Meguiars Water Magnet

[BLK03SVT]

Some of you may use this product already, but after recently trying it for the first time I thought I'd share with everyone how happy I am with it. After owning a few black cars and HATING how they sometimes are a PITA to dry, I read on the Shelby forum that the Megiars Water Magent was a good way to dry it. I ordered 6 of them up from Meguiars and couldn't be happier. They seem to hold a ton of water, and when rung out will completely dry a surface with very little streaking.

Anyway, just thought I'd share since I was so impressed with it.

Carry on! :yes:

[El Jefe]

Never heard of it, sounds cool. Are you using Optimum No Rinse? If you havent, you need to. Will completely change the way you wash your car

[biglou]

please elaborate, i will be acquiring a black shelby soon. it will not be a daily driver, so washing is not an issue. my current ride is a dark green bullitt and i only use meguiar's ultimate detail. is there something more i should know about caring for a black car?

[JoeT]

please elaborate, i will be acquiring a black shelby soon. it will not be a daily driver, so washing is not an issue. my current ride is a dark green bullitt and i only use meguiar's ultimate detail. is there something more i should know about caring for a black car?

Good luck with the Black Shelby, yes it looks freaking awesome when clean, but you need to clean it everyday! I know this because I have a black Mercedes and its is dirty nearly every minute, its nearly dirty seconds after I wipe it down! :laufhing:

[biglou]

thanks Joe, i will carry my micro towel and Meguiar's detail wherever i go.

[JoeT]

The Microfiber actually makes scratches in the clear coat. I spent 5 hours yesterday cleaning the Mercedes, it looked like a brand new car, even used some Meguiars Showtime polish to fill in some of the clearcoat scratches and then my wife drove the car and hit that dust storm, when she came home I was pissed the car looked like I never even cleaned it. So I used a damp microfiber to clean the car off, using even the super thick microfibers and still caused more scratches in the clearcoat. They will go away when I buff again but in the meantime I see it and it drives me nutty. Frankly once I dont have this Mercedes anymore I will never own another black car again!

A beautiful black diamond but my worst freaking nightmare.

[biglou]

my gt500 will not be a daily driver and i am the one that drives it to car shows only in good weather. so hopefully only a California Duster will be needed after it is detailed and polished.

[JoeT]

Have fun my friend you've never owned black. Even the California Duster will scratch the clearcoat on black. I'm trying to help you out! I'm surprised no one else has chimed in about black. Its your hobby, but you'll spend forever chasing swirls and fine scratches. :mrgreen:

[biglou]

thanks joe, i will let you know how i make out. i just bought a Swirl-Finder Teck Light from Griot's garage. i used it on my 08 bullitt's dark highland green paint and didn't find many marks. i'll keep my fingers crossed, thanks again, lou.

[IansBAJ]

I had two black cars. I should have learned from the first one. Even my black stripes piss me off sometimes.

[fdkirkland]

I get all kinds of compliments on my black Roush 427R but if I had had any experience with a black car before buying this one I'd have gone with a different color. Granted, finding this car was a real deal given the low milage and like new shape it was in at the time but I could have waited and surely would have if I'd known about black cars. I'll never do it again. That's for sure.

[JoeT]

Its true but when they are clean for the first 30 minutes they look awesome!

[1tuff68]

Hi Folks, just thought I'd share a few thoughts on the subject. I own Infinite Detail, a detailing outfit specializing in paint correction and show car preparation and maintenance. Here's a few tips for you black car owners:

1. Use only high quality, name brand microfiber towels on your paint. Dedicate towels to paint ONLY - no wheels, glass, engine, etc for those towels.

2. Do not use heat to dry Microfiber towels! The fibers become rigid and can scratch. Air dry only. No fabric softener either!

3. If your car is dusty, wash it instead of using a quick detailer. Quality microfiber towels won't scratch your paint, but dust will! Washing is the safest way to remove dust or dirt.

4. We do not recommend a california duster. You are dragging scratchy dust particles across your paint and you will scratch it.

