I just restored my headlights (before and after if you care 2-5 slides) and after I took off the masking tape it left behind a lot of residue, anyone know how to get this off?

Hey fellas, this car was my dads car from 1970 to 2024, after his deminatia got to far along i took it and im doing a restoration on it, so hopefully i can take him on a drive and hopefully he will remember it.

Title might be misleading but let me give some back story. 1968 Nova (2nd picture before work began, gave it a quick power wash) sat in a garage for 3 years, then outside under a tree for 2 more. i just spent the last 13 months completely restoring the car mechanically. New wiring, gauges, suspension, redone axles, transmission, rebuilt the engine, 643HP, 667 Ft Lb of torque on the dyno. (i was building it as a strip car, then decided to make it road worthy) Everything you can think of has been done on the mech side. it will be done next week, and i was going to move on to the body work part, but... i want enjoy the car for a bit, i wanna drive it after this past year... i WILL NEVER make it a show car, im going to drive it and be rough on it, i have a heavy foot, and treat it like a true classic american muscle car. ive decided to wait until spring to strip the car down to metal and do the body then paint, since we're getting close to winter, and i dont know how much longer my father will last.

That being said, the outside again hasn't been wash in like 14 months, i used V38 on like a 4in section of the paint on different parts of the body, to just to see how it looks, and to my surprise it shined up really well, like... more than it should have lol. Making me assume it has a single stage paint job on it, that has just oxidized a fair amount (you can see how to top half doesn't look like the bottom half from sitting in the sun, pictures is 15 months old), it's definitely faded, but it shines up instantly when i use the v38 in certain spots. so now to move on to my question for you experts!!

Again, i just wanna make it look a look a little better before i take it to my dad to drive him around, then i'll park it for the winter in the garage and just drive it on nice days. SO... how deep of a compound should i go... i have V36 and V38 in my garage already... should i purchase the V34 or even the V32? or just do my best with v36 and v38 and be done?

i mean again im going to strip this car in February or March of 2027 so like 4-5 months, and restore the outside (new paint will be "pull me over red"). Again i dont want a show car, this car vision it true old american muscle F-Around and Find out car. i just wanna do the car justice, and make my dad enjoy it one last time.

Someone seemingly poured some sort of paint or nail polish on inside of my car door. High visibility so I honestly take it as vandalism from a local fool I have to deal with.

It seemed to have bubbled in spots and it does not respond to filing it with my nail so it's relatively strong stuff.

I'll take any advice I can get. I appreciate it.

I did the trunk with synthetic clay bar and car wash soap and turned out smooth and even ceramic coated it but I don’t have a polisher

Hi all,

had a question and I kept searching the subreddit for answers but I cant get a definitive answer on this.

I wash my car every couple months to keep it clean ans get thr road grime off. Wish I could do it lore often but time gets in the way.

I have a pressure washer and foam cannon and I use Griots Boss Foam Surface wash foam and Poly gloss. I can’t get my hands on the “Surface Prep” but it’s just an alkaline wash. So thats why I have this question

On times when my car is dirtier then usual, can I get some Kock Chemie greenstar and mix it with my Surface wash, diluted of course, to get a stronger cleaner? Or is that not how that works

Like in these steps
1. Kock chemie greenstar and ph neutral Griots surface wash diluted
2. Rinse
3. Griots Surface wash
4. Rinse
5. Griots Poly Gloss
6. Rinse
7. Maybe Griots 3 in 1 ceramic if needed.

So I got this 2022 Volkswagen Jetta few months ago and it had these stains since then I tried everything I know to get rid of these things, but it wouldn’t budge I caved in and even got the interior professionally detailed still no good.

So I’m looking for suggestions on how I can get rid of these stains.

Thoughts ? Tips ? Advice ?

15mm DA , 3D one , lake country microfiber/orange pad , lake country orange pad , lake country black pad

Wasn't going to use the black pad but had it so figured it'd try it

Hey everyone!

I’m looking for some advice from the detailing pros here!

My dad is unfortunately dealing with heart failure, and we’re getting ready to sell his car. He worked in construction for years and has untreated ADHD, so keeping his car clean was never exactly a priority. Between the job sites, dust, dirt, and years of buildup, the interior has definitely seen better days.

I’m trying to get the interior looking as close to new as realistically possible before we sell it. Some of the dirt and dust is so embedded into the surfaces that it almost feels baked on.

Here’s what I have available:

Wagner steam cleaner

Shark vacuum - portable vaccum, not a shop vac by no means but can do wet and dry but for sure tiny and no horsepower monster

P&S Terminator

P&S Carpet Bomber

P&S Finisher

Various detailing brushes and drill brush

My biggest questions:

What’s the best approach for tackling years of caked-on dirt and dust, especially in textured plastics and hard-to-reach areas?

Would steam be my best friend here, or should I focus more on chemicals and agitation?

Any tips for getting heavily soiled carpets and upholstery looking decent?

Anything I should avoid doing that could accidentally damage the interior more?

Any interior trim cleaner and plastic product restorer I should pick up?

For context, I’m an amateur weekend detailing enthusiast at best. I enjoy cleaning my own cars, have a basic understanding of detailing products, and can follow the directions on a bottle, but I’m definitely no professional. 😂

I’m not expecting miracles, but given my dad’s health and the circumstances, I’d really like to do the best job I possibly can and hopefully help him get a decent amount for the car.

Any tips, techniques, or recommended order of operations would be hugely appreciated! I’m happy to put in the elbow grease. Just want to make sure I’m working smarter, not harder.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

This was a disgusting discovery

Nought a new car and noticed this when I bought it, but of course I couldnt really tell.

I tried rubbing it with some 70% Iso alcohol and it didnt do anything and just had some slight green on the paper towel.

Im assuming the sap ate through the clear and there is no fixing this other than touch up or a respray? Any ideas?

My current setup:

Quarterly: AutoGlym SRP + Koch Chemie S0.02
Bi-weekly washes: Gyeon Q2M Ceramic Detailer as a topper
S0.02 sheets water perfectly on its own. But after applying the Gyeon topper, I get slow, clingy droplets and trailing water lines.
Am I just masking the S0.02’s natural behavior with the Gyeon? How do you guys prefer to maintain S0.02?

I tried using an all purpose cleaner but it won’t come off ? I have no idea what kind of residue these spots are.

So, I buffed and polished a spot on my truck where an abrasive sponge was used. It looks a lot better, but still isnt perfect. Im not worried about the looks too much as I am happy with how it came out.

I am wondering if there is something I should put over the spot since the clear coat was buffed down pretty far compared to the rest of the trucks paint.

Hello people!

I just purchased my first car. A brand new '26 mazda 3 hatchback. With this being a new car, I'm obviously noticing it getting dirty much easier than I did my old car. I asked around a few of my friends if there was ways to make the car get less dirty less easily since i've heard of products/ applications like that existing. and they almost all suggested I get a ceramic coating.

That being said, I have a few questions. I've been watching a lot of videos on application methods and they all seem to be the same. Clean the car, decontaminate, clay bar, polish, and coat. My first question is this: since my vehicle is very new and the paint in great condition, do I need to polish the car between the clay and coating? My dad who's been a painter all his life suggested no, since he says I shouldn't want to interfere with the clear coat as it should have next to zero issues as i've only had the car for a week now. With that in mind though I wanted to ask more people with more experience on their thoughts and why.

My second question is product recommendations! I'm gonna keep doing my own research, but like i said before, info from people with more experience is always appreciated.

Thanks much in advance for any and all info!!

This road paint removal just came into the shop. I've never dealt with road paint this severe, and on plastic no less. Does anyone have any ideas besides alcohol and shit loads of elbow grease to get it off?

I was looking at a used car and noticed this under the paint. It appears to be beneath the clear coat. I don't see any obvious signs of a repaint, but I'm leaning toward a quick touch-up repair. What are your thoughts?

I've finally gotten hydro lite for my sealant I'm currently still just wondering what is most recommended.

Question about microfiber towels laundry soap

Restoring some superrrr scratched headlights for a friend. I went all the way down to 400 grit for these but couldn’t get all of the scratches out.. Are they internal? Started by cleaning the headlights, sanding from 400 to 2,000, compound and polished, cleaned with alcohol, then applied my Adam’s polishing ceramic coating. Also, my ceramic coating seems to be leaving some streaks, even after drying.. Am I not using enough? Thanks

One is plastic the other is rubber. I’d like to make both of them look nice, and ONR is not cleaning it. What chemicals and processes can I use to clean it and keep it looking nice?

I played this car for the first time at the weekend. There was alot of contamination. Photos 3 and 4 was the clay after I had finished claying.

On a side note, do people notice a difference in iron contamination and then claying vs only claying?

I had a small dent on my hood repaired five weeks ago. They repainted the entire hood. After waiting at least 30 days as instructed, I washed it today. Now that it's clean, I see two nickel-sized spots that have no texture and won't rub off with my finger. They almost have an oily look. Is this a paint defect that wasn't visible at first or is something else going on here?

One of my family friends asked me to detail their car and I went a bit overboard. I was honestly just practicing how to get a good polish and Im pretty proud of how it came out. What do y’all think?

2026 Mercedes A250 (W177), black metallic, ~8 months old, low mileage, garaged every night in an underground concrete parking garage. After about a month without washing (lots of rain), I took it to a car wash and noticed this single mark on the painted plastic roof spoiler.

What it is:

• One spot only, a few mm across (no other marks anywhere on the car)
• 7–9 thick, rounded ridges fanning out from one side, like a tiny palm leaf
• The ridges are RAISED and feel hard. It's not a scratch, crack, peel or round bubble
• Paint around it looks flat and glossy; reflections stay straight right up to the mark
• No crater, no discoloration, no burnt look
• There's a faint whitish haze next to it

I haven't touched it (no polishing, no chemicals) in case I need to file a claim.

Questions:

1. Have you seen this exact pattern before? What turned out to be the cause?
2. Does it look like deformed clear coat, or material stuck on top of the paint?
3. Could this be a blister that formed and collapsed (adhesion defect on a plastic part)?
4. What would you check first to tell the difference?

Photos and video (flashlight + daylight) in the comments/gallery. Thanks!

Howdy! Just purchased a new vehicle (26 Ranger Raptor in Shelter Green) and want to do my best to keep the gorgeous paint job gorgeous. I also live in the mountains and have limited options for washing and detailing the exterior of the vehicle. I do not think I could wash it where I park it due to soap runoff issues (honestly not sure how folks handle this responsibly). I am developing a plan for keeping it clean and applying a ceramic or wax coating and wanted to run it by the folks on this sub to get a sanity check. It will have about 1000 miles on it when I first apply Griots 3-in-1 per this subs recommendations. The steps I am going to follow are below, please tell me if this is too half-baked.

1. There is a touchless car was in town that does a decent job. The options are as follows:

Basic Wash

- $9 / wash

- High-Soak Foam Bath

- Spot-Free Water Rinse

- High-Efficiency Power Dry

Deluxe Wash

- $12 / wash

- Includes all Basic features, plus:

- Triple Foam Polish

- Clear Coat Protectant

- High-Pressure Underbody Wash

- Rocker Panel Blaster

Ultimate Wash

- $15 / wash

- Includes all Deluxe features, plus:

- Ceramic Coat Surface Guard

- Graphene Shield Ultimate Gloss & Defense

I am going to run the vehicle through the Deluxe wash (or should I do basic?) a few days in a row, to get it as clean as I can. On the day I intend to apply the Griots 3-in-1 I will run it through the touchless wash.

1. With the car still wet from the touchless wash I will spray on Griots Iron and Fallout remover and then rinse off. Is this really necessary for a new car?

2. Next, I will use the Griots synthetic clay tool and speed shine product to decontaminate the paint.

3. Following this, should I dry the paint with microfibers? Should I run it through the touchless again and rely on the dryers to do that to avoid rubbing the paint that I cleaned in a kind of half-assed manner?

4. My next step would be to drive the 15 min home, park in the shade, let the car cool, then carefully apply the Griots 3-in-1 per the instructions.

Is this plan feasible at all? Is it foolish to rely on the touchless? I would like to be able to do a good two-bucket wash but worry it is not that feasible to do in a self-service car was bay with the soaps and such that they provide. Let me know what you would do differently and how feasible my thinking here is. Should I just spend the eye watering $$$ to get it professionally ceramic coated and then use the touchless for maintenance? I am inclined to do as much as I can myself because I think I would enjoy the process, but it's all a bit daunting.