*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

[Conscript]

I finally got around to buying myself a Raceglaze filter this week. It arrived Thursday, and I've just given the car it's first wash using it. Usual washing routine - snowfoam, pressure rinse, two bucket wash, pressure rinse, then apply AG Polar Seal with the pressure washer. I then disconnected the PW, hooked up the Raceglaze filter and rinsed the car with the hose gun, then a final going over with an open hose. I purposefully didn't dry the car like I usually would, except for all the exterior glass. I then just took the car for a quick blast up the nearby dual carriageway, and that seemed to shift most of the remaining water off the body. Then I just gave only the glass one last wipe to get the drops that had been forced out on the drive, then left the car to dry.

So far, very impressed. I had a cup of tea and left the car an hour or so for the last bits to dry and I can't see any water spotting at all. To be honest, most of the water came off during the drive - something I never usually do after washing (except to the end of the road to clear water off the brake discs). However, the bits that remained wet had dried nicely and I couldn't see any residue, despite it being a warm and sunny day.

I will be chuffed if I can get away with washing the car and then giving it nothing other than a quick drive, or even just leaving to dry totally. Drying has always been the bit I hated most about car cleaning, and it always feels like it's the part where I have potential to do the most damage to the paintwork. The car needs a polish next, so next time I might wash, polish and put one a decent hard wax, then aim to touch the car as little as possible for as long as possible, apart from washing with shampoo and a mitt.

I'll also be pleased if this now means I can jsut rinse the car. At this time of year, I find the car regularly looks a complete state within a week of washing, even though it's not been driving, just because it's covered in dust and pollen. Usually, just rinsing that off means a a full wash and dry, or you just replace dust with water marks, but now I can hopefully just plug the Raceglaze in and give the car a rinse down with the hose.

For those interested, I bought the 7ltr Raceglaze unit. I'm aware they do a 14ltr one which might work out a little cheaper in the long run; but I also don't currently have anywhere to hook the filter up permanently, so I figured the smaller version might be easier to lug around on aregular basis. I did consider the 11ltr Vyair units - but I couldn't find a consensus on how these compared to the Raceglaze, whereas I don't think I've seen a single negative response to the RG. So I paid extra for the brand.

However, if's definitely one of those "should have bought one ages ago" type of things. Very happy

 

[Scottland]

snip

If you don't have one, I'd recommend getting a TDS meter to measure the PPM in the water.

a) Gives you an idea how much it's actually doing - our unfiltered water is about 120ppm. With the DI vessel it's <5ppm.
b) Check it every xx weeks/months so you know when the rein needs replacing.

I find it's still effective for letting a car air dry even upto about 20ppm. I get long enough out of my 11ltr one that I leave it hooked up to the PW so it means less faffing around swapping it over.

 

[Conscript]

If you don't have one, I'd recommend getting a TDS meter to measure the PPM in the water.

a) Gives you an idea how much it's actually doing - our unfiltered water is about 120ppm. With the DI vessel it's <5ppm.
b) Check it every xx weeks/months so you know when the rein needs replacing.

I find it's still effective for letting a car air dry even upto about 20ppm. I get long enough out of my 11ltr one that I leave it hooked up to the PW so it means less faffing around swapping it over.

Yes, I hear they are quite cheap, so I plan to pick one up. I'm hoping to get at least a year before refilling though, washing at most every couple of weeks and using it only for the final rinse.

 

[Scottland]

If you're just using it for final rinse, you should get a year out of it no problem. TDS meters are peanuts, a few quid off eBay so well worth picking up. If your water is particularly hard/high ppm - it will probably reduce the longevity of it - but the resin isn't that much. I recently topped up from eBay for £41 for 10 litres.

 

[wedrum]

The Audi is going in for a 3 stage paint correction Monday for a day and a half.

Was is the usual cost for this ?

 

[Conscript]

If you're just using it for final rinse, you should get a year out of it no problem. TDS meters are peanuts, a few quid off eBay so well worth picking up. If your water is particularly hard/high ppm - it will probably reduce the longevity of it - but the resin isn't that much. I recently topped up from eBay for £41 for 10 litres.

I'm not sure what the exact amount is, but on Southern Waters website it is rated Hard. And we do suffer with typical hard water problems...im regularly cleaning the kettle. When we do the kitchen, I may consider installing a softener.

Going to order a meter now, I'd be interested to see what level it is.

 

[Scottland]

The Audi is going in for a 3 stage paint correction Monday for a day and a half.

