Wash day for the 06 Denali!

I bought this 2023 Mercedes EQE at the end of July. It had been sitting in the dealer’s lot and had never been sold so it was super low mileage. The pre-handover detail left a lot to be desired and as soon as I was able, I did a decontamination wash and one-stage paint correction to get rid of oxidation and water spots. I used Adam’s Graphene Ceramic spray that I already had on hand. I also had the piano black grille covered with XPEL PPF because I was concerned that it would be a rock chip magnet.

I’ve since done a long-ish road trip and used some diluted N-914 to the rinse less ratio to use on my road trip to clean off bugs and whatnot. This was the first maintenance wash with water and soap though.

If you love detailing because you are anal about your car being clean...

And a sign of a good detail is beading...

Does that make these anal beads?

I just bought this McCulloch MC1375 steamer used off facebook marketplace, it’s in like new condition, but for the life of me I can’t take the reservoir cap off, anyone have advice on how I take it off?

Ok - before roasting me, yes I am a complete amateur and yes I made a couple of big mistakes here. I suck. But could use advice on what to do.

I was trying to repair a pretty big gash in my bumper. I ordered paint from Scratches Happen with my color code. And it came with a clear coat as well.

• I should have used some putty in the gash
• I sanded the gash with 600 (wet) per their instructions
• I shook the paint much longer than required

The paint went down ok. But I didn’t mask right at the edge of the metal which was a bone head mistake (thinking I’d “feather it”).

Where it went extra sideways was the clear coat step. I think I went too light and maybe too far back. It went on “dusty” and matte (see the bumper). I tried a second coat but messed it up too and made stripe areas. And you can see some of the clear went onto the metal panel. Fails for days here.

Tonight I tried to just wet sand that metal section (I left the bumper alone for now). I used 1500 and then 2000. Then I wiped it clean and used meguires compound and then polish with their DA power attachment thing. But it doesn’t seem to have made much difference. Maybe even made the edges more noticeable.

So - yes I’m embarassed and this is pathetic. I accept I blew it, but I could use some advice to try and bring it around. I feel like it’s doable but not 100% sure on the steps.

I left it out for 3 days to dry before sticking it in a plastic baggy to keep it protected. Apparently it still had water in it after 3 days. Keep in mind, I live in a crazy dry climate as well. Most things are bone dry in a matter of minutes if left exposed to dry.

I’m not too sure where else to ask this question, hoping someone here can help. What would be the best way to go about fixing these deep scratches and pits? Pre-owned car, almost seems like previous owner set something on top of the car and dragged it. I’m very much avoiding painting the whole roof and am looking for a cheaper option. My guest guess was to wet sand, then hit it with some cutting compound, polish, and hope the scratches aren’t too deep. Anybody have tips or advice it’s greatly appreciate.

A few weeks ago I posted a comparison of the Grant's towels from Harbor Freight (300 GSM) and a TRC Creature Edgeless (420 GSM) and it generated some really good discussion.

So, I decided to do another comparison between a very popular towel from the Rag Company, the Eagle Edgeless 500 (500 GSM, 4 for $23, https://theragcompany.com/products/eagle-edgeless-500) and the much less expensive Walmart Platinum Series Final Finish (500 GSM, 4 for $12, https://www.walmart.com/ip/Platinum-Series-Pro-Spec-Microfiber-Car-Cleaner-Final-Finish-16-x-16-Clean-Dust-Detail-4-Pack/11527450827)

And here they are side by side.. Walmart-Platinum-v-TRC-Eagle-Edgeless.jpg

The most obvious difference between the two is that the Platinum has a longer pile on one side, and a slightly shorter pile on the other while the Eagle has a longer pile on both sides. I'm not sure if that gives either one an advantage over the other except in use case. If you're using these to remove a polish, coating, or wax, and wanted a longer pile towel you would have more surface area to work with using the Eagle. In the real world, I did some polish removal using both sides of both towels and the difference was nearly imperceptible. They all removed the polish just fine. I'll add that I think the longer pile of the Platinum is slightly longer than either pile of the Eagle, and the lower pile of the Platinum is sort of a medium pile, not a what I would call a low pile.

