After you’ve detailed your car’s exterior and you have it looking slick and shiny, your car’s interior looks outstanding. You’ve even cleaned and dressed your car’s engine and wheels. How about your windows?

No matter how good your car looks, having smudgy, dirty windows will definitely detract from a great looking detailing job.

Fortunately, it’s not hard to achieve a showroom shine on your own if you know the correct products and the right techniques.

There are a number of glass cleaners on the market, get a professional quality window cleaner for top results. Do not use ammonia based window cleaners on tinted windows.

If you are a smoker or people smoke regularly in your car, you will also need to clean the nicotine film build up that sometimes happens on car windows. Multiple applications of a high quality glass cleaner may be the answer to correct and remove a heavy buildup.

Select a high quality microfiber and waffle weave towel for the cleaning process as well which is an integral part of the process.

Utilize the waffle weave first to work the product into the window and follow up with the soft microfiber to buff to a shine. Use the glass cleaner you have chosen in a small area at a time. Dry and buff with a microfiber towel using small circles and turning the microfiber over continously to achieve the desired results.

Once the glass is dry do one last pass to make sure and you will eliminate any smudges or streaks. You will now have truly sparkling and streak free windows.

Always keep these towels separate from your other microfibers and towels that are solely used for other uses for your detailing needs.

Additionally, many car detailers use old newspaper to dry clean automotive glass, which has the effect of polishing the window. The composition of the ink and newspaper buffs and shines the window, though it looks much more professional to use the correct products and will result in a much better finish.

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Prima Slick Quick Detailer Spray is a polymer-fortified quick detailer that leaves paint with a warm glow and fantastic slickness.

The blend of polymers produce a shimmering wet-look shine while leaving an extremely slick finish. Mild cleaners lift grime, smudges and fingerprints. Its anti-static properties resist dust accumulation. I even found Prima Slick to be an excellent glass cleaner. Slick is silicone-free and safe on paint, plastic, glass, metal, vinyl and rubber trim. Try Prima Slick on your eyeglasses for a surprisingly clear and bright finish.

Prima is an exclusive line of car care products created by Detailers Paradise.  Great lengths were taken, and no expense spared, in order to create a family of products second to none. Thoughtful design even went into the packaging. The bottles are short and wide for a reason. A solid base and low center of gravity means you are less likely to tip over your glass cleaner as you reach for your QD.

Thoughts: I have used this on a fair few different cars and i was very suprised at the difference Prima Slick made to the finish, especially after applying a Wax. Just like the product name it definitely did leave a “Slick” finish.
The packaging is nice, the sprayer puts out a nice fine mist. I found that it was very easy to use as most detailing sprays are, there was a very noticeable improvement in slickness to the touch and increased shine especially in direct sunlight. It added equal slickness as it did shine. Overall I am pleased at its performance, it easily removed waterspots and light dust/dirt. It dried to a streak free shine with increased slickness. Prima Slick is definitely one of the best Quick Detailer Sprays i have used and i can recommend it to both the weekend user and the car cleaning professionals.

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1. Dry before you Apply. Ensure that your leather has been wiped dry before applying any leather conditioners. Although water won’t damage your leather, (Leathers are dyed in water and naturally repel it) conditioners work best on dry leather. Massaging the product into the leather is easy, because top of the line restoratives like Prima Leather Conditioner contain a medley of natural oils. These oils expedite the process by smoothing the transition of conditioner to leather by allowing deeper saturation.

2. Wipe and Wait. There is no way to over-saturate leather, because there is a natural limit to how much product it can absorb. If you have applied too much, the excess leather conditioner will sit on the surface of the leather long after the rest has been absorbed. With a damp towel, be sure to wipe away this additional conditioner, or re-apply it to another un-touched area. When all is well, let your conditioner sit for 15 to 20 minutes without disturbing it.

3. Testing, 1-2-3. One must be careful in choosing the proper products. If you are unsure about a product, test it first in an inconspicuous place. If the product is adverse to the leather strip in any way, can it and ban it. Although most of these products work with surprising effectiveness, one can never be too sure until you try it.

