New to the product and lots of questions


AllyChevy48

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Hello all, new member here.  I currently use the two bucket method with grit guards, foam cannon,  blower to dry finished with an Adam’s great white detailing towel for any residual water.  I have read for the past couple years about the ONR and finally decided to try it with the winter cold coming and not having the hose like in the warmer months. 

 

I purchased the 32oz bottle, a BRS, and the opti seal for a drying aid. I watched a handful of tutorials and got the understanding of the steps to wash using the products.  Working from top to bottom I presoaked my panels I was working and used the big red sponge to clean followed but running it over the grit guard and leaving it in the bucket to start drying.  I sprayed one pump of the opti seal on the wet area followed by using my Adams great white drying towel to dry the panel. I completed the car and I must say it looked great. 

 

I grabbed my inspection light and found marring all over the panels and now I’m scratching my head as to what I did wrong. 

*i tried attaching pictures of the marring but it keeps saying “you are only allowed 501...”

 

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Ron,

Yes of course... I polished the car three weeks ago with an all in one product. (HD SPEED). I washed the car twice since polishing and no marring or swirls. 

Could my drying towel being to wet from the drying process cause the issue? also is it normal for the drying towel to be soaked after a couple panels still using the opti seal... the videos I watched seems like they are not saturated like my towels were... and lastly I was getting some dirt from the drying towels after the wash method maybe this was the problem? 

 

 

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Opti-Seal does make drying towels more efficient, they absorb better and get wetter.  Most marring is caused during the drying phase and your towel should not be too dirty (always collects some dirt) - I always recommend doing a second pass with the BRS if your towel is getting dirty.  Hope that's it...easy to fix.

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I'm not saying this is the case, I'm just trying to throw out some ideas and concepts.  It's possible, since HD Speed is an AIO product, that it was filling some existing marring and that the ONR wash removed the "fillers".  Again, I'm not saying that these are intentional fillers, just that it could happen.  I have never used Speed and don't keep up too much with 3D/HD products, I'm just saying I've been at this a long time and all kinds of products can "fill", on purpose or not.

Also, if you are getting dirt on your drying towel, that's a bad sign.  You want to remove the dirt with your wash media, even if it takes multiple passes.  I'm not a great believer in flat sponges like a grout sponge or the BRS, I prefer the non-split microfiber wash media like "the bone", but typically I would use one side of the "sponge" on an area, then turn it over to the other side and re-wash the same area to make sure you've got all the dirt off the surface before you dry.  As with any wash technique, the dirtier the vehicle, the smaller the area you want to do before cleaning your media.

I have to disagree with Ron that there will always be "some" dirt on the drying towel, you should strive to clean your sections thoroughly and overlap into the next section so you don't get your drying towel into the dirt from an unwashed section...what I mean is, if you are washing a door, you should wash an inch or two past the edges of the door, but only dry the door...that way you know you are drying a clean area. 

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52 minutes ago, Ron@Optimum said:

Opti-Seal does make drying towels more efficient, they absorb better and get wetter.  Most marring is caused during the drying phase and your towel should not be too dirty (always collects some dirt) - I always recommend doing a second pass with the BRS if your towel is getting dirty.  Hope that's it...easy to fix.

I forgot to mention Ron that I used a second bucket with water only scrubbing the BRS and ringing out as much water as I could. I followed by dropping it back in to the ONR bucket to soak while I dried the panel.

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49 minutes ago, Setec Astronomy said:

I'm not saying this is the case, I'm just trying to throw out some ideas and concepts.  It's possible, since HD Speed is an AIO product, that it was filling some existing marring and that the ONR wash removed the "fillers".  Again, I'm not saying that these are intentional fillers, just that it could happen.  I have never used Speed and don't keep up too much with 3D/HD products, I'm just saying I've been at this a long time and all kinds of products can "fill", on purpose or not.

Also, if you are getting dirt on your drying towel, that's a bad sign.  You want to remove the dirt with your wash media, even if it takes multiple passes.  I'm not a great believer in flat sponges like a grout sponge or the BRS, I prefer the non-split microfiber wash media like "the bone", but typically I would use one side of the "sponge" on an area, then turn it over to the other side and re-wash the same area to make sure you've got all the dirt off the surface before you dry.  As with any wash technique, the dirtier the vehicle, the smaller the area you want to do before cleaning your media.

I have to disagree with Ron that there will always be "some" dirt on the drying towel, you should strive to clean your sections thoroughly and overlap into the next section so you don't get your drying towel into the dirt from an unwashed section...what I mean is, if you are washing a door, you should wash an inch or two past the edges of the door, but only dry the door...that way you know you are drying a clean area. 

