Introduction Quick wash ⁄ wax All Pro Regimen Washing tips Detailing Supplies Pictures

Below you'll find my own opinions on how to wash, polish, apply sealants, and other things to keep your C6 looking like new.

Introduction

The point here is just to give you the bottom line. If you're new to detailing, you can find plenty of expert sites, forums, and books. You can read for days or weeks and at the end, it's likely you'll never get anyone to answer a simple question for you: "So how do I wash and wax my car?"

I'm not an expert. I'm just a guy who enjoys taking care of my vehicles. And I know when you're starting, what you really need is just the bottom line. What do I buy? What do I use? You need a simple STARTING regimen. When you're comfortable with my starting regimen, then you can branch out and start to try variations on your own, and you can enjoy continually trying new products, knowing that as a "safety" you'll always have at least one starting regimen that will always work. So here it is...

Quick Wash / Wax:

1. No tools needed.
2. Wash with Meguiars NXT Car Wash.
3. Dry
4. For the first time, and every 3 months or so, wax with Meguiar's #6 Cleaner Wax.
5. In between then, just wash, then wax with Meguiar's #26 Yellow Carnauba Wax.
6. If shine starts to fade, make sure car is clean by using California duster (for simple light dust only), or quick wash, followed by a light spray of Meguiars #34 Final Inspection, wiped off with soft 100% cotton towel or PakShak waffle weave microfiber towel.

Quick Zaino Trial:

1. No tools needed.
2. Wash with Dawn dishwashing liquid just this one time, to remove old carnauba wax buildup.
3. Clay, if necessary
4. Polish out any scratches or swirls (Zaino likes to point out that you need a healthy paint surface for any sealant to look it's best).
5. Apply one coat of Z5Pro
6. Wipe off with cotton towel .
7. Give light mist of Z8 and wipe off immediately with cotton towel.
8. Done !

This is adequate to give you a glimpse of what Zaino can do for you. And if you throw on another coat of two of Z5Pro, or Z2Pro later on, your gloss and clarity will just continue to improve. You'll be sold for life, as I was.

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The Best There is (The All Pro Regimen)

Be sure to check out the NEW Zaino "All in one" and Zaino "Clearseal" products!

The combination of "Zaino All in One" and "Clearseal" may revolutionize the Zaino system. I'll update the site once I get to try these out, but below I will post the time-tested old way of applying zaino to get an absolutely perfect, showcar finish that will last for 6 months without re-applying. You can take this to the bank !

First wash:

1. Wash with Dawn dishwashing liquid.
2. Leave car wet, but out of direct sun, and cool.
3. Clay with Zaino Z16 clay bar.
4. use dilute solution of z7 and water in spray bottle as lubricant.
5. Wash with Zaino Z7 to remove any clay residue.
6. If you have small scratches or swirls, go to "Scratch removal", otherwise go to step 6.
7. Apply Zaino Z5
   • mix 1/4 of bottle (equals 1/2 ouce) of Z5 with 3 drops Zfx. Shake.
   • this amount of sealant should cover a corvette 1-1/2 to 2 times.
   • Spritz the cotton applicator with 2 sprays of Z6 before you start, and once after each panel, to keep it moist and help you to apply the thinnest possible layers of Z5.
8. After Z5 is on, allow to dry.
9. Rub off with 100% cotton towel.
10. Give light spray of Z6, wipe off with 100% cotton towel.
11. Apply second coat of Z5/Zfx, wipe off, then Z6, wipe off.
12. You're done for the weekend.
13. The next weekend, or for the next wash: go to step 14.
14. Wash with Z7.
15. Dry with 100% cotton Ralph Lauren towel. As you're drying, every so often give a very light spray of Z6. It will help to remove light water spotting from the wash water, and will provide a nice smooth surface for the next step. Make sure car is totally dry.
16. Mix Z2 1/2 ounce with 3 drops Zfx, shake.
17. Apply Z2 with cotton applicator, spritzing the applicator with Z6 to keep it moist and apply the thinnest coat possible.
    • 1/2 ounce should cover a Corvette 1-1/2 times, possibly 2 complete coats.
18. Wipe off this first coat of Z2 with 100% cotton towel.
19. Lightly spray with Z6, wipe off with 100% cotton towel.
20. Apply second coat of Z2/Zfx, using a Z6 spritz on applicator occaisionally.
21. When dry, remove second coat of Z2/Zfx with 100% cotton towel.
22. Get Z8, shake bottle well. Lightly spritz car with z8, wipe immediately with 100% cotton towel. Continue to wipe and turn towel until Z8 disappears, leaving a smooth gloss. Use a very small amount of Z8 - 1 spray for 1/2 the hood, for example.

