I have a black truck, the black paint as everyone knows is a pain to maintain.

What is everybody using to clean and dry the paint without scratching the paint ( not severe scratches, but ones that are induceed from the rubbing). It's damm near impossible to prevent any type of minor abrasions, so I thought let's start a thread on this and get everyone's own method for sucess.



Thanks

I've owned several black trucks., garage kept, and in my opinion, there's not much you can do to prevent what you describe, it's the nature of the beast. Like you had mentioned........they are a pain to keep clean. But they are one good lookin' machine when they are! I use a nice clean chamois and the only way I've ever been able to get rid of the "small scratch's" is to wax them out........then they'll be back, then wax it again! JMO

Try the Mr. Clean Spotless Wash/Rinse system. Lotsa guys here use it and like it.

I would say that if you have to wax it out, i would use something like eagle one wet. it leaves your truck looking as if it is wet all the time. and if you have hard water stains, it'll remove them with little rubbing. $10 bottle at walmart. i have always used it on my dark vehicles and never turned back. i even used it on some white vehicles as well. if you park under a lamp post at night, when at the store, you'll love the look.

i saw the mr. clean spotless wash/rinse system and i am timid to use it at this time. i have seen it used on my wifes old car, by her nephew, and it seemed as if it was stripping the vehicle of the wax. maybe it is just the way the water runs off. but it does appear that way to me as it sheets off the vehicle.

waxing is the only way i found, with the dark vehicles, to work best for me.

I would like to try Zaino. I think you can check it out at zainobros.com . Lots here swear by it.

Although I haven't personally used the zaino stuff I'll have to second that advice. I've read a lot of stuff about it and everyone seems to like Zaino. I also have a buddy that uses the stuff and swears by it. His chevy looks really good all the time too! For your swirl marks it sounds like this (http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Z-5&Category_Code=Zaino) might be the ticket.

The trick to keeping black clean is using the right tools. First NEVER wash it in the heat of the day as this will only bake the water into your paint, even if you think you are keeping the surfaces wet...you are still jacking up your paint. Next, start with a clean slate. If the paint isn't clean to begin with you're fighting a losing battle. Here are a couple steps to get it clean and keep it clean.



Cleaning the slate:

In a cool place, go over the truck and use some bug/tar remover to get rid of any big tar spots. DO NOT grind it in scrubbing it off, let the product do the work. Hand wash the truck to remove and excess dirt/grime DO NOT scrub hard. Use a good brush to clean the inner fenders and frame and basically anywhere you can reach with it under it. While it is wet take a clay bar and give the paint a once over but DO NOT scrub it into the paint but gently rub it over the surface letting the bar clean the paint. Now give the truck another GENTLE hand washing then dry the truck LIGHTLY using a Water Swipe to get rid of the excess water and finish with a SOFT chamois/Water Sprite or Micro Fiber Towel. Now you are clean and your paint should feel like glass.



Detailing:

Using whatever product you like (I like Zaino myself) go over all the plastic trim, door handles, cowl, mirrors and whatever with a protectant to shine everything up. Take care of shining the tires up too (same Zaino product). Go ahead and use a chrome polish on the chrome parts now too. Now if you want to make or break a detail job you MUST detail the inner fenders. To make things easy i use the cheapest spray foam tire stuff I can find and spray it on every inch of the suspension, frame and basically everything under the truck. Takes only a couple minutes and it hits everything and there is no wiping. Using good swirl remover polish brand "X" on a CLEAN, SOFT applicator or MF towel apply the polish in a back/forth motion going with the length of the truck. DO NOT force it and let the polish do the work. I use a Porter Cable 7424 polisher but your hand will work fine too. Some people buff off the excess but if you are applying another coat of wax then why do the extra work? Now that it is polished you can apply your protectant/wax in the same manner using another CLEAN applicator or MF towel. Now you can use a good MF towel to LIGHTLY buff the remaining residue off the surface leaving a slick black truck. Hit you glass with some glass cleaner and some newspaper and you are looking good. The more time you spend doing it right the first time the easier it is to keep it looking good on a day to day basis.



