Wanted to try out a few things and wanted to do the whole regime myself, therefore gave Mr. Orbital this Sunday off...had nightmares the night before about doing everything myself...well a man had to do what a man had to do...
Early morning...out and about...a nice wash was first given to the car using a water hose...was sick of the tons of dirt skid marks accumulated on the car last week so decided to do a different approach to the shampoo...this time the shampoo was applied to the washing foam (re-applied whenever felt necessary)....two bucket method was still used. And man this time I could see the Shampoo doing wonders....THANKS TO ACCORD/AMIR for this lovely TIP 
After a thorough shampoo session, car was rinsed and then checked for Beading...
I had checked beading in the first rinse as well and counter checked with a clean surface...the roof was perfect...perfect beads were forming, however, the boot and the hood had sheeting. Very interesting...that mean't that the wax was more dominant on the roof and the detailer was more dominant on the hood and the boot....which also explained a lot of my unhappiness over the finish of my hood and boot the past week.
Mr. D was rugrofying (wiping) the MF too hard on the flat reachable surfaces and thus erroding the wax layer...and I was trying to fix the surface in the detailer wipes...so by the end of the week...both these surfaces had basically detailer on paint only.... So my hunch was right...the problem was at the end of MR. D's technique.
Well then came the dreaded part of the process...I hate this and I am too damn weak in this and that is drying the car off!!!
Did one wipe over the water to get the excess water off...decided to use Big Orange in the second wipe of drying stage...well the MF was nice and wet...the car had to be wiped so why not be more efficient and use the APC...
Honestly yaar I still have no idea how the car dries off, it looks so easy when someone else does it...do you completely dry the car off with the cloth? do you let the last wet streaks evaporate? totally confused...and then to my horrors the Big Orange was actually making the car more wetter....more steaking lines with droplets of water...
Eventually pulled out the dry MF and wiped the car dry with a completely dry MF. (Mr. Orbital and Mr. D do it with the same damp MF...how???????)
This stage took me the most time...
Finally moved to the waxing stage...some new tips I wanted to try:
Tip 1: I am Right Handed so this applies to me...all left handed people should do the opposite....APPLY WAX WITH A CLOCKWISE MOTION meaning the application we do in circles should be done in a CLOCKWISE motion....and REMOVE IT WITH ANTI CLOCK WISE MOTION....I was told that this would make buffing very very easy...these reverse motions remove wax like magic and for right handers anti clock wise motion is natural...so it is less strainous. Last of all....the shine will be a couple of notches up.
Tip 2: Normally people apply the first pads (on a new panel) with wax on it on the most extreme reaching parts of the panel...for example the roof...you lean forward and put it in the center and then spread the polish outwards...WRONG TECHNIQUE....Apply the opposite...work from outside to inside...this will ensure that the heavier dabs of wax are on parts which are within our natural reach for buffing and places which are out of reach actually get a very thin coat meaning it comes off very easily...Same goes for the hood...work from sides to the center...
Tip 3: This is for wipes, detailers, gloss wipes etc....wipe/buff the car's (not when taking off wax for that see tip 1) horizontal surface in a front/back motion (bumper to windshield direction) and all vertical surfaces in an up down motion...I was told the shine and depth will be superb, better than anything else...
I did all these three (the first two for wax stage and the third one for final wipe and then the top coat on Monday)
Guys I am flabbergasted at the results....I didn't feel the waxing stage at all....when did it start, when did it end...I mean for a guy who has a weak stamina...after waxing I didn't even take a break (please bear in mind I was already 3 plus hours non stop in regime) and I vacuumed my entire interior...and then without a break I was out buffing the car...
The buffing experience became something like a final wipe session...the wax was actually coming off like magic...and the shine...I have not seen anything on my car like this...and the product wasn't changed just the technique....I guess I brought the best out in that wax...I actually managed to hide a lot swirls....and all those skids I was worried about last week....GONE!!!
On Monday morning USED the Detailer as top coat instead of the wax enhancer using TIP 3.....and guys...wait for it wait for it....
Today the car is standing outside...looking as if it has just been waxed and glazed.....AND THE CAR HAS JUST BEEN WIPED WITH WATER ONCE IN THE PAST TWO DAYS....
BTW I got a bad case of flu because of my water adventure on a wintery morning...so I could not do anything to the car yesterday...I let the dust sit on it....and I tell you....you could only tell there is dust on the car, if you put your finger on it...the shine underneath was over powering the dust...
Since I am now unwell, Today I eventually had to let MR. D do a VERY WET wipe...with a plan to do the Wax enhancer coat myself....but when I saw the car dust free and SMUDGE FREE...I changed my mind...the car right now does not need another coat....
So my first ever SELF LABOR INDUCING PRO TYPE DETAILING SESSION (4 STAGE ONLY)...took me 4 .5 hours...gave me FLU....oh the shampoo bottle had also fallen on the ground and I managed to spill half the bottle...Thank God it's only Armor All.....BUT LEFT ME THE HAPPIEST I HAVE BEEN TO DATE WITH CAR DETAILING....and I got to do some corrective work on my own to the damage done last week....
