Just what I was looking for! Can you recommend/list the products you used? what can be bought to seal or protect the paint? Thanks!!!
Are you looking for product recommendations for clay bar? Clay is clay for the most part. There are some different levels of clay out there from heavy to light but don't worry to much about those. For the most part the kits you get from local stores will do what you need them too. The Meguiars and Mothers clay bar kits will have everything you need and work really well. Just make sure you have plenty of clay lube when rubbing the car with the clay, you don't want to rub clay on a dry part. You can use car soap that's very sudsy for this, Load up your wash mitt and squeeze over the part of the panel that you are claying as you go. Or just use plenty of the quick detailer that comes with the kit. Be sure to Knead the clay after every section, you'll be able to see when it's needed. Alternately you can use a nanoskin product, it does the same as clay but isn't so finicky and doesn't need to be kneaded, just rinsed off and if you drop on the ground it can still be used after a good rinse. If you drop clay on the ground, in the trash it goes!
As far as protecting the paint and or sealing it, there is a lot of different approaches out there, all depends on what you want to spend vs how often you want to apply.
Here is my response to a similar question a while back, it was too long to type again:
Roman, You have many options available for you and you need to weigh the costs vs the benefit and how it applies to you. No one can decide what is "best" except for you and your pocket book.
First off lets talk about PPF (paint protection film) commonly called clear bra: PPF is the only thing that you can add to the car that will significantly reduce the chances of getting rock chips on the front of the car. Many of the brands are crystal clear, guaranteed for at least 10 years and have self-healing properties, meaning that if something does scratch them a day in the sun can greatly reduce those scratches. This option is more expensive and finding a quality installer to do the work is just as important as choosing a quality product. The environment that PPF get applied needs to be dust free and clean otherwise you run the risk of getting particles trapped under the film and creating bubbles. Because of this I do not recommend doing it your self. Is it possible to install yourself, Yes, but it's a challenging task to get right. I have HFM (hood fender mirrors) and full front bumper on mine. The hood is the bikini cut with a curved line about 2/3 the way up the hood, It's very hard to see unless your right on top of it and looking for it. I also recommend the door cups which protect the area behind the door handles from fingernails and rings that scratch the paint there. Those areas are difficult to polish if they do get scratched.
The Next option is Coatings. Coatings essentially add a layer of clear coat that bonds to the already applied clear coat to add durability. They are typically ceramic based and can be very hard, 9H hardness level, diamond is 10H. They can be removed and reapplied as need. There are two different levels of coating that you can go with, Pro level and consumer level. The difference between the two are cost and longevity. Pro level coatings require an authorized installer in order to purchase and can not be had by the average consumer. The reason for this is because they must be applied correctly because if there is an error, the only way to remove the pro level coatings is by wet sanding with 1500grit. Pro coatings typically come with a 10-15 year warranty and run around $1000 to be installed. The high price is due to prep work needed before applying them. The car must be 100% free of defects. Even brand new cars will require at minimum a full paint correction polishing followed by a panel wipe to remove any polish residue left behind. Polishing a car to that level can often take 8+ hours to do correctly.
The Consumer level coatings are very similar to the Pro offerings but are much more user friendly and quite easy to apply. If a mistake is made, high spots can be buffed off with either polish or compound and a Dual action or rotary buffer. Some claim the same level of hardness but are not as thick and typically will last between 2-5 years depending on the product and type of abuse it is subject to. They protect the paint and offer a very high level of hydrophobic properties so that dirt and water do not stick to the car and make it easier to clean and maintain. I recommend this type of coating for you. They can be applied by you and offer much better protection then waxes or sealants, almost negating the need for such products if you so choose. A few of my favorites are: Optimum Gloss coat (2years) - 10cc - $60, Gtechniq Crystal serum light (3-5years) - $70 can be topped with Gtechniq EXO to had more shine and hydrophobic properties as well as extended protection - $115 for CSL + EXO kit, Carpro Cquartz Kit (2-3years) 30ml bottle - $75, and pinnicale black label diamond paint coating (3years) - $80. With any of these coatings the paint needs to be free of defects and swirls so for a new car I would still recommend a light polishing by machine with a light cutting foam pad, followed by an 15% Isopropyl Alcohol wipe or panel wipe to remove polishing oils and residue before applying the coating.
