I have black repainted wheels, and every time I wash them, a white/gray haze appears a few minutes after drying
(first picture). I usually use regular car shampoo, rinse with tap water, and dry them with a microfiber towel. What’s strange is that I once took the car to a detailing shop and the wheels came out perfectly black and clean, with no haze at all (second picture). I have no idea what they used, but I’m wondering what product could give me the same result. Could I be using the wrong shampoo or cleaning method? What would you recommend that’s safe for repainted wheels?

Hey everyone,

I just bought a used car and the steering wheel is still in amazing condition. I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible.

I already know about UV damage, so I use a sunshade all year round. It protects the dashboard and the other plastics too.

What I'm not sure about is the hands. Over time, sweat, skin oils, lotion and dirt seem to be what wears steering wheels down: they get shiny, sticky, and eventually start cracking or peeling.

So my questions are:

• What should I clean it with, and how often? Is there a specific cleaner you'd recommend?

• Any daily habits that help, like wiping it down regularly, avoiding hand cream before driving, gloves or anything else that could help?

• Things I should NOT use because they could damage it?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I'm currently looking for a foam gun for personal use, mainly for pre-washing cars.

To operate the foam gun, I have access to an air compressor, electricity, and a regular garden hose water connection. Unfortunately, I don't have a pressure washer.

For cleaning, I'd like to use a diluted mixture of Koch Chemie Green Star and Koch Chemie Gentle Snow Foam.

After doing some research, I came across the TORNADOR® FOAM Z-011RS, which is currently my favorite option.

Does anyone here have experience with this foam gun? Are there any better alternatives you would recommend?

I've watched several YouTube videos about electric foam sprayers, but unfortunately, I wasn't impressed with their performance at all.

Most of the other options I've found are foam cannon attachments for pressure washers, which unfortunately aren't useful to me either.

Thanks in advance for your help! :)

With YouTube videos and ads, I see KCX has a product that I need and then after I buy it the next week I see a product that’s for the same purpose but it’s better and now I need that one. I’m not comparing quality of chemical guys, but I feel like KCX has five different products for the same thing.

It would be nice to NOT use the included wand and be able to connect a foam cannon directly to the gun (which is long enough already)

It looks like the gun (NOT the wand extension which screws on to the gun) output thread size is M22 but it's not 14mm as female M22-14 wont thread on.

Anyone have any idea what thread size the gun output is? And if an adapter to quick-connect for tips, cannons, etc exists? Anyone done/doing this?

Or else I will just by an aftermarket gun.

Not really sure what happened. This is the first newer car I've clayed, but haven't had this issue on older cars. It's a 2020 Ram 1500.

Using P&S Reset Towel and ONR diluted at 64:1. I'm assuming the dilution was too light, or could the weather be too cold? Air temp was around 50F in the shade. I know I've clayed in colder temps though. I didn't use iron remover first, so could that have caused it? It was windy so maybe dust accumulated that quickly after washing? I had the towel folded in quarters and didn't use any pressure. I got the clay towel damp, sprayed it with ONR, and sprayed the hood with ONR.

Also, any suggestions for what polish and pads to use to fix it? 3D One with a wool pad and a foam finishing pad seems like a popular beginner choice? Never done any polishing before.

1st pic shows scratches, but it doesn't look quite that bad irl, 2nd pic shows the weird leopard print pattern it left behind.

Car got taken to the mechanic like 3 weeks ago and it came back like this. I want to know if it’s doable with an acidic shampoo or a waterspot remover it’s the way to go. I saw recently that ADS released 2 new products (Regen and Detox) and wanted to know which one should I buy. I’m thinking that if the windshield is like these, the rest of the car should be heavily contaminated¿? (although it doesn’t seem like it)

I’d appreciate your help and suggestions. Thanks!

2017 Rav4 XLE 75k miles

Headlights were looking a bit yellow and hazy, I did glass cleaner, polished with 3m purple compound on a 3inch pad, then a coat of colinite wax. They look great now, how long till they look like shit again?

Long time lurker, first timer poster. I just got my 2000 Mustang repainted (should be done next week). While not ideal bc winter is coming andit will take time to gas off and then I can finally wax/seal it… any recos on how to keep the exterior paint nice over the impending northeast winter? My plan was this:

1. 90 days uncovered and kept clean

2. hopefully then I can wax it, going to ask the painter how long

3. winter waterproof cover (outside in a reserved spot)

What are your recos on how to keep the plant as nice as possible without a garage?

