Figured we could have a little conversation about car detailing, paint correction, etc. Tips, tricks, and what products you're recommending and not in 2026.

For my maintenance washes I've been using P&S Pearl in my foam cannon on the pressure washer. I really like how it seems to encapsulate and run any dirt right down the side of the car. Not the worlds LARGEST foam amount, but leaves a really really slick surface for contact washing. Another experiment I've run is Mothers regular Wash 'n Wax thinned with some water in the foam cannon has turned out to be one of the foamiest soaps I've ever used if you're into the big foam. Fun anyway. Here's a Mother's vs P&S comparison.





My last full correction was on my Vic. With my DA, I used 3D Pro on a microfiber Groit's pad, followed by 3D Polish on a light cut pad, then the 3D cherry wax. REALLY happy with how well it finished out on black.






Engine bay my process lately has been 3D Super Degreaser, with some Meguairs APC here and there, in a garden sprayer, some brushing and let it sit for 3-5 minutes, then a blast with the pressure washer. Douse everything with P&S Shine All, and let it sit for an hour or so. Come back and a gentle wipe down with a microfiber, and presto, looks nice for a driver, and doesn't leave a greasy dusty finish.







Using the same product right now on tires, with a foam paint brush for application. Minimal if any sling, and seems to last great!


Also started using Groits Ceramic Spray (the green bottle) as a booster in between sealant applications as a topper. Wow am I impressed with the slickness, depth, and beading. For a spray on it's great!






Anyway love to hear what you guys are doing and using as well.

 

I only ever hear good things about griots products, never tried them myself but I would if need be. Mcquires has been around a long time and is a well known consumer brand, ya really can’t go wrong with their stuff.
your cars look excellent.

I use a host of commercial grade detailing products: car brite, advance, trans mate, zep, castle, and 3M.

I’m an old school single stage polisher type of guy. The Camaro never sees a hose or pressure washer.


It starts with crème prep which is a viscous clay bar spray with micro fiber towels.

Next I’ll clay bar only the spots that are needed.

alkaline degreaser on the tires

hot stuff detergent for the wheels

Watered down neutral PH detergent for the door jams and plastics

low speed polisher using stage 2 polish with fine cut pad to remove marring

second stage extra fine pad with stage 3 polish for depth of color.

clean windows with sprayway

final ceramic coat everything. Rain x the windows.

I don’t often use tire shine but I have 3 different types depending on type of gloss and durability. I have water based, oil based, and silicone based.


I use two different polishers, a mini air powered and a corded dewalt variable speed. I don’t use buffers, they are for the weak.


Heres a small look at my closet. It’s reassessed on each side so ya can’t see all of it. And there is another shelf with more on top.



I also have bug cleaner tar remover for those burnouts and log drives.

Also keep an assortment of spray dyes and adhesive removers. I have multiple types of degreasers, acids, solvents and detergents. Some so strong it’ll melt ur skin clean off.

I never intended to become so obsessed with detailing. Lol

 

Very cool thanks for sharing! I also have way too many products. I've filled my shelf across the back of my garage with detailing stuff, not much I won't try lol. I really have gotten into Griot's stuff lately, super quality. Chemical Guys always seemed kind of gimmicky to me, and Megs has been a staple for 20 years on my cars.

I like your processes and products. I'm nothing but an amateur but love to learn a better way, still like to get that hose out though, therapeutic maybe lol. Still rocking my Harbor Freight DA for 14 years now, just repack the bearings every spring and it still works great lol. I do want to get into ceramics, still using the "old tech" waxes and sealants as a finisher. Depending on what kind of paint I'm working on, I use the old Megs 105/205 combo with #7 polish before wax for the single stage stuff, and I've been really impressed with 3D One for the newer cleared cars. Sprayway is the worlds best glass cleaner that's for sure.

 

I always loved Collinite for hard wax. Specifically the d’elegance line which has the highest carnuba content out of any wax.its a 6month wax.

https://collinite.com/product/no-915-marque-delegance/

try it out sometime
They also have a hard wax that is detergent proof and is good up to one year.

https://collinite.com/product/no-476s-super-doublecoat/


When I’m super ambitious, I’ll lay a coat collinite over the ceramic for an even deeper shine.

 

I bought my 'vert new and really have used the basics over all the years, except when my car collector neighbor would buy me a 'treat' from Griot's for Christmas.
Mother's and Meguiar's products 90% of the time. RAGGTOPP products religiously over the years for my convertible top. It is still the original top with no issues..The T/A has never been painted except the front bumper (rock chips) and the right rear quarter (small accident). 87,000 miles now and always garage kept except for road trips of course.

 

I'll definitely give the Collinite a try, thank you!


Beautiful 'vert, great job keeping looking new.

 

Coincidentally today was detail day so I have a recent photo to share.



This detail consisted of a single stage extra fine polishing pad @ 1000rpm using car brite select stage 2 polish with eradicater solvent. Roughly 6 hours of paint correction.

I used a caustic degreaser on the tires and hot stuff on the wheels. And of course sprayway for the glass. Finished it off with a ceramic coat. I have a shitty phone so pictures are only in 1080p.