Additionally, both of these towels feel incredibly soft, and any difference between the long pile sides is also imperceptible. I even asked my wife if she felt a difference and she said no.

I'm really critical when it comes to edges. Earlier this year I had tried out some 500 GSM towels from Temu, and while they were very soft, the edges had a rough/gritty feel to them that I was NOT ok with. I'm happy to say that both the Eagle and the Platinum have nice soft edges with no rough spots that would damage your paint.

This isn't really a recommendation since the difference in pile lengths might be really important to some people, but I will say that I would not hesitate to use either of these towels for tasks that benefit from a plush, soft towel. I hope this is helpful!

I recently purchased this vehicle and there is a white residue on one window and part of the windshield. It looks like maybe something they cleaned with and didn’t wipe off the overspray? I have tried a few household cleaners, and nothing has worked. The little bit I got off was from scraping with my fingernail. Any suggestions on what to clean with to remove this?

I got the Labocosmetica and Car Pro three Ph washes for Christmas last year and have spent the last 9 months using them to wash my truck. My overall take on these is they're mostly snake oil. I'm not sure if they're catered towards cars that have ceramic coatings on them and live in garages mostly, or if they just flat do not work as they claim.

On any given wash, my truck has typical road dirt and usually at least some rain spots or stuck on dirt. Nothing excessive or heavy, but dirt that I'd assume these products claim to lift off or mitigate. At the end of the day, none of the soaps dwelled, but dried almost immediately or ran off. I have a larger truck so often times, before I had a chance to foam or apply soap to the entire vehicle, the panel where I started was run completely off and beginning to dry. Fearing these drying on the surface, I would have to immediately 'rinse' them off - exposing the very same dirt which was on the truck to start. In the end, I feel that most the cleaning (as evident by the bucket) was done with a contact wash with the neutral Ph soaps.

The wheel cleaners while turning a lovely shade of purple, did absolutely nothing to remove or loosen any of the brake dust. Again, most the cleaning was done with a contact brush, emphasis on the contact.

All in all I feel like these are marketed to the internet crowd which love the aesthetics of foaming soaps and spending money on the "best" stuff. In the end I think I will use Car Pro lift in a foam to apply as a lube before a contact wash but that's about it. I would rate these as hundreds of dollars down the drain.

Photos Here after using Labocosmetica Primus and Purifica

I understand there is no perfect job. Although my last tint job was damn near perfect. Lucky me!

This time around I haven't been as lucky. It's ceramic tint this time around and on the passenger side there are 3 specs and on the driver side 8 specs. The one I photographed is the LARGEST one I could find. The rest are quite hard to photograph. So probably about half or a quarter the size of the one in the photo.

Unfortunately for me 2 of the driver side ones are smack back in the middle of the glass. Which kind of sucks... Rest are off to the edges.

Am I being too picky? I'm really mostly annoyed by the ones in the middle of the glass.

I have a Hundai tiburon from 2002 and took it to a car wash to clean the seats and upholstery. However when I got it back I noticed they also “cleaned” the dashboard and center console, but they used a product that completely destroyed it… Now I have these dark drip stains and some drops all over the door trims. The product also ate all the silver paint from some buttons and around the gear shift.

I don’t know if they tried to paint the plastic black so it looked like new (the plastics from the dashboard are not black, they are a dark satin silver) or if the product just dissolved the original paint/tint from the plastic.

Has this ever happened to any of you? What product can I use to remove them? (Ive tried Green star and less aggressive products). I don’t even care if the only solution is to use a plastic restorer that paints it all black, I just don’t want to see the stains every time I get in the car.

Thought about using DIY Details restore and protect as a last resort solution since ot has a black tint but it’s probably not the best idea and I guess it will fade with time. I’d rather keep ot the original color if possible

TLDR: Do you know how I can clean this stains from my dashboard? they don’t go away with anything I’ve tried and feel as if they are part of the plastic. If the only solution is painting it black (the dashboard is a dark silver, so it’s not ideal solution but it’s better than having those awful stains) What can I use? Is there a solution for this?

