First time hand car wash. Advice?
 

Ok so im getting ready to start washing my wrb brz myself from now on. I've only had it for a little over a month and I've had it washed once by a local hand car wash business, let's just say they were not as professional as I would have liked. Swirls galore.

I've done research and figured I'd go with meguiars products, they seem to work well and are locally available. So far these are the materials I have together:
-meguiars swirl x
-1 jug of meguiars ultimate wash and wax (yellow)
-meguiars quick detailer spray
-2 home Depot buckets
-2 microfiber wash mitts
-24 pack cheap autozone microfiber towels

Unfortunately I cannot find any grit guards I've read about locally. Wanted to see if there's a method without using them.

My question is should I apply the swirl x first to try to get rid of them and then wash it with the Ultimate wash and finish with quick detailer?

If so, should I rinse and dry the car with just water before using the swirl x? Since as of right now it has a light coat of dirt/dust.

Any input would be very helpful. I'd like to get a routine down so I can start doing washes in my parking lot weekly. Thanks!

Call the mequires number on the bottle. Seriously, short of a pro shop showing you they have the best advice hands down.

I have two methods. First I wash with mequires gold class and a clean mit then claybar, then fix scratches with either scratchX by hand, or polishing compound and a DA depending how bad it is, then finish with mequires carnuba wax using a foam pad and my DA. I do this after the winter when the car is pretty bad.

Regularly I use mequires wash and wax, dry with a chamois and use mequires nxt liquid wax.

I like mequires wash and wax because I have hard water at my house and the w&w rinses better with poor water quality than the gold class does. I use a liquid polymer wax on top of it because its more hydrophobic and lasts longer.

I use quick detailer in between washes but what I really like it for is motorcycle visors, sunglasses and mirrors.

Yo baby is virgin go easy on her :)

I hate Meguiar's wash and wax, I used it my first wash. The waxy stuff in that will stick to the black plastic vent markers and rubber trim, when it dries looks all white. Stick with meguiar's deep crystal car wash and give it a real wax after. Meguiar's ultimate wax (polymer) is awesome.

IMO using a hand polish like swirl-x over an entire FR-S is too aggressive of a procedure on this car, you might do more damage to your paint if it's still new, even if it's covered in swirls. Doing an entire car in swirl-X is already a big job, doing it by hand correctly requires lots of foam pads, fresh towels, and lots of quick detailer. Believe me I've tried working on my own Camry in black after a few months of ownership, and it took an hour to even get the trunk swirl free, but left residual scratches, and I couldn't do any work after that because my arms were too tired to do the proper polishing motions. Too much work. Rubbing too much on the car is bad for the paint. Maybe for GM paint, but not for subaru's eco-friendly paint. All in all, the quality from swirl-x is only so-so for how much work you've got to do, there's better alternatives.

It really sounds like you don't know what you're doing, really, because you're supposed to wash the car before you use swirl X, not the opposite. The BRZ's clear coat is the softest I've ever worked on, and is easy to scratch. You need to use the right tools to get results. I'd recommend stepping up to a machine polisher (Meguiar's DA microfiber polishing system), it's a much better polishing system. Faster, way more accurate. Less chance of scratching the paint. I'd recommend hiring a professional detailer. A detailer in my area was able to polish mine using this system for $150, including the wash and wax; or you can get the kit yourself which would cost about $150-200.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AawmvM5Jo24"]Meguiar's DA Microfiber Correction System Part II - Enhancements & Additions - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rf1tdGVF60"]SwirlX Used on a Black BMW - YouTube[/ame]

You'll see that the amount of work they have to do even with a machine polisher is considerable. Doing it by hand is like 10x as much. I'd strongly recommend upgrading to this procedure over a hand polish.

After polishing, you will need to apply a wax. DA polishing or scratch x (if you must, but i strongly recommend against using swirx, again) will remove all the wax on your car. Don't use wash and wax. Don't use spray wax. Get real wax, from a can.

So basically swirl x is useless to me? Im not really interested in purchasing a DA and doing a polish myself. Just kind of looking for a somewhat simple car wash routine with meguiars products.

I use generic car soap from target. A generic soft car washing sponge. A small bucket, and a rubber towel to dry. Nothing too fancy really. Just remember to hose it good to loosen up all the dirt and grime. Some people even use newspaper to dry the car. Just washed my car two days ago. Rained yesterday but what really got my car was the mus on the floor. gonna have to rewash when the sky clears up asap.

For extra protection against swirls buy grit guards for your buckets.

I did, I'm just looking to get rid of the swirls I have currently. Then start washing myself.

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For the swirls, youre gonna have to buffer that out. Not too sure, I'm starting to get into exterior care. But make sure the people who does the buffering don't suck lol.

To get rid of your swirls, start by stripping any wax on the car with a wax remover or detergent like kitchen soap in moderation. Then rinse thoroughly and polish the paint (clear coat) with an orbital power tool. Next wash, then wax, assuming your BRZ has been out of the factory for at least 6 months so that the paint has time to fully cure and release all of its solvents.

I don't recommend using car soaps that have wax added. Some of those products and make the plastic waxy and ugly.