Maintaining it:

If you need to wash it, get two buckets, one for the tires/wheels/brushes and one for the wash mitt for the body. Get a good quality car wash soap that keeps suds and glides over the paint. For best results use a good quality sheeps wool wash mitt and NEVER scrub the paint. Because you did your prep work nothing really sticks to your paint so there is no reason to rub. Do small areas at a time and rinse your mitt between sections to remove any small particles. Give it a good rinse and dry using a Water Swipe to remove the excess then I use a leaf blower to dry the truck so I am not touching the paint then I finish up with a MF towel. I use an applicator to wipe the shine on my tires and then use a quick detailer spray and a MF towel to make the paint ‘pop” again. It only takes an extra 10 min to do the QD so I do it often but not every time I wash. That is usually good enough to keep it looking good. I spray the tire foam on the frame about every three washes or when it is needed. Because you did this before and the dirt never sticks to anything so it generally washes clean with just the spray of the hose. It takes me under 30 min to wash/dry my crew cab or about 10 min to QD between washings and I drive a spot less truck everyday.

Basically to want to prep it as best you can then make sure you use quality wash mitts, good soap, cool place and never rub on the paint and it will last you quite a while with out scratching.



This is just my opinion but I have tried most products out there and IMO the best bang for your buck products you can use and easily obtain is the NXT line of products. The soap, wax, speed detailer is right there with the best of them. I have Zaino also and the results are awesome but for the time it takes, cost and the amount of work, the NXT is a better choice IMO. Good Luck!

Zaino fan here. check it out at www.zainostore.com

I have been researching the NXT line from Meguires. I might try it on the wife's car since, and I will admit, that the Zaino is extremely time consuming but well worth the end results. If the NXT get the same results but saves me hours, I would be very happy.

03GMC2500HD, would you come over and wash my truck for me, LOL.

I'll buy dinner and beer !

Who needs dinner when you're offering beer!!!!

Meguiars Gold Class wax is what i use, the liquid one, makes the truck better than a mirror. Main thing is to wash at least once a week and wax about every 3 months. To DRY the truck get one of those California Water Blades, its surgical grade silicone and will not scratch at all unlike any kind of rag you would use, plus it dries in one swoop. my trucks never had the swirls in them.

I love Poorboys waxes and what not good price to Here (http://www.poorboysworld.com).
Here (http://www.autopia-carcare.com/) is a good paint care/cleaning site.

St. Louis, your closer to me so I get dibs on a truck wash first right? I only have a reg cab so it should be easy!

I really need to wash my truck again. Man is it nasty

Good post! Anyone know what a "Water Swipe" is?

Love to see some pics of freshly detailed onyx trucks...I'll post mine soon. Gotta get the energy for a fresh wax job. I use that stuff in the orange bottle nu finish I think.

Thank you for all your input. This is really good.

:D

Good post! Anyone know what a "Water Swipe" is?
http://ddsproducts.com/BRUSH_files/waterswipe.jpg

Thats what the water blade looks like too.

I use a leaf blower to remove the water beads ~

I would just be careful when using a leaf blower, becuase if any sand or dirt gets into the intake on it, the leafblower turns into a sand blaster!!

03GMC2500HD has some great suggestions. I'd say the most important things for a black truck are using the two-bucket wash system and keeping wax on it at all times. Best preventive maintenance for keeping the swirl marks away. I go a little bit farther with the two-bucket deal -- I use one bucket to fill up the sponge with soap/water, and the other bucket to wring the sponge out. This keeps most of the dirt out of the wash water. I just wait 'till I'm completely done with the paint to do the wheels/tires/undercarriage. I use Meguiar's Gold Class car shampoo. It's important to find a gentle car soap that won't take your wax off -- when it comes time to take your wax off, use Dawn dish soap.

