Hello,
Just got my 06 F-150, and was wondering what the best way to take care of it would be, I know hand washing at the house is highly recomended, however I have little to no room, lots of dirt that makes mud, and no shade.
I hope that using the quarter wash will be ok, the Drive in seems like it might be a little rough, even though its only water jets.

I have enough blacktop to detail the truck, but not enough to wash it, as that would require a 200Ft hose or longer, the rims are factory 17" chrome, the paint is a brwon/tan? color.

I already have a window cleaner I used on my car before I traded it ( tinted black ) I am really looking for some ideas on what to use to wipe/dry it off after I wash it, and something to clean the rims.

The insides are almost spotless, I think it may be the dye in the seat( little dark spots ) , as my friends 05 has grey insides and it has dark spots as well that he said was the dye in the seats.

I have already bought front floor mats and plan on getting some for the rear as well when money allow's what are some good products for carpet cleaning? I already am a firm user of armor all for the dash.

The rims are clean, but up close they seem to have some sort of film on them, will any regular chrome rim cleaner fix this?

I like turtle wax as well, unless there is something I don't know about it.

AS a final question, does a shimmy really scratch the paint?

In summry

1) A wax ( unless turtle wax is good )
2) rim cleaner?
3) carpet/seat cleaner?
4) drying sahmmy?
5) tire cleaner/shiner?

Can I expect to get all this for $50 or less?

Thank you.

 

Just to address the exterior mostly- since you're not going to be investing in a polishing machine, I would invest the $50 in these items. These are available at most auto stores. After washing and drying, the clay will remove most debris, render the paint very smooth–ready for wax. Buy a few microfiber mitts for washing, and as many decent microfiber towels as you can. Costco has a big pack of MF towels for less than $20. Folex is an excellent spot cleaner for interior fabrics, available at markets, HD, etc. Oh, and avoid any chamois stuff. It will scratch.


Wash:

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/detail/MEG+NXT+18

Mitt:

http://www.autodetailingsolutions.net/25-331.html

Clay kit:

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/produc...p?T1=MEG+G1016

NXT Tech Wax:

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/produc...?T1=MEG+G12718

Folex:

http://www.folexcompany.com/

 

thank you, I will try to pick those up today, the lot I bought it from just washed and buffed it so I should be good for 2-3 weeks before needing anything serious.

how often should I wax it? every wash or 1-2 times a month?
Never used a clay bar before but I can figure it out.

That along with some armor all and some chrome cleaner should last me for a while.

I am sorry if these are asked alot, this is my frist no salavaged title ride and I really want to try to take very good care of it.

 

There is a lot of good information in the sticky at the top of this section. All of the information you're are going to get will vary from person to person. $50 is a tight budget, atleast for starting off. You'll want some decent microfiber towels. I don't know how good the Costco towels are or any big chain stores. Pretty decent, cheap towels are ADS microfiber towels. The Rag Shack has very nice towels. The Superfly towels and the Rag **** towels are great from The Rag Shack. Microfiber is safer than terry towels for the paint. They will induce less marring/scratches/swirls. A good wash mitt is important. Everyone has their own favorite. I really like the LC Blue Groute Sponge from The Rag Shack/Obssesive Detail right now but if I don't use that I use the SM Arnold Lambswool Wash Mitt from ADS. You can use whatever wash soap you like. I've been trying a lot of different ones but some of my favorite are Chemical Guys Cirtus Wash & Gloss, Poorboy's Super Slick & Suds and Optimum Car Wash. I know you said you don't really have a hose long enough and you it will get muddy so that said, I'd suggest Optimum No Rinse. The beauty behind this product is it can be used for a lot of different things. First is a car wash that doesn't need to be rinsed off with a hose (hence the name). Depending on it's dilution you can also make a quick detailer and clay lube. With ONR you can wash your entire truck with 3 or 4 gallons of water and very very little run off to make any mud. Drying is just as important as washing. Good drying techniques will decrease the chances of marring your paint. I use a good microfiber towel and Optimum Car Wax to dry. Works great. I haven't gotten any marring yet and it leaves a nice slick, glossy look. As far as cleaning the wheels, I typically use my car wash soap with leftover from the rest of the vehicle, save the wheels for last and use a dedicated wash mitt that never touches paint. You can even use ONR to do the wheels. Cleaning the tires is a little more difficult. You'll need something stronger than was soap to really clean them. Most people use an all purpose cleaner like Meg's APC+, Optimum Power Clean, or even Simple Green. Agitate with a stiff brush and rinse off. Use your favorite tire dressing. For me it's Meg's Hyperdressing. It can be diluted up to 4:1 for a matte look or 1:1 for a shiny look (as well as 2:1 and 3:1 for in the middle looks). If I don't have Hyperdressing and I don't have time to order something online, I will use Stoner's More Shine. More Shine is a very nice product. For a wax, again, use whatever you like. the look is mostly in the prep while some waxes will give slightly different looks from more warmth to more of a deeper, wetter look. Some last longer than others do. It depends what you're looking for. For something that looks good, lasts a while and is relatively cheap per application I recommend Optimum Opti-Seal. It's easy as pie to apply as well. Just wipe on and walk away. No buffing it off. It's a very small bottle but you can get upwards of 40 or more applications out of it. Other waxes over the counter are Meg's Nxt 2.0 and Meg's #26 yellow tech wax. With Nxt, people either really like it or not at all. I've never heard anything bad about #26 but I haven't used either. As stated before, Folex for carpets is great. I use it for spots and in my Little Green Machine. The problem with drying shammies is that you are bound to leave soem dirt behind whether loose or imbedded. Shammies don't have anywhere for that dirt to get trapped out of the way so the dirt will remain in contact with the paint and you will drag it all over the paint no realizing it and create swirls. That's why good microfiber towels are suggested. They retain a lot of water, are super soft, have places for the dirt to go. I'm not a big fan of Armor-All but if you like it then keep using it. Right now I'm using Poorboy's Natural Look but I also really like Chemical Guys VRP/Adam's VRT.

