I'm often asked about waxes. In the GlossHaus system, we major on two things: preparing and correcting the paint surface to the finest point possible and ease of use. Thorough polishing and glazing of your paint offers the best platform for wax - if you do it right, almost any wax will look pretty good. But once you're done preparing the paint, how do you choose what wax is right for the car? The answer is "It depends on what you want."
When selecting the type of wax, you have two categories to choose from - carnauba waxes and polymer sealants.
Carnauba Waxes are a natural product made from a Brazilian palm tree, and offer the most beautiful result - that soft, glossy glow that really gives the illusion of depth. The downside of carnauba waxes is they don't last as long as sealants, and offer less protection.
Polymer sealants offer terrific protection since they actually bond to your paint, and typically last 50% longer than a carnauba wax. [Another question I often get asked is "How long does wax last?", but that is another blog for another day, but the net answer is "It depends" :o) ]. The primary downside of sealant waxes is that they tend to look very wet and "slick", but don't offer the visual depth and softness that is really the best look for most cars.
So which do you choose? I think the easy answer is you choose carnauba for looks or sealant for protection and longevity, but here's the really good news:
You can choose both!
Layering the waxes gives you the best of both worlds - you get all the beauty of carnauba with all of the protection of the sealant. The important thing to remember is that you should apply the sealant first since it bonds to your paint. After waiting 12 to 24 hours for the sealant to cure and bond, apply the carnauba. It will go on and off even easier! Also, since sealant lasts longer, you can also apply a "top coat" of carnauba six to eight weeks later to extend the benefit of both waxes!
When it comes down to choosing your brand of wax, the choice factors for me come down to two things: Beauty and Ease of Use.
Most sealants are easy to use..They have less issues with hazing trim and they go on and come off easily, which makes them popular with detailers who have fought the chunk of carnauba-turned-cement on a spot they missed or took too long to get back to. GlossHaus Perfect Polymer is certainly no exception to that rule.
But if you're going for the best look, you're talking carnauba. Generally, carnauba requires you to work very methodically - getting it on and off the panel efficiently or risk spots that harden and can be very difficult and a little stressful to remove. GlossHaus Perfect Carnauba is specifically formulated to be easy to put and once it hazes over and you're ready to wipe it off (or even a few minutes after you're ready...), it won't take the arms of a professional wrestler or a jackhammer to remove the residue. An easy wipe with a microfiber will unveil the amazing shine you want.
When it comes to compliments, virtually every comment we get about beautiful results is accompanied with a statement along the lines of "...and it was so easy to use!" - which means we are doing our job right!
So it boils down to this: Prepare your paint well for wax to get the best result. When choosing wax, go for sealant for the best protection or select carnauba for the best look. If you have the time for one extra step, use both by applying carnauba after the sealant has had time to bond, and enjoy the most complete benefit possible!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Spring is here - time to wash cars!
Spring isn't officially here yet, but it is warming up, so a word on washing cars. If you love your car, you really should use the two bucket wash method. If you don't love your car...you should still use a two bucket wash!! Why? You'd be amazed how much damage you do to your car when you wash when you aren't using two buckets.
So what is two bucket washing? Simple - you use one bucket with your warm, soapy water, and one bucket as a rinse for your wash mitt. You start with a clean mitt, gently wash the car using both sides of the mitt and after a panel or so you rinse the mitt by dunking it in the rinse bucket, swirling it around a bit and wringing it out. Then (and only then) you put the now-clean mitt in the soapy water again and load it up for cleaning the next panel. If this sounds like "Lather, Rinse, Repeat" from your shampoo bottle, you aren't far off!
So how big a deal is it really? Below are pictures of my wash bucket and rinse bucket after washing the GlossHausmobile, which was dirty, but not "write-wash-me-with-you-finger" dirty (by the way please never do that to anyone: sometimes you'll scratch those words in the paint!!!). As usual, pictures are worth a thousand words (and you can click on them for the full-size view):
The wash bucket: (not bad, right?)
Those are swirl marks, which are caused by a lot of things: cheap or dirty microfiber, scratchy drying towels, soap brushes at the coin-up wash stations and those whirling-dervish car washes that beat your car with huge strips of cloth. The most common cause of swirl marks, however, is dirty wash water. The two bucket method dramatically minimizes swirls.
So what is two bucket washing? Simple - you use one bucket with your warm, soapy water, and one bucket as a rinse for your wash mitt. You start with a clean mitt, gently wash the car using both sides of the mitt and after a panel or so you rinse the mitt by dunking it in the rinse bucket, swirling it around a bit and wringing it out. Then (and only then) you put the now-clean mitt in the soapy water again and load it up for cleaning the next panel. If this sounds like "Lather, Rinse, Repeat" from your shampoo bottle, you aren't far off!