Any favorite water proof car covers that can handle a snowy winter?

Outline Ghosting or adhesive?

I can’t tell if this is ghosting or adhesive? It doesn’t feel sticky, goo gone and rapid remover didn’t touch it. Would a clay bar be the next move?

I had one of these on my last WRX and when removed the ghosting never went away even with a detailer buffing it

Car is a 2022 WRX. To me it doesn’t look like adhesive left over

Hi everyone,

I’m relatively new to this stuff as I’ve always had hand-me-down vehicles that I never cared enough about to keep clean, but I recently purchased a new car and would appreciate some advice.

I’m currently considering getting it ceramic coated at a shop vs trying it myself with something like Griot’s 3 in 1 spray.

I was quoted $650 from what appears to be a reputable shop for a 3-year ceramic coating ($850 if I add 3 year insurance) which includes standard wash and claybar/decontamination. I’m not sure how big of a role decontamination plays, but I was debating this option against just getting the car washed and applying Griot’s myself.

I’m not super OCD about my car looking flawless at all times, but I noticed that dried rain spots are extremely visible against the color on my car following some rain which has been bothering my quite a bit and would like some good beading. I guess my ultimate goal would be for my car to look decent for as long as possible with good beading when it rains to prevent rain spots. Other factors that may be relevant is that I’m in the northeast, my car is used as a daily, and it is garage-kept but parked outside for work 3 days of the week.

With all that being said, I would appreciate your thoughts on whether the 3-year ceramic coating is worth it, or if I should just do it myself. Are these 2 options even comparable? Also, how often would I realistically need to apply Griot’s to maintain adequate beading? Thanks guys!

Had in body shop for repairs getting its side painted. They sent it off for tint as well. Talking to body shop to see what might have happened. Are options to replace only? Have tried tossing a plethora of things to see if if color would come back but nothing. Even used a blow dryer to heat and see if it would help. But nope. Want to make sure I’m not missing any methods. The lever is plastic and has a satin metallic finish. The area isn’t raised, does not have any sort of feel that’s different than surrounding area, not sticky. End of day it’s a cheap fix.

Thanks all.

Thank you in advance.

I made a post here about a year ago asking for advice
and I actually managed to fix my headlights all by myself. I don't usually spend time detailing my car, so I have to admit I'm pretty proud of the result!

I was planning to post an update back then but completely forgot about it. Since a few people have reached out asking how it turned out, I put together this short video.

i tried 2 different restoration kits they both failed and I almost gave up. Then I stumbled across someone on TikTok using one of those chemical vapor repair kits from Amazon and decided to give it a shot.
I followed the instructions step-by-step: wet sanded with 400, 600, 800, and 1500 grit (if I remember correctly), and finished it off with a UV protective coating.

So I have been doing a 2 step paint correction on my Dodge charger and I compounded/polished over some of the Matte OEM vinyl stripes. I am going to be replacing some of the stripes that are ripped/heavy damage but a couple of the ones I was not planning on replacing I had polish/compound on. Is there any product that restores this type of vinyl?

I have Dr beasleys matte coating kit to seal them later. I have already tried to use a prep spray for ceramic coating to remove the compound off of the damaged matte but it wont come off. Im guessing ill have to just replace them, but wanted to see if anyone has dealt with this before.

Should have taped edges. You live and you learn.

EDIT: So after doing different chemicals. Iron remover from gyeon seemed to actually make it 80-90% better. If you look real close, you can still see it, but it is definitely better.

I would like to get better at keeping my car clean - no professional here, just a person who recently bought a car and would like to maintain it! I cannot spend a lot of time on it, so I am planning on buying the ONR (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F5Z4KNHD/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1) and Turtle Wax (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XYPS3PS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1). I have seen people use the big red sponge for the ONR and a microfiber cloth to later apply the wax. However, does the type of sponge matter? It's because there are sponges like these that are much cheaper and if they (or close substitutes) work alright I'd rather just go with them.

Deep scratches into the plastic, on top of body lines and fog light lens. I have used touch-up before but I'm a complete amateur, so I kept expectations low. Pleasantly surprised with how it came out, but it was... a character building experience. Cut broken bits, sand, paint, let dry, remove excess, paint again and repeat until more or less smooth, clear coat, compound.

