Reddit mentions of Optimum (20239) Opti-Seal with Foam Applicator Pad - 8 oz.

Definitely check out /r/AutoDetailing where I learned my method.

The way I do it:

Equipment:

1. Optimum no rinse I use the green version (the one linked) that has wax, but there's also a blue one without wax. Either one is fine I just prefer this one.
   
   
2. Bucket. Any clean one will do.
   
   
3. A shit ton of microfiber towels. The Rag Company is a popular brand to go with. I just go with a pack from costco and they work fine for me.
   
   
4. Spray bottle. 1-2.
   
   
5. Isopropyl alcohol. Dilute it down so it's 10-20% in concentration. Put it in the spray bottle or use a cup/bucket.
   
   
6. Nanoskin or clay. I use nanoskin so I linked that. Otherwise just get some clay. Most people in /r/autodetailing say any brand of clay is usually fine. I use nanoskin because it's a bit quicker and I have a new car so it works fine. Some people seem to say that clay gets your car a bit cleaner, but it's not worth the time trade off for me especially since my car is still new-ish so still clean.
   
   
7. Opti-seal. I like using this because it's quick, easy and works great. Gives a good shine too.
   
   Washing:
   
   
8. Use the rinseless method. You'll find it in the wiki of autodetailing. To prep: dilute ONR down to the recommended amount in your bucket. Fill up spray bottle. Throw microfiber towels in the bucket in the rest of the solution. Ring out the towel so it's not sopping wet, but there's still solution. Fold the microfiber towels into four.
   
   
9. Work on only one car panel at a time. Spray the panel with the ONR. Wipe panel down firmly, but not really hard, with one side of your towel. Then turn to a different side of the towel. Do not re-use that side of your towel. Use a fresh side of the towel for every panel. Use a dry towel to wipe off that panel so there are no water streaks. Repeat until your car is washed. ONR works fine on glass too so you can just do your windows as well.
   
   Rinseless washing is great when your car is mildly to semi-dirty. This means if it's mostly just dust on your car this is great. Otherwise if it's caked with mud this won't work. You'll have to go somewhere to hose your car off with water first so it's not as dirty.
   
   Clay Bar/Nanoskin:
   
   Note: This is only necessary if there are actually micro-contaminants. I would do it on a new car regardless since it has been sitting on a lot. On a normal basis you only need to do when your car doesn't feel glass smooth after a wash. Usually no more than 1-2 times a year.
   
   
10. Because you can also use ONR as your clay lube I just pour out my bottle of ONR spray back into the bucket and pour in enough ONR until it gets to the concentration needed. ONR says 2oz per gallon of water. Fill your spray bottle back up with the new concentration.
    
    
11. Here you'll be working with small sections of a panel at a time. I suggest you just look up a youtube video on how to clay a car. Basically though you spray the section, clay/nanoskin the section until smooth, and wipe off the section with a dry towel. Repeat for your whole car. Note that you'll have to massage the clay or wash off your nanoskin every so often to get rid of those contaminants.
    
    Sealant/wax:
    
    After you're done with claying your paint is clean so you'll want to put wax/sealant on it to protect it. It'll make your car nice and shiny too.
    
    Start with an isopropyl alcohol wipe. What I do is dunk a towel in the alcohol solution and wipe down every panel and drying after it. You can also just fill another spray bottle with it and spray. This will get rid of oil/wax/sealant so the sealant goes directly on the paint. Then just apply the sealant/wax on following the instructions. With opti-seal you just spray and wipe. With some other items you'll need to apply and wait to cure and buff out any remaining wax/sealant.
    
    For wheels and tires I suggest you just check out the wiki on autodetailing. I just simply wipe off the tires with ONR but ONR isn't the best at getting oil. I'm too lazy though to worry about it too much as long as the wheels look clean it's fine with me.
    
    I'm lazy and do a rinseless wash 1-2 times (usually 1) a month. Some do it weekly. I put sealant on every 3-4 months or so. I've only clayed my current car once so far.
    
