A Detail Narriative

THE ONLY SECRET TO A GREAT SHINE IS PREMIUM CAR CARE PRODUCTS AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO USE THEM.

The most frequent question I’m asked at clinics, shows, as well as by email and phone is how do I get rid of swirl marks. The answer is it’s not easy, but before we get into that let’s discuss NOT putting them in your cars clearcoat in the first place.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER

Keep your washing, polishing and waxing gear in a dirt and dust free place. After you wash, dry and fold put them in large freezer bags or plastic containers until you are ready to use them again. Wash towels and microfiber applicating pads in a mild laundry detergent without bleach or fabric softener. Dry them on a low temperature setting and don’t use anti cling papers or the like. Application pads and sponges as well as random orbital polishing pads can be cleaned with Adam’s All Purpose Cleaner.

Consider buying a folding table or saw horses and a hollow core door slab for a clean setup area/workstation. Cover which ever you use with red carpenters paper for a completely clean work surface. This clean work area is to keep debris from imbedding itself in polishing and waxing pads as well as your micro fiber towels.

WASHING PREP AND WASHING

Sweep the garage a few hours before washing your car. Give the dust a chance to settle.
Wash the bucket and grit guard. Use a second bucket for your wheels. Use a two bucket system and separate wash pads.
If you are wearing a belt triple fold a micro fiber towel and loop it over your belt buckle.
Rinse your wash pad thoroughly before putting it in the wash bucket.
Have your drying towel and detail spray in easy reach.
Now is the time to spray Adams All Purpose cleaner in your wheel wells and let it set for a few minutes.
Rinse your car off with a reasonable amount of pressure to remove as much dirt and grime as possible.
Use a wash gun such as the Gilmore Foamaster 2. The one with the brass fittings costs about $59.00.
Foam your car, the wheels and the wheel wells thoroughly and let it sit for about 2 to 3 minutes. Rinse it off. This will remove a lot of dirt and further reduce the chances of adding swirl marks and fine scratches to your car.
With the wash pad thoroughly soaked begin washing from top to bottom and in a north to south/front to back direction. Don’t go east to west or in circles. Don’t press on the wash pad. Glide it over the surface doing one panel at a time. Once you complete a panel, and this is important, rinse the wash pad with the hose and wring it out BEFORE placing it back in the bucket. You want to keep your wash pad and wash water as clean as possible. Place the wash pad in the bucket, rub over the grit guard, flip it over and do the same to the other side. If any dirt is left on the mitt hopefully the grit guard will remove it and it will drop to the bottom of your bucket. Go back and rinse the panel you just washed. Repeat the process for each panel.

DRYING AND THINKING “NO SWIRL MARKS.”

By the time you finish washing your car crud has already fallen on the surface. I define crud as anything that has fallen on the surface of your car that may cause fine scratches in the clear coat. I use the Metropolitan Vac Blaster B-3. This blows off the water that collects around mirrors, lights, door hinges and so on. It’s small and powerful with it’s 4 HP electric motor and comes with lots of attachments. The MetroVac Blaster works a LOT better than a leaf blower. You can also Grab the Adam’s Detail Spray and the Adam’s Great White Drying Towel. Spray the Detail Spray liberally on the wet surface and then begin drying. Don’t press down on the towel. Let it glide over the surface and pick up the water. Repeat the process over and over until the car is dry. Inspect your car after drying. Look for water drips and spots. Remove these using Adam’s Detail Spray and your Great White Drying Towel. This process will minimize the chances of adding fine scratches and swirl marks to your cars clearcoat.

Unfolding a table, covering it with carpenter’s paper, preparing the bucket and wash mitt and sudsing your car will add about an additional 10 minutes to the wash cycle. This beats spending hours trying to remove swirl marks during the polishing cycle.

WASHING WHEELS

This is where the second bucket comes in. Pour the water from the car wash bucket to the wheel bucket. The water will look clean since you’ve rinsed your wash pad after each use. Use a separate wash pad to avoid any possibility cross contamination such as getting brake dust on your car.

CLAYING

SHINE IS THE RESULT OF LIGHT REFLECTING OFF A SURFACE. THE SMOOTHER THE SURFACE THE GREATER THE SHINE.

