How clean does a car need to be to wax it?

[PastyBoy]

Damn this place!

[Wardy]

LOL!

[prolfe]

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Streatley,+Luton&daddr=52.160325,-1.88099+to:Gloucester,+Gloucestershire,+UK&geocode=FSajGAMd4Tr5_ylF6aCgGEp2SDG5NZ-oV56n7A%3BFUXnGwMdYkzj_ylJXCkrv9xwSDFgiFDMI4sNEw%3BFXZsFwMdIrDd_ynP8uv2-_1wSDHPGeghlptw7A&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=51.908696,-1.354065&sspn=0.916666,2.469177&ie=UTF8&ll=52.172247,-1.354065&spn=0.911277,2.469177&z=9&via=1

hehe

[Wardy]

Closer than me, so....... off you go

I'd take a nice cross-country route though

[PastyBoy]

Either of you are more than welcome

Steve if you want to come down and do my car the day before the Combe meet I can offer you a place for the night

[Wardy]

Hmmm, strangely tempting

[PastyBoy]

I'd even chuck in a bag of chips and if your lucky, REALLY lucky, some fish to go with them

[prolfe]

Any curry sauce?

[PastyBoy]

Any curry sauce?

Depends on how good a job is done on my car

[PastyBoy]

Well washed the car this morning and wax is going nowhere near it.

Have washed all the road grime off i'm pretty sure the car is actually more tar spot than it is Skoda

will let the weather (hopefully) improve and get myself a clay kit before any waxing takes place

hopefully all in time for Combe next month

[prolfe]

You need some AutoSmart tardis. Spray it on, leave it for a bit and then buff off. Bye-bye stupid tar.

Tar!

[Wardy]

Yikes! Yeah, needs both really. Which is adding to your list of stages I know!

[john999boy]

You need some AutoSmart tardis. Spray it on, leave it for a bit and then buff off. Bye-bye stupid tar.

Or even "Ta ta tar".

[m0bov]

If your rubbing wax/sealant into the paint there is just as much risk of marring than not claying. If your going to the trouble of waxing your wheels then you might as well do it properly and get the megs kit from halfords. It really does make a differance and helps to wax and buff off. Otherwise you'll be left with tar streaks at the very least.

[wja96]

If your rubbing wax/sealant into the paint there is just as much risk of marring than not claying.

I will stick my neck out here and say that's nonsense. Claying is using a potentially abrasive substance to remove generally invisible "contaminants" from the painted surface. Applying a LSP is effectively risk-free unless you use a dirty pad or cloth to apply or remove the LSP. You don't rub the LSP into the paint at all. It sits on top.

The fact is that LOTS of people on DW have given themselves a problem by incorrectly using claybars whereas I reckon I'd struggle to find anyone who would say they had marred paint with a wax or sealant.

PLEASE stop trying to push people into claying. It's generally not that big an improvement for the risk/effort involved, especially given the position of the OP.

[john999boy]

The fact is that LOTS of people on DW have given themselves a problem by incorrectly using claybars whereas I reckon I'd struggle to find anyone who would say they had marred paint with a wax or sealant.

PLEASE stop trying to push people into claying. It's generally not that big an improvement for the risk/effort involved, especially given the position of the OP.

On the other hand, if Pasty does it correctly, then claying IMHO is worth the effort.

Remember that you get back what you put in to a job so in reality, waxing over a bad surface isn't really the best way to proceed is it?

I did like the comment about ' especially given the position of the OP' though - do you know him lol.

[PastyBoy]

...especially given the position of the OP.

That'll be the lethal combination of both lazy and tight!

Essentially I used FK1000 on my wheels as wanted to do everything possble to protect the hard work put in during the refurb.

If i could then utilise the expenditure for the wax/sealant on the rest of the car (being tight) to a benefit with little extra effort (being lazy) that has to be better than it simply sitting in my garage for the rest of eternity.

I can understand that sealing big old lumps of tar under a layer of wax/sealant is obviously a bad idea. If claying was the only way to get them off then ok. If a good cleaner such as tardis will get rid and be safer and easier, then even better.

To be honest i'm nonplussed on the whole thing now anyway.

I washed the car a week ago and it's already absolutely lagged in crap.

Stupid 300 miles a week commuting!

[Wardy]

Tardis/spray degreaser is best used in conjunction with clay in my experience.

I appreciate that the clay stage does have it's potential hazards, but as already mentioned it's really quite important in order to start from a clean base, from which to move onto polishing (if applicable/necessary), sealant, wax and so on.

[prolfe]

Claying is fine as long as you follow the basics. There are numerous videos on youtube.

It also makes a big difference. Polish and wash your car and I'll nip round and show you how dirty it still is.

