Black Range Rover Wash and Wax feat. Desire! - TLC Auto Detail

**Flannigan** · 05-05-2012, 03:31 PM

Today we`ve got a big black Range Rover scheduled for a wash and wax. The vehicle is a 2006 and starting to show a bit of age, however it is a daily driver that is stored outside, so the client decided against a correction at this time.

As usual we started with the wheels, tires, and wells. The wheels were cleaned with Wolfs Decon Gel, and the tires and wells were cleaned with Blackfire APC 3:1. Then the wheels were sealed with BFWD, the tires dressed with Blackfire Tire Gel, and the wells dressed with CG Bare Bones

Before:

Wolfs doing it`s thing:

After: The customer is fighting with the dealership to get these wheels replaced under warranty due to some clearcoat bubbling, so they were not perfectly cleaned to prevent and further damage to the clearcoat, in case the claim is denied.

Then we moved to foaming the exterior. We always take this extra step to try and make sure all of the loose debris, and even some not so loose debris, is removed from the paint before we touch it with our wash media of choice. In the foam gun today was Meguiars Gold class wash mixed with some Blackfire APC. While the foam dwelled we agitated the emblems, gas filler area, and emblems with a soft brush.

Here is how the paint looked to start with. Thick layer of dirt, with some water spots and pollen thrown in for good measure.

Foaming

We followed that with a traditional wash with Blackfire Shampoo and a Griots MF wash mitt. The paint was dried with a Mastetblaster and then clayed with Ricardo Fine Clay with CG Luber as lube.

We then moved onto using a paint cleaner. I have seen a lot of talk lately about whether paint cleaners are useful, or a worthwhile step in detailing. I personally ALWAY use a paint cleaner when applying a fresh coat of wax, especially after claying. Paint cleaners will deep clean below surface contaminants, and even clean up light marring left behind from claying or some improper wash techniques.

Here is how the paint looked after claying.

I then hit it with P21S on a green BS pad, nothing crazy, just two quick passes with light pressure. Here is a 50/50

And all done

As you can see this step, which took less than 45 minutes to do on the whole truck, greatly improved the overall look of the paint, and made sure the wax will bond properly which will lead to better durability.

Obviously paint cleaners are not going to remove heavy defects or RIDS, but I think people overlook them to quickly clean up light marring and deep clean the paint.

After the paint was squeaky clean I applied two coats (4 hours apart) of Auto Finesse Desire

While it was hazing I polished up the chrome with Swissvax Metal Polish

Before:

After:

And here are some reflection shots, and the final shots of the vehicle all finished up. A few notes, the glass was cleaned with Auto Finesse Glass Cleaner, and the trim was dressed with Auto Finesse Revive.

That about does it! Thanks for taking the time to look, and I look forward to your feedback!

**BIOLINK** · 05-05-2012, 05:19 PM

Nicely done! Those reflection shots are great!

**dd1101** · 05-05-2012, 06:12 PM

You said no correction was done? Looking at the 50/50 of the rear tailgate, what was used? all details would be great, incuding pads, speed, method...etc.

Overall that truck looks amazing.

**Flannigan** · 05-07-2012, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by TID10

Nicely done! Those reflection shots are great!

Thanks man!

Originally Posted by dd1101

You said no correction was done? Looking at the 50/50 of the rear tailgate, what was used? all details would be great, incuding pads, speed, method...etc.

Overall that truck looks amazing.

Thanks. I used P21S paint cleaner to clean up the paint a bit before waxing.

**mjlinane** · 05-07-2012, 07:01 AM

Wow, great work!!

Wouldn`t have thought you could do that with a paint cleaner. Thanks - going to have to try that.

**Addicted2Bling** · 05-07-2012, 07:35 AM

Looks like someone knows what they`re doing

**Todd@RUPES** · 05-07-2012, 07:57 AM

Great job! The P21S Paint Cleansing Lotion really did a phenomenal job prepping the paint for the wax. Looks awesome and thanks for sharing!

**Flannigan** · 05-16-2012, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by mjlinane

Wow, great work!!

Wouldn`t have thought you could do that with a paint cleaner. Thanks - going to have to try that.

Thanks man! It`s pretty amazing what you can do for a vehicle even without actually using a polish on it.

Originally Posted by Addicted2Bling

Looks like someone knows what they`re doing

Thank you!

Originally Posted by Todd Helme

Great job! The P21S Paint Cleansing Lotion really did a phenomenal job prepping the paint for the wax. Looks awesome and thanks for sharing!

Thanks Todd!

**Orinda Auto Detail** · 05-16-2012, 03:54 PM

+1 on buying some p21. Nice work as always! came out great!

**RTexasF** · 05-17-2012, 08:18 AM

Well you taught me something today using the P21S paint cleaner. I would have never expected those results. I`m not familiar with the green pad....is it for light polishing similar to a Lake Country white pad?

**mjlinane** · 05-17-2012, 09:26 AM

I decided to try a prewax cleaner (Muc-off) this weekend and was very pleased with the results - especially for the time invested. Thanks for the tip!