*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

[unrealrocks]

Hopefully this fits here,

Can someone point me in the right direction / recommend a touch up product for stone chips etc? Does the halfords stuff do the job?

Many Thanks

Touchups like that will always be noticeable, but often it pays to protect the car more so than make it look better. How much it stands out will be down to how much prep you do rather than the actual kit itself. There are plenty of guides out there on how to properly use touchup paint however the basics are - get the right paint colour, throw away the little brush that comes with the kit and buy a quality brush, and then make sure the chips are prepped correctly rather than just slapping it in.

 

[Rybo89]

well i am **** at this machine car polishing malarky... most of the polish is on me, not the car....

 

[agnes]

I logged in to my Barclaycard online the other day, never noticed before I had 12,500 reward points, which translated into £35 of Amazon vouchers. That, combined with Amazon Prime Day means I now have a vacuum to clean out the car with...

Spoiler

...for only £25. Only given it a quick blast on the carpet, seems pretty good though.

Nice! Great little bargain, I use my Dyson DC59, it's my main hoover. Absolutely love it and will most certainly be upgrading it in the January sales.

 

[Uther]

What's peoples opinion of the clay mitts around now, farecla etc? Better than something like a bilt hamber clay bar?

 

[cadmunkey]

What's peoples opinion of the clay mitts around now, farecla etc? Better than something like a bilt hamber clay bar?

I use a mitt, far easier to use. Just make sure you have decent lubrication.

 

[agnes]

I use a mitt, far easier to use. Just make sure you have decent lubrication.

Oi oi

 

[CaptainRAVE]

^^ lol

What's peoples opinion of the clay mitts around now, farecla etc? Better than something like a bilt hamber clay bar?

Use with a bucket of water and car shampoo, good for the main panels. Clay bar for the hard to reach bits and a dirtier car.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

How long do the mitts last? Couple of washes?

 

[Haze]

the clay pads are quite good

 

[opstrat]

well i am **** at this machine car polishing malarky... most of the polish is on me, not the car....

What machine, pads compound are you using?

 

[mikeh501]

anybody use a water butt? my K1152TST washer surges occassionally because it cant get enough water. I was wondering whether it would happier on a water butt. The water butt would be nearly 2m above the washer.

 

[mrk]

Cannot wait to get rid of these OEM brake pads...

 

[cadmunkey]

MRK, what pads you going for?

 

[mrk]

MRK, what pads you going for?

I bought Performance Friction Z-Rated... 4 weeks ago. Another 4 weeks to wait I'm told, and then probably more delays. PF apparently have a severe stock shortage around the globe. No UK trade seller has them in either so I ended up getting a discount via Evolve and twiddling my thumbs for weeks and weeks

 

[Hyburnate]

anybody use a water butt? my K1152TST washer surges occassionally because it cant get enough water. I was wondering whether it would happier on a water butt. The water butt would be nearly 2m above the washer.

You'd need a pump in the water butt. Someone on detailing world did an epic little build of 3 water butts in a line so you get the cleanest possible water (could even put a filter before the last one)

 

[cadmunkey]

I bought Performance Friction Z-Rated... 4 weeks ago. Another 4 weeks to wait I'm told, and then probably more delays. PF apparently have a severe stock shortage around the globe. No UK trade seller has them in either so I ended up getting a discount via Evolve and twiddling my thumbs for weeks and weeks

Very nice!
Not so great about the shortage though. Fancy some of those myself!

 

[mrk]

Very nice!
Not so great about the shortage though. Fancy some of those myself!

I searched for maybe months as I knew I'd be wanting less dusty pads before I even got this car. I had EBC Greenstuff on the old car which were great, better performance than the OEM pads and a lot less dust. Perfectly suited to that car. Greenstuff aren't man enough on this car though.

The PF carbon metallic z rated seemed to come highly rated on all boards I read and seemed to be the best road pad which held up well on track against track focused pads from Ferodo and the like, I won't be tracking of course but it's reassuring to know, should I ever change my mind. The same opinions on all member forums I browsed from Vauxhall to Subaru to Alfa and BMW. And the best thing is they're cheaper than other branded pads. That was good enough for me!

 

[opstrat]

a good cleaner and sealant on the wheels will make it even easier to keep clean

 

[mrk]

Which I do have, but BMW brake pads don't give two hoots what you seal the wheels with, they sit on top! Of course it's easy to clean (look at the void in my pic above, I simply wiped it once with a tissue), but extremely tedious. Something that relatively dust free pads solve

 

[opstrat]

anybody use a water butt? my K1152TST washer surges occassionally because it cant get enough water. I was wondering whether it would happier on a water butt. The water butt would be nearly 2m above the washer.

i know karchers can use water butt just by using a non return hose. not sure about kranzle. pepsilol uses them i think, he might be able to help.

you machine is running at 600 litres an hour. it would have to be a big butt or feed it as you empty it.