So how big a deal is it really? Below are pictures of my wash bucket and rinse bucket after washing the GlossHausmobile, which was dirty, but not "write-wash-me-with-you-finger" dirty (by the way please never do that to anyone: sometimes you'll scratch those words in the paint!!!). As usual, pictures are worth a thousand words (and you can click on them for the full-size view):
The wash bucket: (not bad, right?)
The rinse bucket: (cue terrifying music shower music from Psycho)
I couldn't believe how much stuff was in the rinse bucket! The idea that I was smearing all that junk back on my paint made me an instant believer in Two Bucket Washing.
So what are you avoiding by using two buckets? Simple - swirl marks. Have you ever looked at a car in the sun or bright light and seen this?
Those are swirl marks, which are caused by a lot of things: cheap or dirty microfiber, scratchy drying towels, soap brushes at the coin-up wash stations and those whirling-dervish car washes that beat your car with huge strips of cloth. The most common cause of swirl marks, however, is dirty wash water. The two bucket method dramatically minimizes swirls.By the way, the car above was a collector's BMW 2002 that he kept meticulously clean and washed all the time - he didn't realize he was the source of the swirls. The good news is a little bit of work with the GlossHaus system left it looking like this:
If you have any questions, feel free to post them here, on the GlossHaus Facebook page or e-mail me at lee@glosshaus.com.
Product Notes
You may have noticed the screens in the bottom of the buckets. Grit Guard makes a terrific product that fits in any standard 5 gallon bucket and traps dirt and other contaminants in the bottom of the bucket and away from your wash mitt. I recommend one in each of your two buckets. At $9.95 each, they are cheap insurance. Check out Grit Guard products at our store.
Also, cheap microfiber from big box stores is fine for home cleaning, but will also swirl your car. GlossHaus offers terrific and affordable microfiber products. See the Microfiber selection at our store.
Lastly, you can see the full range of GlossHaus polishes, glaze, waxes and complete kits at The GlossHaus Store at Atlantic Euro
Sunday, March 7, 2010
What is IPA and why should I use it??
The detailing world is awash in acronyms, and one you'll see a lot is "IPA" as in "IPA wipedown" or "I'll hit the panel with IPA..." etc.
I thought something so useful and potentially important to good detailing process deserved a little demystification. What it boils down to is you use an IPA mixture in a spray bottle to really clean things at certain points, wiping it off with a microfiber towel.
What:
- IPA is a 50/50 mix of IsoPropyl Alcohol and distilled water (distilled is a very important part of this - please don't use tap water. I'm not a huge fan of filtered water, either, especially when distilled water is easily obtained at your grocery store)
When:
- Before working on a panel to strip all wax, etc. off
- Between aggressive and mild polishing steps to ensure removal of any remaining polish residue
- Between final polishing/glaze step and wax to ensure removal of remaining polish residue
Why:
- IPA is a terrific, inexpensive and fairly gentle way to remove stuff (wax, polish residue, etc.) from a painted surface. Whether you want to strip wax from a panel, ensure that more aggressive polish isn't mixed with finer polishing steps or preparing to transition from polish to wax, IPA can help. You always want the cleanest surface possible.
How:
- Misted from a spray bottle in similar density to quick detailer. If I'm working on a single panel for some reason, I protect the area I'm not working on with a microfiber towel.
Dilution:
5 parts water to 3 parts 70% IPA from the drugstore will get you close enough to 50/50. Ideally, you should get 99% pure IPA - available from Amazon at this link. if you can't find it locally. The reason you want to do that is you really don't want the other 30% of what comes in the drugstore variety in your mixture. The 99% pure stuff isn't expensive, and the magic of Amazon makes it easy to find.
Some people will use higher ratios of alcohol, but I don't generally recommend it since alcohol can really dry the paint surface, rubber gaskets, etc., when used in higher concentrations.
Good luck and keep it glossy!
I thought something so useful and potentially important to good detailing process deserved a little demystification. What it boils down to is you use an IPA mixture in a spray bottle to really clean things at certain points, wiping it off with a microfiber towel.
What:
- IPA is a 50/50 mix of IsoPropyl Alcohol and distilled water (distilled is a very important part of this - please don't use tap water. I'm not a huge fan of filtered water, either, especially when distilled water is easily obtained at your grocery store)
When:
- Before working on a panel to strip all wax, etc. off
- Between aggressive and mild polishing steps to ensure removal of any remaining polish residue
- Between final polishing/glaze step and wax to ensure removal of remaining polish residue
Why:
- IPA is a terrific, inexpensive and fairly gentle way to remove stuff (wax, polish residue, etc.) from a painted surface. Whether you want to strip wax from a panel, ensure that more aggressive polish isn't mixed with finer polishing steps or preparing to transition from polish to wax, IPA can help. You always want the cleanest surface possible.
