paint is tough. Everything I've used leaves swirls if done by hand. The last time I used a cheap orbital buffer (basically a palm sander) and had good results. I think the trick is getting even pressure on the pad, which is hard to do by hand. Just an FYI, a pink pearl eraser works great if you get any on the plastic. Got that suggestion on this forum.....

 

[4floored]

Toryroyce, good tip using the pink eraser on the plastics. lots of good advice and thought this could help out if you need it.! Nu Finish has completly empressed me for taking off scratches of all sizes as well as swirl marks. I off road quite a bit but still want it looking good so when I get home Nu Finish and yes I air dry as well. Only way to do it!

 

[Cascas]

Last year I decided to use the Mothers clay bar system , WOW ! what a smooth feeling. After that I then used the Nufinsh scratch remover on any panals that were in need and finished it off with Mothers liquid Carnuba with an orbital polisher , just have to be real carefull around the plastics. Its held up great over the winter .

I usualy Mothers carnuba early spring and late fall before the winter hits.

 

[frontiermonkey]

I use Eagle One Nano Wash and Wax with a clean mitt. Dry with a Shamwow, and wax with Meguiers Gold Class wax. Takes three microfiber towels to wax, one for each half of the truck and the third for the final buff. My 04 shines better than new after I clean it and it only takes about 2 hrs start to finish.

 

[SDHarleydad]

I just tried the Mothers synthetic with the powerball. Feels great. Also if you get wax on the plastic trim and it dicolors....try Mothers Back to black.

 

[blackout08]

Just curious, have any of you guys tried Turtle Wax's new "Black Box"? It's only for black cars. It seems like it *could* work well on our Nissans because our paint is a solid black with no metallic flakes.
I'm a little hesitant to use "tinted" chemicals on the paint, though.

It comes with a pre-cleaner, detail spray and carnauba wax, all tinted black to help with swirls and scratches.
http://www.turtlewaxblackbox.com/

 

[959frontier]

Yeah I use black box and I really like it. Last long and it can hide some light scratches. Your putting it over clearcoat though so the black tint in the wax doesn't really do anything for the paint though (make it darker etc).

 

[hunterdan]

I just used that black box kit this weekend. Only used it on the hood as it took forever to work with. I also found the wax really hard to remove. It did hide some of the scratches and made one of the deeper ones less noticeable. I washed the truck in the sun then once i was done washing moved it under my carport to dry and cool off, so the paint was very cool to the touch when i started waxing. The only thing I really got from it was really dirty hands. I've been using dawn dish soap to wash. I found this really cleans it up and removes the old wax. If I don't remove the old wax I have a hard time getting the new wax off and getting a good polished look out of the paint. I only used the black box on the hood, and the rest of the truck i used some other wax that I bought the auto show last year. Came off very easy and looked just as good. Truck came out looking as good or better than the day I bought it.

Dan