*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

[paradigm]

Im getting so confused trawling through this thread looking at what i need haha.

Can someone give me a basic run down of excatly what steps need to be taken and what products to use.

There's no one right answer, it depends on your preferences and to some extent, the color of the vehicle and the look you want to achieve.

If i buy snowfoam will i need to shampoo as well?

Yes. Think of snow-foam as a pre-wash.

Would it be foam, wash (shouldi buy i serpeate shampoo or wash with the foam on?) rinse it then clay? (decent clay to buy?) straight from clay to polish? Then Wax?

I tend to foam, rinse, wash, rinse, dry.

If you need to clay/polish/seal/wax then as above, but before drying you'd clay, polish, seal and wax in that order.

Decent tyre dressing and wheel cleaner to?

Meguires Endurance Tyre Gel is my preferred choice for longevity, I sometimes use Auto Glym Instant Tyre Dressing for a quick top-up between applications of Megs.

Wheel cleaner I tend to use Bilberry wheel cleaner.

 

[Cookeh]

Can someone give me a basic run down of excatly what steps need to be taken and what products to use.

General format is snowfoam (optional), rinse, shampoo, rinse, dry, seal/wax.
If you need to clay (once a year or so, on average assuming average miles and 'normal' location) then that should come after the shampoo rise, and you should rinse after that again.
If you do any paint correction that will occur after drying and before sealing/waxing.

If i buy snowfoam will i need to shampoo as well?

Yes. Snowfoam is a pre-wash and should always be washed off before you consider touching the paint with a brush/mitt.

Decent clay to buy?

Bilt Hamber is good stuff. Buy the correct grade for your paint contamination. Also allows you to lube with just water or soapy water - unlike some of the more 'premium' ones which try and sucker you into using some STUPIDLY expensive clay lube or quick detailer to lube it.

Decent tyre dressing and wheel cleaner to?

If its not been washed for a while I'll use a more aggressive but still pH-neutral cleaner. Anything from Turtle Wax to Megs to AG to Bilberry, all perform pretty much identically tbh. If it's been washed quite recently or the dirt isnt that bad I'll use diluted APC or even just soapy water if I havent waxed my wheels.

Dressing wise Megs Endurance is the way forward.

 

[Snookums]

There's no one right answer, it depends on your preferences and to some extent, the color of the vehicle and the look you want to achieve.


Yes. Think of snow-foam as a pre-wash.



I tend to foam, rinse, wash, rinse, dry.

If you need to clay/polish/seal/wax then as above, but before drying you'd clay, polish, seal and wax in that order.



Meguires Endurance Tyre Gel is my preferred choice for longevity, I sometimes use Auto Glym Instant Tyre Dressing for a quick top-up between applications of Megs.

Wheel cleaner I tend to use Bilberry wheel cleaner.

wow that was helpful appreciate dude.

So to cut down the intial outlay cost I could just buy a normal pre wash for now then next month I could fork out on the lance and snowfoam?

My cars black if thats any help and right now I'm not sure of my preference so I'm a bit stuck there.

When it comes to clay/polish/seal/wax how exactly do you do each step?

So after the wash I would rinse off then clay/polish/seal/wax and there would be no need to dry off? or i'd dry off after wax?

 

[chaparral]

Is there any stuff you can put onto alloy wheels to protect the paint ?

IE
To stop the brake dust from staining the wheels and then being impossible to clean ..

 

[chroniclard]

Better off with a clay mitt instead of the bar. Just much much easier to use and takes a quarter of the time.

 

[paradigm]

Is there any stuff you can put onto alloy wheels to protect the paint ?

IE
To stop the brake dust from staining the wheels and then being impossible to clean ..

Yep, you can get various alloy wheel sealants and waxes.

Essentially no different from the stuff you put on your paintwork, just perhaps a little more about the longevity and less about the beading/gloss look. You still need to keep it clean and topped up though.

 

[Howard]

wow that was helpful appreciate dude.

So to cut down the intial outlay cost I could just buy a normal pre wash for now then next month I could fork out on the lance and snowfoam?

My cars black if thats any help and right now I'm not sure of my preference so I'm a bit stuck there.

When it comes to clay/polish/seal/wax how exactly do you do each step?

So after the wash I would rinse off then clay/polish/seal/wax and there would be no need to dry off? or i'd dry off after wax?

I don't use snowfoam in the summer months, so you can probably wait until the weather turns crap to buy that stuff. I only find it particularly useful in the winter when you want to get bigger clumps of muddy salty crap off before you start mashing them all over your paintwork with the sponge/mitt. But for that, it's fantastic and it turns a grim winter wash into an easy summer wash .