    

First of all, get yourself a nice set of microfiber towels. Anything from The Rag Company is solid, or a pack of the ones from Costco are good too.

The best way if you have time and access to a hose is the 2 bucket wash method. The way most people scratch their car while hand washing is the drying process. That's the part that people usually rush when really that's when most of the damage is done. Either dry it with a leaf blower or a microfiber towel and make sure the towel is clean after each wipe. If it's visibly dirty at all, flip it over or get another towel.

If you don't have access to a hose, or if its winter or whatever, use Optimum No Rinse. ONR is pretty much universally praised in the detailing world. This post should get you started.

After each wash, a quick way to wax/seal the car is to use Opti seal. Just spritz once or twice on a panel while you're drying and buff it off. It's that easy. The one bottle should easily last you a year or two.

1. Hand wash with a quality microfiber mitt using Optimum No Rinse Wash.
   
   
2. Dry with quality microfiber towels using a small amount of Opti-Seal as a drying aid. (I cheat and use an absorber shammy instead of microfiber towels, but technically they can cause microabrasions.)
   
   
3. Clean your wheels and shine tires however you want.
   
   I don't recommend a car wash at all, but do not use a car wash that touches the car. I summarized so just ask if you want more details.

Optimum (20239) Opti-Seal with Foam Applicator Pad - 8 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076HYYGTT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_4ysRAbY208VGG

Optimum (20239) Opti-Seal with Foam Applicator Pad - 8 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076HYYGTT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ttQUCbWAR2RRA

Noob detailer. Please help to check my rinseless wash process for mistakes and/or advise on existing paint damage.

Started following this sub when I got a nice enough car to care for. It's a Mazda with soul red paint though and seems like every little thing is super visible and the clear coat scuffs when you look at it wrong. I street park in Brooklyn, dust, leaves, pollen, bird bombs and all, every day. Was recommended to adopt ONR rinseless 2 bucket method, researched and tried to follow to the best of my ability.

First, the list of equipment I obtained thus far:

• 2x buckets + grit guards
  
• ONR concentrate (1 Gal. bottle)
  
• Big Red Sponge
  
• Mother's 07240 Calif. gold clay bar + instant detailer bottle kit
  
• Opti-Seal (20239) 8oz. bottle with applicator sponge
  
• Costco MF towels
  
• Aliexpress stuff: few MF sponges, couple of high gsm/edgeless mf towels to try out.
  
  Below is the workflow I had going today, so much new stuff to use and new methods, I did not feel in the least bit confident that I did it right. Asking for folks here to review it and point out any mistakes I have made along the way as well as tips to optimize the process for the future:
  
  I went out to the car with two buckets, each with grit guards, one with 256:1 ONR solution, the other just warm water for rinsing. I started applying ONR solution in straight line motions with BRS one panel at a time starting with the roof>rear window/trunk gate>windshield>hood>front fenders>rear fenders>rear doors>front doors. I do not aim to detail interior or wheels much tbh, but i did dedicate about 6 costco towels to wheel duty by cleaning up the nooks and crannies of the wheels and wheel wells, rinsing them in rinse bucket and never dipping them back into the ONR bucket after first use. Following that, I cleaned and refilled rinse bucket and went back to repeat the panels. Why? Well, the car was very dirty with BRS quickly becoming black with dirt and me switching to costco MF towels to make another two passes over each panel, discarding towels that get visibly dirty on all quarters into laundry pile. I tried folding dirty halves/quarters away and using the Ammo NYC sweep and rotate style to minimize contaminants dragging across paint. Eventually, I felt ready to move onto claying because costco towels and BRS were no longer looking dirty as I passed them across.
  
  Here is where my confidence and excitement of a new auto detailing convert took a big hit. First of all, I had a superficial but long scratch across the right side which I expected to be possible to mask down with claying>using opti seal, since I could not actually feel it with my fingers. That didn't work at all, although I could tell by doing the ziploc bag drag test that the clayed areas were much smoother than the untreated ones. I used Mother's detailer spray bottle to lubricate, half panel at a time, then slide the pancake shaped clay sideways with no inward pressure until i stopped feeling drag resistance. I added lubricant if I felt clay stop on dry areas.
  
