Detailing supplies...

[BonnieBoy08]

I want to know what everybody on here uses, I'm curious to see what's all out there and hear your stories so I'll start with a pic of my arsenal lol. I use alot of Wizards products, I tried them about 6-7 years ago after a recommendation from a body shop. They make great stuff and I like supporting local business (it is made and distributed from Minneapolis, MN) All of the stuff smells amazing too, like a mix of cherry kool aid and a little bit of heaven I guess haha.


Wizards Turbo Cut- a real gritty pasty polish to remover deeper scratches from clearcoat
Wizards Finish Cut- You follow this after Turbo Cut to remove hazing and swirls (works great for finer scratches as well, it has a little grit to it
Wizards Shine Master- I polish with this in spring and fall, turns paint into glass, ridiculous water beading protection
Wizards Black renew- brings back color and luster to faded plastics
Wizards Mist 'N Shine- I use this between polishing after a wash sometimes for a just polished look, adds gloss to paint and smells amazing
Wizards Vinyl Shine- I use this on all interior surfaces for a dust free beautiful finish (don't get on glass though)
Wizards Wash Super Concentrate- suds up wonderfully and gently cleans thru dirt and grime while preserving polished surface
Bugs-B-Gone- this is a product by Sea Foam, spray on dry surface, let sit for 30secs and rinse away bugs and grime (works amazing!)
GM Glass Cleaner- foaming gleaner removes grime and leaves streak free shine, also ammonia free
Lexol Vinylex- I use this as my tire shine
Lexol Leather Cleaner-lifts dirt from leather
Lexol Conditioner- conditions, softens, and protects leather
Scotchgard Auto Shampoo- deep foaming cleaner lifts stains and dirt from carpet
Woolite Oxy- for hard to clean carpet stains
Mothers Billet Polish- makes any rims effortlessly shine to their full potential

[00Beast]

I couldn't even begin to put on here everything I use. I have a lot of stuff, and it depends on the vehicle I'm working on. It also depends on what's been on sale, lol. Wizards stuff is good, I just don't have a good local source for it.

[gweg_b]

I'm the same as Ed, as I really have too many things to list. For the moment, I usually just use Meguiar's and Detailer's Pro products. I really haven't gotten into the fine levels of detailing yet, so I really haven't landed on a set of products that I'll always go back to.

But, I'm interested in this thread, as I'll get to see what everyone uses, and that will expand my knowledge of what is out there.

[sextrosgxp]

I like the Wolfgang and Pinnacle products from Autogeek. Little pricey compared to what you get at Walmart or Auto one, but feel it's worth it. Mothers and Meguires have some good products as well.

[00Beast]

Just for an idea, this is my cabinet:



Mothers Wheel and Tire Cleaner(s)
Meg's Endurance Tire Shine
Lexol (Haven't used it recently...)
Mezerna Polishes, Porter Cable 7424XP polisher, LC 5.5" pads
Bugs B Gon
Aerospace 303 plastic/vinyl detailer
The list goes on...

[1oldman]

For what little my thoughts are worth, I prefer Meguiar's if the price is right. I have no doubt there a better products (which Ryan and others will attest to), but not at a price I'm willing to pay for. I do prefer Lexol for the leather though. - BC

[crash93ssei]

Guess I'll join in here

Bissell Little Green machine. Works great for carpets, seats, and also around the house!


Shop Vac, top motor unit is removable and turns into a leaf blower, use it all the time for drying cars off.


Keep my towels / pads in this, bottom for clean, top for dirty.


Porter Cable 7424XP - great tool, just WAY down on power, bought a brush for it for interior cleaning, works great for that.
UDM 1000 - the original Ultimate Detailing Machine, not the rebadged second gen PC version. TONS of power, has as much power on speed 3 as the PC does on 6. As you can see though it is getting old and beat up....
Wagner heat gun - I use this for various jobs, rubber removal, badge removal, heat and reapply trim etc.


Various brushes, I have more but they are out in my truck, didn't feel like grabbing them
Q-Tips
I use Eagle 1 Tire Swipes, they work great.
Yellow bug sponges.


Menzerna Powergloss Compound
Menzerna 106Fa / SF4000
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish
Samples of HD Cut and HD Polish. These are amazing polishes, will be ordering some soon as well as Menzerna FG400


Detailiers Pride Rinsless Wash & Gloss - LOVE this stuff! Rinseless washing is awesome
Meguiar's Wheel Brightener - This stuff is STRONG! It will eat normal sprayers and cleans the nastiest of wheels. If I don't need this stuff then soap and water works just fine.
Spraymaster bottle with 2:1 dilution of the Megs WB
Purple Power degreaser - Good stuff that can be found easily locally.
Spraymaster with 3:1 dilution of PP degreaser


Lexol cleaner and conditioner - Works ok, but seeking something better, not terribly impressed.
Meguiar's Gold Class car wash - This or Dawn, basically all I use.
Stoners Invisible Glass - Works exactly as it says.
Stoners Tarminator - Perfect for bug / tar removal.
Folex - This is a great spot cleaner for nasty stains in seats / carpet.
IPA - 1000 uses for this stuff.


