Detailing Processes for Beginners

[my95z28]

Great post, bookmarked for sure.

[Lucky SOB]

Great info -sticky it B!

[Matt@Vivid]

From a process standpoint, what's your opinion on claybarring or polishing glass like the windshield? I either have a ton of little nicks in my glass or I have a bunch of crap embedded in it - the windshield almost glitters (for lack of a better way to explain it) when the sun hits the glass at the right angle when I'm driving. I also have something that sprayed onto the glass and I haven't been able to get it off yet - I don't know if it etched or it's just really stuck on, but no amount of regular scrubbing has gotten it off and I'm afraid of taking a razor to the windshield for fear of making it worse or gouging. Lastly, if "yea" (rather than "nay") to claybarring glass -- (and I apologize, since this is product specific) do you think the speedy claybar towel thing would work on glass?

Sitting at a show today, I realize I've REALLY neglected my paint. Tons of marring, swirls, ect. I really need to devote a weekend with my porter cable on my car.

Claybarring glass is super important. It really needs it about 2x as often as paint does. Theres no difference from paint in terms of process, and yes, I use the Speedy Prep towel on paint and glass alike.

As far as polishing, you can really use about any polish on glass. You may find you need to go more aggressive than you would with paint. I honestly don't recommend polishing glass unless you have wiper blade trails or unless you're using the polish as a cleanser before a coating. You can also find specific glass polishes such as Ceriglass.

What is your opinion of foam lance vs foam injection?
Also, what would you recommend for a wax for a black cobalt? I have tried the turtle wax black box, and meg's Ultimate, both of which are difficult to get good results with.

Are you asking foam lance (power washer) vs foam gun (garden hose)? If so, foam lances are awesome if you have a power washer and don't mind wheeling it out to wash the car. You'll get a much thicker layer of foam with a lance, no doubt.

That being said, I use a regular foam gun. It lays down plenty of foam for me and keeps me from having to drag out a power washer.

As for your wax question, I have a product thread stickied in this forum, it's also linked in the OP of this thread. Wax doesn't know what color your car is. If a wax is great on white, it'll be great on black, red, yellow, purple and orange too. You're actually applying it to clear regardless of the color anyway. The few exceptions are garbage products, such as the Turtle Wax you mentioned, which is basically shoe polish in a tin. Yuck.