Car-Care Hobbyists Drowning in Detailing Product Chaos
Car detailing and cosmetic care: washing technique, ceramic coatings, waxes and sealants, water spots, swirl marks, trim restorers, interior care, product-choice overwhelm across dozens of competing products.
SOURCES (60)
“i tried using turtle wax rubbing compound just right now and it works a little. my arm got tired buffing so i stopped.”
“If you use a concrete remover, any protection you might have on there will be stripped off. I would highly suggest a polish and sealant. The biggest thing to be careful of is obviously removing paint and clear coat, then not damaging the paint with the chemical. The concrete splashed up on there is pretty heavy, so it will be delicate to remove it all without causing any further damage if you try and DIY it. Again. Be extremely careful and ensure that the concrete is broken down enough to try an”
“I’ll add to what the other posters have said. Get a good ph neutral soap. Something that you can get locally is Meguiars hyper wash, available at harbor freight. Or Adam’s mega foam. If you have the ability and the room I’d also invest in a pressure washer. The ryobi automotive one available at Home Depot is a good beginners pressure washer. I’ll finish my post assuming you don’t have a pressure washer. Also, is the shop that did your coating doing any maintenance washes for you on a quarterly o”
“U should try the isopropyl alcohol trick someone else mentioned and see how that goes. Good luck!”
“If there is anything of that coating left, it would be very very little. A fine polish to prep the paint should be more than enough unless you need to correct some swirls/scratches before coating”
“Yes, did a car wash but not much came off. I have never experienced this before so I had no idea it was a time sensitive thing :( If I use a concrete remover, would I have to follow that up with a polish and a sealant?”
“I’ve tried chrome polish, it did remove some hazing but didn’t affect the larger spots at all. I cannot mark it with my finger nail. submitted by /u/mylawn03 [link] [comments]”
I’ll give it a shot. The glass may have been hot. Thanks.
“For smoke and films on the inside of glass : Angelwax glass cleaner by far cuts any and everything zero issue. For daily or weekly care nothing is beating Stoners Invisible Glass. Sprayway glass cleaner is 2nd to IG”
“Lmao, exactly. In order to do a paint correction professionally, it's easily $800+ in equipment and chemicals.”
“That looks like some etching in your clear coat. Possibly from a bird bomb or some other acidic organic material. I’d try a light polish with a good one step like 3D one or 3D speed. Speed has some filling ability and leaves some protection behind. It’s also beginner friendly. I’d buy an inexpensive polisher if you have no interest in further paint correction and just want a one and done solution. It looks like you can get a 3 inch polisher for around $65 on amazon.”
“My mistake, missed the DI line. Bathe or Bathe+? The plus is about a quarter aminosilicone, meant to stay on the paint. DI won't rinse out what the soap itself leaves.”
“Yea I'm going back tomorrow to get them to pull of the bad sections and do a deeper inspections. Then heading to a body shop I've worked with before to get their opinion on if it will polish out. I think it was mostly overcut/slippage vs cutting too deep from what I've seen but need to confirm. I don't want to respray, so if it comes to that will just leave the scratches and try dr color chip. Body is composite so it won't rust.”
“try: 3/4 water - 1/4 Isopropyl Alcohol + dish soap lay a towel on the dash.. when it gets like this it needs to be washed not wiped. after that is done x2 then go with a window cleaner and 'wipe'”
“I know the Griot's 3-in-1 really blew up after Project Farm reviewed it so highly, but I've never been a big fan of it. It works well on paint (which is what you always see it being tested on), but I think it makes trim and plastics look dull and chalky. There are way too many sprays that work great on all surfaces to compromise on this. If I'm spraying a product on, I want to be able to use it all over. When reviewers that only test car detailing products test 3-in-1, it doesn't”
“If you’re not doing a full decontamination wash, foam the car up dry first, rinse, then use bathe. Make sure you are washing the car out of direct sunlight. Should do the trick. If it keeps happening, do a full decontamination wash, ending with a protective coating (e.g. can coat evo). That should almost certainly take care of the issue and prevent it in future.”
“Use clay bar or rubbing compound. Those are little rust spots from your brake pads / brake dust that stuck to your clear coat. Most of it should come right off pretty easily”
“Yeah I was using an interior car wipe and black was coming off but extremely slowly, and the wipes are very expensive so id rather not use them all on that 😂 i have plenty of iso so I'll definitely do that thank you! I love my ford but damn. As someone who likes her stuff to look clean, this enrages me on the daily haha”
“If its a dealership coating it's probably some cheap spray wax or sealant that will be completely gone in a few months tops. Never let a dealership detail your car. Especially brand new ones. They definitely did not put an actual ceramic coating on it.”
