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I'm a detailer in the SF Bay Area. If you are any bit inclined to keeping your new or near new Saab in show room condition, here is what I do to my own cars:
1) Swirl Marks- I don't put swirl marks on in the first place! I don't give your baby to any old car wash. Nobody cares about your car more than I do. I feel the secret is to minimize how much the car is rubbed. Therefore, I use a small light pressure washer to clean the exteriors of my Saabs. I don't even use soap most of the time. I got this idea from some Ferrari and Rolls Royce forums.
2) To dry the car, I first use a California Squeegy to get most of the water off. I then use a special micro-fiber towel to get the residual film off. You can get the towels on the internet. Look for "big blue micro-fiber towel" or something like it. Again, the idea is to minimize rubbing the car when it has dirt on it.
3) The other way to avoid introducing swirls into your paint is to never buff your car. Yes, I did say that, and I'm a serious detailer. If you don't know what you are doing, buffing your car can actually make your finish worse. I think most people don't know how to prepare the car for buffing and don't know what are the right buffers/pads/polishing compounds to use. If your car is new and you followed steps 1 and 2, there is no reason to buff your car. Read step 4 for things I think you should be doing.
4) Every new car I purchased, I have sealed the paint using a special teflon coating. When the paint is fresh and new, there is minimal contaminants, oxidation, junk, etc.. in the pores of the paint. By sealing the paint, I have never had to wax my cars. Yes, I did say I have never waxed my cars. They still bead water even after several years of never waxing. And since I never wax them, I never have any swirl marks.
So how do I make my money as a detailer? By fixing the problems that people have by not following steps 1-4.
88 900 SPG
96 9000 AERO
2k Viggen (sold)
because the wife can't drive a stick....
04 Honda Accord V6
04 Toyota Sienna XLE
posted by 209.203.6...
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