4. Avoid Sunburns. Like human skin, leather can be easily damaged by the powerful UV rays of the sun. Those most commonly affected vehicles are convertibles with leather interiors or those who drive under intense temperatures. When alternated with your conditioner it will provide excellent protection from the sun and keep your leather enviously decadent.

5. Save Time. Leather care pros worldwide agree that leather requires both cleaning and conditioning to maintain it’s healthy appearance, and many 1-step products achieve both of these goals while saving you time and money. While some may be skeptical of these ‘all-in-one’ products that have been gaining popularity lately, technological breakthroughs have made it possible to deliver quality results in half the time.

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1. Clear your workspace. Before applying any products to your seats, always vacuum your interior to dislodge any surface lint that might inhibit your products from getting to the leather. Surface dirt can hide in between the grooves of your leather seats, and by wiping without vacuuming; you may create friction by rubbing the dirt across the leather as you clean it. This unnecessary friction could develop a rash of tiny blemishes. Play it safe and vacuum first, then go at it with a damp towel to remove anything left behind.

2. Turn up the Heat. Although leather is essentially dead, it still responds to heat the way human skin does. By running your heater for a few minutes or leaving the car in the hot sun before you clean you are actually causing the pores to open for deeper penetration. Likewise, some products work under this same principle. Check the label to see if your product of choice recommends using it at an enhanced temperature.

3. Select a Section. Alkaline cleaners and acidic cleaners are as dangerous to leather as they are to your skin. Always select one that is generally pH neutral, and/or water based and is specifically designed for car leather cleaning.

4. Tools. When you apply your leather cleaner you should always rely on the dependability of tools designed for the specific task at hand. ZAS Microfibre Applicator will help your product permeate deeper into your leather for better cleaning. Without scrubbing, your cleaner may not completely remove dirt. Having two applicators can come in handy, so that you can apply cleaner and conditioner without accidentally cross contaminating.

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Carnauba Wax is the preferred car wax of collectors and concours enthusiasts because it creates a rich, warm glow. It doesn’t appear to sit on the paint. It transforms the paint into a deep, liquid pool that shimmers under changing light conditions. The more carnauba wax, the more shine.

The wax is produced by the Brazilian Tree of Life, a palm tree, in order to coat its leaves. The wax provides protection from the sweltering sun and it sheds water so it falls onto the ground and is absorbed by the tree’s roots.
Carnauba is rock hard in its natural form. When the leaves of the Tree of Life are harvested, the wax flakes off as the leaves dry out, or they are put into a machine that removes the wax. It comes off in hard flakes. Car Wax makers have to blend the wax with oils, petroleum distillates, or a solvent called naptha (commonly used to thin wood varnishes and paints) in order to make the wax workable. The very best carnauba-based car wax is only about 1/3 natural carnauba. It’s probably for the best since the price gets higher and higher as the concentration of carnauba rises. When a product advertises “pure carnauba car wax” or “100% carnauba car wax”, they are referring to the purity of the carnauba that is in the product, not the product as a whole.

The drawback of carnauba waxes, if you can call it a drawback, is that it does not last as long as a synthetic sealant. A carnauba car wax finish will wear off in approximately 6 to 8 weeks. It depends heavily on the climate in which you live and whether or not your vehicle is garaged. Daily commutes in a hot, humid climate mean a shorter life span for your carnauba wax coat.

Paint Sealants are kind of the anti-carnauba. They last a lot longer, they are easy to apply, and there’s nothing natural about them. This is surface science at its best.

A paint sealant is made of polymers, which are composed of tens of thousands of synthetic particles that are linked together. When a sealant bonds to your vehicle’s paint, it forms a rigid shell. It is not the warm carnauba that seems to melt into the paint. Paint sealants sit on top of the paint like a transparent chain metal suit. They are glossy and slick, but carnauba lovers will tell you they do not have the warmth and depth of a carnauba. However, the real selling point of a paint sealant is the durability. A premium paint sealant can last upto 8 months, sometimes longer.

As you’ve seen, there are a lot of differences between paint sealants and natural carnauba waxes. Glassy, hard shell or deep, liquid shine? Six months or six weeks? These are the basic questions you have to answer before selecting your paint protection.