Thank you for taking the time to reply.  It's very possible. I don't want to put down ONR as I have read hundreds of reviews of it actually working correctly. I just figured I had did something wrong and not followed what I had watched on the many tutorials. I have no problem trying the microfiber method... would a 80/20 microfiber be okay and I could dedicate those towels only for washing?  I also have nice chamois wash mitts if that is better to use than the BRS. 

 

That makes sense with the dirtier the vehicle and making smaller area. I only cut panels in half i.e the hood. I will have to correct the paint to remove the marring.... and try again with the ONR. If I continue with the ONR and the marring I won't be able to tell if my technique has improved. I suppose I shall do a true correction (2 step) or if there is another product you recommend to remove the marring besides the AIO (filler)

 (the forum will not allow me to post pictures of it due to the size)

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Well...let me say that I have resigned myself to any car I have that's a daily driver never being perfect, so if I get some marring from rinseless washing, I wouldn't really know.  I haven't polished my cars in years and they still look pretty good, so my wash technique must be pretty good.   Not that I wouldn't like to polish them...but you know, that life stuff.

There are plenty of people that do rinseless washes and use the BRS that say they get no marring, and that may well be true.  I don't have a BRS, I've used the Optimum blue waffle as well as different grout sponges, and tried the microfiber towel method, both the traditional method and the "bucket of towels" method, and I still come back to my microfiber sponge and wash/rinse buckets for rinseless.

I'd encourage you to do a few more rinseless washes before you polish your vehicle again, it does take some practice.

 

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I might be wrong but I don't think you need, nor use 2 buckets with ONR. The polymers act as floculant, driving the dirt down, so you should rinse the BRS in the ONR solution to get the dirt out and keep sponge lubricated. 

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1 hour ago, bigPelo said:

I might be wrong but I don't think you need, nor use 2 buckets with ONR. The polymers act as floculant, driving the dirt down, so you should rinse the BRS in the ONR solution to get the dirt out and keep sponge lubricated. 

Sure, that's the company line, and you can do what you want, but I always use a rinse bucket unless the car is just dusty.  I think floculent is a bit of a strong adjective (well, I guess it's a noun) for the sequestrant action of ONR.

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I know professional installers who use a single bucket (I use a divided bucket) with no problems.  Optimum does not recommend one method over another (unless giving personal opinions).  My drying towel collects some minimal dirt, usually around corners/nooks/crannies where the BRS doesn't make as much contact.  Again, too much dirt on your drying towel is a bad sign.  As to Setec's point of accepting some marring, I have a Coated car that has not marred at all and an uncoated car that has minimal marring/micro marring - same dude washing, same products, same procedures.  Sales pitch for Coating?

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22 minutes ago, Ron@Optimum said:

 As to Setec's point of accepting some marring, I have a Coated car that has not marred at all and an uncoated car that has minimal marring/micro marring - same dude washing, same products, same procedures.  Sales pitch for Coating?

I think so!  Certainly anything that reduces the bonding of dirt to paint is going to help with marring...which is why keeping up with your LSP helps makes your car easier to wash and reduces marring--and a coating is great for that.  There are so many variables here, LSP, wash frequency, type of dirt (i.e. salt and road gunk doesn't help), color of car (how easy to see marring), etc. etc. 

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I use multiple drying towels.  I like the 16" Pluffles by The Rag Company.  I will always get a little bit of dirt on the drying towel because it can reach into places the BRS can't.  If a drying towel shows dirt, I just grab another one.  Just as easy to wash 4 towels as wash 1 towel.

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5 hours ago, gspam1 said:

I use multiple drying towels.  I like the 16" Pluffles by The Rag Company.  I will always get a little bit of dirt on the drying towel because it can reach into places the BRS can't.  If a drying towel shows dirt, I just grab another one.  Just as easy to wash 4 towels as wash 1 towel.

I don't know, but to me, you gents who are saying that your towels get dirty because they get into places the BRS can't....kind of is saying to me you need a different wash media that gets into all the places!

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Sorry guys for not replying.. I was out of town....  

I have thought about doing a ceramic coating on the car but again It would be after I correct the paint  using a 1 or 2 step. Would love be able to not worry as much with the micro marring and have the benefit of added protection. 

I did my second wash with the ONR this past weekend. I only used one bucket (w/grit guard) and I pressure washed before washing.  I know I have read its okay to rinse off the car before the ONR method however does this hurt the mixture with the added water left over? Is it always recommend to pressure wash the car before?   I did pre soak with a pump sprayer before taking the BRS to a panel and wondered this. I also washed each panel twice and it seemed the drying towels had minimum to none dirt left over.  

I will buy some more drying towels. Thank you for the towel recommendation.   I am not used to drying as much because I would use a blower to help with the process using the 2 bucket method.  

 

 

 

 

 

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