How to clean a black tundra — help detailing

The “detailing” thread is overwhelming...

maybe im using the search function wrong but I can’t find anything...

How do I wash my black 2021 tundra?

I want to give it a good wash once per month and give it a good protective coat that’ll last 3 months and easily rinse the dirt off every week or two in between washes.

I’m so overwhelmed, or maybe I’m just over thinking it...

I don’t need a mirror finish 24/7. I want a nice clean wash and then a rinse in between.

Please tell me good products and process.

Water Rinse, Foam cannon, Rinse, Hand wash (2 bucket), seal, wax, quick detail for finger prints between washes? (Pretty much Chemical guys’s Aresenal or black detailing kit)

Or does a turtle wax brand kit work?

can I buy any foam cannon and a la carte the chemical guys stuff?

I don’t need the black car kit shine V07 hybrid stuff yet. Want to get through the Maryland “winter”...

I just want to wash my car for now... cash is a problem... so trying to do it cheap and effectively. 100$ on a chemical guys All Season Arsenal kit with the foam, 100$ on the CG black car kit, or 100$ on an a la carte foam cannon and piece meal wash and clean and carnauba wax (Amazon, chemical guys, turtle wax buffet/combo)


Kind of afraid to touch it... took off the dealer decal and ended but swirling the marks, even with the complimentary luxecare protective kit they gave me with a MF cloth... (dealer is fixing it)... but trying to prevent “messing it up” In the future....

 

Beautiful ride.....I said this in another post.....when it comes to vehicles, black is not a color...it is a lifestyle. I like the process you've outlined, but for different parts of it, there are better products out there than Chemical Guys. I'm not a believer in the 'black' car kits, or 'black' waxes. Chemical Guys is a good source for your car soap. The rest of the items....look elsewhere. Stay with your process, although I would add a clay bar step in there. Decontaminating your paint will help any wax, sealant or coating adhere better.

Chemical Guys Honeydew Snow Foam is a good soap. In my opinion, using one bucket and multiple mitts is a better practice to avoid wash induced marring (swirls). If you're going to clay it, I'd recommend Griots Garage Clay Bar and their Speed Shine as your clay lube. If not, after your wash, add a quality sealant like Wolfgang SIO2 Sealant, WolfGang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant, Jescar Powerlock or McKees HiDef Sealant. You can increase your sealant's longevity by using a product like P&S BeadMaker, Wolfgang SIO2 Spray, or Jescar Bead It after each wash. That should get you through winter.

It is not rocket science, but it is so confusing when you're starting out down the rabbit hole known as detailing. There are so many choices, and twice as many opinions.

 

Keep it simple:

buy some microfiber towels, Costco sells them pretty cheap and they’re good.

Optimum no rinse is a great in betweener wash, you can use it pretty quickly and easily without having to spray down the whole truck first. Just be careful, use two bucket method and do one or two panels at a time.

There’s a million other car soaps that are good to use when doing a traditional wash.

Wax once per month with any of the names like meguiars or chemical guys stuff, I prefer to stay far away from spray waxes.

Be careful when doing anything that you think can cause more swirls like dirty towels, using clay too hard/ gas station car washes.

Black is tough to keep clean, close to impossible, but just be realistic and do the best you can.

 

As mentioned use the “two bucket” method when washing. Use a spray wax when drying for lubrication and a nice quality drying towel, most swirls come from drying or dirty wash mit, you can even use an electric leaf blower for this task. This will help avoid damaging the paint.

lots of options for sealant and wax, don’t get the gimmicky stuff just use a sealant and top that with wax. Meguiar’s and griots are easy to use and good DIY products.

 

Can you tell me what you mean by "the gimmicky stuff"?

 

This is just my opinion but for example I don’t get into all The ceramic products that have come out recently. I tend to stick with more traditional tried and true products.

 

Black truck owner here. You do not need to spend a lot of money. Cheap foam cannons work fine. I got mine from lowes and it works great. I think it was $20.

You need a microfiber wash mitt or one of the microfiber pads on a pole.
A good wash that is cheap is Meguiars gold or ultimate, can get it anywhere. Spend more if you like, chemical guys has good stuff.
Microfiber drying towels are a must.

For protection I have great results with Meguiars Ultimate wax, which is actually a sealant. I top coat with beadmaker and it last 3 months.

 

Ceramics have actually been around quite a while. To me, they have finally brought them down to the DIY level. Graphene is the current rage in coatings....and for the most part, the jury is still out on it. Truth be told, some of the new stuff is kind of gimmicky and survives almost purely by marketing and hype.

 

Thanks for the comments.

Looks like I’ll get a cheap “good rated” foam cannon but get quality soap like chemical guys or Meguiars.

my truck is a 2021 and only 3 weeks old. Has a luxecare coat on it... basic protection... do I NEED to Clay it? Not sure I’m ready to detail it to that extent yet...

where does the sealant come into play? Before or after a wax? Or instead of wax? Do you use SIO2 sealant and then wax?

Why no spray wax? What specific wax product do you recommend? And what sealer would you use?

So what, wash, dry, wax? No seal?

what Meguiars wax? The spray wax in the photo below and just buy the sealant separately?

Can I seal and wax? And then what beadmaker do you use? Stick to the same brand for everything? Or mix and match?

will this kit from Costco do the trick for the wash and wash? The quick detailer is in between, and interior/tires is an extra. I’ll shop around for best prices but just wanted to see if this bundle will suffice? Looks like I’d have to buy a sealer and a beadmaker..

foam cannon with Meguiars soap, dry it, (do I buy a sealer, what kind?), then spray wax or regular wax? Then get a bead maker?