 

[Snookums]

So my amazon basket right now consists of;

AAJ Luxurious Lambs Wool Wash Mitt

Plain Jumbo Microfibre Cleaning Cloths (Pack Of 2) (One Size) (Yellow/Orange)

ValetPRO Citrus PRE Wash 1L

Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash and Conditioner

Meguiar's Endurance High Gloss Tyre Protection Gel with Tyre Dressing Applicator Pad

Meguiar's Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner

its currently missing clay/polish/seal/wax due to me not realising how damn expensive car cleaning gear is! I'll just wash a bit more regualrly for the next weeks then drop a load on decent clay/polish/seal/wax.

Then as above buy a lance and snowfoam for the winter months

Probably pick up a pressure washer at some point soon too.

So how does that list look?

 

[ScoobyDoo69]

If you're looking for a cheap pressure washer, I ended up with a Lidl Parkside jetwash for like £30, then bought a snow foam lance with a "lavor" fitting for £20.

I think it works really well. My only wish is that it came with a 2 litre bottle for the lance as the 1 litre one is a bit small for my liking

 

[chaparral]

I think it works really well. My only wish is that it came with a 2 litre bottle for the lance as the 1 litre one is a bit small for my liking

Am kindly of glad mine only around 0.6ltr as I find it one them things where the more it holds the more you will just use...

 

[ScoobyDoo69]

I'd be happy with that. 1 litre coats the car nicely, but 2 litres would be ace

 

[chroniclard]

Cheap wax that gives decent results and is easy to use, get some Sonax Xtreme Brilliant Shine Detailer.

Also get more microfiber cloths, cant have too many.

 

[Snookums]

Cheap wax that gives decent results and is easy to use, get some Sonax Xtreme Brilliant Shine Detailer.

Also get more microfiber cloths, cant have too many.

But you it be worth skipping clay/polish/seal and going straight to wax?

I've got a load of microfiber cloths just no big ones to dry with properly

What about Meguair`s G17516EU Ultimate Quik Wax Spray any good?

 

[Armageus]

I've got a load of microfiber cloths just no big ones to dry with properly

I have this one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SINLAND-Microfibre-Cleaning-Datailing-40cmx40cm/dp/B00MQM0KF0

holds water well, but could still do with being bigger.


This one is supposed to be really good though:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Meguiars-Water-Magnet-Drying-Towel/dp/B0009IQZFM/

 

[chroniclard]

Big pack of cheap microfiber cloths for cleaning windows/interior, applying polish, all sorts. I have a few big towels for drying. I tend to go through about 5 or 6 microfibers when doing a clean. (*Edit, you have those already )

Farecla clay mitt on amazon is 12 quid.

 

[Snookums]

So excited to start cleaning my far properly

Still got more to get though, Gonna pick up a pressure washer + lance next week to use the snow foam. (i know you'll all probably complain but i bought snow foam and i'll dilute into a spray bottle just this once as my pre wash, there was no point buying what is essentially two pre washes in the space of a week.)

Then all thats left is clay, polish and sealant.

 

[Sui]

Tried all of that!

I've just been out to give it another go, in our cool underground parking. The screen is spotless and there's no smearing or anything visible under the flourescent lighting in the car park, so if it's smeary when I drive home later, I'm going to just kick out the windscreen and solve the problem that way.

http://www.paragonmicrofibre.com/cloths/fishscale-glass-cloth I've found these work well, downside is that the P&P is £5. Maybe their ebay/amazon have alternative options.

 

[Voxination]

How do you guys clean the inside of your windscreens and not get any smearing/streaking showing up when the sun shines on it?

I'm glad it's not just me who seems incapable of cleaning glass! Thought the inside of my windscreen was spotless, drove from east to west London yesterday evening so had the sun in my face all the way highlighting the incredible crappy job I had done at cleaning it.

My solution has been that once I eventually manage to get it spotless I just never ever clean it

 

[Conscript]

I have this, which is the best solution I've found so far, but it's still not perfect.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/3018...=9045020&device=c&campaignid=628893806&crdt=0

Driving into direct sunlight makes me sad too ;(

 

[shauncr91]

Use an APC first to clean it with a fresh MF cloth and this will remove any grease/traffic film. Then use a fresh waffleweave with a light misting of screen cleaner (I use Chemical Guys glass cleaner) and buff dry with a 3rd fresh cloth.

After you've done that you should be good for a few thousand miles assuming you run AC to avoid it getting condensation on the screen.