OCDetails Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 OCD - what about stains on chrome (like the silly chrome badging on the trunk)? Do you know of any good products that will restore chrome? I've tried standard chrome polish, and it doesn't seem to do anything. It depends on the type of "chrome" and the type of stain. A lot of time you aren't dealing with real chrome and it is either just plastic or polished stainless steel. Sometimes it is just a sticker and can't be polished. The type of stain you are dealing with matters because polishing exhaust soot is different than polishing oxidation or swirls. So it really just depends. If chrome polish doesn't work, then I'm not sure what the problem would be. Sometimes it is just in the way you are using the product and you need to try it a different way. I've had a few people swear up and down that product XYZ doesn't work until they realize they have been using it wrong. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaSniper Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 Hey man, I saw your detail job on the maserati on autopia, great job!! Looking forward to that detailing guide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 OCD, how do you feel about the sealants that also have light polishers in it, such as the Tech Wax 2.0 stuff? I dunno how comfortable I am using such a product constantly, I would rather use abrasives ONLY when truly needed. Sooner or later that stuff will take a toll on the clear coat I imagine. Tech Wax is pretty much the only off-the-shelf sealant I know of. Care to recommend other ones that can be picked up at Autozone and the like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euclid Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 I've used Pinnacle XMT360 which is an all-in-one polish/sealant and it does a great job. I got turned onto it from OCD so I'm sure he'll say they can be good depending on which product is being used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaSniper Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 I dont think NXT 2.0 has "light polishers" in it. AFAIK its a cleaner wax which helps strip old wax when you apply it, it has no true abrasive property, correct me if I'm wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 Product says "eliminates fine scratches and swirls". As far as I know the only way to do that is with an abrasive solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euclid Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 Product says "eliminates fine scratches and swirls". As far as I know the only way to do that is with an abrasive solution. Hmm.. Meguiar's website doesn't say anything about the tech wax 2.0 having swirl removal properties.. Perhaps it has some fillers in it to help hide swirls? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaSniper Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 NXT2.0 does indeed contain fillers, When I didnt have time to remove scratches I applied it and it hid approx 30% of the swirling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawlwawl06 Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Ok i know this is OT, but has anyone had any experience with detailing boats(exterior)? Someone called me about it and I told them I'd have to do some research before I could say yes. It looks to be pretty similar to detailing cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted June 8, 2010 Author Share Posted June 8, 2010 It is waaaaaaaaay different than cars. Boats aren't painted the same way. Most of them are just gel coat and that is a whole hell of a lot harder to polish than paint. Plus the salt stains and barnacles are things that require special chemicals to clean. There is a lot more metal polishing that needs to be done and more sun damage. I won't do boats and RVs anymore until I get a rotary. The last boat I did took me and another guy about five hours together and another five hours by myself and I only made $500 bucks on it. That was way too much physical punishment for that little. I'd rather stick with cars that only take three or four hours and clear a higher hourly rate. For boats I charge between $9 and $14 per foot for just exterior work. A good size boat is 40+ feet and would net me around $500 just for the exterior. That is more like it. I won't do a full detail for that kind of money anymore. This gives you an idea of how I price them if you are interested. That way you don't get screwed by underbidding the job and then only making five bucks an hour or something. It happens all the time on the first job people take on boats. $500 was what the detailers at the boat yard my guy had his stored at were going to charge and they were going to have to split it five ways. I figured I'd do it for the same amount and cut the split down. Talk about a "boat load" of work.... The chemicals you use are pretty different too. There are specific marine products that you'll want to use if you are going to be doing too many of them. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted June 8, 2010 Author Share Posted June 8, 2010 OCD, how do you feel about the sealants that also have light polishers in it, such as the Tech Wax 2.0 stuff? I dunno how comfortable I am using such a product constantly, I would rather use abrasives ONLY when truly needed. Sooner or later that stuff will take a toll on the clear coat I imagine. Tech Wax is pretty much the only off-the-shelf sealant I know of. Care to recommend other ones that can be picked up at Autozone and the like? The information I got from Meguiar's was that it does have micro abrasives in it as well as fillers. The abrasives give it a little more paint cleaning bite and can clear up light hazing, but we are talking VERY light hazing. There aren't many sealants off the shelf. NXT is pretty much it. You may be able to find Meguiar's #20 or #21 if you are lucky, but it is tricky to find places that still carry the professional line. I'm sure there are more that will release 'synthetic' waxes in the coming years, but nobody is really trying to compete in that market right now. Just a note on XMT 360... It doesn't have any abrasives in it, but that doesn't mean you can't still get swirls out. Here is an example where the swirls must have just been in the oxidation or something, because I got some pretty good results with nothing else but 360. I've even got the video of this up on YouTube somewhere. Before: http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w22/OCDetails2007/Audi%20A4/arear1before.jpg After application: http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w22/OCDetails2007/Audi%20A4/arear1beforepolish.jpg After buffing off: http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w22/OCDetails2007/Audi%20A4/arear1after.jpg This is still with a machine, of course. Don't expect results like that if you are working by hand. The only thing I do by hand on the paint is apply paste waxes. Everything else gets applied by machine for either speed or effectiveness. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OAeuzQ9UQ]YouTube Video of the 'after'[/ame] _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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