Fun & Games Most liked posts in thread: This is why I do not use wax anymore

Gyeon Rim is awesome and you can easily do that yourself. Take one ore two wheels off your car. Wash them with whatever you normally use and rinse. Then hit them with Gyeon Iron to remove imbedded brake dust which is really iron from your rotors. I always wash twice so I don’t waste Gyeon Iron on basic dirt. Spray down the entire rim front and back side and let it sit for 5-10 min and then scrub it down to get in all the tiny places. I don’t wear rubber gloves but most people do when deep cleaning rims with Gyeon Iron.

Once the rims are clean and dried apply a layer of Gyeon Rim to the front and back of one wheel and set is aside. Then do the same thing to the second rim. When you are done coating the second rim the first one will be ready to wipe down. Rim has a much longer dwell time between applying and wiping off because it is stronger and made for high heat parts like rims and exhaust tips.

When your wheels are coated you don’t have to use Iron or other special spray rim cleaners, you can just use basic car wash soap and a dedicated wheel brush. I also have a Wheels Only bucket because the iron from washing you rims will now end up in your buckets and you do not want to uses that bucket for washing your car.

 

Yup and the best part is Todd and the team at Esoteric ONLY sell the stuff they test an use everyday when detailing high-end cars. They are also great guys to talk with and provide great customer service as it's all done at Esoteric buy the guys that use the products.

Unlike Autogeek which has become the on-line Wal-Mart of detailing car care. :incazzato::nonod:

 

Good question and sorry about the long reply. :ihih::lol:

I dry clean them with a firm brush after I and done a section to remove spent compound and polish. This helps them from getting caked up with dry spent product that clogs the pads, before I add more and polish and compound. After a 2 maybe 3 panels I'd I am doing bumpers I replace the pad with a new one and soak the dirty one in a bucket of cleaner below until I am done the car I am working on. For a MINI use about 4-5 MF cutting pads and 4 Rupes Yellow polishing pads. The cleaner the pad the better the results.

Yellow Rupes pads for 1 MINI (Polishing). 2nd step
Roof, rear hatch and rear bumper = 1 pad
Each side = 2 pads (1 per side)
Hood , front bumper = 1 pad

Meguiar's. MF DA cutting pads (Cutting) 1st step.
https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-DMC5-Microfiber-Cutting-Disc/dp/B004VG0N38/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491143221&sr=8-1&keywords=meguiars+microfiber+cutting+pad

For how many I use depends on the car but a good rule is double the yellow pad numbers above because they clog up faster than foam pads and they are cutting not polishing.


FYI - if you don't clean your pads frequently while polishing you will see what I call "pigtails" in the finished paint. This is from hardened product or dirt stuck to the pad while using the machine on the paint. Dirty pads kill a nice finish, clean / brunch your pads every time you are adding more product.

Chemical Guys CWS_201_16 Microfiber Wash Cleaning Detergent Concentrate (16 oz)

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-CWS-201-16-Microfiber-Concentrate/dp/B001TJXWH4/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&qid=1491141798&sr=8-33&keywords=chemical+guys

After I am done with the machine cutting and polishing I take the pads to the driveway and use a hose and scrub, ring them out and rinse them. I let them air dry on a rack in the garage or in the sun on the deck. (No Washer and Dryer)

I use the same process for MF cutting and polishing pads.

 

Hi Uros,

Sorry I did not see your post as I am on vacation in Florida until Friday. From reading your post is sounds like you are either putting on too little or applying to very large sections or working in very hot conditions. Make sure you are applying is a cool dry area and not applying to a hot panel in the sun. The coating will dry really fast in the heat and on a hot panel. Also make sure if you are working in high heat conditions you make your application area smaller. You can’t apply to an entire hood or even half a hood you have to work is smaller sections like 14X14 or 12x12. Example, for my MINI R53 hood I break it up into 6 sections or 9 sections when it is really hot out and by hot I mean 80 degrees and above.


Here is a link on how to apply.




Here is another video of a guy coating a Blue MINI.

*Note* he is in a low humidity Air Conditioned shop. That is why he can appply to large areas and let is dry for such a looooong time before wiping down the area he coated.

 

Look up Auto Detailer’s in your area and ask them what coatings they use. Stay away from shops CQuartz and other lower end products. Look for a shop that uses Gyeon Products or Kamikaze.

