How do I maintain a fully detailed car?

[kornykidd0]

Here's a question for you expert detailers out there - What should the steps be to maintain a car that has been fully detailed?

I have a Jerez Black E90 m3. About 2 months ago (maybe 3) I did a full detail on the car:

Washed with Megs Gold Class
Clayed with Nanoskin Autoscrub (awesome) using Adam's detailing spray and Porter cable 7424 buffer
Polished with Menzerna SI 1500 on a orange uber polishing pad with the PC
Waxed with Lusso Oro, applied by bare hands, buffed off with fresh microfibers

The car came out looking wonderful, no real need to use a finishing polish that I could tell so I just went straight to waxing. Since doing this the car has been at the airport for extended periods, the dealership for extended periods, heavy, heavy extended downpours, a track day, typical DD duties, etc. I haven't had a chance to hand wash since the detail, but it was washed at the dealership about 3 weeks ago while in for service. As expected, now she needs a long overdue bath.

It's my understanding that a proper detail really should only need to happen once or twice a year, and with proper upkeep and washing techniques polishing shouldn't need to be done more than maybe once a year. So if that's the case, what are the proper in between steps to keeping everything fresh? Before getting into the whole polishing phase of things when I had my old WRX I used to claybar the old fashioned way every time I washed the car, I'm starting to question this a little now.

I'm mainly trying to avoid getting swirls, which the wax should prevent assuming there is still some on there, but should I be washing and claying with the auto scrub over the remaining wax and reapplying more?

Should I strip the leftover wax first with a dawn bath, then clay and potentially introduce swirls and marring from that process, requiring polishing again and then wax (basically sounds like another detail day)?

I bought the Menzerna SF4000 finishing polish for use in a 2 step process on my friends Carerra, so in theory that would help with potential marring from the autoscrub, but is that polish going to be safe to use on the clear each time I do a 'maintenance' wash? Things were so much more clear and easier when I just accepted swirls

So help me out...what should be the proper process for a bi-weekly/monthly bath that avoids reintroducing swirls and negating all the hard work from a previous detail?

[rjd598]

I think you're making this more complicated than it should be. Regular maintenance washes should be a good car soap using the two bucket method. Use the sheeting method to get off as much water. Having a properly waxed or sealed car will help make all the steps easier. Afterwards use a premium microfiber towel usually most will use a waffle weave drying towel. I would really advise in investing in a leaf blower as this will remove alot of the water especially from all those annoying parts that drip water. Using the blower will also reduce contact with the paint. Now for the little amount of water left over I personally like to use a detail spray or spray wax. This helps dry the rest of the car while adding some shine and possibly added protection if you go with a spray wax.

[P1]

This is indeed nothing that should be made too complex. Wash the car whe it's cool using a good quality soap and sponge. Because the paint is waxed, sheet the water off by using an open ended hose. Then dry using a clean waffle weave towel.

After that, you can opt to give it another layer of wax, or simple do a QD wipe down. use a good quality microfiber.

[kornykidd0]

Yeah. Over thinking like normal. Contaminants are my concern but if it's waxed i guess I should be in good shape as they should come off in the wash easier.

[cambit]

im no expert, but this worked for me. if you got the coin and want to reduce swirls, invest in a good 4-5 stage RO/DI filtration system hooked up to a 50-75gallon water tank.

hook that baby up to a pressure washer and you can skip the entire microfiber towel drying process.

reverse osmosis deionized water has 0 total dissolved solids which means 0 water spots. rinse your car down and let it dry in the sun. no towel drying, no swirls.

[sensi09]

Hard to avoid swirls even when careful. A cheap leaf blower would be helpful though. Oh and avoid washes at the dealer....that may have put all of your hard work to waste already.

I'd avoid claying and autobrushing unless you want to polish all over again. SF4000 at every maintenance wash is way too much effort and definitely not needed. However following up super intensive with sf4000 makes a noticeable difference on a dark colored car IMO.

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by cambit

im no expert, but this worked for me. if you got the coin and want to reduce swirls, invest in a good 4-5 stage RO/DI filtration system hooked up to a 50-75gallon water tank.

hook that baby up to a pressure washer and you can skip the entire microfiber towel drying process.

reverse osmosis deionized water has 0 total dissolved solids which means 0 water spots. rinse your car down and let it dry in the sun. no towel drying, no swirls.