Order of cleaning exterior?
 

This is my first post on these forums after surfing the articles for a few weeks.

I just got an '02 civic EX 4d manual and it's got some rust spots from rocksanda bunch of smallscratches.

I don't have the time or supplies to fix the rust yet, but I bought Mother's scratch remover, Mother's car wash, and Wolfgang clay bar + lubricant. I was planning on rinsing the car down, washing then drying the whole car, and individually treating each panel with the clay bar, scratch remover (only on small spots with surface scratches), and Turtlewax.

I was wondering if anyone has experience with the Mother's scratch remover (i.e. should i be using this), and is that the appropriate way to go about fixing these surface scratches and cleaning the exterior of the car?

This is my first time taking proper car of a car's exterior, as it is also the first time I've purchased a car less than 10 years old.

I appreciate any help or advice you offer.

Thanks,
Deadlyripped

RE: Order of cleaning exterior?
 

Also, I don't have a squeegee or special drying cloth. Will a standard bath towel do for that?

Thanks,
Deadlyripped

RE: Order of cleaning exterior?
 

there is a DIY for that..the scratch remover will not remove the rust spots if that is what you are trying to get out of it. Scratch removers in my opinion can only do so much. A bath towel will do, make sure it doesn't touch the ground so you don't get any small rocks and scratch up your car even more. I usually do my car washing a little differently than the DIY by washing it a couple times then drying it panel by panel but going over it with a wet rag before hand to get the water spots out because my car is black and cooks the water before I get a chance to finish washing it... Hence why I enjoy washing my car at night :D...any questions I'm sure the admins will help you out here