Nufinish

I used the clay bar on my ridge and a month apart i applied a coat of nufinish.
With all the reading i have been doing, I went to the autoparts store and bought some McGuire's gold finish. He said I could go right over the nufinish with it.
Any opinions?

I wouldn't worry about that, mixing common wax brands couldn't possibly do any harm. As for what brand is the best, who knows. I've tried both those and countless others. To my untrained eye they are all about the same when done. I think the best tip is layers. It's not the amount you put on but how many times (layers/coats) that will make a difference, mostly in how long it lasts and protection from the elements. Two coats is better than one, and three better than two. Comes down to how crazy you are and how much free time ya got :D

I have about driven myself crazy trying all different types of waxes and potions. I agree with vertrkr about the layers. It just makes it all last longer.

You guys are the best. And you are right, you can make your self nuts worrying.
I am so glad this site is here .

A couple of years ago Consumer Reports did an article on car waxes etc. Nufinish was numero uno even above all the expensive brands.

I've been using it since. Its cheap, you can get it anywhere and it works really well for me. It does seem like it attracts dust really bad but I can't remember if all waxes do that or not (we live in a dusty place - Taos).

I don't know how it rates today. Lots can happen in a 2-3 year period.

I have to admit that I got sucked into one of those "super, duper, beats fire and brimstone and the devil himself" (you know the one where they dump lighter fluid, ya lighter fluid of all things, on a new car hood, light it and then shows you no damage was done to the finish if you use their product) sales gimmicks at the big swap meet in San Diego a couple of years ago and spend $25 buck for a bottle of Perma Shield. It doesn't seem to be any better or worse than Nufinish. (They also make an Armorall like product now too).

I am detailing my 2003 VW Bug and getting it ready to sell and used clay for the first time. Man oh man, that stuff is dynamite. I waxed it after with Nufinish and the finish is really, really super. Feels like polished glass. CLAY IS GOODR STUFF BOYS (AND GIRLS)!

At what point do you wax? It seems to me that a vehicle that is only a month or two old needs no wax for about a year. Am I right or wrong about this?

At least six months. I'll do mine in the fall for winter.
Just keep it clean until then.
Clay and polish if needed.
Wax twice.
Unless you think you need to care, all wax works.
I use Mothers carnauba cleaner wax after wash and clay.
Black looks great. :)

Where do you guys get this clay bar? I've tried all of the usual places and struck out. Who makes it?

Griots garage, Mothers, Meguires, etc.

Nice site here.
http://properautocare.com/claybars1.html

I meant a retail store.

Try any auto store?

I've tried:

Auto Zone
Advance Auto Parts
Napa
Wally World

That's why I asked.

Thank you.

:)

I have purchased clay bar products (Clay Magic was the brand I think) at Wal Mart.

At what point do you wax? It seems to me that a vehicle that is only a month or two old needs no wax for about a year. Am I right or wrong about this?

When the water stops beading and starts leaving tracks, I break down and get out the wax. Burma Shave.

I used the clay bar on my ridge and a month apart i applied a coat of nufinish.
With all the reading i have been doing, I went to the autoparts store and bought some McGuire's gold finish. He said I could go right over the nufinish with it.
Any opinions?


Its been awhile since I used it so I may be wrong but one thing I ran into with the meguiars gold is that you aren't supposed to let it dry to a haze before removing. When I first tried it I let it dry and it was a pain to remove and didn't shine that well. Once I started just applying it to a small area and wiping it off before it had time to dry it went easier and looked way better. Like I said though it's been awhile so my memory could be off and/or the product could have changed.

-Trevor

To shovelhd: Pep Boys carries the Mother's bar. Also Walmart I believe.

I use nufinish too, works like a champ and it comes off easy. I also use an orbital buffer on mine which makes waxing a piece of cake. :)

You guys are the best. And you are right, you can make your self nuts worrying.
I am so glad this site is here .

