Best Cleaning Products

[ain't your mamas cruizer]

ok, so after reading "Roof Rib Removal" I wondered... what are the best products for washing, waxing, scratches, etc. ?

[Brentbba]

I love Sal Zaino's products. www.zainobros.com No affiliation, just very happy with products. He's got a very good how to section on his website as well.

[ain't your mamas cruizer]

Originally Posted by Brentbba

I love Sal Zaino's products. www.zainobros.com No affiliation, just very happy with products. He's got a very good how to section on his website as well.

I looked on the website, which of Zaino's products do you use on your cruiser? Does the polish for scratches work? and what is the clay everyone is talking about?

sorry to post such a "newbie" question, but did a search and got no info.

[PDoyle]

Today I used plain old paste car wax on my very pitted LC rims. From 5 feet away, they look great!!!

[ain't your mamas cruizer]

Originally Posted by PDoyle

Today I used plain old paste car wax on my very pitted LC rims. From 5 feet away, they look great!!!

I washed and waxed my LC Weds. with regular Blue Coral and it looks nice. However, if there is something that protects the paint and makes it really shine, I would happily buy it.....and I'm sure there is something out there.

[PDoyle]

Anyone have something to clean off the windsheild besides windex?
There are little specs "schmegs" on the glass. And I see this before consuming beer.

[e9999]

problem with the West, is that everytime I go out, I come back covered in dust...
PITA...!
E

[ain't your mamas cruizer]

Originally Posted by PDoyle

Anyone have something to clean off the windsheild besides windex?
There are little specs "schmegs" on the glass. And I see this before consuming beer.

I used armor all window cleaner and conditioner. It cleaned all the splattered bugs easily and made the windows glossy.

[hoser]

Originally Posted by Brentbba

I love Sal Zaino's products. www.zainobros.com No affiliation, just very happy with products. He's got a very good how to section on his website as well.

I've used Zaino as well. It works pretty good but requires many steps. There are better scratch removers on the market from 3M or even Mequiars.

For my cruiser, I prefer to use something quick and easy since I know it will get dirty sooner than later--I recommend Meguiars NXT tech wax.

For Clay, I like Clay Magic. Zaino's version is more difficult to mold and seems to take more effort to work. Zaino's seems similiar to Mother's Clay.

Here's one of many online how-to detail links:
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/how-to.html

[hoser]

Originally Posted by PDoyle

Anyone have something to clean off the windsheild besides windex?
There are little specs "schmegs" on the glass. And I see this before consuming beer.

To thoroughly clean your windshield use Bon Ami cleanser. It is supposdely non-abrasive. But be sure to FIRST clean with soap and water then go with the Bon Ami. Otherwise, the dirt can scratch your windshield.

[ain't your mamas cruizer]

Originally Posted by hoser

I've used Zaino as well. It works pretty good but requires many steps. There are better scratch removers on the market from 3M or even Mequiars.

For my cruiser, I prefer to use something quick and easy since I know it will get dirty sooner than later--I recommend Meguiars NXT tech wax.

For Clay, I like Clay Magic. Zaino's version is more difficult to mold and seems to take more effort to work. Zaino's seems similiar to Mother's Clay.

Here's one of many online how-to detail links:
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/how-to.html

Just went to the website.....great information! I never knew about clay.....sh__! I wish I new sooner . I just waxed all that crud into my paint last weds.! Geeze, no wonder it takes turbocruiser 2 days to clean his LC. that is a good website for Junk to post on FAQ's.... Just a suggestion.

[PDoyle]

Bon ami. I like it.

[turbocruiser]

Thanks to taking too much time to restore old cars with my father, and now taking way way way too much time to restore one on my own, I am getting good experience with body work, metal work and paint work. I am learning that most professional shops use professional products produced, labeled and sized for pros. Well duh right, what I mean is that you rarely will see some super selective 2.5 oz, $35 tube of "Miracle Mud" or whatever in any professional shop; what you will see are liter sized bottles of some basic products, usually 3M. I am always amazed when I look at some of the high end hoopla catalogs that come to my door; I now know literally loads of metal, body and paint pros who would never have those things in the shop! So what works well?

For Washing: 3M car wash concentrate is awesome - it cleans well, will not strip off wax and will not leave a residue that accelerates dust attack and such. 3M Part # 39000 Avoid the car wash concentrates that are heavily colored, add polymers or sealers, etc. as they can stain and also artificially coat the paintwork with chemicals.

For Claying: 3M Perfect-It Cleaner Clay PN 38070- easy to use, must also use the Perfect-It Lubricant PN 39034 to lubricate the clay as you rub it over the paintwork. IMO its better to always rub in circles - it is harder to harm edges in when working in circles and it is also harder to see circular swirl type scratches. The clay works wonders, amazing at exactly what its supposed to do, remove contaminants. I dont think it should ever be used with a machine athough some catalogs sell these specially shaped sponge buffer pads that are designed to cup some clay and high speed buff it - bad idea methinks.

For Cleaning: 3M Perfect-It Rubbing Compounds available in fine cut, medium cut, and heavy cut. 99% of the time I use the fine cut with a Porter Cable Variable Speed Random Orbit buffer set on speed 4. Using compounds is an art, my simplest hint is to work the product within approx 2 foot by 2 foot overlapping sections and work the product evenly and lightly in that section til the product goes from wet to dry to powdered off leaving only light haze. The RO buffer is awesome and extremely safe compared to a high speed rotary buffer - talk about an art to do! If you have to use Medium Cut i think it should be done by hand, followed by fine cut with the machine.