Was is the usual cost for this ?

I think it really depends on the detailier and what you're aiming for. I've seen people quote between £100 and £1000. Are you getting a coating/wax/sealant included as well?

I would say a 'typical' 2/3 stage correction with wax/sealant for 1.5 days would be £400-600.

 

[wedrum]

I think it really depends on the detailier and what you're aiming for. I've seen people quote between £100 and £1000. Are you getting a coating/wax/sealant included as well?

I would say a 'typical' 2/3 stage correction with wax/sealant for 1.5 days would be £400-600.

TBF the paint on the audi is quite good but intrigued to see it.
does this process look ok ?



We start by cleaning the car thoroughly using tfr and snowfoam. The tfr is a heavy degreaser that soaks into the dry dirt and loosens it up ready to be jetwashed away, the snow foam has the same properties but doesn't allow the tfr to dry. The pre-wash stage is to reduce the amount of dirt on the car, reducing the chances of spreading dirt around.

Once the pre-wash is compete, we then spray all the door edges and boot jamb with a heavy duty degreaser (not tfr) and with a small detailing brush we clean all around the doors removing dirt and grease.

We now move onto washing the car. We use the two bucket method.

Once the car has been jetwashed and there is no soap left on the vehicle, we begin the clay barring stage. We go around the entire car with clay to remove 99% of surface contaminates before drying it off ready to be machine polished.

Once taped up we start by going around the car with our paint level reader, taking note of how thick the paint is.

We now start with Rupes Coarse Cutting compound with Rupes bigfoot . This will process removes 95% of the scratches out and removes 100% of swirls.

Now we move on to Rupes Fine Compound this process removes them nasty holograms and adds more depth to the paint.

To finish we hand polish with Autogylms Super Resin polish, and it's done.

Don't worry about the over spraying compound or the dust. We won't give it back to you like a body shop, we get the car looking perfect ready for you to show your friends.

 

[Scottland]

The process sounds pretty typical - however I don't think it's a realistic statement to say that the first pass will remove 95% of scratches and 100% of swirls. Each car will be different and the time spent could be vastly different to get to that level of correction (indeed if at all).

Also, the hand polish with SRP - doesn't seem logical to me. SRP is an AIO polish with fillers in it - why would you need that if you've removed 100% of swirls.

Maybe I'm just being picky, but the wording of it seems like it's trying to name drop brands like Rupes and make bold statements like "removed 95% of scratches" to lure in punters.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll be happy with the result. How much are you paying?

 

[wedrum]

The process sounds pretty typical - however I don't think it's a realistic statement to say that the first pass will remove 95% of scratches and 100% of swirls. Each car will be different and the time spent could be vastly different to get to that level of correction (indeed if at all).

Also, the hand polish with SRP - doesn't seem logical to me. SRP is an AIO polish with fillers in it - why would you need that if you've removed 100% of swirls.

Maybe I'm just being picky, but the wording of it seems like it's trying to name drop brands like Rupes and make bold statements like "removed 95% of scratches" to lure in punters.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll be happy with the result. How much are you paying?

£170
He is also sorting a scrape on a front headlight

 

[Invertigo]

First time using the Autobrite Foam Lance today, been using a cheapo ebay Chinese jobby for 3 years thats done the job, but holy mother this Autobrite one is such a better piece of kit. Way more adjustment range and more sensitive too. Did both cars and still had just under half the 1 litre bottle left.

 

[Shilz]

For those interested, I bought the 7ltr Raceglaze unit. I'm aware they do a 14ltr one which might work out a little cheaper in the long run; but I also don't currently have anywhere to hook the filter up permanently, so I figured the smaller version might be easier to lug around on aregular basis. I did consider the 11ltr Vyair units - but I couldn't find a consensus on how these compared to the Raceglaze, whereas I don't think I've seen a single negative response to the RG. So I paid extra for the brand.

However, if's definitely one of those "should have bought one ages ago" type of things. Very happy

After seeing the @shaank video I had to get one. Did a bit of research and thought why not try it out. Black Hondas here so usual soft paint and for me most swirls come from the drying stage.

Initially I was so close to buying the Race Glaze one but went with the slightly cheaper ebay Vyair 11L MB115 with Hozel locks for 82 quid which was recommend on a few other 'detailing' forums. Also a cheap TDS reader all to my surprise delivered today so I was eager to try out. Tap was 250 PPM so moderately hard.