303 Aerospace protectant - Perfect look, not too shiny, not dull, no greasy feeling, doesn't attract dust.
Meguiar's quick detailer - Works good whenever needed
Meguiar's #21 2.0 - My go to LSP for most of my details, goes on easy and off easy as well, lasts 4 to 6 months
Meguiar's Hot Shine tire foam - Mainly use this or any other cheap spray for dressing fenderwells.
Meguiar's Gold Class Endurance tire shine gel - By far my favorite dressing, also have it in aerosol for tires with difficult sidewalls, love this stuff!
Turtle Wax chrome polish - Great for any chrome or stainless.


Masking tape and painters tape, use it all the time for taping things off I don't want to get polish or wax on, definitely a must have in the detailing arsenal.
Pinnacle Souveran paste wax - Honestly an ok wax, but much more hype then anything. I would pay $30 for it but certainly not the regular $100 price. I got it on sale for $50 a couple years ago. Supposed to be a "beauty wax" that looks amazing but offers only a few weeks of protection.... With proper surface prep nobody would know the difference between this and basically any other wax.
Wolfgang Fuzion - Basically the same opinion as with the Souveran. I got it on sale for 1/2 off a few years ago but would never pay the full price for it, and really wouldn't even pay 1/2 price for it again. I like it, but mainly for the same reason as the Souveran - ease of use.
Samples of Zymol Royale and Zymol Vintage. I received these from a member on autogeek after a discussion about the crazy expensive waxes ( roughly $2,000 for Vintage and $7,000 for Royale, lifetime refills on both though) really being that much better then the rest of them... I tried them, they are nothing that special to me, nothing more then the Souveran or Fuzion and you already know my opinion of them. Now, don't get be wrong, all of these are nice waxes, they look, smell, and work great, the prices are just absurd.


Mineral Spirits and Spar urethane for headlight restorations.
Meguiar's Clay bar - Works good, basically any clay you buy is the same as they are all under the same patent no matter the brand except Clay Magic and I believe Mothers... which isn't that good.
3M trim adhesive - I use this with the heat gun to reapply peeled off trim etc...
Tooth brush and detailing brush - These get used all the time on interiors and vents.




I also have tons of towels for general purpose, polish removal, wax removal, drying, interior and underhood. I use Lake Country CCS 5.5" pads for polishing. My UDM is going downhill pretty quick and I am seriously looking at the Rupes LHR21ES Bigfoot polisher, that is an amazing tool!

My arsenal is pretty small this year as I just haven't really done any detailing. I have been working 60+ hours a week for the most part since the beginning of summer so that makes it difficult to want to detail for 6 hours before work or on a weekend day that I might have off.

[gweg_b]

Yeah, I love using the Little Green Machine on carpets - next best thing to ripping your carpets out and hosing them down! But that arsenal of Ryan's is always impressive! Now, if I could just stop spending money on car mods, I might actually be able to afford some good car detailing stuff someday (still don't own a polisher)!

So far though, I'm really liking this thread!

[BonnieBoy08]

Thanks Ryan! Your collection was what I was looking forward to most after seeing all your amazing work! The blower is a good idea I've never though of, I always just use microfiber or terry cloths. Do you prefer polish over wax or do you do both? The body shop that recommended Wizards to me has always preached to me, stay away from waxes and that polish is king. Any truth or reason to this or is it all a matter of personal opinion? I've always wanted to try the clay bar, the whole process just seems weird to me lol

[crash93ssei]

Here is the main thing to remember about probably 99.9% of body shops out there.... basically anything they tell you about detailing and paint care is wrong, right down to the terminology and how it is used.

Polish is frequently used to describe something that just shines up the paint like a wax, a real polish actually has abrasives in it to remove a very very small amount of clear coat to make it look perfect after compounding or just for that added gloss and depth.

Compound is all too often used as a general term for any type of polish when in reality a compound is a heavy cut polish that is used to remove nasty scratches, swirls, and wetsanding marks. A polish is almost always required afterward to clean up hazing left from the harshness of a compound.

Wax and polish are two completely different things, the polish as I stated earlier actually removes a tiny amount of clear coat to level and perfect the surface while wax acts as a sacrificial barrier to help protect the polished paint, add some gloss and slickness.

I always wax or seal everything I polish, or anytime I do a general quick detail even without polishing.