How:
- Misted from a spray bottle in similar density to quick detailer. If I'm working on a single panel for some reason, I protect the area I'm not working on with a microfiber towel.
Dilution:
5 parts water to 3 parts 70% IPA from the drugstore will get you close enough to 50/50. Ideally, you should get 99% pure IPA - available from Amazon at this link. if you can't find it locally. The reason you want to do that is you really don't want the other 30% of what comes in the drugstore variety in your mixture. The 99% pure stuff isn't expensive, and the magic of Amazon makes it easy to find.
Some people will use higher ratios of alcohol, but I don't generally recommend it since alcohol can really dry the paint surface, rubber gaskets, etc., when used in higher concentrations.
Good luck and keep it glossy!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Updates on GlossHaus, Microfiber and two-bucket washing
As I mentioned in my previous post, we are continuously working these days to get the word out about GlossHaus and make it easier to get. As part of that, we've partnered with Atlantic Euro as the "shop" experience for buying GlossHaus products and other detailing necessities.
Have a look at the "store" - any feedback is appreciated!
You might notice that there are some new products we're carrying, specifically microfiber and the Grit Guard system.
Microfiber has become a really complicated world. I spent a lot of time searching for products that were the best quality for the best price. It was amazing to me that some towels I evaluated were prone to scratch or lacked features and actually cost more! I've assembled a collection of towels for polish and wax removal, general detailing and drying that are all excellent quality. All feature banded edges for scratch protection, and come in various weights for your preference for softness, water absorption and luxury. For example the "Uberfluffy towel weighs in at over 700 grams per square meter and is really an amazing towel for wax removal, use quick detailer, etc. I'm looking for extra reasons to use this thing! We've also sourced black microfiber towels, which are great for dirty work where you want the gentleness of premium microfiber without messing up the nice stuff. Our Plush and Mega Plush towels are terrific quality as well as excellent values, and are suitable for just about anything. It took some work, but I think we have a great collection of microfiber to choose from - I'm sure you'll love them!
The other product that I've become a huge fan of is Grit Guard. I'm going to have a more detailed blog on the two bucket method of washing cars and the value of Grit Guard, but it boils down to this: If you're using a single bucket to wash your car, you very quickly wind up with very dirty water with soap in it, and you're using that dirty water to wash the car. That results in swirls in your paint and even scratches. Having two buckets means you rinse the wash mitt in a bucket before putting it back in the second bucket with soapy water, which helps keep the soapy water clean and your paint very, very happy. The Grit Guard screens help even more by trapping the dirt in the buckets at the bottom, keeping the water cleaner for your wash mitt.
The first time I washed my car with two buckets and Grit Guard, I was ashamed I'd ever done it any other way. A couple of pictures tells the story:
The wash water after a wash and partial dumping to see how dirty the water was:
You can see the Grit Guard screen at the bottom.
Here's the rinse bucket:
Have a look at the "store" - any feedback is appreciated!
You might notice that there are some new products we're carrying, specifically microfiber and the Grit Guard system.
Microfiber has become a really complicated world. I spent a lot of time searching for products that were the best quality for the best price. It was amazing to me that some towels I evaluated were prone to scratch or lacked features and actually cost more! I've assembled a collection of towels for polish and wax removal, general detailing and drying that are all excellent quality. All feature banded edges for scratch protection, and come in various weights for your preference for softness, water absorption and luxury. For example the "Uberfluffy towel weighs in at over 700 grams per square meter and is really an amazing towel for wax removal, use quick detailer, etc. I'm looking for extra reasons to use this thing! We've also sourced black microfiber towels, which are great for dirty work where you want the gentleness of premium microfiber without messing up the nice stuff. Our Plush and Mega Plush towels are terrific quality as well as excellent values, and are suitable for just about anything. It took some work, but I think we have a great collection of microfiber to choose from - I'm sure you'll love them!
The other product that I've become a huge fan of is Grit Guard. I'm going to have a more detailed blog on the two bucket method of washing cars and the value of Grit Guard, but it boils down to this: If you're using a single bucket to wash your car, you very quickly wind up with very dirty water with soap in it, and you're using that dirty water to wash the car. That results in swirls in your paint and even scratches. Having two buckets means you rinse the wash mitt in a bucket before putting it back in the second bucket with soapy water, which helps keep the soapy water clean and your paint very, very happy. The Grit Guard screens help even more by trapping the dirt in the buckets at the bottom, keeping the water cleaner for your wash mitt.
The first time I washed my car with two buckets and Grit Guard, I was ashamed I'd ever done it any other way. A couple of pictures tells the story:
The wash water after a wash and partial dumping to see how dirty the water was:
Here's the rinse bucket:
Here's what was trapped in the bottom of the bucket:
If you're wondering if I'd been swamp-rompin' before washing my car, the answer is "No." It needed to be washed, but it wasn't filthy. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted and won't ever wash one of my cars with one bucket again. Grab a couple of 5 gallon buckets from your home improvement store, and throw a couple of Grit Guards in them. For $20, you won't regret it! (at least your paint won't!)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Welcome!
