My car had an orgasm!

[JeffreyNMemphis]

It is absolutely glowing!

When I bought my first Porsche, the 924s, the previous owner told me about Griot's garage and gave me a copy of their catalog. Last week I went to Griot's website and downloaded a copy of Richard Griot's detailing handbook and read it, then ordered the following products: speed shine/paint cleaning clay kit, polish (3), and best of show wax/ kit.

Although it appears that my had has always been garage kept, it had fine spider web looking scratches from having a cover go on and off a dirty car, or having the dirt wiped off with a rag of towel.

After a sponge bath and chamois dry, The paint cleaning clay with speed shine did an amazing job of pulling off every speck of dirt and leaving a smooth super clean finish. I applied the polish and rubbed it in good with the foam pad and removed it with the micro-fiber cloths. The fine scratches disappeared or became barely noticeable unless looking at a perfect up close angle.

It was quite a workout... I wish I would have bought the orbital polisher. Doing it by hand is a lot of work, but the results are stunning.

[Hawkney911]

jeff the car looks great and yes doing it by hand is alot of work but like you said the results are stunning.

[goat]

Wow looks really good.
With the Clay how much rubbing do you have to do on the paint, or is it like a once over?

[Hayabusa]

Chamois' hold debris and sentiments. Trash it and buy "The Absorber"! You can wash it by hand with mild soup to clear grease or bad marques. Chamois' are full of oils and hard to manage, IMO. They are simply NOT worth the hassle of wringing out, drying.

Besides, once you discover for the first time that your chamois is carrying a little rock in it and decides to place a three foot strip down that beautiful black paint of yours,,, you will wish you listened to me!

Griot's products are great, but for the money spent in his properly placed products,, there are ten other more economical ways to go,, "Mother's" products for example. Simply the best of the best.

Griot's have great products but I used their brochure for ideas and guidance rather than living wholly by everything that they sell. Hey, I appreciate venture capitalism's, sure,,, but, I also appreciate education and privilege of choice.

For example; Wesco's Auto paint supply,, they stock Meguiar's Clay bar,, all you need is a spray bottle of half water/liquid soap, a couple of clean white terry towels, a shady area and you are in.

Your car looks great!

Remember - with a black car,, don't follow the "wax on left, wax off right, grasshopper!" stuff! It should always be with washing or waxing - top to bottom, change water/soap often,,, wax panel at a time straight lines only forward to back ONLY!!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by goat
Wow looks really good.
With the Clay how much rubbing do you have to do on the paint, or is it like a once over?

Man, claying a car is such an easy thing I am surprised so many people have as many questions as they do about it.

A hint that I find works EXCELLENT. After washing the car thoroughly and without drying it, make a new batch of soap and soap down the car. No need to use the Speed Shine or any of that stuff. Just clay it through the soapy water. Make sure you don't stay with the dirty clay too long. You'll see contaminants on the clay surface. Stretch it and fold it into a clean part and keep going. It makes the job go faster and then you final rinse and dry. Reduces the job a LOT.

Goat - you feel a "pull" on the clay that disappears as the contaminants are picked up by the clay. No need to worry about how much rubbing; you'll "feel" it easily. Don't confuse this pull with the pull you would feel if you go beyond the lubricant...which is another reason why the soapy water trick works so well.

[the]

I agree on the chamois, I think they are probably the worst, most friction-laden way to dry a car. Those things are best left in the '50s or wherever they came from. They will definately put small scratches on a black car.

For a black car, I use only clean micro-fiber cloths to dry. For other less sensitive colors, I use a clean 100% cotton towel.

Be careful with those microfiber towels, keep them segregated from everything else at all times, wash them by themself, store them in a sealed bag. They are absolute magnets for dirt, grit, etc. And once that stuff gets on a microfiber towel, it is pretty much impossible to remove it.

[Dan in Pasadena]

+1. Chris, Try my soapy water technique posted below your post. I'll never go back to the "spritz, spritz, rub clay, wipe off, look for another towel" routine ever again. +1 on The Absorber too. My old (expensive) chamois now hangs in a place of reverence but goes unused.

I agree that Griot's are good products but if you buy them you are just paying a big markup. I use lots of Mother's products too. Back to Black works great on my rubber but another product I have heard good things about is Forever Black. It is a dye so maybe best for trim that has been truly neglected and deteriorated some. Only available on the internet, I understand.

Originally posted by Hayabusa
Chamois' hold debris and sentiments. Trash it and buy "The Absorber"! You can wash it by hand with mild soup to clear grease or bad marques. Chamois' are full of oils and hard to manage, IMO. They are simply NOT worth the hassle of wringing out, drying.

Besides, once you discover for the first time that your chamois is carrying a little rock in it and decides to place a three foot strip down that beautiful black paint of yours,,, you will wish you listened to me!

Griot's products are great, but for the money spent in his properly placed products,, there are ten other more economical ways to go,, "Mother's" products for example. Simply the best of the best.

Griot's have great products but I used their brochure for ideas and guidance rather than living wholly by everything that they sell. Hey, I appreciate venture capitalism's, sure,,, but, I also appreciate education and privilege of choice.

For example; Wesco's Auto paint supply,, they stock Meguiar's Clay bar,, all you need is a spray bottle of half water/liquid soap, a couple of clean white terry towels, a shady area and you are in.

Your car looks great!

Remember - with a black car,, don't follow the "wax on left, wax off right, grasshopper!" stuff! It should always be with washing or waxing - top to bottom, change water/soap often,,, wax panel at a time straight lines only forward to back ONLY!!

[Hayabusa]

I am a Piloti shoe junkie, so there! I will admit it,, I am addicted too, dammit!