My best advice is contact Todd at Esoteric in Ohio and see who he has trained and certified in your area. He trains Detailer’s all over the country. Todd, owner of Esoteric, is a very high end Detailer’s and runs a 2 day Detailer’s academy that trains shops employees and certifies them with Gyeon and Kamikaze.

https://www.esotericcarcare.com/contact-us/


Here is the Esoteric YouTube channel with lots of great information and reviews of the products they use and sell.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC_VTADI0mH-WIq25oZWmQEg

 

Polish only perfects the paint surface and I have been using Sonax Perfect Finish followed by HD Polish on white pads. Paint turns out defect free and ready to be coated. I have used all of the coatings above and the Gyeon MOHS's and Kamikaze Miyabi Coat.

* Kamikaze ISM Coat ($140.00 30 ml) will give you a water wet look and you can layer them.

Minimum a year easy, two years max for both Gyeon and Kamikaze. You will see when they start to fail because water does not sheet right off the paint as fast. I do my final rinse with no hose attachments just a hose with free flowing water rinsing from top down.

Esoteric is located in New Albany, Ohio and is owned by Todd Cooperider. I sent Metal Man to see him last year and picked up some Gyeon products and spoke with Todd. Todd has been detailing high end cars for years and is the only importer of Kamikaze in the USA. He has two day classes that teaches pro detailers the art of paint correction and detailing.

** Oh 30 ml will cover a standard car 2 times and a MINI 3 times. Think about all the money you will save on wax, polish and other crap to keep your car clean and protected for a year and a half. Yes, it's worth it.

Also if you coat your rims with a rim coating you can say good bye to any special Sonax type wheel cleaners as all you will need is soap and water to clean off crud and brake dust.

 

Also to maintain the coating after you wash you can use the "Quick Detailer" type products for coated cars like kamikazi-over-coat

http://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikazi-over-coat/

 

My MINI was a daily for years and I drove in everything you listed above I am in the NE West Chester PA.

As with any product you use it's all about cleaning and paint prep before you apply a wax, sealant or coating.

Hard spray rinse (Power washer)
Clean get all the crud and stuff out of all the door jams and junk from trim areas.

Rinse
Spray entire car down with Iron removal product like Gyeon Q2M Iron, Iron X or something like it that turns purple when its working. Yes, it is completely safe for paint.

Wash again with soap and rinse.

Now while the car is still wet, clay the entire car. (bumper to bumper and rocker to rocker)

Wash car again and rinse and dry.

Now that you have about 95% of anything that could be stuck or imbedded in your paint removed you can start to softly compounding an move into polishing to perfect the paint.

Here is the trick, do not do the whole car at once as you will not know what the finished results will look like.

I along with every professional detailer does a test section 2 x 2 which is about 1/4 of the hood as our test spot. It sees the most sun and is the first thing you see.

Get out whatever you are going to compound with. ( not Grandpa's Turtle Wax with sand in it :lol

I use Sonax Perfect Finish on a Yellow, Orange or White pad depending on how bad the car is. Yellow for bad cars, Orange I use the most, White pads are for polishing but you can use them with Sonax Perfect Finish because it finishes down like a fine polish.

Once the cutting is done and wiped down using fresh towel toss the towel in a laundry basket / bucket. I follow up with a while foam or while MF pad and slowly polish the section with HD Polish for a little extra shine. Use a new towel and when you are done toss it in the laundry basket or bucket also.

Now you can look at the test section on the hood and see if it the results you want and now you know how to get them. If you need more compounding do it on your test spot and polish it out again. Some guys will do 2 or 3 test areas on the hood with different products to see which gives them the best results. Most of those guys are doing several different types cars with hard, soft or repaints which all could require a different product list to return the best results.

My steps and the products I use focuses on MINI / BMW paint and I know what works as I have been doing these cars for years.

Some will require more compound and less polish and visa versa but you will see the result you are trying to get to and you will know

Common mistakes

Dirty wash mitts and using them on rims and paint. Separate your stuff for each use.
Using dirty towels too long or using the same towel on multiple steps.

Why would you use the towel you wiped compound off on your polished paint a half hour later. :mad2:

#1 issue I see is people using only one pad for a whole car.

A foam or MF pad is only good for a panel or two and you have to clean them with a brush. I use a MF pad for two panels max because they get clogged with chemicals and will not return the same results as when they were new.

Working too fast. Take your time.

If anyone has specific questions just add them to this tread and I will do my best to reply.