However, a growing number of enthusiasts simply refuse to choose. Instead, they coat their vehicles with a layer of sealant for long-lasting protection and then top it with a layer of carnauba for the dazzling shine. Even if you forget to reapply carnauba in 6 weeks, your paint won’t suffer.

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Due to the ever increasing competition amongst wax manufacturers, consumers are seeing an ever increasing trend in marketing techniques as these manufactures come up with new ideas to get the edge over their competitors.

Not so long ago it was the Carnauba wax content where we saw the many (and often colourful) ways manufacturers claim wax content by volume. Through consumer education, many see through this marketing ploy. It was only a matter of time before the next great idea.

At first, different waxes for different paint types appeared. Now this has been taken to a new level with distributors claiming specific waxes producing different results on specific colours

Paints from different manufacturers do not favour one wax coating over another. The notion that a wax is produced specifically for a make and model of car, such as a Porsche or Ferrari, is ridiculous. Car owners should beware of any company or person marketing such products. There is no factual basis for a special wax blend based on the car brand or model.

The same can be said for colour or shade specific waxes. It is simply nothing more than marketing at it’s best. To make claims of a specific wax for a specific colour shade, let alone to say a specific wax will yield better results on a particular colour is ludicrous.

The consumer needs to step away from all the hype and look at it from a logical perspective. The first point to be made is that the bonding between a wax coating and the painted surface is made at a microscopic level. The wax layer is not visible through a magnifying glass let alone the human eye and any so called alteration in colour would be impossible to see.

The second point to make regarding colour specific waxes is that the variation in wax colour is nothing more than an oil soluble dye inserted into the wax formula for visual effects. Many different waxes from the same manufacturer will simply be the same formula altered by colour and sold under a new label. In some cases, a variation in ingredients such as white beeswax compared to yellow beeswax will be used to identify waxes for different colour ranges. Although the manufacturer has at least gone to the effort to alter the base formula, it is not significant enough to alter the end results. The true test is to apply these coloured waxes to a white vehicle and look for any colour change to the surface. You will find none.

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Today’s paint systems, mostly waterborne, multi-stage, clearcoat systems, are better than ever. The new paint systems offer extraordinary colors, vivid depth and clarity, extremely high gloss, and new levels of durability.  Still, even with the improvements, new car finishes must be waxed and properly maintained.

The improvements in clearcoat paint technology have started a distressing trend at new car dealerships. Many new car dealers are telling their clients that the paint on their new car is maintenance-free and does not require wax. This could not be further from the truth. While the improved paint technology has created a longer lasting finish, the finish does oxidize and it is not impervious to environmental conditions. It still requires regular care, including a wax or sealant.

New car dealers who don’t preach maintenance-free paintwork seem to go the route of a life-time paint protection package. While not as harmful as suggesting new paint is maintenance-free, a true life-time sealant product is not available. The technology simply does not exist. Think about it. How can a car wax or sealant product with a coating thickness less than one millionth of an inch protect your car for a lifetime, let alone for more than a few months?  It simply can’t.  What you’re really buying with a paint protection package is a maintenance contract.  Please read the fine print before you buy the package.

The best option to protect your cars paint finish is to regurlary apply a wax or paint sealant every few months to ensure you are protecting it from the enviromental elements not to mention this will always bring the shine back out in your paintwork, there are a wide variety of products on the market, while some claim to be the best there is no right or wrong product, premium detailing products will have better durability and shine then those found at your local automotive outlet.

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Product residue or “smearing” is a pretty sore topic for just about anyone who owns or details a black car.

Smearing is when a product spreads rather than removes during the buffing process. The end result is visible oily residue that in the right lighting will resemble holograms.

This problem is not limited to the weekend detailers either. Ask any professional detailer and they will tell you at some stage or another this has been an issue.

A few points to note are:

1. Black paint is not the “cause” of smearing. It is just more susceptible to the problem than other colours (lighter colours will still smear, you just can’t see it!).
2. The product is not the “cause” of smearing. Some products are just more susceptible to the problem than others.
3. The cause of smearing is the application of the product with these other factors contributing to the problem.
4. When a manufacturer says apply thinly or less is best, they REALLY do mean it for a reason.
5. When a manufacturer says don’t apply in the sun or to extremely hot or cold panels they REALLY do mean it for a reason.
6. The correct removal of the product will prevent smearing.

