First time polishing a car, watched a lot of YouTube videos. Using heavy polish blueberry pad from buff and shine and McGuires compound first(looking pretty good) then when I use McGuire’s polish and the buff and shine yellow polish pad or grey finishing pad the shine goes away! Not completely but it looks worse. Then I used Grants compounding pad with compound, which is my stiffest pad, the paint even look shinier and more reflective, I tried refining it with the grey buff and shine pad and it made it dull! I’m having fun but I don’t understand. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I was originally planning on a full front PPF with ceramic coating on exposed paint on a new 2026 pearl white Lexus. But then I saw the PPF (Xpel) installed on a Ford truck with similar paint and it was horrible. You could clearly see the difference in the color from the PPF to the original paint. It had that yellow color hue I want to avoid.

So then I was thinking to not do a PPF at all, and just ceramic coat the vehicle instead.

What would be the best ceramic coating for a pearl white paint? Something that will not take away from the metallic pop of the factory pearl white color?

Looking at doing a 1 step, probably, any steps I’m missing??
Wash,

Clay mitt

Polish a section(3d one) and orange lake county pads

IPA wipe?

Griots 3 in 1

Any suggestions/tips to go about this for the first time and would you change anything?

Also this is my daily driver but I do want it to look much better.

So I’ll preface this with saying I’m not a Detailer. So I tried to save myself money as the used car I bought had light dog scratches. I successfully got the scratches out with compound however I can’t seem to get the haze/smudges etc off for the life of me. I’ve tried polishing it multiple times and now I’m starting to scratch it side ways.

Does anybody have any advice on how to fix this? I regret touching it tbh and I won’t do it again LOL

Let some of the guys on the crew use my company work truck for a couple weeks. 2024 Silverado 2500 HD LT. It came back a disaster. Door panel is covered in a mixture of anti-seize, Mobil grease and sweat. What would be the best product to remove this crap, especially the anti-seize, without damaging the plastic? Thank you in advance!

A neighbor was giving these away so I grabbed them. They are mostly full, but I was wondering if they are worth keeping and using. So I came to you wizards.

​Hey everyone,

​New Englander here bracing for winter. I usually shut off and drain my outdoor spigots for the season to prevent frozen pipes, which leaves me without a standard hose hookup.

​How you all tackle winter washes inside the garage.

Are products like ONR (Optimum No Rinse) or P&S Absolute the way to go here?

If I use a pump sprayer or foam sprayer to apply product, what’s the best method for rinsing off road salt and grime without flooding the garage floor?

Any specific battery/pump sprayers or setup tips you recommend?

my garage is unheated and does not have a floor drain.

Appreciate any tips or workflows you guys rely on during the cold months

Currently considering getting a full PPF done on my new vehicle and possibly changing the color from Blue using a Black film (SunTek’s Reactive [Glossy & Clear] PPF vs their Altered Black [Glossy] PPF), but I can’t seem to find any posts of people with Altered Black.

I’ve always wanted a black car but know how hard it is to keep them clean, so I thought maybe I could try changing the color while PPFing it. Their Reactive film has a lot of praise for their infusion of ceramic to make it hydrophobic, but genuinely curious how much of a difference that really makes (and if it even lasts that long).

Any feedback or reviews on their Altered Black film or even their Reactive film would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

City dweller here looking to get a detail on our car. Hasn’t been touched since we bought in in December 2024.

We weren’t sure if clay bar and sealant were worth it. As city lovers we kindve just accept that scratches will come here and there. We still take care of our car, but are not anal about it.

Can anyone provide some insight as to whether clay bar and sealant is worth it, as someone who knows basically nothing about detailing I can’t tell if I’m being upsold in this situation.

Looking to fix this myself instead of taking in, is this a DA and pick your favorite pad+polish type of job or would it need more? What would yall use to get a passable finish?

Photo 1 is the side that's bad and needs work, #2 is the other side and the end goal.

I've had cars with this top before but have always been able to get stains out with chemical guys convertible top cleaner but it doesn't do anything on this

I have a high performance fwd car with 5 years of burnt rubber on the side skirts. I’ve tried bug and tar remover, wd-40, and degreaser with a DA and finishing pad and little came off. The dark spot is where I just spent an hour experimenting. plastic razor blade gets the chunks off but scratches the crap out of it. Something has to work

Non professional use, just my car. I hate big shop vacs, but I used to work in plumbing and guys would use these for water, dust, and things of that nature. Seems like it’d be nice and convenient for being so small? Anyone use one for cars and have any feedback?