I know part of it is preference, but trying to learn as much as I can and then weigh time, money, quality, etc.

 

Cleaning it is the easiest thing. Keeping it clean is the toughest thing.

 

This is what I use , it can be done in direct sunlight too .

 

Best way to clean up that black truck is to replace it with a Super White truck which will also attract many pretty girls and go so fast your head will spin.

 

The process is really pretty simple......it's the products that you use during the process that cloud the picture. There are so many of them, even within product lines, that it it overwhelming. You want to keep your truck clean and looking good, and at the same time, use a process that makes keeping it clean easier. Sealant goes on before a wax....sealants (synthetic polymer based) last longer than wax (natural carnuba based). Because a black vehicle will show any wash-induced marring (swirls), I recommend washing with multiple mitts or towels versus the two-bucket method. In my experience, it is less likely to cause any issues. Meguiars Ultimate Wax is a good choice for a sealant....there are better, but it's solid as far as over-the-counter stuff is concerned.

Try not to lose your mind early on. You were not intimidated by the color when you bought your truck, don't be now. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. I've got some products that I think you will like that I can give you free (4oz) samples of. I've detailed many black vehicles.....and lived to talk about it

 

Best advice.....don’t touch it take it to a pro.

 

I know how you feel. When I first started detailing and reading the threads, holy it was overwhelming. I used to just be a hand wash and maybe a hand wax once a year...

2 years later, got 2 polishers several dozen pads, even more towels, hundreds of dollars in polishes, sealants, detailers, clay, cleaners... Lots of great advice here, tested products. It went from just wanting to clean my vehicle to an actual hobby and I've made some money doing it as a side job.

As far as detailing products, lots of sites have deals all the time, can get things pretty cheap for really good quality. Autogeek is having a 25% sale, take advantage.

CG honeydew soap
Megs/griots clay (probably don't need now since it's new)
Griots detail spray for clay lube and smudge/fingerprint remover
Iron remover p&s iron buster or ironx (best but more expensive)
Sealant go with griots 3-1
Topper/sealant rejuvenation jescar bead it.

If you want to get stuff over the counter, autozone sells griots line, turtle wax ice and hybrid series detailing products have been getting a lot better.

 

A lot of good advice here. As someone who’s been fighting black paint for over three years, I’ll tell you to just give up on it staying clean for very long at all. It’s a constant battle, requiring at least an ONR or detail spray wipe down every single day to maintain the shine. You’re going to love pollen season. It’ll be dirty again before you even finish.

One thing that I strongly advise is to get a buttload of towels. Never let the surface of a towel touch the paint more than once. Fold them twice. This will give you eight surfaces per towel. Flip it every time you wipe, and get another towel when you use all eight sides. I probably use a dozen or more towels every time I wash mine.

Forget the two bucket method. That’s fine for other colors, but I don’t care how careful you are, you’ll scratch that black paint rinsing and reusing them. Even then, you’re going to get microscratches. Learn to live with them or use a lot of wax.

 

Black truck/car owner forever here. Only have had Black cars/trucks.

I usually always use the Meguiar's stuff from Interior Detailer to Liquid Gold, and Car wash. I never go to car washes. They'll swirl your car like no other. I am the only person who washes/waxes my vehicles.

Once a year I use Zaino products (Z2, Z5, Z6 finish spray) for a really deep shine, usually in the Springtime. It takes all day for one vehicle.
Wash, cleaner wax, wash, clay bar, compound, wax, seal, polish.

For cleaning maintenance, I wash about 2-3 weeks with a Liquid Gold wax every few months or so when the temp changes.
I buy the Costco mf towels and they work great, and I always dry with a shop vac or drive around then light toweling in the shade or the garage.

it sounds like more than it is but for me it's a habit and a routine how I wash the car/truck, and if the kids don't help it takes me about 1-1.5hr to finish and about 2.5-3hr with interior and quick wax.

good luck!

 

Polish and detail the truck immaculately, put it in the garage and don't touch it. If you have to drive it for any reason, polish it again and next time take the wife's car.

 

This was a really good thread to read. Sure am glad I have a white truck.

 

My last truck was black and I will never ever own another, shows every piece of lint dirt and dust and shows every little scratch. The cement tundra hides dirt and dust great.

 

Great looking truck

 

Hi @MeetJoe nice truck. Lots of good advice here. You may want to get a good music subscription and maybe a mail order beer subscription for all the time you will be spending washing. @gosolo claims that turning it white is the best option. I wonder if his is just a slate metallic wrapped in white. Slate metallic turns a lot of heads with no washing. I even got pulled over for dropping a cigarette butt out the window this morning - I don’t even smoke. I think he just wanted a closer look at the slate metallic long bed.

 

White?!? But black looks so good when it’s shiny

 

I gave up worrying about all the micro scratches even though I use the touch less car washes and never use a towel twice. I think what really helps is, after a really thorough wash and shine, I use this mother’s ceramic spray coating that I’ll put on every month or two and it makes it easier to clean and repels water a bit. The first 6 months I had this, I was like a crackhead detailing it everyday, and no mater how careful you are, everything shows. It’s been a few weeks since I washed it and I still get the daily compliments. No color looks better on any vehicle than black.
If it gets too many scratches, I’m gonna go all matted out paint job and never worry about it again haha.