Disclaimer: I have not washed a car personally in almost 20 years. In face, I hardly ever took my previous car for a wash. My car in general gets so covered in dirt that it looks like I've been picking cherries for the past month. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely compulsive about regular maintenance like oil filter and air filter changes. But as long as the car got from point A to point B I was fine. Unfortunately I have been promoted to the point of having to park next to a bunch of BMW's, Mercedes, Lexus, and other nice cars. (No one can say anything bad about a Prius - here in California it's trendy!) Some of the people at work pay for this service to come out weekly and wash their car while we work. I REALLY don't want to spend $50-$100 a week on something I can do for myself. So with great excitement and a bit of trepidation I purchased the basic Zaino kit, the Zaino bucket container, 3 Zaino towels, a hogshair brush on a 6 foot pole (yes I know that's cheating), a bottle of Dawn and a 32oz spray bottle. 530p: Got home early after work to begin. Ipod headphones: in. Mixed 2.5 oz of Dawn into 2.5 gallons of water. Zaino recommends only washing with the car with 100% cotton towels to decrease swirling and scratching, but any car wash is a step up for me. The hogshair brush makes the work go much faster than I expected. It also makes cleaning the roof of the car a snap! I soap and scrub off the car and have it rinsed in half an hour. 6p: Used the first Zaino towel to dry off the car. One towel isn't enough to dry the car entirely but the towel wrings out easily. I have 3 towels, I want to save one to remove the wax and one to apply the Z-6 gloss enhancer. Wringing out the towel works out pretty well. 615p: Begin claying the car. I mix half a cap of the Z-7 car wash into 12 oz of water. Using the spray bottle I lubricate the area I'm polishing before rubbing the claybar over it. If you've never worked with clay before, let me warn you: it's very slippery. The best way I found to hold the bar was to use my first and third fingers on opposite sides of the long sides of the bar, and my second finger on the top short edge of the bar. The towel that I used to dry the car doubles to wipe up any extra spray. I think I probably spent too much time claying the car, but I had no previous experience with claying. A new car doesn't seem to have many rough areas. Other than the occasional bug splat I'm not certain I did much. The next day I started claying my wife's car, and managed to remove many large scratches! 715p Wash the car in the Z-7 car wash and dry. 8p: Begin the first coat of Z-5. Mixed 1 oz with 4 drops of the ZFX flash cure additive. Used the free applicator pad. Zaino actually sends a free applicator pad for every $25 that you spend, not just 1 if you spend over $25. In any case, I only need one, but I have extras for the next time. Luckily the Prius is low to the ground so I can easily reach the top of the car without a problem. 820p: Completed the waxing. Time to let it sit. 930p: Come back to check on the car and the wax has dried. I use the second Zaino borderless towel to buff the wax. I then use the Z-6 gloss enhancer and the last Zaino borderless towel to wipe it off immediately. 1015p: Begin the second coat of Z-5. This one doesn't take as long. Either I'm getting better or I'm getting more impatient. Probably the latter. 11p: I check the wax and it's already dry. I buff off the wax again and use the Z-6 gloss enhancer, and I'm done at 1130p. The Z-5 makes the car look darker, I have a magnetic gray. I may try using some of the Z-2 later this weekend, to see if it gives the car more of a brighter shine. And I'm not certain how good of a job I did, but it was fun to do (at least once...)
One word... Beautiful! It's a lot of extra work the first time but preparing the finish properly is key. Now you only have to worry about washing it when you can and afterwards I'd give it a spray down with the z7. That'll extend the life of the Zaino. The Z5 is great for dark colors as it does make the depth of color more pronounced and it reduces swirl marks better, which are more noticable on dark cars. But the Z2 works great as well and it is 'said' that it does have a bit more lasting power to it. I always used to follow up anything I did with a final coat of Z2... So for me, I'd just make sure in the end, the top coat is always a Z2 layer... Glad you took the time to do it and I hope you had fun as well. The car looks amazing! Oh, make sure once you are done with the aplicator pads squeeze some dawn onto em' and clean them real good. Don't let the Zaino dry on them...
Darn, my first applicator pad still looks purple! The Zaino borderless towels came out of the wash completely clean and soft, though. Next time I'll use the Dawn on the applicator pad, thanks for the tip!
Dawn for washing a car?? Have I missed something? I've always heard that dish washing detergent is the last thing you would use on a car.
Oooh nice! Yep, it strips the wax off the car. So don't use it unless that's exactly what you want to do. (which some people would in order to get a nice clean surface to wax)
Yes, only before applying these new non wax sealants. If you try and apply them over other silicon waxes etc they will not adhere properly. Washing with Dawn strips everything off and leaves behind a perfectly squeeky clean surface for proper adhesion. Keep in mind if you wash with Dawn though after all this hard work it'll jsut strip it all off again. Even using car wash soap too heavily concentrated will have the same effect.
Before our TCH, my wife had a black Audi TT. Determined to protect the finish, it was always hand washed by me, I would not let anyone else touch it. And it was cared for with Zaino products for the 6 years we owned it. The finish looked much better than any other 6 year old car I know of, and certainly better than any other black 6 year old. I found Zaino took more time and care, but it was not hard (physical) work. Best products I have ever used on a car. Not sure I'd go to the trouble with a Prius.
syncmacd, your car is so shiny! I love the reflection of the clouds on your hood, and I'm sure the metallic flakes are popping!! It will be the star of your parking lot when you go to work on Monday. Remember to Z6 your car well before applying Z2, especially if you take the car out of the garage in between, to remove dust that has settled on the paint which may cause scratches during application/removal of sealant. Use of Z8 or other spray-on sealant after subsequent washes will help extend the life of the Zaino, so it'll be 6 months or longer before you have to do this again. Just wait until it rains (in socal during the summer -- yeah, right...). The water beads and the way it sheets off your paint will leave a big smile on your face.