  I wanted to change pace after failing with masking the scratch, so I started on the inside of the windshield. I made a 10:1 ONR solution in a spray bottle, sprayed it direct onto a high gsm fluffy mf towel from aliexpress and started wiping away at the inside. I then used the flat looking towel (also from aliexpress) to wipe down streaking. I was pretty happy with the results, but unsure if I did something wrong or missed a step. Still, I moved on.
  
  I then wiped the entire exterior with a clean towel and soaked up the Opti seal applicator, proceeding to apply the stuff one panel at a time and following up with another clean mf towel to wipe off the excess wherever i saw streaking (which was almost everywhere as it was my first time and I wanted to lay a generous protective coating). I got rid of streaking easily, but....
  
  The result was clean, silky smooth paint, but upon closer inspection, it was covered in etchings from leaves, bird bombs and whatnot. The ONR>instant detailer>clay>opti-seal did not remove it. I did not apply pressure onto paint in affected areas during any of the above procedures, as I was afraid of damaging clear coat even further. Did I need to apply more inward force and scrub down the etched areas once it was cleaned from contaminants? Or the only solution to these spots now is to polish? Here is a picture of one of many etchings. some others are bigger in size, some area smaller, one is shaped like an outline of a small leaf -( . The hood also has some tiny black dots that seem to have a white halo of discolored paint around them ~1mm wide.
  
  
• scratch close up (https://i.imgur.com/glgivGd.jpg?1) (taken with 1:1 macro lens, so looks rather thick, it really isn't)
  
• Bird bomb #1 (https://i.imgur.com/wlK9j7J.jpg?1)
  
• Bird bomb #2 (https://i.imgur.com/FsUQBm4.jpg)
  
• Bird bomb #3 (https://i.imgur.com/vE5j9IM.jpg?1)
  
• Leaf etching (https://i.imgur.com/wIm1I2v.jpg?1)
  
• black dot with white 'halo' discoloration (https://i.imgur.com/oj9Tili.jpg?1)
  
  What would be recommendations for me at this point, and what ballpark cost to fix if I am not skilled/dedicated enough to get into polishing myself if that's the route I have to take? I did look over the field guide link for paint damage in the sub wiki section, says etching removal can require up to polishing depending on severity, but I couldn't tell what severity etching I got going tbh.
  
  Finally, are there any parts of this process that were done wrong or could be done better? Are the instant detailer spray and 10:1 ONR spray different in what they can do, or do they more or less perform same function to lubricate and suspend contaminants on the clear coat? Do I need to somehow strip opti-seal layer every few months to re-clay and re-seal, or just ONR on top and instant detailer spray>spot clay>reapply opti-seal in trouble spots from here on out?

Posting here as I didn't see the rules the first time round..

Hi guys. I'm not a professional detailer, just a guy looking to keep his used car in good shape. I'm also totally new to cleaning and maintaining a car.

My current method to clean the car is to take it to a coin operated self-wash shops. After this I just usually wipe down the car with clean microfiber and drive away. I'm looking to use a product that reduces water stains and streaks and keeps the car a bit shiny. I came across these two on amazon:

1. Optimum Opti-seal
   
2. Meguiar's Ultimate Fast Finish
   
   Which one of these is more recommended? AFAIK I can also use Opti-seal as a drying agent and on interior surfaces too. Because of this I'm slightly inclined to opti-seal. Do you guys also think this is a better product of the two?
   
   I'm open to other recommendations also :)

> Opti-Seal

This stuff? https://www.amazon.com/Optimum-20239-Opti-Seal-Foam-Applicator/dp/B076HYYGTT/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1521835674&sr=1-1&keywords=opti-seal

Should I buy a foam applicator?