“Man that's nasty! Never seen this before. Is there a way to detect/test this before buying a car, without polishing? Maybe like a solvent that removes the wipe on clear?”
“The smear/greasy film is from “off gassing” of plastics on new vehicles. Use more of what you are using and clean away 👍 Enjoy doing it as it comes back for a few months 😝 I found Ford to be the worst in terms of plastics “off gassing”. Edit: just looked and realized this was a Ford 😂”
“That looks like a piano black surface. Those type of surfaces are very sensitive to scratches. It's there for good. You can leave it alone. Or you can do hand polishing, but it can be tricky or you may end up making it look worse. Some example products you can use for hand polishing are Meguiar's PlastX and Sonax Scratch Remover. If you go to this route then be gentle with your handpolishing because piano black surfaces are very delicate.”
“I never found anywhere a dilution suggestion. Just says “dilute as needed”. I just picked this car up. I’ll be cleaning them after track days.”
“What's weird, is they come off super easily. Can just run your finger over them and they come off, or even just a dry rag. Even if you leave them on there a few days. They easily will wipe off... Which makes me think the soap is leaving some strange residue that isn't entirely soap? I've had soap dry to my car before (Griots Foaming surface wash) and it's very hard to wipe off. Have to use a clay bar usually. But with whatever this residue is being left behind after using Gyeon B”
“A propane tank left a scrape my 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe’s glove box. It’s surface and doesn’t catch the fingernail. I removed the paint with a magic eraser sponge and WD40. A hair dryer had no effect on what was left. Considering Chemical Guys VRP to cover it. It’s not the worse but the car is new and I can’t stop staring at it. any suggestions submitted by /u/rasputinuk1975 [link] [comments]”
“First image is before. Second is after using F-30 acid 4 times at a 3:22 ratio. Third image is of brand new wheel. After doing the acid four times (and spraying off with water between applications), I used soapy water and a wheel scrub brush. I didn’t scrub or wipe at all when the acid was on there. This car sees track time. What can I do to clean this up better and protect them? submitted by /u/CafeRoaster [link] [comments]”
“This EXACTLY happened to that trim! It’s been years and slowly going away but I couldn’t find anything that would remove it. And yes, it was one of those Cerakote ceramic wipes. Never touching that product again.”
“I repaired my clear coat on my left rear quarter for about $100 in spray paint, clear coat and sandpaper. But I also already have an orbital polisher. Took three days and the right conditions but it came out about 95% of what a body shop would have done. Some of the color is a little off and I didn’t blend into the roof but I’m the only one that can see it. I watched about a dozen YouTube videos before I attempted it, but I do have a little body work experience as well.”
“Yes I do mats and exterior first Jambs, top to bottom wash, tires last (people complain it splashes on paint but I rinse tires off with pressure washer pointed down).”
“Perhaps a stupid question but it’s one I’m going to ask regardless. I’ve been using a Big Red Sponge for 2+ years on a vintage car. The car is garage kept and rinse less is used exclusively (previously ONR now Clean by Pan). The car has never seen the elements under my ownership and really just gets dusty from being in the garage. Depending on how much time I have, I’ll try and drive it every week or two and the wash schedule is about the same. Whenever I see videos of retailers using a BRS (or”
“Polish & Ceramic Coating. The coating is NOT scratch proof but will be a “protective” layer for the paint its coating.”
“I ended up starting to really enjoy taking care of my car and spent the weekend detailing the interior, and washing the exterior. The car desperately needs a clay bar and polish from my limited knowledge, but I don’t want to invest in everything if I can’t really make this trunk look passable. It doesn’t feel any more rough to the touch than the surrounding paint and I can’t tell if this is failing clear coat or in the realm of a reasonable repair from someone who still hasn’t even bought the DA”
“Thanks for the input, my car is not garaged as well, having the samilar problem with pollen and dust. I'll try to lower it down to 0.5% as well, and use a foam gun from the pressure washer to get even, more runnier foam.”
“This paint is not salvageable. Polishing will only make it worse. This car needs a re paint.”
“As the title states, I’ve made the fatal mistake of taking my car through an automatic car wash. Club carwash to be specific. Never again. I normally wash by hand but I figured why not go through one for a short notice car meet. Any tips on how to remove this residue? Or am I looking at a paint correction submitted by /u/Week_Murky [link] [comments]”
“Theres little stains all over my hood/trunk, im guessing the tree I’ve been parking under has been dropping stuff onto my car and leaving these all over. I’m not sure what to do or how to get it off since they are very stuck on there. I’ve done a little research and it might be aphids from the tree leaving tiny sticky droplets on the car that then dry into dark specks. But regardless, I’m hoping that there’s some way to get them off. Please help!! submitted by /u/EnvironmentDue9997 [”
“Noticed the weird issue when using BH Touch-Less as a prewash on my old Honda Civic MK8 (UFO, EU model). For the 2nd time in a row I experience white milky staining around the edges of front grill made of perspex (acryllic) and my headlights. I wash my car every 3 weeks, maybe a month. Since there was a long heatwave in Europe, I skipped a wash (I also didn't drive as much). Car wasn't particularly dirtly, but a fair layer of road film, grime and bugs was on it. Car was previously coated”
“I don't get how. Interior first and then do door jambs, gas cap, tires, and then the rest of the exterior. How would you have to do the door jambs twice if you do the interior first?”
