Ech............You couldn't give me a house on the coast, crappy weather, tourists, crappy weather, did I mention the tourists?
I live in the Cascades where the air is clean, the altitude keeps us out of the fog, and below the snow, the trees are 500yrs old, and the water view is a crystal clear river full of trout..............The OR coast is one big tourist trap, no thanks!

 

Ahh negatory. The summers are busy but down in the southwest coast, Gold Beach to Bandon, is nice and not crowded. The highway gets washed out often enough that a lot of tourists avoid it and go around. She lives in a port with historical landings with the likes of Captain Vancouver and Captain Whidbey, who helped map the coastline and a bit of the interior for opening to exploration from the sea. It was a rough timbered coast to try and walk over. Lewis and Clark have my full admiration for getting to the Colombia River bar. I hear ya' about the Cascades - they're truly beautiful and peaceful. I have a place in the woods too - no waterview - 8 acres with 2 acres cleared. Close enough to the Pacific for mellow weather and don't have to worry about the pipes or my truck freezing. It's mostly all good, there's lots of beautiful spots in this great country.

 

I wanted to get as far from "civilization" as I can, and this place fits the bill..............There are just TOO many people on the coast for my likes.
The yuppies drive through here, but they don't stay.

 

I hear that. During my money-making life there were a lot of cramped living conditions and usually a big city at the end of the plane ride or boat ride. Soon as I retired it was off to the woods for me, commune with nature and all that. I love the Spring - lush and green. The woods critters are in full throat dawn and dusk. I almost need hearing protection then if I'm in the woods, it's that loud. And the critters are too funny, hopping over each other, birds divebombing whatever they feel like, the hummers zooming around like kami kazis, young chicklets chirping from their nests. Robins screaming at crows and owls to stay away from their young 'uns. Love it.

 

I like to think I know a thing or three about detailing. What can I say, I like my stuff clean, no matter how hard they work.

The show truck (the one in my avatar) is usually a 9-10 hour process of prepping for an event. I wash with Meguiar's Ultimate Wash (yellow product) to preserve as much wax/finish as I can. If it needs, it gets a round of Meguiar's Ultimate Polish to take out any light swirling and stuff like that, then I hit it with Griot's Garage's Paint Sealant. Used to never be sold on sealants until this year - it has saved me a TON of effort and it lasts 6-12 months (my daily runners both need it re-done now after the winter). Final coat is then a round of Meguiar's "Black Wax" which helps pop the color just a bit. I do other stuff day of the show with glazes and such to really make the finish pop.

The daily runners don't get quite that much treatment. Usually after winter is over, they get a round with a clay bar to get rid of road grime, a round of Ultimate Polish to clean up the worst of the swirling and light scratches, a round of sealant, then Griots "Best of Show" wax. Routine washings (about every 2 weeks or so) I use the Ultimate wash then a round with Lucas Spray Wax to maintain the finish.

OP mentioned Adam's products - I do like them, and have their plastic cleaner/protectant (it's an aerosol spray can) that I use under the hood of my show truck. That's the only product I have right now, but I am considering more as I need to replenish my supplies for this season.

 

For ther record - I am Polish.
I have like 5 bottles of different waxes that I bought over 10 years ago and they are still in garage.
Over the years I develop quick technique that gets my car cleaned in 3 mintues.
Semitruck wash brush on proffesional extended pole, get the car wet and make long strokes side by side.
Good paint doesn't need wax, alsthough one time I clayed front of my Mercedes and it did look better. Had run out of elbow grease to do the rear.
Sponge-washing is catching the particles and acts like sandpaper on your paint.

 

^^^^^^^^This!

 

You cracked me up Polish Poster Kajtek1, I'm still ROTFLMAO and my sides are hurting.

After slaving for three minutes in the kitchen as a boy, I asked my mother if I could buy some of that elbow grease with my allowance.

 

TeamBrahma, thanks for the Meguiar's post. That's a lot of cleaning and ATD. Do you have a clear coat on the paint?

It takes me three hours to wax the F350 after a wash. I don't even mess with the F250 anymore besides washing it once a year.

You've got show trucks - do you have a photo gallery of them? (I looked but am sometimes blind.)

 

Large mix of products here.
Nanoskin claying sponges
Nanoskin 7" towel
Meg's Ultimate Wash
Meg's Ultimate Polish & Compound
Mother's power cone for the wheels
Meg's Ultimate liquid Syn Wax (can be used in sunlight)
Meg's Ultimate Quik Wax
Meg's interior detailer (safe for use on touch screens)
Meg's waffle weave drying towels (one for the wife's car...need two to dry the truck)
Stoner's Invisible glass on the ins and outs of the windows
303 Aerospace for the cover and all exterior plastics
Lately though I've been using Nanoskin's Hydroshock on the wheels and just started using it on the hood and I'm completely impressed with it's abilities to shed water and air debris. It seems to last a little longer than the Meg's ultimate stuff too. I've just ordered the Nanoskin Hydrophobic spray polymer to see what sealing properties it has.

It's a labor of love for me. Oddly I find it very relaxing.

 

Yes, everything still has clear coat on it. The polishing I do is very light, generally, now that I've been able to do the majority of the paint correction (compounds and what not) to remove the swirls and scratches.

The F150 is the only one that is truly "show" - and it's my avatar. No galleries on here, of yet. The OBS and Expedition are my more 'daily service' rides, but like I said, I like keeping my stuff clean. It's my therapy - and being single I have no responsibilities that keep me from scheduling the time to do it.

 

Meguiars Ultimate Liquid wax... usually in full sun when it's 105* outside, because what other kind of weather is there in Texas? Leave it until water doesn't bead, then wash and rewax. It's not meant to be pretty I guess.

I probably need some serious polish for the Weatherguard toolbox that's now a uniform shade of oxidized aluminum, but eh, it'll just get nasty again.

 

I get it. You are Polish in a polish thread.

 

This caught my attention second go-around. My stereo unit is a touch screen deck now (a Pioneer unit) and I've wrestled with finding the right stuff to clean it with. I was using something that I use on my flat screen TV/computer monitor which says it's safe for touch screens as well, but as it sits in my under-sink cabinet in the kitchen, I generally forget to throw it in my cleaning tote when I go to shows. Maybe I need to look this up as it will stay with my tote of cleaning supplies for the truck(s) and will likely have other uses as well.