The whole blowdrying thing is amazing! Fact is, the less you touch your car, the less chance there is of scratching it and inducing swirls. Blowdrying doesn't really work without a layer of wax, sealant, or a coating such as Opti Coat or CQuarts Finest. These LSPs (last step product) allow the water to bead or sheat off the paint rather then just sitting there, and when you blow dry it the water just flies off instead of sort of smearing. If the car isn't waxed, sealed, or coated, the water will mostly dry and not really work with the blower leaving you frustrated and towel drying. It isn't a perfect method by any means, a good soft drying towel is still needed to get some small spots, but it removes probably 80% of the water on the car including water inside the side mirrors and in all the little cracks. NEVER use a bath towel!

Clay bar is awesome, it removes all the gritty embedded surface contaminants in the paint, especially the rail / brake dust that leaves all the rust colored spots in the paint. There are now even some alternatives to the old fashioned clay bar as well, there is synthetic clay towels that are amazing! With old clay, if you drop it, you have to throw it away because it picks up all the dirt and would rub it into the paint, also it only last for a couple cars. The clay towels (a microfiber towel with a clay like rubber on one side) can be rinsed if dropped and keep right on going, not to mention people have used them for 50+ cars without issue. They are not cheap though... The important thing about clay though is make sure to use plenty of lube and do it in the shade or in a garage if you can, if you lose the lubricity and the clay sort of jams up, you will mar the paint leaving streaks that then must be polished out.

You guys owe it to yourselves to check out Optimum No Rinse. I currently use Detailers Pride Rinseless Wash & Gloss, but will go the ONR route when I am out of the DP RW&G. It is great being able to do a complete wash in under 15 minutes with no streaks, no hose, no rinsing, and no drying!

As for the Wizards products, I have tried them, honestly never gonna buy any. They are full of fillers and really just don't perform even close to the level of Menzerna or HD products.

While you can do a good job by hand, you will never be able to touch by hand what even a weak machine like the PC 7424XP can achieve. Not to mention that an orbital polisher such as the PC is very very difficult to damage your paint with. IF you are looking at a polisher such as that, I would actually go with the Griot's Garage 6" as it is the same style with a much better warranty and a good amount more power as well.

[gweg_b]

Yeah, I have a bottle use the DP Rinseless, and I love it as well. It's great to use on the cars after I've been driving in some heavy rains. Saves so much time as I don't have pull the car off the street, and then drag the hose out.

Thanks for the tip on the clay towels, those look very interesting, and I might have to at least buy one sometime this summer. Also, I was looking at the PC 7424XP, but after you mentioning it, I'll look into the Griot's Garage 6" as well.

[00Beast]

DP rinseless is perfect for door jambs, as you don't want to spray water into your car, lol. Either a blow dryer or an air compressor work great for jambs, mirrors, etc.

[Grimm]

To go along with Ryan's tip on blowing off the water: when you rinse, take the nozzle off the hose and just let the water flow from the roof down. If the car is waxed, that will allow most of the water to just flow right off the car.

[yourgrandma]

Gotta say, after all I've heard about onr, I was really disappointed. For a waterless wash type product (like a quick detailer but with better lubrication properties) I am in love with poor boys spray and wipe. Optimum no Prince can suck a bag of dirty microfiber.

[crash93ssei]

What didn't you like about it?

[yourgrandma]

Its streaky, doesn't lubricate very well and smells like crap. I tried a few levels of dilution and nothing worked very well. I haven't tried it as a presoak or drying aid yet, but wasn't liking it as a waterless wash, qd or clay lube. At least not compared to poor boys spray and wipe.

[crash93ssei]

Odd, are you sure it was Optimum No Rinse and not some knockoff? I have never heard of any streaking problems with it, or any complaints about the lubricity of it. If it is that bad I would talk to them and try to get another bottle, maybe was a bad batch or something.

[yourgrandma]

Got it from autogeek, so Im sure its legit.

I can definately keep playing with it but in the meantime Im buying a gallon each of poorboys spray and wipe as well as spray and shine. I cant say enough about PoorBoys stuff. Its all so straightforward, reasonably priced and it works great.

[crash93ssei]

I have tried some Poorboys wax and was pretty happy with it, I think in general their lineup is pretty good.

[3800SERIESII]

To build on this thread, I haven't really detailed much, but I know the basics of application.

I just picked up some Meguiar's products to do a detail this weekend that costed about $50:

Meguiar's Clay Bar Kit
Meguiar's Ultimate Polish
Meguiar's NXT 2.0 Wax
and some microfiber cloths.

Read some very good reviews off of a few sites for these products and am excited on how the 'Bird is going to look after.

It will probably take me 6-9 hours to complete it but if I do it once a year it seems worth it.