This is the inaugural blog for GlossHaus, so I'll tell you a little bit about the company, the products and where we're going.
GlossHaus was founded by Dave Crawford, who saw the need for a detailing system that not only delivered outstanding results, but was turn-key simple so that anyone can do it. He spent a lot of time, effort and thought putting together right pieces of the puzzle, and it became the GlossHaus system.
He started with the right equipment:
---------------------------------------------------
The Porter Cable Random Orbital - allows you to safely polish your paint in preparation for glaze and wax. Not only is it very safe and easy to use, it also gives you far more consistent results than most of us mere mortals can achieve by hand. Today, we use the latest version of this awesome detailing tool, the Porter Cable 7424XP.
The GlossHaus liquids - Three levels of polish (Foundation I, II and III) give you the tools you need to get swirls and scratches out of the way and get your paint prepared for the real shine! GlossHaus Glaze is the secret sauce that really paves the way for the wax. GlossHaus Perfect Polymer gives you terrific longevity and is the foundation for GlossHaus Perfect Carnuba, which is the final touch on your "foot-deep" shine. All are VOC compliant (which mainly means they aren't environmentally evil), don't contain silicones and are really easy to use.
Pads - each liquid is matched to the perfect pad and states the speed to which your Porter Cable should be set while you're using that pad/liquid combination. No guesswork!
Microfiber - lots of it! The system now includes all the microfiber you need for the system, as well as what is needed to wash your car. Microfiber has come a long way in the last couple of years, and I've upgraded all the microfiber in the kit to give you the best products for the money.
There are some other miscellaneous pieces to the kit so you have everything you need!
---------------------------------------------------
I started as a user of the product, and had lots of ideas. Eventually my involvement in Atlantic Euro led me to selling GlossHaus as a product and doing demos at regional car shows - something that is really fun!! When Dave decided to pursue other opportunities and go back to the corporate world, I jumped at the chance to own the company. It is a rare day when you can do something you are passionate about, and I have so many ideas!
I've been really busy since we've re-started. A new website is under development, we're connecting with Google, I've re-vamped our store at Atlantic Euro, and most importantly, I've been testing a range of new products. More on those later.
My goal is to really have a lot of fun with GlossHaus and offer our customers the best possible combination of results and ease of use I can. I have no doubt it will never be dull!
GlossHaus was founded by Dave Crawford, who saw the need for a detailing system that not only delivered outstanding results, but was turn-key simple so that anyone can do it. He spent a lot of time, effort and thought putting together right pieces of the puzzle, and it became the GlossHaus system.
He started with the right equipment:
---------------------------------------------------
The Porter Cable Random Orbital - allows you to safely polish your paint in preparation for glaze and wax. Not only is it very safe and easy to use, it also gives you far more consistent results than most of us mere mortals can achieve by hand. Today, we use the latest version of this awesome detailing tool, the Porter Cable 7424XP.
The GlossHaus liquids - Three levels of polish (Foundation I, II and III) give you the tools you need to get swirls and scratches out of the way and get your paint prepared for the real shine! GlossHaus Glaze is the secret sauce that really paves the way for the wax. GlossHaus Perfect Polymer gives you terrific longevity and is the foundation for GlossHaus Perfect Carnuba, which is the final touch on your "foot-deep" shine. All are VOC compliant (which mainly means they aren't environmentally evil), don't contain silicones and are really easy to use.
Pads - each liquid is matched to the perfect pad and states the speed to which your Porter Cable should be set while you're using that pad/liquid combination. No guesswork!
Microfiber - lots of it! The system now includes all the microfiber you need for the system, as well as what is needed to wash your car. Microfiber has come a long way in the last couple of years, and I've upgraded all the microfiber in the kit to give you the best products for the money.
There are some other miscellaneous pieces to the kit so you have everything you need!
---------------------------------------------------
I started as a user of the product, and had lots of ideas. Eventually my involvement in Atlantic Euro led me to selling GlossHaus as a product and doing demos at regional car shows - something that is really fun!! When Dave decided to pursue other opportunities and go back to the corporate world, I jumped at the chance to own the company. It is a rare day when you can do something you are passionate about, and I have so many ideas!
I've been really busy since we've re-started. A new website is under development, we're connecting with Google, I've re-vamped our store at Atlantic Euro, and most importantly, I've been testing a range of new products. More on those later.
My goal is to really have a lot of fun with GlossHaus and offer our customers the best possible combination of results and ease of use I can. I have no doubt it will never be dull!
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