DIY - Car Care & Detailing thread

Ritu how good is the result you are getting from SwirlX ? I am sure it will be pretty tough by hand.

 

Cinju, my primary objective out of this detailing session was to remove stubborn water spots from the paint (had posted pics earlier in the thread). I didn't have that many swirls, just minor ones. With a combination of clay bar and Swirl X, I successfully removed those hard water spots from the paint and got a nice, shiny finish in the process. While applying SwirlX, I could figure out that it was extremely difficult to remove swirls by hand, but in my case that wasn't what I was looking for. I also had Ultimate Compound with me, but didn't use that as the lighter compound did the job for me.

 

Hi Rituraj (Sorry for Hijacking this thread), couldnt resist

Good to see another Rituraj (fiatian) ::T

---------- Post added at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------

Hi Rituraj (Sorry for Hijacking this thread), couldnt resist

Good to see another Rituraj (fiatian) ::T

 

I have a BNW Linea, 3 years old with 18k on the odo. My ride has lots of tar spots around especially in areas below the door handle to downwards. For the first 2 years i used to apply kerosene to remove it and it worked perfectly fine. It even removed minor scratches too. Now i am planning to do it once again but just wanted to assure myself that it wont damage the paint. I wash the car and dry it and apply kerosene panel by panel. Then i wait for two minutes and wipe it off along with the tar spots and then wash it once again with soap to remove any trace of kerosene. Will this have any effect on the paint in the long run?? The issue is if i go to a shop i see more fakes than the original ones. So i keep on doing this stuff. I also own a polo(almost an year old) and if i compare the paint finish of the two i find the polo to be a little more shiny(difference is minimal). I know its not fair to compare a 1 year old car with a 3 year old car. I am yet to apply kerosene on my polo. So was just asking whether the finish difference is due to this kerosene or not.
Polo too has tar spots now.

 

OCTANE: you are using kerosine for removing tar. That's fine. It will not remove your clear coat & harm your paint. As bodywash people uses diesel for the same perpose.
but they applied diesel while car is wet & kept till all tar is dissolved & started melting. then washing starts with soap & soft cloth.

 

I got rid of swirl marks using Turtle wax Platinum series . This has micro polishing agents mixed in with the wax and one application was good enough to get rid of swirls from a 4 and another 2 year old vehicle. I did this in August and the cars still look pretty good after multiple washes and shampoos. Will repeat the process but this time I plan to lock the whole look by using sealer gloss and then bury it under a hard wax.

The thing is that marks from the clear coat will completely go away, however if a scratch/swirl has gone through and cut the paint then it will remain, though the wax does fill it up to some extent

The car wash guys are using the same old tricks since the times when two component paints and clear coats were unheard of. Sure an application of diesel/kerosene will not eat away the modern car's clear coat but it does leave behind damage in form of micro cracks and over a period of time it will take away from the looks and the protecting abilities of the clear coat.

The safer way is to use a tar remover liquid/paste/gel, these are easily available, the brands being Abro, Armor All & Turtle wax Platinum series..

 

Thanks for the replies guys. May be its time for me now to stop using kerosene. I am a beginner to all these stuff so I have some doubts. First of all if we plan to apply wax we have to remove all these tar spots before applying it right?? I had a bought a carnauba wax earlier and when applied it used to take away the tar spots and used to make the car shine brilliantly. But later I found that it was taking a small layer of the paint too along with it. Realised that only when I tried it on my black activa just before selling it. Fortunately I had applied it only on certain places where I had scratches only on my linea. Whats the best wax available in the market?? I am planning to get them from ebay.

 

@Octane a pure carnuaba wax will never ever remove paint layer. What you bought might have been a car polish & not wax. Your search for the so called 'Best wax' will never get you anywhere my friend. There are tons of Best products in market. First you need to finalise on what kind of wax you are planning to use ie Synthetic or Carnuaba. Then search for a better product. For synthetic I would recommend products from MOthers, Turtle , Meguiars , 3M etc & for carnuaba you have Collinite 915, collinite 845 , products from Mothers, Meguiars etc. If you have time go through the earlier pages of this thread. You can become a good detailer after finishing this entire thread . Worth reading.

 

Yes Cinju, you are right. The one that I had bought was a polish it seems. But then this minute layer of paint coming off is common with all the polishes? Then it should affect the paint in the long term right? Will a proper wax remove all this tar dirt and other things simultaneously? And yes I am going through all the pages in this thread!.

 

The one that I had bought was a polish it seems. But then this minute layer of paint coming off is common with all the polishes? Then it should affect the paint in the long term right?
Definetly it will in the long run. Recommended way to use a polish for a new car is after 2-3 yrs of usage when you feel that there is a dulness in the paint. The abrasiveness of different polishes vary & some wont do that much harm .
Will a proper wax remove all this tar dirt and other things simultaneously?
No. A proper wax does not have an abrasive compound to remove any dirt, but there are some synthetic wax which claims to have milder abrasive compounds which they say is very safe. For removing tar you can use any mild rubbing compound. I am not sure if you can use kerosene for this. Maybe a quick wash with car wash shampoo after using kerosene wont do any harm.