Finished.
For the next 6 months you will not have to apply any more sealant.

When the car is dirty during those 6 months, do the following:

1. Wash with Z7 - it makes a BIG difference. Do not use any other car wash.
2. Blow off excess water with leaf blower
3. Remove last few drops of water with cotton Ralph Lauren 100% cotton towel. While drying, lightly spritz the car with Z8 or Z6 as you dry. This will remove any tiny water spots that might have started to form.
4. Done! The car will look like you spent all day waxing!

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Scratch and Swirl Removal

• For full discussion on scratch and swirl removal, go to the buffing discussion.

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Washing Tips

1. Do not wash in direct sun. The water will dry on the car, leaving mineral deposits (water spots) that are difficult to remove. Either wash in the shade, early morning, or early evening.
2. Wash wheels and tires first. That way, any splash or overspray from tire cleaning will be cleaned off when you do the car's paint later.
3. Use one bucket only for tires and wheels. Do not use this bucket to wash the paint surfaces.
4. Then plain water rinse of entire car - to remove large nonadherent dirt particles
5. For the painted surfaces, use two buckets.
   • One bucket with grit guard, for clean water. You'll rinse your mitt frequently in this bucket to remove dirt before putting it in the soap bucket again.
   • Second bucket for soapy water. Mitt goes into this bucket only after thorough rinsing
6. Lots of soapy water - use the soap as a lubricant to float dirt off the surface, up into the nap of you mitt, so that it is not ground into the paint, resulting in swirlmarks.
7. Wash from top to bottom, splitting the car into thirds. Dirtiest third (the bottom third) is cleaned last.
8. Keep car continuously wet on all panels to prevent water spotting.
9. When done, do a "nozzle-less rinse" to sheet the water off the car.
10. Then blow off the car with a 200mph+ leaf blower. The less you touch the car, the less swirling you'll have.
11. Do a final blot and light dry with pakshack waffle weave microfiber towel, while spraying with light mist of you favorite quick detailer (Z6), this will remove any light water spotting as you are drying

The Nozzle-less Rinse Trick

This is the simplest way to speed up your wash/dry regimen. Realize that the natural surface tension of water molecules actually makes them want to "stick" to eachother. When given the opportunity, water will try to make large sheets and actually run off the car, rather than lay in large droplets that will form spots. Your job is to give it the opportunity to sheet, using the nozzle-less rinse trick.

Quite simply, after all your cleaning is done, just take the nozzle off your hose and go over the car quickly with a light steady flow of water. You'll see what is shown below:

After normal rinse with nozzle	After nozzle-less rinse

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Detailing Supplies

Three excellent sources of detailing supplies:

These three places are the key to life. You can get just about everything you need from them.