So here is the process I took to remove the smearing from my vehicle.

1. 50/50 Isopropyl Alcohol and water.

That’s it! Just mix it up, mist it on and remove it with a microfibre towel.

I bought mine from Bunnings for $10

It is worth mentioning this will not only remove the residue that has smeared, it will also remove any wax (synthetic or natural!) from the surface.

Now you have a blank canvas to work from again and the next step is to reapply your paint protection without the smearing.

For this demonstration I chose a product that has caused me issues in the past. Polishes and compounds are a good one, but this is easily fixed by using the above method of 50/50 Isopropyl and water. The real test is an LSP. Every carnauba wax I have ever used on my vehicle has given me grief. So that’s what I will use.

The first thing I decided is that I would use a foam applicator. Although the die hard fans of Victoria Wax will tell you to apply it by hand, I decided that the hand application has contributed to my problem in the past. See point 4 - Less is best.

Even with the applicator I could tell at times I had too much on there. In the end I discovered I only needed the slightest amount and I could literally do 2-3 complete panels. When it started to run a bit dry I would do one light swipe of the wax and I’d be good to go again for another couple of panels. After 3 coats I barely took the top of the tub of wax.

It was easy to tell when I had applied it too thick. When I wiped these areas you could see the wax spread rather than buff off. This is because the wax had not set correctly. And that is part of the reason why manufacturers tell you to apply it within a set temperature range. Because it will allow the wax to dry within the times they specify on the instructions! Too cold, it won’t dry at all, too hot and it will harden like concrete before you buff it off.

Another point I should make is to have heaps of microfibre on hand. I could feel my towels getting saturated in wax after removal. How can I expect to remove it completely when I’m using a towel that is covered in the stuff?

So what I did was first of all change towels when I felt there was a wax build up, and secondly I employed my super plush microfibre towel for a final buff. Basically I would remove the wax with my regular towel, and then with my clean super plush towel I would follow it with a firm wipe to remove anything that might have been left behind. I chose the super plush cause it’s very thick and soft so firm movements are unlikely to cause marring.

At the end of the day, it’s a matter of firstly applying your products correctly. Less is best (and your detailing products will even last longer!) and take the time to remove the excess residue correctly.

The end result is a smear free, freshly waxed vehicle.

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When it comes to microfibre, there’s a lot more to consider than most people think.

Microfibre refers to a material made from synthetic fibres less than one denier. Generally this is anything less than 1/60th the width of a human hair. Premium Microfibre or “ultra microfibre” is even finer, with some having a fibre thickness of 1/200th the thickness of a human hair!

In the automotive industry you will find the microfibre used is a Polyester/Polyamide composition usually in the ration of 70-80% Polyester and 20-30% Polyamide (Nylon). The fibres are “split” during the manufacturing process and woven to form wedge shaped filaments. The Polyamide (the absorbing and quick drying fibre) forms the core of the wedge with the Polyester (the scrubbing fibre) forming the outer skin. Without this costly splitting process the microfibre loses more than half its absorbing and cleaning ability.

Another point to consider when purchasing microfibre are the fibres per square inch. Just like the “thread count” on bed linen, high quality microfibre will have a high fibre count producing a more durable, and tightly woven material. Always demand a microfibre product containing at least 200,000 fibres per square inch.

With all these points considered the end result is a microfibre product that can withstand many washes, is super absorbent and last but not least, is delicate on the surface. Budget microfibre products simply don’t offer this all round performance.

One brand of microfibre that do tick all the boxes are ZAS Microfibre Accessories from Zen Automotive Suppliers. ZAS premium microfibre towels are “split” 16 times during the manufacturing process and contain over 250,000 fibres per square inch. The look, feel and performance of this microfibre is unlike anything I have experienced and it is clear they have been developed with the professional car detailer in mind. The extensive range of products provides a microfibre accessory for every occasion.

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Tutorial Coming Soon…

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