Black 2004 F-150 SCAB w/ 20k miles living in Michigan. When the weather is "decent" I've washed the truck by hand about once a month and take it through no-touch automatic washes about once a week; during the winter it only gets no-touch automatic washes. I haven't polished or waxed it since it was new.

It still looks good and I still often get compliments when after it's washed, but I think I need to bring back some of the "deep" color and I would like it to look it's best for this Friday.

Here's my plan of attack for tomorrow and Wednesday:

Exterior: Wash, claybar, and hand polishing with Meguiar's NXT (sorry, no orbital).
Tires: BleachWhite & low gloss Armor-All (Don't like the "wet/greasy" look)
Wheels: Suggestions? (18" Factory Aluminum Lariat Wheels)
Interior Leather: Zymol Cleaner and Zymol Conditioner
Interior Carpet: Suggestions?
Interior Vinyl: Suggestions for cleaner? and then low gloss Armor-All
Exterior Vinyl: Suggestions? (I saw someone mention 303, what is it?)

 

Wash with a high-quality car wash solution. Choose something along the lines of a Meguiar's Gold Class or similar -- don't skimp. Absolutely NO dishwashing detergents.

Clay -- follow the common sense rules here. If you drop it, it's trash. If it starts looking dingy, it's trash. Chop it in to a couple of pieces so that, when you drop it, it's not all gone. Remember, one grain of sand can yield HELLISH results.

You're not really 'polishing' with NXT -- you're protecting. There's a difference between wax and polish. Lucky for you, NXT is a 'cleaner wax' of sorts but, mind you, it's a VERY light cleaner. If you have significant swirls and / or other problems, you're probably going to need to add another step to deal with those as the NXT probably won't do the trick. If you're paint is okay, you're good to go.

I'm fine with the AA. No Bleachwhite. Utilize something MUCH less harsh like Simple Green and some elbow grease. BW is an ULTRA NASTY chemical that can and will pit your wheels in SHORT order. I used to use this stuff until I read a lot about it. It's ugly...

Treat them like paint. No bleachwhite. Some love this stuff but, I've seen the end results on a couple of wheels where it was allowed too much dwell time and dripped onto the wheels... the results were BAD. Be reminded with future washes that chemicals like SG or BW (did I mention don't use BW?) and others have a higher liklihood of stripping the protection that you're going to put on your wheels.


If you like it, I like it.

Have any problem spots? If so, Blue Magic Carpet Cleaner -- avail at Wally World or just about anywhere else. The stuff is EXCELLENT. Otherwise, utilize a stiff bristled nylon brush and work the carpet while vac'ing it. This will help to release the 'gunk' embedded within.

Personal preference here but, I don't like any shine on my interior vinyl. I typically go with a product like Meguiar's Quik Detailer Interior -- available at your local Pep Boys or similar. This product yields a very natural look but leaves behind a certain level of UV protection. To me, it's a PERFECT product.

303 Aerospace Protectant or Vinylex or Meguiar's #40. With any of the three, you'll apply, allow to dry and then remove excess with a nice microfiber towel.

Hope that helps.

RP

 

I'm in a similar situation, and this is very helpful. Thanks, RP!

One thing: I have a new, never used PC 7424. I plan to use it to apply the NXT, but I'll remove it by hand. Sound correct?

Thanks again... didn't mean to hijack your thread, baja150, but it was just what I needed to get me out cleaning the truck...

 

Definitely your best bet (ie: apply by machine, remove by hand). I'm not a huge fan of a bonnet to remove products -- but they do have their occasional use in my opinion.

Remember too though -- you'll still have to apply NXT (or any other product being applied via PC) by hand... the nooks and crannies don't wax themselvess!

Glad to help JS2003...

 

Ok Meguiar's wash it will be.

I think because most of my truck's washes have been "no touch" since the truck was new, I don't have very many swirl marks. However, I did plan on doing 2 coats so would it be beneficial to do one coat of cleaner wax and then a 2nd coat with NXT?

I'm sorry, it's not Zymol that I have... it's Lexol. I remembered the name when I saw it posted on the bottom of your reply.

Not really a spot, but I do have some white residual marks on the carpet around my driver floormat that I think is salt marks from the road salt they use here to melt the snow. I'd guess that the Blue Magic will work well on this, correct?