“For all you cerakote supporters how long before it looks bad again and have to redo and yes I’m aware they have some long guarantee but what is real world experience and plz let us know if car is outside staying or inside in garage Ty”
“Wow actually feedback let’s go lol. You’re probably right. There embedded and probably need to be polished out.”
“Unless you have swirls that really are noticeable to you, you do not need to do any correction. It is true that max gloss needs smooth paint but consider your clearcoat. Save your clearcoat. If you use a clay bar, you probably will need to use a finishing polishing. In any event, start with the least aggressive method. Use a panel paint before applying the coating,”
“"Shiny" in this territory is likely a sign of grime, not wear, which would be consistent with it being a matt finish after having the car detailed. He cleaned them...... that may be all that has occurred. If that is the case, your fix is nothing more than a degreasing all purpose cleaner. Steering wheels and the buttons in our cars are quite possibly the nastiest things we touch every day. Everything your hand touches ends up in those locations.”
“if you always wash it properly, like foam-rinse-foam-contact-rinse-dry, you won't "necessarily" need to polish it (unless you are chasing perfection, many will tell you even new cars need some sort of polish, others will say it's a car, made to be driven, etc) so a good proper wash, maybe a chemical iron decon (spray on an iron remover, rinse) then a coating. I've heard good things on G Techniq's new GT1 (other recs in here are good too) and CarPro's Lite 2.0 are so”
“I can confirm. My detailer corrected the whole car and left the roof thinking it'll come back for ceramic coating and hell finish it up (he forgot I'm also going to do a roof strip). The roof strip was put on and the paint under the ppf portion looks brand new.”
Heard adams tire and rubber cleaner on them will get rid of the oxidation
“Polish the glass with a DA. Koch Chemie FSE will work as mentioned on glass (mentioned in another comment), but that's because of the chem used - and it's not what I would necessarily call aggressive. CG is meant for paint. Why risk it?”
“If you’re going to continue to send the car through a car wash, don’t worry about them. If you’re gonna wash the car properly by hand, you could have them polished out and PPF added.”
“I need some advice, please. I took my car to get the roof fixed because a tree sap ate the clear coat so I took my car to a Gerber collision repair facility to get it repaired since I have a $0 ded. I got my car back and after a couple days I noticed a circle on the paint and I took the car back, they tried to buff it off, but they couldn't, and when I saw the car it looked like there was a dent. They told me that they would need to redo the work all over again and provided me with a car ren”
“I dont know what I put in this door to make this happen but it has white streaks. They go away when wet and come back when it dries. submitted by /u/SonnyDerickPorter [link] [comments]”
“I had a similar issue and used Meguiars Ultimate Compound, a microfiber towel and a lot of elbow grease. But want to note that I am no professional and new to this so I don’t have all the proper tools, but it came out great!”
“Hey guys, I bought another MX5 NA centre console, the previoua one I have washed with soapy warm water and whole thing became white-ish, dull, blackness basically was gone. So got a new used one and would like to clean it very well with brush - but what chemicals should I use so I wont damage it? I am newbie when it comes to advanced cleaning. submitted by /u/beenplaces [link] [comments]”
“Was doing a paint correction on my truck and this dull/hazy area showed up on the upper rear door after one pass with the polisher. It was not there before. At first I thought I burnt through the clear coat, however looking at it more closely it almost looks like wet sanding marks? It’s like vertical scratches in the clear coat, not orbital marks from a DA polisher. What I tried: - I tried another quick pass with the polisher and it did not improve, if anything it might’ve gotten worse with addi”
“I am back in the Car Detailing game after a few years mia. We just got a KIA Carnival (yes I know it’s a van) and they coated it for us. What are the best kits/Products available to maintain this coating. I was big into Gyeon and Megs those were my go to brands before I stopped. I also used ONR a lot. submitted by /u/thatguy6457 [link] [comments]”
“Hi everyone, I’m considering buying this 1985 corvette, but the paint looks like this. This is the only issue with the car. Do you think this can be fixed/improved somehow via some correction method? The car is not worth the amount it would cost for a paint job. submitted by /u/No-Professional5705 [link] [comments]”