brewchief

I've got a new SCREW coming in black, will be built in a couple weeks, I would like to protect it ASAP to keep it looking nice as long as I can. It's been 13 years since I've had a new truck and since the last one started out as a lease that I didn't plan on buying I've never been as good as I should be at keeping a truck clean and waxed.

What should I stock up on as far as cleaning supplies? Microfiber towels seem to be the go to now days but I'm guessing they're not all equal, same with wash mitts, any recommendations? I would prefer stuff that I can either buy local at the big box stores or order from Amazon.

Are there any preferred product lines for black? Some of the stuff I've seen will have a cleaner that is not recommended for dark clear coats, I would prefer to use one brand if possible.

I plan right now to get a couple of grit guards, couple wash mitts, towels, clay bar? cleaner? wax? Recommendations on brands to buy or avoid would be helpful, trying to not spend a fortune but I would rather buy decent stuff up front and have it last.

shazam

Tell your dealer not to wash the car when it arrives. Based on your post, its obvious they won't be as careful as you in washing the car.


I got the foam gun. Not the powerwasher, the thing you hook up to the garden hose. The Gilmour brand. Not absolutely necessary, but useful. Microfiber towels---yeah, as a matter of fact, they are all equal in my opinion. Get those at Costco or any cheap place you can. Go for quantity over quality, anyway. They try to make it into some kind of premium type thing, but its not.

I really liked the waffle weave towel for drying. You only need one and it gets the job done. That's also something available at Pepboys, but if you are ordering anyway, throw it in.

I got the Maxisuds and the Citruswash both. I like both. Citrus wash more for stripping wax. On these, buy the larger size, at least for the Maxisuds. You will use it, so you might as well buy the large economy size. Well-regarded Duragloss products are sometimes locally available at Carquest.

Claybar--yeah, throw that in and use it on your new car. It doesn't hurt and its super easy to do on a new car. Good to get off on the right foot. That's also something that can be locally sourced. Get two, because you have to throw it away if it falls on the ground. A lot of people are using the nano-scrub "fine" product which is basically a rubberized towel that does the same thing as a clay bar. I don't personally know if its better.

A lot of people like the " Blacklight" product for black cars. I don't know. My car is white. No need for polishes or cleaners for a new car in my opinion.

You probably want to put down a coat of sealant first, as soon as you thoroughly wash, dry and claybar your new car. The cost-effective durable brands that come to mind are in no particular order, Duragloss, the Collinite products, and Klasse sealant. Duragloss may be locally sourced at Carquest, depending on your vendor. Lots of "Ford vs. Chevy" type discussions about the relative merits of each. There are other durable brands out there, but most of them cost more money.

Probably you will want spray wax. I thought Mother's FX was OK I got a load of Aquawax when I replenished my car shampoo on a no shipping fee deal with the mail order place. The Four Star spray wax product is also well liked. I don't know--its just spray wax and will come off in a couple of weeks no matter what.

I liked the 303 product for both vinyl and fabric, and Black on Black for the trim of the XL. Ford doesn't like you to use vinyl spray protectant by the way, although I think that's more aimed at the Armor-All product.

If you live up North, consider the rustcoating. The Canadian forumites swear by the Krown product. I live in a southern clime and squirt the undercarriage with the Salt Away product with the foam gun a couple of times a winter and hope for the best.

You might want to consider getting a DA polisher--it saves you about an hour per coat of wax you put on, and it does a better job. You have quite an expanse of sheet metal to take care of there. (also uses more product than hand application) Porter Cable and Griot are the brands. The Cadillac is the Flex 3401, but unnecessary for most people.

Got a code from Autogeek: "April10" 10% off no exclusions, free shipping. If it includes the DA polisher, that's a particularly good deal.

I don't have any particular opinion about beauty waxes or Last Step Products to put on your car, except that they seem to attract a lot of dust. I wouldn't spend huge amounts on that or necessarily even bother.

Detail spray is a commodity. Get the cheapest thing you can find. When you get a little dust on the newly prepped car, wipe it off with the detail spray and some of the many cheap microfiber towels you bought and the pristine look of your car will be extended considerably. Do it in the garage so you don't look like a jackass.

You are on the right track; Its better to focus on taking care of the cosmetics than to obsess over oil change intervals, even if it makes us all feel like fussbudgets.

Tosh.0

Optimum Opti Coat...especially when new for the paint.

gregsf150stx

My dealer acted a bit perplexed when I told them I didn't want a clean-up.

have you seen those towels and rags they use to clean-up a new truck?

shazam

I had the dealer try and raise the price and then sell the car out from under me the last time I ordered after the car was delivered. Not having a spiffed up car sitting on the lot for a few hours also helps remove this temptation.

brewchief

To be clear I'm not the guy that will hand wash twice a week whether it's dirty or not, I'm more of the kind of guy that will go though the car wash and pay an extra buck for the "hot wax" when my truck gets dirty enough that you will get dirty from walking by it, I am willing to try to change however.

I'm sure the dealer will be a little surprised I don't want it cleaned up but I doubt they will have any issues with it.

I like the idea of the sealant that will last much longer then a simple wax, should be much better for winter.

I see the foam guns for regular hoses and power washers, I've got a power washer both at home and work, do the power washer ones work a bunch better or is it just a matter of preference?

I've got access to a couple different polishers, I'll have to take a look and see what we have around and then get some pads for them.

shazam

I'm in exactly your position. I didn't pay much attention until I noticed how much money it cost me to not keep my car's appearance up.

If you happen to have a powerwasher, you just get a little foam lance attachment for it for like ten bucks to start off the wash. Considerably cheaper than a hose end sprayer. Its probably not a good thing to use a powerwasher on the paint on a regular basis other than to foam it up to start off the wash. DA polishers are probably better for the paint than the rotary kind. The rotary kind can put all kinds of swirls on it.The old fashioned kind where you hold on to a handle on both sides are reputedly pretty bad.

I hear ya about this stuff. I went four months without washing my truck this winter, other than to squirt off the undercarriage a couple of times for salt. I put a couple of thick layers of sealant on it in mid-November right before the bad weather hit. It was still there this spring. Since you know the truck will be wearing its winter coat soon, you don't have to be so persnickety about streaks and such on the late fall wax.

You have a job to do when spring rolls around, but then you have been coasting for four months, so what do you expect? Since you have the heavy-duty sealant to put on it, you don't have to wax again for a couple or three months at least. In between you can just give it a regular (hand) car wash followed by a spritz of spray wax maybe once a month for appearance sake.

So, you have maybe three full wax jobs a year, with the last one being a down and dirty type operation and nothing that resembles car detailing.

I do think the detail spray microfiber wipe down thing is worthwhile if your car just picks up a little road dust and until it gets really dirty. It doesn't take long, the extra five minutes makes your car look like it did the Saturday you spent washing and waxing it, and life is just a little simpler and faster when you do go to wash it.

Reflections Detail

I would find a person that can Opti guard the paint and properly prep it for such a coating. It will make everything else so much eaiser.

Where do you live....I can recommend top quality guys sometimes for people.

Cheers,
GREG

brewchief

I'm in Michigan, not far from Lansing, in this area it only needs to look good for about 5 years, after that it will be rusted though and it's hard to make it look good when it has holes in it.

shazam

Don't be so defeatist. If its that bad, bop over to Windsor and get your truck Krowned. Its only 150 bucks or so and it probably works for a couple of years each time. The Salt Away product I am using is cheap enough and boat owners like it a lot. Maybe that would help too. Even if these things only give you a couple of extra years its worth it.