Well I definitely don't like regular AA, but I don't mind the gloss of the "low gloss" type. Does AA offer UV protection? I think the reason I like the low gloss AA is because it's not overwhelmingly shiny, but it has enough shine to gives the interior that just cleaned look. Anyways this is just personal preference.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions RockPick.

One more question, what kind of cloth do you recommend using to remove the wax?

Thanks again,
Rich

 

Micro Fiber. Personally, I'd do the "Ultra-Plush" type weave.

 

They make a very nice wash line in my opinion. Gold Class, to this day, remains atop my list of very good, very affordable washes ($10 for a gallon at Targhetto).

Not a bad plan. The cleaner wax might help get any slight oxidation and might even deal with some of the slight swirls or cobwebbing that you have. Further, your loss of some of that 'deep color' may be a result of the car wash chemicals utilized at the tunnel you're visiting. As a rule of thumb, many of them are pretty aggressive -- as they have to be -- and thus can cause a slight amount of dulling over time. Don't get me wrong, tunnels have their place and time and it's not true of all of them but, as a rule of thumb, the chemicals are more aggressive and thus, can dull the paint in a more accelerated fashion.


They make pretty good stuff. I'd avoid the pH balanced cleaner on any type of uncoated (aniline) leather.


It should...you'd probably have better luck with something like very hot water to dissolve that type of deposit though. Then clean with the BM.


Personal preference is HUGE! If it works for you, keep going with it. I don't know about the UV...

No problem. Glad to help.

Like flyin' mentioned -- ultra-nice microfiber is the only way I'd go. For the money, Meguiar's MF towels are not bad... not the best, but not a bad buy.

 

Ok I'm headed to the store after work in about 1/2 hour to get all the supplies. I wish I had an entire day to dedicate to this detail job, but unfortunately I don't.

I'm thinking about doing the interior and washing the exterior today after work and waxing tomorrow, but I'll have to drive the truck 18 miles between the wash and wax. I hate to do this, but if I have to rewash it tomorrow I don't think between the washing and dry time that I'll have time to wax. Do you think it would be okay if I wash it today, do a quick spray detail tomorrow, and then wax?

Of course this is providing that it doesn't rain and I don't drive through anything wet.

 

You should be fine. Just make sure there's no gross contamination on your paint before moving forward and do an extra special good job on the QD.

 

FRIGGING RAIN!!!

If anyone's experienceing rain today, you can blame it on me.

I washed, claybared, washed again, cleaner waxed, NXT'ed, polished chrome, and cleaned entire interior on my truck yesterday after work. I started in the driveway and when it got dark I pulled into the garage and didn't finish until about nearly midnight.

... and what do I hear when I wake up this morning? RAINDROPS!!! I even considered calling in sick so I didn't have to bring the truck out of the garage.

Ok enough venting and on to some useful input.

RP I did buy some of the Meguiar's Interior Quick Detail spray and I was very impressed with it. I wiped the surfaces down with a microfiber towel; I don't know if it was the spray, the towel, or both, but they did an excellent job of holding the dust and not spreading it at all.

I'm glad I claybared and cleaner waxed because I did find some very small unidentifiable... objects... not sure what to call them, but they were attached to my paint. I couldn't see them from more than a few feet away, but I could definately fell them with my fingers. The claybar removed pretty much all of these, the cleaner wax removed the remainder and got the paint in good shape for the NXT, and the NXT made that baby SHINE!!!

I've seen so many posts and read so much about NXT in these forums that I think my expectations of it were too high. In the past I've used Eagle One Wet, which I think was labeled as a polish and wax and I don't think they make it any more. I had a little bit of this Eagle One left and compared it to NXT on the hood and didn't notice any difference. But, the area where the NXT did really shine was how easy it was to remove from the plastic (i.e. door handles, bed rail, etc.); this alone made it worth it's weight in gold to me. I hate when I see a vehicle w/ wax all over the textured plastic panels.

Oh and RP I think you're right about the Bleach White. I didn't use it this time, but I've probably used it about 7-8 times on this truck in the past. When I was cleaning the wheels yesterday I noticed that the stick on plastic around the Ford oval on one of my center caps was bubbled up very badly; when I peeled it off it removed about 80%, so no more bleach white for me and I don't recommend it to anyone else either... definitely not if you have factory wheels. I'm pretty confident the BW caused this because it's the only chemical that I've ever put on my tires; the armor all pretty much stays on the tires with the exception of some slight overspray, but the bleach white drips all over the wheels.

 

Glad to hear that it went well... Let us know if you need anything else!!

RP