For Polishing: Either the Fine Cut Cleaner from above and/or 3M PN 39007 Glaze. Most of the time the Fine Cut Cleaner will leave an awesome enough shine if done right.

For Wax, I happen to like to use the 3M Liquid Wax PN 39026 as it is super easy to use. In this area, I'll be the first to admit there are waxes that are superior to this one but it is super super super easy to use and the results are good. I guess I kinda think that the important thing is the cleaning and polishing; the clarity of the wax itself is a little less important to me than how easy it is to use ( ie, how many applications the vehicle gets) and how long it lasts.



I admit that the super exotic stuff is so appealing in its advertising and whatsnot but really to stretch the dollar and still get great results, this is what I recommend and this is exactly what most pros out there are using just in larger bottles. HTH.

[sjcruiser]

I ve used Classe All-In-One and Classe Sealant with great results; one of the easiest to apply and to buff off by hand. Also, tried Eagle 1 Wax as You Dry yesterday - absolutely stunning product; my truck looks spanking new now (wonder why I washed my car on Thurs. ? well, I got bored staying home for a whole week since having my second child )

Frank.

[turbocruiser]

Originally Posted by sjcruiser

staying home for a whole week since having my second child )

Frank.

Congratulations! All The Best, Always.

[LandCruiserPhil]

A lot of good info in this thread but what scratches.

hijack??

How to protect from them and get ride of the ones you already have

[turbocruiser]

Originally Posted by LandCruiserPhil

A lot of good info in this thread but what scratches.

hijack??

How to protect from them and get ride of the ones you already have

If the scratches are only as far as the clearcoat, then the Medium Cut followed by Fine Cut will work well. If the scratches are through to the paint, then you have to touch up. 3M also makes a swirl mark remover to remove swirl mark scratches which are the finest of scratches. HTH

[Crusin]

Griots Products wax, polishers, gadgets, etc

[ain't your mamas cruizer]

WOW Guys. Just the info I was looking for. TC, can you buy 3M products anywhere? haven't seen any in auto stores around here.

[turbocruiser]

Originally Posted by ain't your mamas cruizer

WOW Guys. Just the info I was looking for. TC, can you buy 3M products anywhere? haven't seen any in auto stores around here.

The best place to purchase it is at an auto-body supply. If you dont have one in your area I'd be happy to assemble a kit of whatever you want and send it your way. Also, Pep-Boys and some of the larger McParts places have various "consumer" versions of all the available professional products that 3M makes. Typically these versions are simply smaller in size and slightly higher in cost than the professional variations, in fact, a lot of times some sequence, either prefix or suffix, of the product number is the same across product lines. For example the entire line of "Perfect-It" line starts the product number with 051131 so hopefully another line will carry the same suffix of 38070 for the clay and so on. I really think the products are the same across all the "product lines" and that they are just marketed, packaged and provided to pros through pro supply shops.

Another thing I forgot to mention is Meguires Products are also excellent and are sometimes much more available at almost all car parts places. The same process of wash, clay, clean/polish, wax will apply. The only product I do not like at all is the Meguires Clay; it tends to streak itself all over the paint, its harder to use, and is so temperature sensitive that unless its warm out the clay is too hard to really mold to curves and such. In my opinion there is no such thing as one step from clean to polish to wax although there are products that can do that repeated times right after the full process is properly done. Anyways, if you need a "crusher care pack", lemme know.

[SS_Storm]

Hey, I know that this isnt the forum Im supposed to be in LOL but I need your guys cleaning tips,
So I just Bought a FJ62 but the Previous owner was a smoker, I have gotten the smoke smell to go away but there is like a film on all the windows, and nothing I have tried will remove it no cleaner,

I have not tried Bom-ami yet but I will today, I know some of you must have had this problem, ( I tried taking a pic but the haxe will not photo well, also I can whipe it with my finger and smudge the film aswell.)

[cruiserdan]

You might try a glass wax.

[sjcruiser]

Thanks, Turbo.

No affiliation, but www.carcareonline.com has tons of 3M products along with other good brands. Tech section is also very helpful as well.

Frank.

[Beowulf]

>> How to protect from them [scratches] <<

My lips are sealed.

-B-

[cruiserdan]

Originally Posted by Beowulf

>> How to protect from them [scratches] <<

My lips are sealed.

-B-

You wouldn't belive what by.................

[cruiserdan]

Hint:


When he's all decked out he looks like a wad of Saran Wrap........

[super90]

Yep, www.carcareonline.com. I have followed their recommendatations for several years now and have yet to be disappointed. They sell all major brands (not zaino of course) and will recommend what to use in certain applications. If the guy says it's his favorite, it always works well. He'll sell you whatever you want, though.

IIRC, his business started after he participated in lots of concour competitions for Porsches. These are basically car beauty pagents. After a lots of field testing and success, he started selling products and giving advise.

I think he is now tied in to Amazon.com and is a vendor for them.

My favorite polish is the 3M Hand Glaze followed by One Grand Blitz Wax. Both easy to use, great results and long lasting. Vinylex for interior and exterior plastic and rubber. Various Maquiars products in use too. Invisible Glass for..... the glass.

YMMV

No affiliation.

Robert Callaway
'94 FZJ
San Antonio, TX

[abclin]

SS_storm, try using isoproply rubbing alcohol on your glass with CLEAN WHITE terry cloth rags. Had a friend (good riddance to) who I let use my 85' toy truck and mucked up the inside with his cigarette smoke. I also used it on the paint behind the seat and buffed it out RIGHT after I wiped it down with the alcohol, no damage to the paint either.
Later, Cliff

[ogsuv]

Zaino all the way, especially if it is a dark vehicle. Amazing deep shine.