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10 Mistakes to avoid when starting as a newbie in detailing.
1. Detailing in direct sunlight - this problem occurs when the surface temperature of your vehicle panels become too hot. This causes the product you are using, such as a wax, sealant, or polish to flash quickly, causing poor performance or results. We at SONAX state this clearly on the packaging instructions where applicable. The panel needs to be cool to the touch not warm or hot. A too hot surface will result in product clumping and stickiness.
2. Drying with an old t-shirt or bath towel - old t-shirts, cotton rags, and bath towels may seem like a good recycle idea to dry a vehicle, but they will inflict imperfections into the paint. For a drying towel, we highly recommend using a microfibre large drying cloth with good water absorption SONAX Microfibre Drying Cloth. For a seamless dry we suggest you use the SONAX Flexi Blade first to remove the excess water and then towel dry.
3. Aggressive scrubbing of heavy dirt build up – grime build up can be hard to remove without the use of an effective APC cleaner. It may seem okay to scrub aggressively to remove contamination, but you are only creating imperfections in the paint. Instead use SONAX MultiStar Deep Clean Concentrate. As a prewash/soak to help loosen and remove grime build up.
4. Not using microfiber to safely remove product - another big mistake is using cotton shirts or towels to remove products like polishes and waxes. We only recommend using high end microfibre cloth, SONAX XTREME Microfibre Cloth which is plush and ultra-soft on the paint to avoid marring and scratching. After all, you don't want to add any new imperfections into the paint after you have gone through all of the TLC of polishing and protecting the paint!
5. Hesitate to use a polisher- it is an old school mentality that using a polisher will damage your paint. There are risks. Sure, there are, but with the new technology in many Dual Action Polishers, it is extremely hard to damage the paint. These polishers work amazingly well, and they allow you to remove more imperfections and leave behind more clarity and gloss than you could by hand. Check out our range of FLEX Polishers, engineered in Germany. See which polisher is best suited to your budget.
6. No need for taping off trim - this is one thing that many of us do but we at SONAX say taping off the trim is not necessary with our polishes. Why, because our polishes and waxes do not leave white marks on the trim and are produced with low dust technology – less mess! With SONAX you can save your invaluable time.
7. Not using the two-bucket method or grit guards -how you choose to wash and dry a car is extremely important. It not only removes contamination, but if not done correctly it can be the number one cause of new imperfections being added into the paint. High quality products such as SONAX Gloss Shampoo Concentrate which is pH-neutral and will not attack a protective wax or ceramic coating. Mind your car wash technique as this plays a huge role.
8. Using too much product - applying too much product, whether it be SONAX Profiline Ultimate Cut 6+ which is a high-speed abrasive compound that removes deep scratches and sanding marks with low dust technology or SONAX Profiline Perfect Finish – flexible paintwork finishing polish 1- step polishing paintwork damage corrections e.g., dust inclusions or runs, can really affect the way it applies or reacts during application. Hazing, streaking, hard removal and just generally poor results seem to arise with thick application. Keeping these four words in mind, "As Thin As Possible". Applying products thin will save you time, effort, and buck while improving your end result drastically. The above mentioned two polishing compounds are an excellent basic polishing arsenal for anyone starting out in the world of detailing!
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Washing microfiber towels together e.g., wash polishing towels separate from waxing towels, with regular detergent, drying on high heat, or washing with clothing –fabric softeners, dryer sheets, and high heat can really wreak havoc on your high-end microfiber collection. Fabric softeners often soak into the towel and microfiber will not release them, high heat causes fibres to melt, dryer sheets and other clothes can cause cross contamination. These issues all cause the towel to become less effective and increases the likelihood that they will scratch the paint.
101 care for Microfibre Towels
· Try to put towels aside immediately for washing after the job is done.
· Have a 20L bucket of pre-soak to soak contaminated towels before washing.
· Rinse the towels to remove most of the dirt
· Put them into the wash machine on a warm to hot cycle using a specific microfibre cleaner, not regular washing powder!
· Put white vinegar in for the rinse cycle, never softener!
· Double rinse.
· Air dry or tumble dry on cool.
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Do not use anything else other than microfibre towels to remove waxes, polishes and sealants - Using anything else will increases your likelihood of leaving swirls behind. We highly recommend removing any excess wax, sealant, or polish Remove by hand with a couple of clean SONAX Microfibre Cloth Ultrafine instead. Also, we now have a fabulous product SONAX Profiline Prepare, lightly spray a towel to degrease paintwork prior to applying ceramic coating or long-lasting sealants – hologram-free polishing, complete removal of sanding marks – finish control and time saving!
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