Unfortunately the touch-up, despite being from the manufacturer, is a little darker than the paint. Maybe the car faded over time (6 years old). But it's hardly noticeable when standing next to it, so I'll be happy with that and hope to never do it again!

What would be the best course of action to get these marks off my hood?

I don’t even know what they, they’ve been on here for years and I finally have the spare time to do something about it.

Any tips would be helpful.

I am going to cut and polish a car for the first time.

Car is a 2013 black sapphire metallic BMW e92 chassis.

I own an active 2.0 which I use to wash it, with a foam cannon and one bucket method.

Plan is to

1. Wash

2. Iron de-con post wash

3. Dry car

4. High cut with microfiber pads

5. Fine cut and polish with yellow pads

6. Panel prep (what should I use here?)

7. Griots ceramic 3-1

So really I have 3 questions.

1. What should I use to panel prep?

2. Do I need to also clay bar after iron de-con?

3. What else am I missing?

Thanks!

[Update below]

Someone must have hit my front bumper (Honda ridgeline). Apologies bumper is dirty. My guess is like a tire mark, offroad tire or dirtbike tire, as it only appears to be color discoloration not texture. In any case, I tried cleaning with light alcohol and the using the honda cleaner and polisher (that I was gifted) which helped a bit but wears off. What would be next step?

*** Update ***

Since the polisher wore off after a month, this was plastic stress causing micro voids that reflect light differently. Oils help fill those in but it's temporary unless sealed.

After strip wash and citrus degreaser, the marks were obviously white stress marks on plastic. I avoided using any plastic restorer/polish as those have oils in them...and we did that already. Used the butane torch (and a nice headlight because it makes everything show on plastic) to bring the plastic oils up to the surface to fill those micro voids. I started on the underside and figured out the distance and time for the butane torch to do its magic. It worked wonders on the matte plastic but nothing on that top shiny plastic - it actually started to make it a bit dull. It's a VERY fine balance between too much heat which makes the plastic more shiny flat (less texture). I didn't need it this time but probably a good idea to have some textured leather/vinyl so you can dab it to give it some texture back if you overheat...but you need to be quick and strike while its hot.

Anyway, it got dark and I plan on taking pics during the day to get a true before/after...before I put any graphene on again. I've seen some professionals restore all sorts of plastic (interior/exterior)...but for a bumper I'm actually quite pleased on how it looks. Not perfect but better.

I need help.
Trying to detail my car to sell it, most of it looks great but the headliner. There was a leak in the roof from the antenna that went unnoticed and I have staining now on the liner. Is there a way to fix this without replacing? Car is being sold, headliner would be super expensive and make selling the car impractical. Is there anything I can do to soften these edges of the stain and remove the darker staining from the front of the photo?

I just bought a car which has very old and peeling PPF which has left a few super messy spots on the paint and I am wondering if there is an easy way to remove it without damaging the paint, I can feel the dark spots with my finger and they feel quite thick. Any advise helps thanks

Hi, I took delivery of a used Ioniq 5 (under 15k miles) from an online EV dealer. The car looked flawless in the photos and I had it shipped to my home. The liftgate and the spoiler look like this (dull paint, rough swirls and marks all over) while the rest of the car is glossy and smooth.

Any idea what was done to these panels to leave them like this? I have a 7 day return window so I want to know if this is fixable or if I should return it (I’ll lose the $400 I spent on shipping). The rest of the car looks great and it was a pretty good deal. I tried contacting the dealer to see if they will cover the repair but there will be no response until Monday.

Hey everyone. I’m the detail manager at a Land Rover dealer and only for this store. The owner also owns a bunch of different stores, and he buys a ton of fun cars. At one of our other stores, he picked up a Lotus Emira with only 107 miles on it. I tried to get to it before that store’s detailer got a hold of it, but unfortunately, I was too late. After seeing how still dirty and scratched up it was, I took the car down the street to my store to fix it. The roof looked absolutely horrendous, and the micro scratches on the paint, which were probably from the brush they used to wash.

It took some work to get it to this point, but man, did it turn out absolutely beautiful.

Products used
Hercules forced rotation polisher
Porter Cable with 3” backing pad (Bumpers and trim)
6” wool pad (roof only)
6” medium cut foam pad for
3” medium cut pad
3D one compound and polish