Claying is essential for a great shine and it should be done after a thorough hand washing. Adam’s Detail Clay is the fast, easy and safe way to remove bonded contamination from your car’s clearcoat. An Adam’s Detail Clay Bar will remove paint overspray, factory fallout, brake dust, diesel soot, bonded bug remains, fine tree sap particles, insect droppings and more. Claying may not remove everything, but it will exfoliate the protruding particles. Here is the test to determine if your car needs to be clayed. Put your hand in a sandwich bag and run it over the surface of your car. If it feels gritty, clay your car.

To start divide the Adam’s Detail Clay bar into four (4) equal parts and knead one of those pieces into a ball to ensure pliability after giving it a shot of detail spray. Put the other three pieces back in the container to keep them clean. Flatten the ball of clay by pressing it on the windshield with the palm of your hand. Spray Adam’s Detail Spray over a 2-foot by 2-foot area and use it liberally to adequately lubricate the surface you are about to clay. MAKE SURE THE SURFACE YOU ARE CLAYING IS ALWAYS WET. Do half of the 2’x2’ surface and turn the clay bar over and clay the other half. Before claying the next 2’x2’ section knead and fold the piece of clay bar and, again, flatten it on the windshield. Rub the surface with the clay bar using VERY LITTLE pressure in a front to back and side-to-side motion. Inspect the section you are claying often. If the bar drags use more Detail Spray. When you complete the process clay your windows. If you drop the clay discard it. Do not use a clay bar that has been on the floor of your garage. After completely claying their car some will wash it again others will go right to the next step in the process. Personally, I go over the entire car with Adam’s Detail Spray and an Adam’s Microfiber Towel and go to the next step. Some argue that you can use that same piece of clay bar to do 3, 4 or even 5 cars. I will not use the same piece of clay twice.

POLISHING AND WAXING

Let’s talk about the difference between glaze, wax, and sealant. A glaze, (Adam’s Brilliant Spray Glaze is a great one) will give you a fantastic shine, but it won’t last long. Maybe a few weeks or even less depending on how much time your car spends outside. I use Adam’s Brilliant Spray Glaze when I enter my car in shows because I want a super high gloss. A wax which normally contains some percentage of carnauba as well as other ingredients such as coconut oil will last about 2 to 3 months again depending on how much weather your car sees. A premium polish along with a premium wax will provide a very good shine. A sealant will last the longest, about 6 months or even longer depending on how much exposure you car gets to weather. In the past a sealant was thought of as not providing a good shine. That is until Adam’s developed the Adam’s Machine SuperWax. The Machine Superwax will provide a fantastic shine and great protection for your cars surface. Let me take a slight detour here and tell you I love to test and compare. Before my wife and I left California for North Carolina two years ago I washed, clayed, polished, and waxed our 2002 black sedan. I used Adams Fine Machine Polish and Adams Machine Superwax. I wanted to see just how much protection a sealant would provide over a wax. For comparison purposes I polished and waxed/sealed the left side of the hood with a competitors products. On the right side I used Adam’s products. We drove 2,700 miles across country. Spring arrived and I washed the car. Five and a half months had passed. I used the plastic bag to test the surface of the hood and found approximately 70% less surface contaminants on the Adam’s side over the competitors side.

Adams makes polishes for both hand and machine applications. The hand polish is the Revive Polish which you would follow with the Buttery Wax or the Americana Paste Wax.

These are easy on easy off products which produce excellent results. For machine applications use the Adams Swirl and Haze Remover followed by the Fine Machine Polish followed by Machine Super Wax, Adams Brilliant Spray Glaze, Adam’s Americana Paste Wax. Which ever you use you will be happy with the results.

REMOVING SWIRL MARKS

Removing swirl marks is a slow and time consuming process and follows the claying step. You will need a random orbital polisher. I use the Porter Cable, Adams Haze and Swirl Remover, an orange buffer pad and lots of patience. Adam’s Swirl and Haze Remover Car Polish is formulated for use with professional grade dual-action car polishers like the Porter Cable 7424 XP. Dual action car polishers operate at very high speeds ( some over 6,000 oscillations per minute), but the pad throw is very short.

Set the random orbital to 5 or 6 thousand OPM’S using the Orange Adam’s Buffing pad. Prior to applying Swirl and Haze Remover mist the orange pad with a shot of Detail Spray. Using Adam’s Swirl and Haze Remover apply a small amount to the orange Swirl Killer Foam Pad. You can apply the Swirl and Haze Remover to the car or the pad. Put the pad on the surface of the car BEFORE turning on the random orbital to keep the product from flying all over your garage.
Do a small section, about 2’ by 2’, at a time. Put a line on the backing plate using a Magic Marker. Use just enough pressure to stop the backing plate and pad from rotating.
Go north south and east west. Swirl marks don’t follow a pattern.
Use a minimal amount of pressure to start with and go more aggressive only if necessary. Move the pads slowly over the surface. I move the pad about an inch per second.
Check your results by removing the Adams Swirl and Haze Remover with an Adam’s Microfiber Towel. It does not need to dry. Remove it immediately and inspect your work.
Repeat the process IF NECESSARY using slightly more pressure.
Move on to the next section until you’ve done the complete car.

At this point some will apply polish and some will skip the polish step and go right to the wax step. I prefer to polish before waxing.

POLISHING

Adam’s makes three great polishes: Adam’s Swirl and Haze Remover Car Polish, Adam’s Revive Prewax Cleaner and Adam’s Fine Machine Car Polish. Since we’ve already discussed the Swirl and Haze Remover I will focus on the latter two. Adam’s Revive is my favorite polish. Use this when you think swirl marks are not a problem. It can be applied by hand or by a random orbital. By hand, apply Adam’s Revive Polish with an Adam’s Polish/Wax and Dressing Foam Applicator or an Adam’s Microfiber Applicator Pad. When using a random orbital use the Adam’s White Polishing Pad. Whether you’re polishing by hand or with a random orbital pad moisten the pad with Detail Spray before applying the product. Set the machines speed at 1or 2 thousand OPM’s. Adam’s Revive Prewax Polish does not need to dry. Remove it immediately with an Adam’s Microfiber Towel. You can follow this step with Adam’s Buttery Wax, if you are waxing by hand, or Adam’s Machine Superwax for machine application.

Adam’s Fine Machine Polish was designed for application with a dual-action car polisher. I use and sell the Porter Cable 7424 XP. A WORD OF CAUTION. If you have a random orbital sander DO NOT ATEMPT TO CONVERT IT TO A POLISHER. Use Adam’s Fine Machine Polish with Adam’s White Polishing Pad to polish your car’s clearcoat to a jewel-like finish. It is so concentrated use 5 to 6 pea-sized dabs at a time on your pad doing a 2’ x 2’ section at a time. Don’t let it dry, remove it immediately with an Adam’s microfiber towel. Again, regardless of the pad you’re using moisten it with detail spray.

WAXING

Adam’s makes four premium waxes: Brilliant Spray Glaze, Buttery Wax, Machine SuperWax, and our newest wax the Adam’s Americana Paste Wax.

I use the Adam’s Brilliant Spray Glaze between washes, when I show my car, or when I go on those weekend cruises. Get your camera ready because you will photograph you car and email the pictures to your friends. The shine is stunning! A glaze generally won’t last as long as a quality liquid or paste wax with carnauba and other elements added, but after you see the shine you won’t care. Apply sparingly with an Adam’s Microfiber Applicator, let it dry to a haze and wipe off. Moisten the pad with Adam’s Detail Spray.

Adam’s Buttery Car Wax is an incredible hand wax. It goes on so easy you will hardly believe your waxing. It is made using a modern blend of polymers for strength and high grade carnauba wax for beauty, Adam’s Buttery Car Wax sacrifices nothing. Because Adam’s Buttery Car Wax is a pure wax without abrasive powders and cleaners it never stains trim or rubber with an ugly residue. Apply sparingly with an Adam’s Microfiber Applicator, let it dry to a haze and wipe off. Moisten the applicator.