 

I haven't tried anything new in a very long time, still haven't tried anything ceramic yet. I've been using the same Megs sealant for at least 20 years now, a medium-fine cut compound from Kit (which is older than dirt) for swirl/blemish relief on a simple terry pad, 3M products for hard plastic/lens polishing, 303 for all rubbers/vinyl/leather, Megs detailer sprays for paint clean up, and a product called Dirtex (by Savogran) as my only glass cleaner - this stuff is excellent (unless deep polishing is needed, then I use Zaino Z12).

I don't ever take a hose/water to my garage queens so I have no "washing" process for those, I do wash the wheels & tires on my '74 though as that one tends to get dirty enough for this. For that I use a modified version of Bleche-Wite for the tires that Gerogre & I discussed in another thread, I just add TSP to it for best results. For my daily driver I've been using the same Megs soap for longer than I can remember, decades now.

For those of us with white letter/white wall tires who don't ever take a hose to them, there's a dry cleaning method to keep the letters white. Mineral (or white) spirits works great for this. Obviously you'll want something more soapy to scrub the tires if the car is driven a lot, but for my '71 (which gets cleaned up after every weekend of car shows) I just clean the tires with windshield washer fluid and then do the white letters with Mineral Spirits, then follow up with a medium gloss water based tire shine.

 

I guess I'm more attached to my hose and water than I thought! I have looked into some of the rinse less systems (ONR etc). Probably will be my next purchase. I usually can just hit the cars with a quick detailer but depending on my trip length sometimes they're just too dirty. My daily driver Saturn usually gets a wash about 2x a week. The other cars really just depends on how they were used. Shows etc, just a wipe down. I gotta try the Bleche Wite trick.

Last year the Crown Vic went to Kansas City and back by way of Omaha so that was a bug massacre in July lol, and the Olds always needs a thorough wash after the Lansing Homecoming trip at least. Visited an old friend in North Dakota in my '75 a couple years back, brought my wash kit with me for that one lol. 1600 mile trip, she was dirty both ways.

Griot's best of show has quickly become my favorite quick detailer. No streaks! Even in sun. Meguairs X-Press spray wax is a great drying agent too as an FYI for anyone.

 

Great info! That's one thing I don't like about Megs QD, it ALWAYS streaks in the sun, which is usually where I end up cleaning the '74 and, of course, it's a dark color so this really shows. I haven't yet tried their UD version, Kevin says it's better so I bought a bottle of it but haven't used it yet. But it's good to know about the Griot's BOS.

 

I go through many stages of hell on the Ford with the black paint. Never again by the way lol. BoS seems to be the easiest to avoid the sun streaks with. Ultimate Quick Detailer is very good too, that's a solid recommendation.

The Olds and Camaro are significantly easier to avoid streaking with the light color.

 

I wasn't a believer in ceramics (thought it was another sales gimmick) but finally broke down and tried them a few years back. I find them about equal to the carnauba type waxes but here is the most important part for me at age 71, the ceramic lasts a really long time. With 3 cars to detail I am now a believer. Again I have stayed with the Mother's and Meguiar's brands and very pleased.
I had this old chrome polish can in my collection but I think it's too old now.

 

Ha thats a good one! I have a shelf of ancient stuff too. Some I'd be hesitant to actually use lol, but there's a couple that still work pretty good!

Just ordered some ONR Rinseless stuff (Soap/Sponge etc), excited to try it out. Should be perfect for my Olds/Camaro/Vic that don't usually get "dirty" just dusty. Actually really excited for it to get here. Maybe I'm square but this is what passes for excitement now lol

 

You make an important point: longevity of the finish. I get great life out of my old time sealants on the garage queens, but those are cars that never see water and rarely get much UV exposure either. But my daily driver sits outside every day in full sun and weather, so it needs the sealant to be reapplied about every 6 months. Would be great to only have to do this maybe once per year instead, so I'll probably try ceramic on that one before anything else.

You should see NC01TA's collection of old oil & gas station stuff, it's one of the coolest collections of automobila that I've ever seen!

 

^^^ Thank you RPM WS6

If anyone is interested it is mainly where my Trans Am resides these days. Climate controlled and insulated extra garage.
Also updated my Mopar, Sinclair, and some of my handy oiler sections.

 

Holy Cannoli

That's absolutely fantastic. Wow

 

Originally Posted by NC01TA
(I wasn't a believer in ceramics (thought it was another sales gimmick) but finally broke down and tried them a few years back. I find them about equal to the carnauba type waxes but here is the most important part for me at age 71, the ceramic lasts a really long time. With 3 cars to detail I am now a believer. Again I have stayed with the Mother's and Meguiar's brands and very pleased.)

I too am a proponent of Ceramic coating (professionally applied). Had Sara (2001 Z28, original factory paint) lifetime coated @ Ceramic Pro Elite dealer back in February. I am 78 years old (the old grey mare aint what she use to be), and all I have to do on the outside is hose her down (love my women wet LOL), and microfiber dry. I do not have to use any soap, the dirt just falls off. It is a tremendous time saver, and I do not need a detailer or any of the above products I see in these pictures.
The above pictures posted of these vehicles are awesome, beautiful well taken care of cars.

 

Your car looks fantastic!

I just received my order of Geyon's ceramic Evo line. Going to try it on my daily driver Saturn after a paint correction for a longevity test along with one of the other cars. Pretty excited to try it out.


My goat after 3D One and Cherry wet wax other day