The Big Block Blog

New cars or old classic muscle cars; they all need protection

by Keith MacDonald

What is this topic doing on a musclecar blog?

Well, too many times I’ve been to car shows, cruise-ins and auctions and have seen gorgeous cars that appear to be perfect at 20-feet, but then they lose that beauty when you get a little closer and can clearly see swirl marks, scratches and other blemishes in the paint. All of that can be avoided.

Let me start by saying that I confess to swirling and scratching the paint on many of my old cars and the reason was: I just didn’t know there was a system to washing and waxing your car . Had I known, it would have saved me hours of work in my driveway or garage.

A natural sponge or microfiber wash mitt works great.

Washing

It makes sense not to fill a bucket with piping-hot water, or freezing cold water either. Hot water will contribute to wax-stripping and cold will cause your soaps to gel and not dissipate evenly in your wash bucket.

Use a car wash cleaner – with or without glossers. I prefer a little glosser in mine which is why I use my own brand of Mac’s Wax Citrus Power Suds w/Gloss Enhancer ($8). Do not use kitchen dish detergent!

Do not use too much soap. Follow the directions on the bottle or jug, Too much detergent will strip your wax – even with a gloss-enhancing wash solution. Less is more.

Wet the car down well and spray off as much dirt and dust as you can. This means less grit will be pushed around by your cleaning sponge or mitt.

You should wash from the top, down. Doing the glass first, then the roof (thus keeping any roof grit from swirling your glass). Once you have finished the roof, rinse all the soap and dirt from the car. Be sure to dip your mitt or sponge often! (Some people have a 2nd rinse bucket to clean their wash mitt in. This keeps gritty dirt out of the soap bucket…smart, huh?)

Now wash the hood and trunk, rinse and do the upper half of the doors, fenders and rear quarters. (We’re almost done…) Next, do the dirtiest area: the lower panels and bumpers. Rinse everything well and towel it dry.

How Dry I Am…

Be sure to use a large, soft, fluffy terry cloth towel to dry with. I use a microfiber towel, which also works well. If you want to use a shammy or ShamWow-type product, be sure to wet it first. If you don’t, it will cause tiny scratches in your paint; not good for black paint or dark colors.

Wax on…Wax off…

Start with a good quality carnauba-based wax. I prefer Mac’s Wax Butter Wet Deep Shine (16 oz. $13). Sure, I sell this wax under my own brand, but it is an awesome wax, which is why I chose to sell it!

People who want to sell you non-carnauba waxes will swear to you that carnauba wax will soften and melt – this holding on to dust, debris and bug parts. This is baloney! Carnauba wax has a melting point of 160-degrees F. But when they add the polymers and UV protection, that break-down temperature soars above 200-degrees. Sure, the hot sun on a black car can get very hot. But the wax will not “melt off.” Once you begin to drive, the air movement alone will drop the temperature back down.

Be sure your car is in the shade and that you can hold the palm of your hand on the surface. This means it is cool enough to wax. Do not wax below 50-degrees F.

Remember this?  In the movie, The Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi told Daniel-San to put wax on in a circular motion and then remove it in the oppisite circle movement.

Remember? “Wax-on, wax-off…”

(photo courtesy Columbia Pictures)

This was actually the wrong way to wax a car.  Applying wax in a swirl motion might be okay, but removing it with a circular swipe is bad, bad, bad.

What happens is the dried wax residue can ball-up on your wax-removal towel and this can actually hold just enough grit to cause swirl marks!

Swirls can be seen at multiple angles. If you wipe off your wax from front-to-back, starting at the top (again), and keep your wiping pattern going that way , there may be “marks,” but they will be very hard to see except for at one angle. In other words, any miniscule scratches your wax or towel create can be hidden by single-direction removal. On the sides of the car, I will remove wax by going up & down only!

When you are finished, lightly spritz each section with your hose and re-wipe to even-out the wax, remove any wax dust and really buff-up the shine.

Done!

A glossy coat of wax makes all the difference!

Check out the best in car wax, polish, spray waxes, spray glossers and tire and interior dressings at www.macs-wax.com!