A little advice for an amateur please.....
 

Hi,
This year I got an Iceberg Silver 172 which is the newest and best condition car I've ever had. So I've decided I'd like to try and clean and protect it properly from now on. I've always been very lazy with the way I've looked after my cars before.
I've been reading the polished bliss guides but just need a little advice to make sure I'm going to be doing the right thing. The paint on the car is in pretty good condition as far as I'm aware, but does have minor swirl marks. After reading about claying it definitely needs it, feels a bit like sandpaper when running your fingers over the paint. So I'm about to buy this:
Meguiars Detailing Clay - Mild
and I guess I will also need this:
Meguiars Quik Detailer
or should I be ok with this?:
Meguiars Quik Clay

For my birthday my g/f is going to be buying me this:
JEFFS Werkstatt Acrylic Kit
especially as its now on offer!

But after reading the guides it seems I need to polish the car after claying to remove minor swirls etc. Now I will have to do this by hand and need to know what polish I should buy. I have some merr in the garage but have no idea whether thats ok or whether I should be using something else?

So once I've clayed, polished and then used the acrylic kit, I can just wash the car and use the acrylic stuff after each wash for around a year before claying and polishing again right?
The other thing I need to know is about timescales. If I clay the car (I assume it take a few hours), how long before I should polish it? same day? Does it matter if its not straight after? Also, how long after polishing before I have to use the acrylic stuff? asap?

Thanks for any help
Steve

No one?

imo go for the quick clay. a great place to start if you've not clay barred before. it's gentle but does the job :thumb:

never used merr but iirc it's not a true polish. get yourself something like the menzerna intensive polish and a german applicator pad while you're ordering. apply the menz IP with the white side and you won't go far wrong. great products and easy to use :thumb:

pretty much. depends where you keep the car, what you use it for, how many miles you do etc. but in general yup clay once maybe twice a year.

when you clay the car work in sections at a time and dry them off with a plush microfibre cloth, then polish straight after. then once after the polish apply the jeffs (or any other lsp you wish to use). this is important as you need to get your paint protected.

stick to the pb guides and you won't go wrong. :thumb: if you need any help the guys at pb are very helpfull. if i can be of any help as well give me a shout. :thumb:

sorry forgot to say. allow yourself a whole day to do this process :thumb:

oh and just noticed you're in wickford and i'm just round the corner in basildon. if you see a red stickered up type ra, give me a wave. and if you want any help just ask as detailing is a second job for me :thumb:

Thanks for your help mneame, much appreciated :)

no problem. :thumb:

one more question. you say use the intensive polish stuff, but my kit contains this:
JEFFS Werkstatt Prime Acrylic
Surely this will do the same job?

No! Prime Acrylic is a chemical cleanser/sealant, so has no real cut. It will remove deep seated dirt and grime, but it won't cut the paint enough to remove swirl marks and fine scratches. To remove swirl marks by hand, I too would go with Menzerna Intensive Polish, applied using the white side of a German pad. This product is a proper abrasive polish, as opposed to a cleanser. I can't add anything more than what Matt has said above to your questions; as always, he's right on the money! :)

Ok, order coming your way in 2 mins ;)

Steve

PB: Just put the order in but I've been an idiot and put in the delivery instructions "after 10pm would be great"........This should say 10am!!!

Sorry!

Lol, no problem! :D

Cheers :thumb: