[Ten*K]

Factory new, yet still unclean.
there's clean and there's clean,
If you know what I mean.

A washing, a scrubbing...
a clay bar for rubbing.
Spray bottle in hand,
surface contaminants will not stand.

And though this Q was just two weeks old,
it's paint was rough, if the truth be told.
An hour of work, when you get in the groove,
now she's glossy and shiny, and baby's butt smooth.

~fin~


It should be noted that I gave the car a very thorough cleaning, used the Meguiar's Bug & Tar pads. There was quite a lot of glue residue that didn't become visible until the car got a bit of dirt on it. It's all gone. A good scrubbing with a microfiber sponge, and several rinses. Dried with a microfiber chamois. Let the car cool in the garage for an hour, and then hit it with the Meguiar's Clay bar kit (comes with detail spray, a microfiber towel, and TWO clay bars). In about an hour, the whole surface of the car felt like glass. I am out of time today, but tomorrow I will polish and wax... with a pic or two.

 

[afrosheen]

I'm trying to convince myself that I can do all this in our lovely 100 degree August heat wave today. I may just wash and clay but I really want to wax too.

 

[Ten*K]

I'm trying to convince myself that I can do all this in our lovely 100 degree August heat wave today. I may just wash and clay but I really want to wax too.

I wouldn't do it in that heat. The paint is self-healing, and will be soft when it's hot. Claying will ruin the paint at any kind of elevated temperature. Also, the clay will get all gooey and become impossible to use effectively.

 

[Ten*K]

some pics... of course, it is quite difficult to show a difference in texture, but if you look at the clarity of the reflection, you will see how very clear and flawless the surface is. If you look closely at the first pic, you will see the reflection of the garage door motor in the top center, in addition to the definition of the supposedly "green" highly toxic fluorescent light bulb.

The second pic just shows the clarity over the hood curves. The whole car is like this, now. In fact, I had it out in the sun for a spot check this afternoon, and let me tell you... it hurt to look at the car due to how white and reflective it is. I strongly recommend everyone take the time to do this very simple step in ensuring your Q's maximum beauty. Just remember you need to wash the car thoroughly before, and apply a polishing wax right after!

 

[JR69]

I polished mine today as well and the fleck in the moonlight white actually has a pink/red/orange tint, very interesting seeing in the direct sunlight.

 

[selzini]

There once was a clay bar named Willie
Who thought that Ten*K was silly.
After reading the post,
He exclaimed, "It's the most!"
And went on his way, willy-nilly.

 

[afrosheen]

Well I hand washed anyway and the soap was literally drying on the car as I moved 3 feet. A few hours later I got about half of the car clayed before mosquito attacks forced me to quit. Strangely the car was extremely clean and the clay bar picked up almost nothing.

After my road trip yesterday (370 miles round trip) I'm sure I will have plenty of crust to remove. Black cars are not for OCD mentalities, thankfully I keep mine in check.

10k your paint probably feels as good as it looks. I can't wait for temps to drop into the 70's and 80's here so I can give it the proper treatment.

 

[nadir]

I just picked up my obsidian black Q ... time to order clay, Klasse, and some MFs.

 

[brianch]

I'm trying to convince myself that I can do all this in our lovely 100 degree August heat wave today. I may just wash and clay but I really want to wax too.

It's not a good idea to wash or clay or wax in the sun. You want to do it in the shade.

 

[afrosheen]

Yeah, it's 100 degrees in the shade. In the sun it's 110 or so. Well, it was until it finally rained last week.

 

[resetdesigns]

Factory new, yet still unclean.
there's clean and there's clean,
If you know what I mean.

A washing, a scrubbing...
a clay bar for rubbing.
Spray bottle in hand,
surface contaminants will not stand.

And though this Q was just two weeks old,
it's paint was rough, if the truth be told.
An hour of work, when you get in the groove,
now she's glossy and shiny, and baby's butt smooth.

~fin~

Too clever! Super late post, but this makes me want to clean my car. Thanks for the inspiration.