I can't under-state the wholesome goodness of using a clay bar as part of your detailing system. It takes off all kind of contamination that washing won't. I use Meguiar's Quick Detailer to wet the paint when using the clay bar. I think it does a better job than just water alone. Next comes a polish, I like Meguiars Machine Glaze or 3M Swirl Mark Remover for Dark-Colored Paint. Because it's in their 'professional' line (vs. 'consumer' line), the Meg's glaze is a little expensive, can be hard to find, and you HAVE TO put it on with an orbital buffer or rotary polisher (can't generate enough heat for the product to work properly with just your hands). The 3M stuff is good, pretty easy to find, and easier to apply if you don't have a machine. Both the clay and the polish steps are real important if you've got a dark-colored rig -- that's what will take care of the small scratches and swirls and really make the truck look perfect.

As far as wax, I've used a lot of different stuff, and really like Meg's NXT as a base-coat, with a coat of Meg's High-Tech Yellow Wax (which is carnuba) on top. This really adds depth, and keeps the NXT from looking like saran wrap, which I think it does when you put a couple coats on.

BUT, my most important piece of advice: NEVER, NEVER take a black truck to any kind of car wash. Don't care if it's a rotating-brush car wash (BIG no-no) or one of those "touchless" deals, they both suck. The rotating brush car washes are full of dirt and grime and will swirl and scratch up your paint something fierce. The "touchless" washes use harsh detergents and so do the do-it-yourself places. The DIY places also have those crazy foaming brushes, which will do some serious paint damage themselves. I only go to one of the DIY places to use the power washer (RINSE ONLY) if she's full of mud and I don't want it running all over the driveway at home.

I have a black crew cab dually and use the Mr. clean system. It is awesome. It does not strip wax, it states on the box that the way is dries with the filtered deionized water causes it to look like there is no wax, but if it rains on it after it dries, it will bead if there is wax on it. I had absolutly no spots on my truck. I still wash late in the evening. As far as the other suggestions, I don't know, I have never tried them.

My truck is silver and black.. Nevada has HARD water.. Where do I get a clay bar? Thanks for the great thread!

Harrington,


I know everyone has some good input however my last truck was black. I bought the Griots garage polishing system with the random orbital buffer.

It is an amazing system. You had to have seen the before and after of the truck. It is impossible to burn the paint with this beffer and it makes all those swirl and light scratches disappear. I mean it. They are gone. My black has the deepest gloss I had ever seen except from a show car.

I highly, highly recomend it. I will never polish a truck without it.



Mark

Romark1,

I too use the Griots Garage waxes and polishes. I've been using his products for 4 or so years now.....have tried EVERYTHING under the sun and nothing matches the results. With the Porter Cable oribital and the Machine Polish #3 you'll never see swirl marks. In between waxes I use the Speed Shine for protection and sheen. Well worth a look at his site. www.griotsgarage.com (http://www.griotsgarage.com).

I agree also aznap. I know there are passionate arguments for "xyz" brand or "pdq" brand but no one can change my opinion because of the results I have seen.

The complete system is a little pricey for the initial set up but when you have it, it's all you need.

This may sound a little gross -:t but it almost is fun to use. Especially if you own a black truck.

After I polished my previous black truck I went to visit my good car salesman friend. When the other sales people saw my turck, they couldn't believe the shine and slickness.

Worth the investment if you are a little fanatical about your truck finish.


Mark

nvmtnlion-
You can get a clay bar just about anywhere now... Auto parts store or I've even seen them at Wally-World, and should run you $10-15. One tip on using it: Pull the bar apart into several small pieces, rather than trying to use the whole thing. You're inevitably going to drop the piece you're using onto the driveway, and you MUST throw it away when this happens. It'll have picked up a bunch of grit/dirt, and you don't want to be rubbing that onto your paint.

So you know what you're looking for:
http://www.meguiars.com/estore/product_detailpage.cfm?product=Quik-Clay-Detailing-System&sku=G-11

There are lots of companies who sell clay bar, and they're all pretty much the same in my experience.

Siphon-

Thanks! I got the Mother's at Kragan. Thanks for the tips also! My rig is silver with the black in the middle of the truck. I can't wait to try it.

Tonight as the Nevada sun was going down, I got out the hose, bucket, microfiber wash mitts and the microfiber drying towels and got to work.