If you are going to do a coating, many of them can be applied directly on top of a PPF so it doesn't have to be one or the other, it can be both. Wash the car with quality soap, decontaminate with an iron remover like CarPro Iron-X, wash again, Clay bar the entire vehicle, Wash, Dry, IPA or panel wipe, and then apply coating following the manufactures recommended procedure.
If coatings seem to intense for you many detailers can apply them for you at a cost, find a good detailer and talk it over with them and what they think would be your best options, They don't have to be a PRO coating installer, many aren't since it requires certification, which costs money to be a PRO coating installer.
Aside from coatings you can also just keep up on regular waxing or Sealant treatments. Now the terms wax and sealant can be a bit confusing when looking at product. Some waxes are actually sealant and some sealants are actually waxes and it seems its up to the manufacturer and how they market on what they actually call it. I typically think of anything that is synthetic to be a sealant and anything that contains natural ingredients, mostly Carnauba wax to be a true wax or a hybrid wax/sealant combo.
Carnauba Wax is not as durable as a true synthetic sealant, lasting only about 2 months at most. The shine and depth that natural high quality carnauba wax provides is hard to beat but the constant need to re-apply is a bit of a turn off for me. I would only use carnauba wax before going to a car show or something similar to give the vehicle that extra little bit of pop.
Synthetic sealants are the way to go as many of them rival the appearance of carnauba waxes but last for longer, are safe to use or get on the trim with out turning it white and are much easyier to and remove. My favorites are Collonite 845 insulator wax (its called a wax but its a synthetic sealant, Collonite 476, Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid wax (again actually a synthetic sealant) and FinishKare 1000p. These products will usually last around 6-8 months if cared for properly with regular washes and a spray wax topper from time to time. I have really been liking Meguiars Ultimate Spray wax lately due to it's local availability. Optimum Car Wax spray is also a very nice spray wax that is easy to use.
On to Washing: A proper washing technique is crucial to maintaining a scratch and swirl free finish. I would avoid car washes as best you can. The car washes with the spinning brushes are just swirl-o-matics, and the gentle touch ones aren't much better. Think of what it means to your cars finish if you are the car that goes thru right after a very dirty truck that was offroading goes before you. All that dirt and grit is still in the brushes and what not about to be rubbed all over your car. Touchless car washes are a bit better but as there is nothing to physically touch the car and induce swirls but in order to clean the car they use rather harsh chemicals that can an will strip any waxes or sealant you have applied.
Use either a rinseless wash solution like Optimum No Rinse (ONR) or a quality car shampoo and the two bucket method with grit guards. If you want more info on the ONR washing let me know and I can detail that further. I'll focus on the two bucket method. You need two buckets each with there own grit guard inserts in the bottom. Grit guards are plastic grids that sit on the bottom of the bucket and help trap dirt and debris at the bottom of the wash solution that is picked up by the wash mitt. One bucket is should be your Clean wash bucket that you add your shampoo too and the other bucket is your rinse bucket which you use to rinse your wash mitt out after doing a panel. Rinse the wash mitt in the rinse bucket, you can agitate against the grit guard to help remove more dirt and wring it out, Dunk into your wash bucket getting as much suds as you can. Wash your vehicle from the top down using straight back and forth stokes to reduce swirls. Do not wash in a circular motion as any scratches will be noticeable if they are induced. Rinse your mitt after each panel. I do roof, hood, fenders, doors, front bumper, then rear tailgate as that is usually least to most dirty.
Dry with a high quality microfiber drying towel, either waffle weave or plush, your choice. You can even use a leaf blower to dry the car if you want. I like the rag companys Platinum Pluffle towels for drying, they are a waffle weave plush hybrid towel and hold a lot of water.
That should just about cover your wanting to know how to maintain your paint finish. If you have more questions feel free to ask or PM me and I can be more specific about any one of the topics or products I covered.
Of Coarse there are hundreds of different products from hundreds of different manufactures that can be use with great results, I just listed ones that I personally like or have tried in the past.
