*** Car Wash / Valet / Detailing Thread ***

I personally wet over my car (watering can from water butt) before i spray citrus, it allows the products to spread better else a touchless wash ends up mega streaky.
 
On touchless, I've been watching a few reviews on it prior to purchase. I wax or use a spray on protection for our cars and everything I've been watching or reading says Touchless removes/damages wax or spray on protectors (such as wet coat) and should only be used on heavily soiled vehicles that will then be re-protected. Not to be used for someone that wants maintenance washes like myself that cleans the car every week or so. The latest Pan video mentions this as well.

I think I might just use the more neutral Auto Wash instead.
 
MrRockliffe said:
No as:

1. You’re diluting the product further

2. Reducing the contact ability with the dirt



I do find polar blast to be very all show and no go. Spray off the copious amounts of foam and… it’s the same :P
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Not just me then. Teach me to stop listening to all the hype online and people pushing it on Youtube. Time to switch to something else then, well after I have used the one and a half 2.5L bottles anyway.
 
I find this really good https://www.carboncollective.com/elixir-salt-remover-concentrate/ - in regards to removing grime and salt at this time of year, you can visually see the dirt running off the car but then they are dirtier than usual - i use it on the lower half of the cars and the underbody/wheel arches. Then bilthamber snowfoam - which does help remove some baked on dirt but im not a fan of solely touchless. Getting a good wash is critical, even on cars with good ppf and a ceramic coating..
 
pastymuncher said:
Not just me then. Teach me to stop listening to all the hype online and people pushing it on Youtube. Time to switch to something else then, well after I have used the one and a half 2.5L bottles anyway.
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No point using it if it doesn’t do anything IMO. I ditched mine ages ago and used it for bikes and cleaning anything else for outdoors.


Means I can just spray on, scrub and wash off.
 
What would you recommend to clean alloy wheels?

Got some marks on them (brake dust?) that won't wash off easily. My fault for leaving them too long.
 
~Mike~ said:
What would you recommend to clean alloy wheels?

Got some marks on them (brake dust?) that won't wash off easily. My fault for leaving them too long.
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Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel. It's a reactive cleaner so you spray it on and it turns purple as it reacts with the iron in brake dust. Gives the wheels a pressure wash first, then spray some Auto Wheel on it. Leave for a few minutes, maybe agitate and pressure wash off. Hopefully that should sort it out.
 
Conscript said:
Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel. It's a reactive cleaner so you spray it on and it turns purple as it reacts with the iron in brake dust. Gives the wheels a pressure wash first, then spray some Auto Wheel on it. Leave for a few minutes, maybe agitate and pressure wash off. Hopefully that should sort it out.
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Thanks for that, I'll give that a go.
 
~Mike~ said:
Thanks for that, I'll give that a go.
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As above, BH will be the best option you have. If it’s really baked on, you may not get it off without claying the wheel though.


For regular maintenance, I’d recommend P&S Brake Buster. It can be diluted a reasonable amount and is a lot cheaper.


It isn’t as powerful, but if you’re regularly maintaining your wheels, you won’t need it to be :-)
 
with BH I used about 1/3L for all 4 taking them off to get to the inside - no way I'd have been able to clean, all angles via outer face, and would have wasted more chemical.
I had planned to put some AG gloss protection on them to see if that would reduce subsequent build up - but weather&time weren't compliant.
 
Whoever recommended Dr leather wipes, thank you.

The marks on the seats from the kids. Some random stuff on front seat. Mustang looks and now smells good.

Sorry if doubt post can't remember if I posted this hah.

Due to the wind yesterday the car is covered in all sorts and needs a good wash!
 
Manbatius said:
Whoever recommended Dr leather wipes, thank you.

The marks on the seats from the kids. Some random stuff on front seat. Mustang looks and now smells good.

Sorry if doubt post can't remember if I posted this hah.

Due to the wind yesterday the car is covered in all sorts and needs a good wash!
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I’ve mentioned it before, they are brilliant!
 
Shiny. Took a surprisingly long time to wash all the salt and grime off this thing, especially the undercarriage. Very glad I bought a cheap chassis cleaner attachment for the Karcher!

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MrRockliffe said:
A bit of R222 polishing soap for the exhaust. It is borderline magic at removing carbon without damaging the chrome.
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Used some of this on mine today and they've come up good as new. One was slightly misaligned and it's been bugging me for ages so just ended up taking them off and cleaning them indoors.
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Just an
Firegod said:
Thanks! Erm it is 1800w I believe. I just had a look at the instructions online and it specifically mentions:

The device does not start up, the motor buzzes
Voltage drop due to a weak mains grid or when using an extension cable
1. When switching on, first press the lever on the high-pressure gun and then switch on the device "I/ON".

I'll try that next time and see if it helps.

Ta. :)
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Just as an update. I tried the trigger press before power on this afternoon before washing both cars, and it worked a treat on the extension. :)
 
HoneyBadger said:
Does anyone have any experience of these?

I’m thinking (Read hoping) that they could be very good.
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Don't have one, but I'm tempted to buy. I drive my car even in the winter but I'm a bit worried about corrosion. So I try and at least give the car a spray down with the pressure washer if there's salt on the the roads. For 30 quid it would be a handy way to get right underneath it and give it a good rinse.
 
HoneyBadger said:
Does anyone have any experience of these?

I’m thinking (Read hoping) that they could be very good.
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I got his one (or something very similar) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CP12F47P

Honestly if you wash exclusively by hand, you'd be mad not to get one, even just to get mud off. If you drive on salty roads, it's a must. Like I posted above, I was amazed by the amount of crud that came off the underside of the M2, and it had only done a few hundred miles since the last wash...
 
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mjt said:
I got his one (or something very similar) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CP12F47P

Honestly if you wash exclusively by hand, you'd be mad not to get one, even just to get mud off. If you drive on salty roads, it's a must. Like I posted above, I was amazed by the amount of crud that came off the underside of the M2, and it had only done a few hundred miles since the last wash...
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Does it have castors? It looks like it in the first picture, but then further down it looks just like the one HoneyBadger posted.
Castors might actually be better as I imagine that might make it easier to move side to side while it's under the car. My only concern is clearance, hopefully it's low profile enough not to smack into the exhaust.
 
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