2023 Flow Charts - A simple order to use our car cleaning products.
With the introduction of our latest products, we saw the need to make some updated product flow charts, so you can get a simple order to use our gear on your daily driver and get great results.
A SIMPLE MAINTENANCE SYSTEM
Here is a good 5-6 step maintenance loop with the steps we use when washing weekly. It's also a great system if you are just getting into using our car care as well. 
Every few months you can add in step 4 - Wet Dreams or Happy Ending, before drying the car off. This will give you the easiest top up of great, ongoing protection and make the car easier to keep clean as well.
You can download this flow chart to print out in the link at the end of this article.
GOING BIGGER SYSTEM
This is our big and complete exterior chart that runs through the order to use for a lot of our exterior range. Good to have for a new car or the once-a-year, in-depth detail. Be aware that this larger system is of course not gospel for every time you detail your car either, the simple chart above is more applicable.
OPTION ONE, TWO OR THREE?
The biggest thing you will see is the split of steps 8 and 9 giving three separate options: Option one for using super hydrophobic sealants, option two with the more "traditional" waxes and sealants, or option 3 with Beaut Beads super hydrophobic paste wax. With our lifetime of collecting and loving cars, we completely understand that no single product, or system of products, will be ideal for every single person, let alone every type of car, which is why we have the different selections there to better help people get what they want and need.
Option 1 - Super Hydrophobic products are the most protective and long-lasting in our range. They are great for modern, daily driven cars, and if you really love intense beading and water sheeting. Bead Machine will work best on newer clear-coated paint and professionally ceramic-coated cars, as they are better sealed and allow for a great, stronger bond to the paint or coating. The better the condition of the paint, the better they will work.
Option 2 - Waxes and Sealants are for those of us with cars that have older, slightly neglected paints, or have single-stage (no clear coat) paints. They work well on all paint types and are great value all-rounders. We love waxes as they give a lovely warm glow to your paint, something no synthetic products can replicate. With Fully Slick as the final sealant, you also get the slickest feel from your paint - something car enthusiasts have always loved! We personally feel these are the best options for people who have a more pampered or classic car that only comes out on a weekend or a few times a year.
Option 3 - Beaut Beads is considered super hydrophobic, but the process is a little different to option 1 and it's also suitable for all paint types. If you're using Beaut Beads on your vehicle, it's recommended to be layed down as the first layer on bare paint. This is because its formula lends itself to being applied first due to the solvents in the wax - if it's put on top of other sealants, it will affect them as it's applied to the paint. Once Beaut Beads is applied to the paint, let it cure for 12 hours, then apply Bead Machine as the final sealant if you wish.
Layering a sealant over a wax? This is one thing that goes against the grain to what you may see and read on the detailing interwebs. There is a legitimate reason and method to our apparent madness here - namely that all cream or paste waxes need to be blended with solvents to help emulsify the Carnauba and other waxes. If you did not have them, the waxes would not soften and be able to spread over your paint, or be easy to remove after the application. When rubbing the wax onto your paint, the solvents still in the blend are also partially removing/affecting anything that has been applied previously (this can apply to ceramic coatings as well). So, the layering of a synthetic base sealant as the first step and then the wax after doesn't make sense to us. Our years of in-depth, lab and real-world testing here have well proven this past just being a theory now.
But, you can use a water-based, solvent-free spray sealant on top of a wax, as they won't negatively affect or remove the wax once it has cured. This is why we have always recommended using our water-based synthetic sealant, Fully Slick, on our Carnauba waxes, and Bead Machine on our paste wax to help boost their longevity and protection from the elements.
BEAUT BEADS FLOW CHART
If you're lucky enough to have picked up a jar of our fantastic Beaut Beads paste wax, here's a specific flow chart.
MORE IN-DEPTH INFORMATION
You can read the individual product guides that go with these different products by clicking here. They will show you the techniques we use to get the best results with them, as well as which microfibre we like to use with each product.
ONE FOR THE WALL
These flow charts can be downloaded from the links below, so you can print them out and put them on your garage or bedroom wall (the missus will love it). Or you can email us with your postal address and we can post you a double-sided printed version.
Simple Maintenance Flow Chart
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Exterior Flow Chart
Beaut Beads Flow Chart
I hope these new charts help make it easier and keep the fun up with using our car care. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about these, or our car care in general - info@bowdensown.com.au or call 1800 351 308, 9am - 4pm Monday to Friday.
Go with the flow,
Dan Bowden