I agree, Jules. In all my years of owning cars, I have never enjoyed the post-purchase experience as much as I am with my RL thanks to this terrific web site. I do my best to visit daily to catch the latest posts. It's a lot of fun listening to everybody's experience with this unique new vehicle. I hope the novelty never dulls.

By the way, are you still planning a trip to Central VA this summer?

just a friendly reminder to all. the paint is still new and if i am not mistaken a new car's paint job can take up to 2 years to completely cure. i would recommend just washing and waiting some time before applying any after market coatings to that fine paint job................just a thought. i too have bought the permashield product and it even recommends this on the back of the label. ;)

I finally found a clay bar at the third Advance Auto Parts store I visited. It was inside a Mother's kit, which includes the detailer. I'm going to do it later this summer after the new paint cures a bit on the back.

Meguiars the gold class.
Washed the boy this weekend used the clay bar, and applied a coat of this stuff over 2 existing coats of nufinish. the directions on the bottle said to apply it to the entire vehicle and allow time to dry. i let it setup for about an hour and then wiped it down with a terry towel. It came off pretty easy and left a lustre like I have never seen with the nufinish.
Maybe like you guys said , it is the layering that makes the difference. 3 coats of nufinish might do this too.
AllI know is I really love this truck!

Remember that Meguiars Gold is a wax. A wax will always give a deep shine that a polish can't give. The downfall is that a wax offers very little protection and duarability when compared to the polishes. Wax protection is limited at best and only lasts a few weeks.

NuFinish is a polish. A polish will not give that deep shine of a wax, but will offer protection far superior to wax. A polish can last months. It will protect against contaminants that go right thru a wax. Many polishes also protect from UV rays as well.

If you want that deep shine then use a wax. If you want to protect your vehicle use a polish.

I washed my Ridge for the first time yesterday. I used plain old Turtle Wax brand car wash and it did a great job. I dried it with a power blower and then went over the whole thing with a couple of those fake chamois that I think are better than the real thing. I used Lexol leather wipes on the leather interior parts.

I don't intend to wax until the water stops beading. That should be around October or November I would guess as my Ridge is garage kept. I purchased Klasse All-In-One Polish for this when the time comes. That, along with Eagle One Wipe & Shine detailing spray in between times should keep my Silver Ridgeline looking great until spring (if I had a darker color I might use something else). I see no reason right now for Clay as two coats of Klasse will satisfy everyone except the most die-hard detailer.

The interior vinyl, and most everything else that is not leather, gets 303 Aerospace Protectant although the Lexol vinylex wipes will do just fine since it hardly ever sits in the sun very much.

I really don't know a great deal about wash 'n wax but I do know about tires. The best treatment (dollar for dollar that is) that I've found is the simple old Meguiar's Endurance High Gloss gel. Spread it on a sponge and the tires look great for weeks. The thing I like with this product besides its longevity is that you can control the amount of gloss by simply going over the application once or twice to take off the excess shine, if you wish. The tires get a good treatment of Meguiar's High Gloss Hot Shine spray when I really want high gloss (but I prefer a richer black rather than "wetter" look most of the time).

This makes me think of something rather interesting. What is leather and what is vinyl in the Ridge's interior? I read a post a while back from someone who could really tell the difference and I think it is worth highlighting it once again in this thread. Here is what he found:

Steering Wheel - Leather
Front/Rear door armrest - Leather
Front/Rear center armrest - Leather (Vinyl side panels on the rear armrest)
Headrest sides and back - Vinyl
Headrest center with holes - Leather
Rear center Headrest - Vinyl
Front/Rear seat center section with holes - Leather
Front/Rear seat side panels and front seats back - Vinyl
Front/Rear seat top panels without holes - Leather
Rear seat center (Under Armrest) - Vinyl

csimo-

what's the difference between wax and polish besides what you said-not sure i get it? Wax natural, polish synthetic??

thanks

ps- I'm kicking myself for getting black!!!

csimo-

what's the difference between wax and polish besides what you said-not sure i get it? Wax natural, polish synthetic??

thanks

ps- I'm kicking myself for getting black!!!