Adam’s Machine SuperWax is a sealant that you use with a random orbital polisher such as the Porter Cable 7424. It’s easy to apply, shines like crazy and lasts an entire season. If you have a limited amount of time to spend on car care use the Adam’s Machine SuperWax once a year and after every second or third wash use the Brilliant Spray Glaze. Adam’s Super MachineWax is a paint sealant (synthetic car wax) that produces a fantastic, long lasting shine.

Adam’s Americana Paste Wax goes on easy and comes off the same way. Before this wax hit the market Adam sent me a container to use on my 1995 black Supra. I must confess I love a great paste wax. I washed, clayed, used the Adam’s Swirl and Haze Remover, Adam’s Fine Machine Car Polish and the Americana Paste Wax. I could not believe the shine. It looked three feet deep. I kept staring at it. I kept looking at my reflection. I was ready for a car show, ANY car show. I took pictures and emailed them to my friends. I called Adam and told him what a great wax this is. Apply sparingly using the applicator that comes with the wax. You don’t have to let it dry, but I do. I let it dry for about 10 to 20 minutes depending on how high or low the humidity is that day. The lower the humidity the faster the product will dry and vice versa. Remove the wax with an Adam’s Microfiber Towel. And last but not least, prepare yourself for all the compliments. Moisten the applicating pad with detail spray.

REMOVING POLISH AND WAX

The most effective way I have found to remove polish is to give my folded Adam’s microfiber towel a shot of Quick Detailer and run it over the surface I just polished. Flip the towel and remove any remaining polish and buff. Flip the towel frequently using a clean side for each panel. Do not bunch the towel up and try to remove product or buff. Press lightly. No heavy rubbing is necessary.

I prefer to let wax dry to a haze before removing. I run the microfiber towel over the surface to break the film of haze, flip the towel and remove any remaining wax and buff the panel.

WHEELS

Adams makes a fantastic wheel cleaner. My Supra has polished wheels and our family sedan has chrome wheels. I use it on both with great results. After cleaning my wheels I apply Adam’s Metal Polish with a microfiber applicator. Apply sparingly, rub gently until a black residue appears and remove immediately with an Adam’s Microfiber Towel. Spray the wheel with one shot of Adam’s Detail Spray to remove any remaining residue. Spray a little Brilliant Spray Glaze on a clean microfiber applicator and apply to the wheel. Let dry to a haze and remove. The results are incredible. If you think your wheels may be clear coated check the owner's manual or check with the dealer to see if you can use a metal polish.

LEATHER

Adams makes a Leather and Interior Cleaner that deep cleans all leather, vinyl and plastic interior surfaces without damaging the original factory sheen and color. Use it on your steering wheel, dashboard, consol, arm rests, leather and vinyl seats, and door panels. Use very little, apply evenly and frequently. Allow to dry thoroughly, then apply Adam’s Leather Conditioner. This conditioner properly conditions and hydrates leather leaving it soft and supple. Repeat this process 3 to 4 times a year or as needed.

VRT – Vinyl, Rubber and Tire Dressing

A great detail isn’t complete until the trim is done and that’s where VRT comes in. Adam’s VRT is a safe, water based, cream formula containing modern polymers that coat and bond to all vinyl and rubber for premium protection and natural beauty. Adam’s VRT makes all vinyl and rubber surfaces look dark and rich, not wet and greasy. Use VRT on the rubber molding around the door, hood and trunk to keep them from cracking and fading. Use VRT on engine hoses and such for a deep satin look. Apply sparingly with an Adam’s Applicator Pad and wipe away the excess with a soft, dry towel. Use on your tires for that just detailed look.

Adam’s Invisible Undercarriage Spray

Don’t let ugly, soiled wheel wells ruin your beautiful detail job.

It’s the attention to detail that separates a great detail job from just a detail job. That’s where Adam’s Invisible Undercarriage Spray comes in. I use this after I dry my car. I simply spray a little in each fender well and I’m done. Your black fender wells will have a satin black finish and disappear.

I am confident this knowledge I’ve provided you with will help you do a professional detail job for a fraction of the price.

If you have any questions or you’re having a problem call me toll free at (800) 366-9674 or email me at richardk@Adamspolishes.com

Richard Kashinsky
Adam’s Premium Car Care Products
North Carolina Distributor