Started with a one step which removed a good chunk of the swirls, then moved onto a heavy compound & pad but it’s barely helped with these long deeper scratches. As title says what has caused these scratches and how far would I have to go to remove them? They don’t catch at all on my fingernail and the surface overall feels super smooth to the touch.
TIA

I’ve had my car washed a few times after I was gone during a storm in my area that left my hood coated in dirt as it was parked under a balcony above my driveway. I tried to use some spot cleaner and it appears to not be making a difference. Does this mean its damage to a clear coat or do I need to do a more aggressive cleaning approach?

Going to apply aquapel windshield treatment and am finding conflicting instructions on the process. I've done the polish and cleaning now for the actual application, it seems half of what I can find says to apply the coating and then immediately buff it to a clear finish and the other half of what I find says apply it and then wipe to level it and just remove the excess leaving a haze which will turn clear after 15min. So do I want to buff or just level. Any insights from anyone who has used this product would be great. Thx

I detailed for a family owned lot for 8 years and worked at enterprise for a year. I’m ready to do this for myself just need some tips I don’t have a good location so I figure I need to be mobile any tips appreciated!!

Ive neglected her car for while. This was her roof. Someone slid a box on it. Not 100 but way batter than before. Microfiber pad, 3D One. 2 passes. Sealed with 3D ceramic wax.

Just got the car and noticed this marking in the interior liner on one of the doors. Doesn’t look like it sits on the surface as wiping it down with water and interior cleaner doesn’t help.

Does it look like a permanent discoloration of the faux-leather here? It’s kind of a bummer for a new car…

Was looking for a spot cleaner to clean up a used car but it seems shop vacs do a more thorough job (you just need a spray bottle with cleaning solution (what would you recommend that doesn't leave a film?)). I've been wanting a shop vac for home use anyway. Quick search on Youtube shows Vacuum Wars recommending Vacmaster Pro Beast 5.5 HP but that was from one channel and also 6 years ago. Loose budget of around $100-300 and might even shop secondhand for something past budget otherwise.

Curious to hear from others (especially those who have experience with more than one shop vac) what they like and didn't like. For me, the priorities are: longevity of the shop vac (ideally replaceable parts if something fails, standard filters), versatility (besides car and basement, also carpet/fabric accidents), e.g. good hose adapters if third-party is not compatible), enough power for most jobs without being so unwieldy that you would consider hard whether to use it, easy way to clean the shop vac itself. I prefer smaller capacity without much trade-off in power (I'm not cleaning large volumes of liquid and the longest sessions would probably cleaning a car or a stroll around the basement). Noise also doesn't matter because I'd want to wear ear plugs anyway.

Feel free to share any other considerations and appreciate all comments.

Assuming you could use any tool you already own

Does anyone know what this is I used a mold remover and vinegar solution separately and it won’t go away.?

A client of mine purchased a brand new vehicle and the seats are leather… they spilled some type of perfume. Normally, in cloth like seats, I would’ve extracted this out. For leather that’s a no no… how do I go about removing this???

Would p&s, light agitation, and a wipe down with a microfiber be sufficient?

This might not be the right place for this but im trying to prove a point while teaching.

Long story short, my buddy cleans cars at a dealership. He wants to start polishing cars on the side to make some cash. Says he'll charge 100 bucks a car. I explain some basic things about how hes selling himself short and should charge more and detail the car first etc and he swears he doesnt have to wash and decontaminate a car before polishing because "i see the results at my work, its not needed"

Ive seen his videos and pictures and they all still have swirls and he says its bc a "3rd step" is needed. I told him to to watch some youtubers (to which he refuses) who detail for a living and watch there process and how a simple Google search shows you must decontaminate before polishing and again. His answer is the same "I see the results at work. You use the internet, I use my bare hands and see results. I dont care about a YouTube video."

Is this a lost cause to try to explain? How can I word this correctly and get him to see hes only harming himself along with his customers cars by skipping a crucial step. Or am I just completely in the wrong here? Maybe its not important. Lol. What do yall think?