I ordered a new hose for the vessel but soon cancelled that as I already had a 30m hose on a reel so just made my own length enough to get easily around the car.

So to rid the car of heavy dust and pollen my process was light jet wash rinse, snow foam with Auto Glym Blaster lance and Auto Glym Polar Blast let it dwell, power wash off.
Final hose with pure water starting from top and made sure all the hard water was were completely flushed from the window sills etc.

First impression is definitely yes "why didn't I buy this sooner" Stepped out side after an hour to see how nice the final finish is. No water spots at all and left the car beading water like a dream.
Final rinse with pure water was done in the sun too. It did go a bit over cast but its drying time was in the sun.

Top wax was still doing its thing and I'm never drying it with a microfibre ever again.
I just want to find the best shampoo and wash mitt now as that's the only time the paint will get touched when needed

 

[IronSpider]

Can anyone recommend me something for cleaning/protecting Alcantara? Also a decent interior cleaner for plastics/vinyl. A leather cleaner also would be great

 

[shaank]

After seeing the @shaank video I had to get one. Did a bit of research and thought why not try it out. Black Hondas here so usual soft paint and for me most swirls come from the drying stage.

Initially I was so close to buying the Race Glaze one but went with the slightly cheaper ebay Vyair 11L MB115 with Hozel locks for 82 quid which was recommend on a few other 'detailing' forums. Also a cheap TDS reader all to my surprise delivered today so I was eager to try out. Tap was 250 PPM so moderately hard.

I ordered a new hose for the vessel but soon cancelled that as I already had a 30m hose on a reel so just made my own length enough to get easily around the car.

So to rid the car of heavy dust and pollen my process was light jet wash rinse, snow foam with Auto Glym Blaster lance and Auto Glym Polar Blast let it dwell, power wash off.
Final hose with pure water starting from top and made sure all the hard water was were completely flushed from the window sills etc.

First impression is definitely yes "why didn't I buy this sooner" Stepped out side after an hour to see how nice the final finish is. No water spots at all and left the car beading water like a dream.
Final rinse with pure water was done in the sun too. It did go a bit over cast but its drying time was in the sun.

Top wax was still doing its thing and I'm never drying it with a microfibre ever again.
I just want to find the best shampoo and wash mitt now as that's the only time the paint will get touched when needed

Nice one mate, glad your happy (even if you got a different brand, it's the same idea!)

 

[shaank]

Can anyone recommend me something for cleaning/protecting Alcantara? Also a decent interior cleaner for plastics/vinyl. A leather cleaner also would be great

Poorboys natural look cleaner for the inside / plastics
CarPro 'Inside' for leather - need to get a leather cleaning brush too
Alcantara I a damp cloth on my alcantara steering wheel once every few weeks and it looks as good as new, never tried a dedicated cleaner.

 

[Scottland]

For cleaning leather I'd highly recommend ColourLock cleaners. The mild leather cleaner should be sufficient unless it's really dirty. Along with their brush, or another suitable leather brush. They do a leather spirit also which will strip the oils better if you're doing a steering wheel.

Alcantara is tricky, I think raceglaze have a dedicated cleaner. Last time I had a car with alcantara I used a dilution of Woolite and a microfiber.

 

[Temujin]

I have the Gyeon leather cleaner seems to work well in conjunction with a decent leather brush, restorer seems decent also!

 

[Ev0]

Carpro inside seems to do a good job on alcantara in this thread

https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/steering-wheel-alcantara-wear.413254/#post-3553067

 

[pepsilol]

Can anyone recommend me something for cleaning/protecting Alcantara? Also a decent interior cleaner for plastics/vinyl. A leather cleaner also would be great

Sam's Detailing just stuck something on youtube today for leather

 

[inflames]

I am currently looking at purchasing a new wax or combo of wax’s. I am about to run out Meguairs ultimate wax, what was a gift from my kids the other year. I do have a very small pot of EZ ceramic wax. But I looking at some different ones. I don’t want to spend much more than £50. Would like something that beads very well, durable, a good level of gloss but that not a top of my list and good value for money.

So far I have now narrowed it down to Bilt Hamber double speed wax. From the reviews I have seen tick most of the box’s but not sure on the durability of it.
Or soft 99 Fuso coat, what I have been meaning to try for ages. This one tick all the box’s but it not a massive glosser. But I could add a layer of soft 99 Kiwami for the gloss, I have read that it’s a great combo.