5. The proper way to remove *light* dust with quick detailer is to (a) evenly mist the dusty panel or area with QUick Detailer, (b) lightly prime 1 surface of your high quality MF towel with QD, then very lightly remove the QD from the panel you just sprayed. Then, flip to the dry side of the towel and do a very light final wipe. Wipe as lightly as possible!

Follow these steps and your black paint will look great for much longer between polishes.

Good luck!

[fdkirkland]

Good tips but this means I got to wash my car every day. The dust is unbelievale. I was just looking mine over for the all Ford show. I washed and waxed it last Saturday, went to the Pavilions on Saturday night and then put it in the garage all week and it's covered with dust. I really didn't want to wash it again for tomorrow's show.

Okay, 'nuff bitchin'. What do you use to get the swirls out?

[1tuff68]

Sorry about that dust, you just have to live with it unless you want alot of swirls. We recommend to our clients to avoid dusting their cars every 10 minutes at car shows. If you must dust, use QD liberally as I explained previously and you'll do alot less damage.

To get the swirls out, we use a variety of products. The best off the shelf product is Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, if you follow the directions you'll get good results. It may not be strong enough to get out all of the scratches though - if not, hire a pro :-D The pro will tell you what machine/product/pad combination you need to use to maintain the finish.

[WildBill]

Black sucks to maintain, but can make a detailer shine.
I reworked a black Cobra last week as a big favor. I did a bit of paint correction in a few areas and just a two step buff and topped it off with a new consumer product. The owner has had the car since new in 02 and he almost cried when he first saw the car. He said it has never looked that good. Pretty funny since it really wasn't a "Wild Bill" full on effort.
More tips for black.
1. When washing, use the two bucket method!
2. HIGH quality microfiber is a must! No store in the area carries the quality needed in the valley that I know about. Cobra branded on Autotopia or Autogeek are excellent towels. Use the thickest and wash with microfiber detergent.
3.Always use light force when drying or wiping off a sealant.
4. Take the car to a Pro once a year!:yes:

[BLK03SVT]

I've become a huge fan of Adams detailing products. I especially like their microfiber towels. Even though a single doublesoft towel runs around $14 it is WAY worth it. I bought a few of these along with the single soft and they work perfectly.

http://www.adamspolishes.com/p-494-adams-double-soft-microfiber-towel.aspx

I can tell you to avoid the cheap microfiber towels from target/autzone etc. Under bright halogen lights I could actually see them fine scratch my paint on my 03. Not good!

For swirls this stuff worked great:

http://www.adamspolishes.com/p-97-adams-swirl-haze-remover-polish.aspx

[Wills.WinAndWhl]

The Microfiber actually makes scratches in the clear coat. I spent 5 hours yesterday cleaning the Mercedes, it looked like a brand new car, even used some Meguiars Showtime polish to fill in some of the clearcoat scratches and then my wife drove the car and hit that dust storm, when she came home I was pissed the car looked like I never even cleaned it. So I used a damp microfiber to clean the car off, using even the super thick microfibers and still caused more scratches in the clearcoat. They will go away when I buff again but in the meantime I see it and it drives me nutty. Frankly once I dont have this Mercedes anymore I will never own another black car again!

A beautiful black diamond but my worst freaking nightmare.


Ever consider having the swirls (clear coat scratches) buffed out? Fillers work for a quick fix but like you said, the swirls come right back. Also even using a super soft MF thats just damp can still scratch (as you noted lol). Have to AT LEASE use a detail spray, but even that can scratch since you are after all simply dragging the dirt over the paint...and with black...it tells on you.
Someone above mentioned Optimum No Rinse, and i agree...totally will change your view of washing and keeping the car clean. Have you tried it? I do mobile detailing and for me this stuff has made life easier for sure. In terms of speed, efficiency and being easy to use its a must have and I recommend it to all my customers (especially in Az where a day or two after you wash it it'll have a nice coat of dust on it again no matter what!)

[El Jefe]

You guys need to pick up some of the 3D trim care: http://www.3dproducts.com/Trim-Care-Protectant.html

(http://www.3dproducts.com/Trim-Care-Protectant.html)I used it 2 weeks ago on my wiper cowl and under hood trim and it is still shining. Brings black plastic back to life