*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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Kyle009 said:
I use AG HD Wax at the minute and have some Extra Gloss Protection. Is it worth putting that over the Wax or not? I thought I'd read that putting a sealant over a wax will strip it (may be wrong).

Loving the look of that Sonax BSD - do people spray it onto the car after drying or before?
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Going by a CYC post on DW, you can use it on a damp car.

I uses it after it had been dried. Not super slick to work, but anyone complaining about the application is a fanny. Just spray on sparingly, spread over panel with a MF cloth, then rub off until it's gone.

Then enjoy the rain when it comes :D
 
I hate reading this thread.

I've just purchased another clay cloth, Sonax BSD, and some AF Tripple, plus some Bilberry to replace the AF Imperial that's near enough empty.

:p
 
NoNameNoNumber said:
Clay bars are too time consuming? Yeah maybe it takes a while but it's about the only stage that isn't hard work at all :)
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Use the mitt over the car for an initial pass to get the majority of the crud off, then use the soft BH clay to do the lower parts.

Muchos time saving :D
 
Any chance of a quick "spec me cleaning gear" for a novice?

Looking for products to clean my new C class, as I'd rather do it myself rather than trust it to the local £5 hand wash.

My main concern is the wheels, back in the day I used wonder wheels and they corroded the finish on my 306 Dturbo wheels. My C has the AMG Sport plus alloys that have a black and dark silver finish.

Looking for a decent car shampoo and wheel cleaner at a reasonable cost as I normally have my cars cleaned once a week.
 
Bilberry wheel cleaner gets a lot of praise and is safe to use on all wheel finishes. For shampoo, I love Dodo Juice Born To be Mild - pH neutral and is great at maintaining a good finish for a while. It seems pricey for such a small bottle, but you really only need the smallest amount in a bucket with warm water.
 
Thanks for that - any tips on the best place to buy?

Will need some leather and washing bits too so would like to get it all at the same time.
 
I've always used CleanYourCar for most products, the service is fantastic and they're well priced. For disposable things like applicator pads/wash mitts and so on, I tend to use eBay as they're often a lot cheaper on there. Microfiber cloths can get quite expensive, if you can get to Costco, they do a big pack of Kirkland branded ones for about £12 which are fantastic.

To get started, I'd probably start with a good wash microfiber/wool wash mitt, a wheel brush, a pack of microfiber cloths, and a good quality drying towel. Plus a shampoo, wheel cleaner, and a wax/quick detailer. The Sonax BSD gets VERY good reviews - there's a pic of -Ad-'s M135i a page or two back wearing it :)

For leather, I can whole-heartedly recommend the Dr Leather products, I keep a few of the wipes in the car in case of spills, but for intensive cleaning, the spray product and a leather brush is fantastic.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
Nuneaton.... come do mine :P

Looks a good product as clay bars are just too time consuming. Im still yet to do a whole car in one session. :o
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I probably see you driving about quite often. Saw an white F-Type convertible bomb it down the M42 slip road the other day. Plenty of Jaaaaaaags round here. :D

For £25 and a passenger ride in something fast I could be pursauded to give your car a pressure wash, shampoo, clay, dry etc. :p
 
surprise day off left me with a day to occupy.

Got a few pictures whilst I was working but the main purpose of today was to man up and get to grips with my machine polisher that I have owned for 18 months but not used properly yet.

after a few hours of youtube tutorials and practice I got to work on the S2000.

Steps and products used as follows:
  1. rinse with pressure washer
  2. snowfoam: autobrite magifoam and snowfoam lance
  3. two bucket wash with meguiars nxt shampoo
  4. wheel wash using autobrite Very Cherry non acidic cleaner - left to sit
  5. towel dried using that massive blue towel
  6. burshed wheels clean and rinsed again
  7. bilthamber claybared the whole car
  8. machine polish using spin doctor and Meguiars Dual Action Cleaner/ Polish 83
  9. machine polish using Meguiars Mirror Glaze Swirl Free Polish 82
  10. applied Autobrite Super Charged Colour Enhancing Carnauba Wax
  11. regretted applying Autobrite Super Charged Colour Enhancing Carnauba Wax
  12. autoglym chrome polished the exhaust tips
  13. autoglym rubber & vinyl protector on all the rubber seals and black plastic
  14. autoglym glass cleaner polish
  15. autoglym cabriolet roof cleaner & sealant


in all, a fairly comprehensive cleaning day and perhaps the most time I have spent detailing a car. The Autobrite Super Charged Wax was a real pain. It doesnt look that great and is a massive pain to get off. Glad I was only using a sample size but will certainly be reverting to natural carnauba waxes. I cant see it being hardwearing really either.

Really have the hang of machine polishing now. slow starting speeds really assist the accuracy and my dodo juice spin doctor is a joy to work with. with it being a rotary polisher I have been hesitant to use it too heavily but I think going slowly around the car with it using two separate polishes really made for a good finish.

The swirls in the paint are vastly reduced. very happy with the results.


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Great results! I keep wanting to buy a decent rotary then I remember my car is silver and will look exactly the same afterwards, at least grey still has some deep shine to it :D
 
Mega double post :p

Why are you using the #80 series of polishes? They've been superseded by the 101,105,205 etc (Although I still have some 83 that I like to use:))

Did you find the paint particularly soft? I can imagine it was lovey to work with and see results... My first rotary experience was when I'd resprayed my old beetle, I was terrified of the paint being soft and me going straight through or melting it!

Good effort matey!
 
Reported the double post, hopefully a mod can delete it for me.

They came with my machine. Seemed a shame to waste them. In honesty, they are easy to use and do the job with good results so I'm using them up for the time being. As I said, I had my polisher about 18 months ago so it will probably have been the latest version at the time.

The paint is easy to work on. Seems thicker than my ep3 but I guess it may be the difference between Japan and Swindon build locations.

You can hold the rotary in one position for a few seconds but I was using a soft pad to make sure I wasnt damaging the paint.
 
Yeah cool like I say I'm still using the older #83 with good effect, not sure how it differs to the new stuff. You certainly have a decent looking setup, maybe short of a nice wax though. Vics red is highly regarded, might be worth a look :)

Today I tried my new menzerna polishes on a rupes rotary... Felt very nice and looking forward to a decent sesh on the mrs' micra before it gets sold :D

That's if my shoulder holds up though :/

Love trying new polish/pads out :)
 
NoNameNoNumber said:
You certainly have a decent looking setup, maybe short of a nice wax though. Vics red is highly regarded, might be worth a look :)
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Its all been accumulated over time. Still yet to find a wax I really like. Hence step 11.

I usually just use collonite as Gibbo suggested it to me and it has been the longest lasting. I would love a more glossy showier wax for summer months when protection isn't as important.

That autobrite stuff I used today was garbage though :(
 
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