The wonders of clay bars, T-cut and 3 stage Megs stuff

[OFI]

Hrmm I think i'm going to have to clay mine when the weather clears up, I washed my car the other day and my fingers touched the paint.. at which point I noticed how rough it felt i'm sure it wasn't like that before Christmas.

 

[Willie]

Claying might need done monthly depending on how you want the car finish. You'll find it'll come up very quickly and easily due to it not being tar

 

[Stan 24v]

Check this out chaps - Plus he is a Cupra owner!!

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=54411

Thats awesome!

 

[Rubbish Boy]

i've always used meguiars stuff with reasonable results but now i'm thinking about moving onto better products. in the past i've used megs deep crystal paint cleaner prior to a couple of coats of NXT wax. the paint cleaner always left a really smooth finish, is this an alternative to using a clay-bar?

i'm think about trying some dodo juice diamond white wax and dodo juice lime prime as a pre wax cleaner. either that or invest in some megs clay bar and get some zymol creame wax.

A pre wax cleaner isn't really an alternative to claying more used in conjunction with. If the paint feels rough, clay first before cleansing, but you don't need to clay everytime you cleanse and wax.
If you were to go down the Lime Prime and Diamond White route and you haven't clayed your paint before, clay first to remove the bonded on contaminants like tar, tree sap etc, then Lime Prime which will deep cleanse the paint and remove oxidisation etc ready for waxing. Lime Prime also acts as a mild polish and glaze leaving a nice rich, wet finish ready for the wax.

 

[detaildoctor]

i've always used meguiars stuff with reasonable results but now i'm thinking about moving onto better products. in the past i've used megs deep crystal paint cleaner prior to a couple of coats of NXT wax. the paint cleaner always left a really smooth finish, is this an alternative to using a clay-bar?

i'm think about trying some dodo juice diamond white wax and dodo juice lime prime as a pre wax cleaner. either that or invest in some megs clay bar and get some zymol creame wax.

Your comment on moving onto better products than Meguiars is at best ill informed. I would like to state for the record that I DO NOT WORK FOR MEGUIARS but I have been using their products for over 10 years (i used to get their products sent to me from a friend in the US before they were available in the UK)

Few people know (as they do not advertise it but feel free to check my facts) that most of the major OEMS finish their cars coming off the line with Meguiars products. As they have been around since 1901, they know a few things about what they are doing.

Sorry to sound like i'm having a pop but you'll do well to find better researched, invested in and developed products than Meguiars.

To those of you that are thinking of using T-Cut on your car You need some education on how not to ruin your paintwork

Here endeth the rant..erm correction

 

[BSJ]

the car looks good

 

[ChrisJ]

I can't really work out how people are claiming using t cut is bringing the paint back up, its simply not possible as leons have a clear coat or laquer over the top of the paint.......

 

[Number86]

Yes, it's perfectly possible.

While possibly not the best way of doing it, T-Cut certainly can bring it back up. If you're careful and don't wipe away through the clear coat on the metallics then you're simply removing stubborn dirt and light swirl marks. This will bring the paint back somewhat.

Of course, you can only do these a few times before you're down to primer

 

[ChrisJ]

Yes, it's perfectly possible.

While possibly not the best way of doing it, T-Cut certainly can bring it back up. If you're careful and don't wipe away through the clear coat on the metallics then you're simply removing stubborn dirt and light swirl marks. This will bring the paint back somewhat.

Of course, you can only do these a few times before you're down to primer

Good points there, mine is ok, not the best plus it has faded a little over the years and that was because of a previous owner who never kept it clean!!

 

[Rubbish Boy]

The big problem with yellow paint when it's clear coated is that you can't get to the bit that's faded.

One of my cars suffers from the same problem, allbeit not on a SEAT, the pigment in the yellow paint breaks down and fades over time, more so on yellow than just about any colour.

Now on a single stage paint this isn't too much of an issue because you can polish it and remove a layer of paint leaving a nice unfaded layer than can be sealed/waxed to keep it looking nice and protect it.

But on a clear coated finish, you can only polish the clear coat, which isn't nessesarily the layer that is faded. It will always look better after a polish, nice and shiny etc, but you will never be able get to the faded paint to restore the colour.

 

[Deanf]

Love the look of the yellow Cupras.

 

[prawnboy]

This thread confuses me a bit, basically has the guy in the original post restored the coulour by taking off all the laquer and going down to the basecoat ?