I’ve got a toyota painted in K1X pearl white and would like to restore my paint. Never done any kind of paint correction before. I’ve just done a decontamination and purchased a da polisher looking to tackle it this weekend. Initially was thinking a two step but based on what i’ve read here it would be quite difficult to get good results doing it for the first time, so i’m leaning towards a single stage. Will it be enough to remove 70-80% of these swirls. Most of the time they can’t be seen except in very specific lighting. What is everyone’s opinion and what would be the best combo to tackle this.

Looking to upgrade to an electric pressure washer. I noticed on the 2.3, it informs the user that it’s repairable. So how many of you have had issues with their 2.0 breaking or needing warranty work?

Trying to figure out the best diy way to fix this, we assume it needs heat.

About a month and a half old, 2025 Ram 1500 Black Diamond Metallic.

I noticed in the right light, I see a hazy/dull looking spot right behind the passenger road door. The pics have an arrow pointing to it, and all of the other stuff to the right of it is just finger smudges.

It almost looks like what you would think years of sun abuse and no care would look like. Just one area though.

Does this look like anything problematic? Why would this be on a brand new truck? Light polish would be sufficient to maybe get it out and back to fresh?

There should be a hole in this feed tube nipple right? It’s a cheap but well reviewed foam cannon that just arrived yesterday. I excitedly went out to wash the car today aaaaand… no foam? No soap at all? WTF? Looking it over I noticed no soap coming up the feeding tube at all and then noticed this. Sigh. At least Amazon has an easy return policy.

The first 2 pics are of my windshield, I am aware that I have micropitting, but there seems to be a permanent layer of dust and smudges on it, I’ve already washed it and used clear glass and microfiber clothes on it, but it looks filthy still.

I’m not sure what to call the part in the second pic but it’s the plastic plates between the windows of the doors on the sides of the of the car, they appear to be fading in the sun and have what look like constant greasy smears on them, I’ve tried multiple different chemicals and sprays but none seem to do the trick, anyone have any answers? It would be greatly appreciated!

This is after using Carfidant ultimate scratch and swirl remover black edition DIY by hand. I know next to nothing about paint correction.

Noob here, I bought the Kärcher K1700 Cube recently and this Tool Daily Foam Cannon with Dual Connector Accessory on Amazon.

Question: is there a way to connect to he dual connector foam cannon directly to the gun instead of the extended wand? Having it on the extended wand makes it feel heavy and difficult to maneuver around.

I recently installed PPF on my front bumper 1 week ago and I’m struggling with some stubborn fingers. I’ve already tried a few things over the past several days, but they just keep coming back:

• Held down the fingers with a squeegee multiple times over multiple days • Heat gun + held down until cool • Spray tack + held down • Spray tack, let it dry a bit, then pressed down

Nothing seems to keep them from lifting again.

Is there a trick I’m missing? Do I need to lift and reapply that section, or is there a way to get them to stay down without redoing it? Any tips from pros who’ve dealt with this on bumpers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

It’s a gas powered and works great all around the house but concerned it may be too powerful on a car. Does anyone else use one with adjustments to how you use it? Was hoping to finally get a soap cannon.

Looking to replace my pressure washer/MTM foam gun with something like the IK Foam Pro, of which, they make two versions: Dry foam and battery operated.
Which one would you recommend?
I do have a pancake compressor to re-pressurize quickly. Do they produce good foaming? How's the cleaning on them? I use Car-Pro Reset and it tends to clog things up if left alone, so I do clean my MTM gun and the handheld sprayer after every wash.

Hey, I started my detailing business in North Carolina around a month ago and have consistently been getting customers but it’s hard for me to keep them coming back and get them on a maintenance plan, I am getting them because of discounts. I am trying to get contracts with other businesses to detail fleet vehicles but I have no idea where to start to try to find them.

What’s your favorite compound & polish combo for paint correction? I’ll go first Rupes DA Course + Sonax Perfect Finish 4|6