[m0bov]

Applying a LSP is effectively risk-free unless you use a dirty pad or cloth to apply or remove the LSP

Applying a synthetic based wax such as FK contains a high level of solvants, these will affect tar and other crud on the paint not shifted by the wash. As you apply the wax it will drag the tar/sap etc over the paint and some will remain on the pad to further spread. Thus giving you a dirty pad or cloth

PLEASE stop trying to push people into claying. It's generally not that big an improvement for the risk/effort involved, especially given the position of the OP.

The OP posted a question on a public forum so I'm just entitled to offer my advice and experiance as much as you are although I have'nt critised anyone as talking "nonsense". Its all about risk and how much of a finish you want. Its the OP's car and paint and its up to him what he does, nobody is "pushing" him :no:

[prolfe]

I'll push him unless he let's us give his car the once over!

[wja96]

Applying a synthetic based wax such as FK contains a high level of solvants, these will affect tar and other crud on the paint not shifted by the wash. As you apply the wax it will drag the tar/sap etc over the paint and some will remain on the pad to further spread. Thus giving you a dirty pad or cloth

No, if it's all covered in tar, you wouldn't apply an LSP, but on the other hand if solvents in FK1000 really did shift tar, who'd buy tardis? They don't. Even if you did smear the tar, that's not marring. I've had to correct marring put in by well-meaning folks who looked at the clay and thought - "I can't see all that **** on my clay you see in the pictures on DW, so I'll just rub a little harder". And then, all of a sudden, it's "what are these marks and why won't the clay lift them out?" and then it's "Walt, what have I done here?". And then it's off with 4 microns of top-coat to get rid of it.

And removing tar with clay is hard work and less than smart when tardis does the job just as well with minimal effort. Claying is for contaminants you can't see.

The OP posted a question on a public forum so I'm just entitled to offer my advice and experiance as much as you are although I have'nt critised anyone as talking "nonsense". Its all about risk and how much of a finish you want. Its the OP's car and paint and its up to him what he does, nobody is "pushing" him :no:

Yes, you are entitled to an opinion, however when it's potentially dangerous and incorrect, it needs to be challenged.

The OP sprayed his own wheels and doesn't look after his paint as you and I would understand it. He asked a nice simple question - how clean does it need to be to wax it? It doesn't need claying before sealing it, and your other arguments surrounding marring due to FK1000 smearing tar are nonsensical I'm afraid.

[PastyBoy]

ok boys play nice.

As has clearly been established I am not a detailer, I am not really even a cleaner of my car!

My paint work is very much not looked after and this thread was started by wanting to make get as much use out of a product i had purchased rather than leave it on a shelf gathering dust.

Please also bear in mind that whilst all your advice is appreciated my previously mentioned "conditions" of laziness and unwillingness to spend money are seriously goinng to limit how much advice I follow.

To be honest I might even close this thread now as i kind of have my answers.

• Yes i could rub FK1000 all over my car to make it a more shiny.
  
• Yes the finish would be even better if I took the time to purchase some tardis and remove all my tar spots before sealing
  
• Yes it would be even better I removed the tar, then clayed the contaminents out of my paint, then sealed it.
  
• Yes it would be even betterer if i removed the tar, clayed it, polished it, then sealed it.
  
• Yes it would be even better if i bought a machine polisher etc etc this list could go on forever and run into hundreds of pounds!
  

Can i be arsed?

Frankly...... no

Edited 15 March, 2011 by PastyBoy

[prolfe]

You're right and if you're happy just chucking a sponge over it every few weeks or letting those blokes at the old petrol station wash it for a fiver then so be it. Opinions are just opinions and as we all have different heads that house our very different minds you'll naturally get lots of advice. If you do need a hand, then just shout.

[PastyBoy]

Thanks Paul and the same thanks are extedned to all others who have contributed to this thread.

I am in awe of some of the glassy panels I see here and on DW and would love to go down that route however I've never completed what classes as washing a car in the Pasty household and looked at it and gone "yuck i dunno why i bother"

When i went looking for tar spots i found them in abundance which made me realise any further treatment for the car was pointles until it was properly clean.

That said if i start looking that closely I find car park door dings, or the creased rear three quarter panel, or the tow hitch mark on the rear bumper, or the scraped splitter, or a nudged front bumper or the faded rear spolier

I know it's a dangerous attitude but the car's not perfect so why bother trying to detail it to within an inch of it's life!

I might slap some FK1000 on just the bonnet after the next wash and see if i notice a difference in shinyness or resistance to dirt

and yes while i am too lazy and tight to do it myself should a fellow Briskodian feel the need to spend a day teaching me otherwise I'm a willing student