The new ones on there way are the new black ones. Love driving with them with their rounded heels!

Link to Piloti's 360 view (safe) Piloti Prototipo VR

Hmmm, I don't have to order these through Griot anymore?!

[goat]

Thanks Dan.
Good info and tips you have broght forward.
I have put off the clay bar forever. The thing has been sitting on a shelf for nearly two years!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Are you sure you posted these comments in the right thread? Oh well

the - I used to use old bath towels to dry my car. They worked great back in the day but the later towels seem to have more synthetics in them so unless I go out of my way to buy true all cotton towels and then wash them 1000 times to soften them up, I guess I'm outta luck! I tried using microfiber towels. I don't find them to be all that absorbant. What am I doing wrong with them?

Originally posted by Hayabusa
I am a Piloti shoe junkie, so there! I will admit it,, I am addicted too, dammit!

The new ones on there way are the new black ones. Love driving with them with their rounded heels!

Link to Piloti's 360 view (safe) Piloti Prototipo VR

Hmmm, I don't have to order these through Griot anymore?!

[Hayabusa]

Thanks Dan! That soak the whole car thing in soap might not be my best choice though. It barely comes out of the garage let alone even hears a remote bad weather forecast here in Seattle.

Good tip on baggin and taggin' those micro-fiber towels, The. The! That in itself is funny!

It reminds me of this guy in New York that was tired of people saying THEY to everything, so he went to court and had his name changed to THEY! So, every time someone says ,,you know 'they say' ,, he gets credit! What a ding bat! Like that will pay in dividends or something!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by goat
Thanks Dan.
Good info and tips you have broght forward.
I have put off the clay bar forever. The thing has been sitting on a shelf for nearly two years!

Tim, You're welcome and you have a treat coming.

Get a good radio and a shady spot on a weekend afternoon, add a couple of your favorite "beverages" and you will find the first time you clay a car whose paint is in relatively good condition...you'll ask yourself why the hell you EVER did it any other way. A thorough waxing with virtually any quality wax thereafter and your car will look like a million bucks. Enjoy!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by Hayabusa
.....It reminds me of this guy in New York that was tired of people saying THEY to everything, so he went to court and had his name changed to THEY! So, every time someone says ,,you know 'they say' ,, he gets credit! What a ding bat! Like that will pay in dividends or something!

You think THAT'S an odd name. How about this one:

[Hayabusa]

Originally posted by Dan in Pasadena
Are you sure you posted these comments in the right thread? Oh well

the - I used to use old bath towels to dry my car. They worked great back in the day but the later towels seem to have more synthetics in them so unless I go out of my way to buy true all cotton towels and then wash them 1000 times to soften them up, I guess I'm outta luck! I tried using microfiber towels. I don't find them to be all that absorbent. What am I doing wrong with them?

I have a hard time being politically correct and worrying about whether or not I am placing in the "right" forum or not! If someone has the time in their day to chase down stuff like that,, then so be it,,, and there it goes,, I won't worry about trying to find it or whether or not it was moved.

Shoes,, paint.. it's all about life isn't it? And, it's all bout the obsession with our cars, right, Dan?

[Dan in Pasadena]

I just thought you were responding to someone's post about driving shoes and accidentally put it in with the detailing thread. But yeah, its all good. The older I get the more I know how true that is.

If you aren't obsessed with one thing then its another! At least that's my problem.

[Hayabusa]

Originally posted by Dan in Pasadena
You think THAT'S an odd name. How about this one:

HEY,,, I knew there were more than one knucklehead's in this world!!!

[Hayabusa]

Originally posted by goat
Wow looks really good.
With the Clay how much rubbing do you have to do on the paint, or is it like a once over?

Keep in mind that it isn't rubbing,, it is more like gliding. Because of the soap,, if you are ever feeling resistance,, you need more water/soap solution. you will get a feel for what contaminants are in the paint, what is clear and what is dirty.

Clay bar, feel with you fingers for final contaminants and dry and move on. Wax and finalize process!

Fav beverage, preferably draft Guinness!

[the]

Originally posted by Dan in Pasadena
Are you sure you posted these comments in the right thread? Oh well

the - I used to use old bath towels to dry my car. They worked great back in the day but the later towels seem to have more synthetics in them so unless I go out of my way to buy true all cotton towels and then wash them 1000 times to soften them up, I guess I'm outta luck! I tried using microfiber towels. I don't find them to be all that absorbant. What am I doing wrong with them?

Hmm, not sure what's going on with your microfibers. I've used the expensive ones from Meguires, and the inexpensive one from Costco (great deal!) and they are incredibly absorbent.

You know how small they are, if I "sheet" the water off the car on my last pass with the hose, I can completely dry the car with 2 microfibers.

One thing, when you dry them, don't use any kind of fabric softener, that hurts absorbency.

[Hayabusa]

That is true about the fabric softener on towels. I don't use any softeners on bath towels at all as a rule. I like getting out of the shower and have a towel that works!

Regarding the running of the hose over the car - I used to chase the car down that way so as not to have any water spots,,, now with a good wax and a follow up spray and wipe.

I found that I was beating myself up trying to reduce the water spots. Hey,, let them form,, I can get to them with less effort in other more effective ways. Less time, less water used, less effort.

Best friends are my California Duster and spray and wipe.

[JeffreyNMemphis]

When I said "chamois", I meant absorbing cloth... I have the absorber.

I use my old leather chamois for the rims only.

Griot's products are not cheap, or inexpensive. I have also had good experience with Mother's product. Is Griot making a hefty markup? I am sure he is. Do I mind? Not really. The products work excellent as a system. I am completely delighted. This was a luxury purchase, like having a Starbucks coffee instead of Folger's.