I double washed and dried my rig and then got out the clay bar and spray detailer they gave me to go with it. I chopped the clay bar into pieces and promptly dropped the first piece on the ground. Nice tip, Siphon!

Then I got down to using the clay bar. I have to say, it didn't *seem* like it was doing anything.. untill I got the first fender done. WOW!!! :eek: does it look better! All that Nevada hard water spotting is gone and the light scratches!

As suggested, I washed the rig again, my girlfriend thinking I was nuts the whole time.

Then I followed up with Mother's caranuba wax (it came in the clay bar kit), and I can't even describe how good it looks! Thanks to all who contributed with this thread!

The bad news is my girlfriend looked at my truck and asked me if I was doing her rig tomorrow!

Tell her if she wears a bikini and does the washing you will do the waxing. It will be a team effort :grd:



Oh and.....:nopics:

nvmtnlion- Glad to hear your results turned out so well! Murphy's Law in effect on the clay bar, what can I say. One thing you'll find about carnuba wax is that it'll look even better after about 8-12 hrs of 'cure' time. You should usually wait for it to cure between coats if you're going to put multiple coats of carnuba on, otherwise it'll haze a little on you (not true for the synthetic waxes out there -- don't need to wait for those). So anyway, where are the picts of this superbly detailed rig???

I feel your pain on the water spots. I'll confess here that the truck I owned before I bought the GMC was a Furd F150 Supercrew. I bought it used, and found out when I Carfaxed it that the original owner had been from NV. I couldn't figure out why the thing had so many permanent water spots on the hood & roof, but the paint was otherwise in such great condition. Even the clay bar wouldn't touch them. I was being cautious with the machine, but it took three separate runs at that paint with the rotary polisher and machine glaze to finally get all of the spots out. Even then, there were two spots surrounding each of the windsheild washers that would never go away. I don't know what you put in the water down there, but Censored !!!!

Here's one last tip -- do what I did, and convince your girlfriend to buy a white car. Fewer instances of 'detailing envy' that way :D

Here is the biggest pic the forum will let me post... It looks great and not like a 1994 at all. It ain't a duramax, but it's mine :ro)

The water here comes from snowmelt and wells. If it is well water, it is full of lime and other minerals.. even arsenic!!

It should be a good indication that the Water Authority has Crystal Geyser spring water in their front office as to what we have to deal with.

No such luck on getting the girlfriend out of her rig and into something white, or silver, or some other nastyness hiding color. She drives a black Durango V8.

One important thing to keep in mind is that not all clay bars are the same. I experienced this the hard way. Some clay bars are more abrasive than others. This is especially important if you are polishing black paint.

I used a clay bar that was the wrong type on my previous black truck with the results after waxing worse than before I started.

Just be careful,



Mark

One important thing to keep in mind is that not all clay bars are the same. I experienced this the hard way. Some clay bars are more abrasive than others. This is especially important if you are polishing black paint.

I used a clay bar that was the wrong type on my previous black truck with the results after waxing worse than before I started.

Just be careful,



Mark

True, there is more than one type of clay out there...(some are a finer cut than others) the main thing is using a lubricant for the clay....the slipperyer the lubricant, the less abrasive it is

So how do you know what clay you have and all that???

On a less serious note:

I will take your word on lube Scott since in all your internet travels I'm assuming you are a expert, maybe you should ask that actress what her preferences are?

Is playdoh a good substitue? I find it a very versitile substance, although the green playdoh cookies are a little on the nasty side, gotta get the yellow for that.....

I found this article on using clay bars, which is a better explanation than I could have come up with myself:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-clay.html

It's true, like Romark1 said, that there are different clays out there with different abrasive qualities. However, they're really hard to find at either retail or auto parts stores. You'd almost have to go to a detail/body shop supply place to find them. All the 'over the counter' clay you'll see at retail and auto parts stores is very mild, and you'd either really have to be trying hard (i.e., not using any lubricant -- OUCH) in order to scuff your paint with it.

I have has real good results with the Griots Garage stuff.


www.griotsgarage.com (http://www.griotsgarage.com)