I know that's probably a lot to take in. I tried to keep it general but give you some ideas. It can get a little expensive to start off if you want to do it right but it's well worth it in my opinion. Ones you get started it can go one of two ways really. You either get hooked and become OCD or you remain sane and the only time you need to purchase anything is to keep your products stocked up. For a lot of us it goes the first way which can get very expensive.

EDIT - Holy crap that's long! Sorry!

 

Question?
Was that a typo, different techniques mixed (water/onr) do you really use ONR and dry with OCW?

Not sure if this is some new technique I missed.

IMHO,
An Optimum No Rinse Wash purchase (ONR) is the most cost effective purchase you can make. In one bottle you have 3 items. Waterless car wash that works as well if not better than soap (if the vehicle is not too dirty/muddy) quick detailer and clay lube.

 

Take it to the quarter wash and use ONLY the rinse setting - and use that to blast off the mud and most of the dirt. Then take it home and wash it with Optimum No Rinse.

I recommend Meguiars NXT 2.0 instead of Turtle Wax - it's a synthetic with polymer protection. After each wash, use Meguiars Ultimate Quick Detailer to help boost the polymers. Rewax every 3 months. Put it on VERY thin, wait for it to completely dry, then wipe off.

Once a year do a complete detailing - wash, clay, paint correction, wax.

 

Heh. Sorry. Bunch of ideas running together with no break in between. If I'm using ONR I do not use OCW to help dry though I don't know why. I guess I just never thought of it. I guess it wouldn't hurt. When I do a normal wash with a hose I do the final rinse without a nozzle and then as I make my way around the car I spray the panel I am working on with OCW and wipe dry. The OCW acts as a lube and a wax. The proper way to really dry is to use a microfiber towel of some sort and blot dry so you don't drag anything and mar the paint. However, that way drives me nuts as I feel it just doesn't work. I use OCW for weekly washes as a drying aid but when I do a full correction I will use something like Meg's 34 in place of OCW because it's body shop safe and won't leave any protection behind like OCW would that may interfere with polishing.

And just a small correction because I don't think some people realize that there is a difference but ONR isn't a waterless wash. A real waterless wash doesn't use water at all but rather just the product, like a quick detailer. Not something I would feel comfortable recommending for normal washes. ONR on the other hand is a rinseless wash. Water is still involved but it doesn't need to be rinsed off the paint like typical wash suds. ONR is an excellent product. There are a lot of skeptics but so far ONR has proven itself pretty well. I agree that ONR is a very cost effective product. While it seems expensive, ($40 a gallon) when you figure how much product it actually makes it's pretty rediculous. You figure 1 oz makes two gallons of car wash. 2 oz to a gallon makes the clay lube and 6 oz to a gallon makes the quick detailer. A gallon of lube and QD go a long way and the price to purchase a gallon of both is almost the cost of ONR itself but so far you would have only used 8oz of 128oz. It's hard to beat. My rambling is turning in to another long post so I am going to stop now!

 

I don't like using ONR as a clay lube because I would think it would have the tendency to have stuff behind. I use it as a wash and a qd though

 

If you use ONR as a QD, what's the difference in using it as a clay lube?

 

I think he's concerned more about doing correction steps after the claying. Sounds like he's worried that the ONR will leave some sort of image enhancers behind on the paint that may interfere with polishing. A lot of the time if you're claying it's because you are trying to get the surface good and clean for polishing.

Curious though Mike, what do you use for lube... clay lube that is? I think a good majority of them are probably going to leave something behind. How much compared to ONR I have no idea. You could always do an IPA wipe down though it is an extra step. M34 is body shop safe but that could probably get to be an expensive clay lube.

 

I use standard Megs QD. If I clayed more often, I'd look for a bulk alternative.

 

ONR has heavy glossing agents; many people use ONR as a clay lube but i'm just not comfortable with it. IMO an IPA wipedown after claying is an extra step not always needed. I'll do it once in a blue moon when someone tells me they've tried everything they can think of or it's a new paint that i haven't worked on yet.

I use either the red quik detailer, which i stock up on when it is onsale locally, or CG luber. I think you could even use DI water with a tiny hint of soap if you didn't have anything but i could be wrong.. I think i read that somewhere

 

I've read a lot lately that people are claying with just water. I clayed a wet vehicle after the wash but I still used a qd. I use Luber as well. I'm really not a big fan of it but since I have it I use it just to get rid of it. Adam's QD seems to work well whether it be a CG product or not. I have a gallons I've been trying to get rid of for a while and slowly but surely I'm using it all up. I always forget about it.

 

Soap is not a good idea - it's rough on the clay.

 

Thank you all, lots of great info here.

This is what I plan on doing sunday, hopefully I can do it all in one day, and the weather is good.

1) Wash car
I plan on using,
Meguiars CAR WASH DP CRYSTAL , or, NXT Generation® Car Wash depending on what they have.

2)Use clay bar
Meguiars SMOOTH SURFACE CLAY KIT

3) Wax

NXT Generation® Tech Wax® 2.0, or, what ever advance has.

4) Clean rims/tires, probly just
Meguiars HOT RIMS, and some tire blackner.

5) inside spot cleaner, what I can find at advance.

6) Armor all cleaning wipes then the normal wipes.


What is ONR?
I think QD is quick detailer?

So I have to keep the area on the truck that I am using the caly bar on wet?
hopefully the kits come wtih all I will need and some directions.