Yes, waxes are a class of natural products. Some come from trees, some from oil, some from plants, even from animals, etc. The most popular wax is carnauba wax. It is derived from a carnauba palm tree.

Polishes are synthetic polymers for the most part.

csimo-

what's the difference between wax and polish besides what you said-not sure i get it? Wax natural, polish synthetic??

thanks

ps- I'm kicking myself for getting black!!!
Come on now, black is still the best color. :)
A good carnauba wax helps keep the dust off and cleans up quick.
My truck still looks good a little dirty. ;)

Northwood, I hope that you dont mind but I copied our PM and posted it here because I thought others might benefit from it as well. It is just my experience and my opinion.



Originally Posted by Northwood
Hey ultra-hog, I see you got the klasse pinnacle kit
with porter cable polisher on that other forum.
Hows it turning out? Good as it sounds?
I did'nt get the ultra-hog name until I saw you had one. :)



I also got the Blackfire Clay kit. I used it on the hood of my black Ridgeline because, even though I wash an dry it regularily with the Mr. Clean filtered rinse system, I had a LOT of water type spots in the clear coat of the hood only. I am not sure where they came from but the roof is perfecty clean and clear of spots. Next trip to the dealer we will discuss it with the body shop. The clay does not help with water spots but does remove other contamination. I did not see any reason to continue using it on the rest of the paint since the truck was only six weeks old. Testing it on the roof showed no results at all that I could tell. Klasse goes on easily and comes off easily. I like the results. It took no less than 7 very thorough coats on the hood with the buffer to substantially reduce, but not eliminate, the spots. Each coat showed a slight improvement. I suspect that there is not enough abrasive properties of Klasse for the type of spots that I was trying to remove. I did not have anything more agressive and was afraid of doing permanent damage if I did. The results on the hood are good but I can still see them in the right light. I am sure a more experienced body and paint shop could have dealt with it easier than my slow process. The Porter Cable buffer is great. I have an old Sears orbital buffer but there is no comparison. The Porter Cable buffer was worth it. I could not have done the hood without it. Pinacle goes on by hand like butter and is very easy to wipe off. It could not be easier. The results are a deep very smoothe shine. Time will tell how long it lasts. Their Crystal Mist spray extends the shine and works very well. It does leave white residue behind in the cracks and seams. I bought a detail tool made by Rubbermaid, I think, at target that has a brush on one end and a rubber blade on the other. It worked great on the seams. A small fine silicone spatula could work too. I wore it out and will buy another one. The other thing that really helped was a very flexible plastic painters edge guide to keep the buffer and wax away from the sunroof, bed rails and rubber moldings. I did learn something important. After doing the hood so many times, it was nearly impossible to clean the windshield. The Klasse and anything else was bonded t the glass and I could not get it off. I tried every cleaner that I had with no luck. I ended up having to use straight amonia and scrub really hard to get it clean. Next time I will tape and paper mask the windshield! The other thing that I bought was Blackfire tire and wheel kit. Their tire cleaner gel works great and their tire finish gel looks great. I will never use Armorall again. The 303 Protectant also works great and looks great without a greasy slipery silicone type artificial shine. Proper Auto care kits come with microfiber towels and they are really great. I am sold on them. That is all that I will be using now. You may want to have some extras on hand. I bought a pack at Sams Club that are decent. The big blue drying towel at Target is really good.
I will be doing my wifes two year old green Accord next week. It has some typical surface marks, a lot like my Ridgelines hood, only not quite as bad. Interestingly, I think that using the deionized / very soft water from Mr Clean helped to disolve and reduce the water spots on it's roof and hood. I will use the Clay on it and the same Pinacle over Klasse system. I am anxious to see the results.
By the way, I read a post on this forum about www.properautocare.com (http://www.properautocare.com/) and did my pre-purchase research there. I found their site to be a wealth of great information. I would not have known about them without This ROC site. Thank you all, again!

Wow Ultra, thank you.