Some detailing extras you'll want to have :

• 1. Duragloss Auto Shampoo. This stuff is the greatest ! Will make even bare paint look clean, dark, and glossy before you apply your sealant. Works well with Zaino© sealants.. I also love Zaino Z7 wash, but it is inconvenient because it comes in small bottles, and your shipping costs can really add up. You can get Duragloss at the Geek, or at Superior Car Care for $25, and that HUGE bottle will last me two to three years cleaning two cars and two motorcycles. Extremely concentrated - use about 2 tablespoons per wash.
  2. Sheepskin mitt. ONLY wash using a 100% sheepskin mitt. This is what all the pros use. No T-shirts, sponges, brushes, nor diapers should touch the paint. Look for the Eurow brand 100% sheepskin mitt, sold at Walmart : $8 . No need to look elsewhere. Just rinse with hose, hang up to dry. Do not put them in the dryer or they will fall apart. One mitt should last through two years, washing two cars regularly. If you have trouble finding them locally, you can order from Eurow directly, or from Pakshak - click links at right.	ALTERNATE SOURCE: PAKSHAK.COM
  3. Brush For cloth top cleaning. For the cloth top, the best thing to use is a brush. Go out to the hardware store and buy a brush sold for use in washing the painted surface of cars - then NEVER use it on the paint, but use it to brush out the top whenever it becomes dirty. After my initial Raggtopp treatment, I probably only brush the top with soap and water once year. You never want to put a cotton towel or anything else that produces lint on the cloth top, or else you'll spend another half hour trying to get the lint off afterward. The Helpmate Body Suds & Wash Soft Brush" (V5607) is at ACE stores for $10.
  4. Lint roller. This is all you need to do with your cloth top routinely. Sine mine is garaged, less than once a month I run the lint roller over the top to take off some dust or lint. No need to make it more difficult than that. This is the Evercare roller (Evercare.com), which you can find at any grocery store, Kmart, or Walmart.
  5. Cotton Towels. These are the best for removing Zaino Z2Pro or Zaino Z5Pro. You can either use DFTowels, or simply buy one good 100% cotton, white bathtowel from Ralph Lauren. Get the "Lauren Classic , or Lauren Classic II in white for about $15. Cut it into 3 sections, and you'll have 3 great cotton detailing towels. Despite the fraying, I can easily use one cut up towel like this for 4 years.
  6. Tire Swipes Made by Eagle 1. The best way to apply your tire dressing uniformly and get that perfect matte finish. These work great with either the high gloss, polymer dressings like Meguiars. Also perfect for the Zaino Z16 (my preference) water-based dressing. Get regular sized for the Vette, large size for trucks and SUV's.
  7. Leaf Blower. Yes, this is the best way to get the majority of water off your car FAST, before it has a chance to spot. It will also help you to blow out those areas like the rear view mirrors (which will otherwise drip for hours) and your brake rotors (which will drip rusty water on your clean rims). The Toro 51591, 215 mph leaf blower is excellent, at only $60 cost, and weighing only 7 pounds .
  8. Waffle Weave Microfiber Towels. Though 100% cotton towels are great for Zaino, they are not good for drying. The best way to dry your car is to use the leaf blower first, then lightly dry with a quality waffle weave towel while you spritz the surface with Z6 (or your other favorite quick detailer). My favorite waffle weave microfiber towels are from Pakshak.com
  9. Brinkman Dual Xenon Halogen light. Also known as the swirl - detector. If you don't have a ceiling-full of fluorescent and halogen bulbs, you're on a tight budget, but you want to be able to illuminate every paint flaw, this is a great way to do it for $30. Handheld, rechargeable by wall outlet or by cigarette lighter adapter.
  10. Bayco 1000W Halogen Project Light. $35 at Heckinger's (click photo). Individual light switching, fully adjustable, telescoping 6 foot tall tripod stand.
  11. Leather Cleaning Brush. This is the perfect way to scrub the leather interior with your cleaner to remove dirt. Then rinse the brush, wipe off the seats with towel, and use the same brush to apply your Z-10 or other leather conditioner. You'll see that the applicator makes all the difference. You won't get near the same luster if you just use an old towel or T-shirt. Get this brush for $5.
  12. EZ Detail Brush. You'll need one of these to reach inside and clean the barrels of your wheels without having to take the wheels off the car. Also great for all those tight spots on motorcycles that are otherwise unreachable.

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PICTURES

Just for fun, lets see how the all pro regimen looks when it's all done: Go to TOP