* The Car Cleaning Thread *

Raymond Lin · 19 Jun 2011 at 10:45

Is claying your car important/necessary before polishing?

BennyC · 19 Jun 2011 at 11:41

Raymond Lin said:
Is claying your car important/necessary before polishing?

Yes, especially when machine polishing. Otherwise you're just rubbing contaminants in to the paint causing swirling & scratches.

If you think your car is clean give it a going over with a clay bar and you'll be surprised. It's worth doing if you're polishing by hand anyway. Won't take more than an hour or 2 depending on how anal you are with it.

DB_SamX said:
Other than washing your wheels, did you clay them as well to take the existing tar before sealing them?

I didn't clay them after WW as it had gotten everything off. I would have if I'd had the time though it's a fiddly job and scratches don't really seem to show up on anthracite.

daveydave · 19 Jun 2011 at 15:54

Mine had a bath yesterday. She was washed with the 2 bucket method, pressure washed, dried, AG SRP followed by AG EGP. Fast Glass on all windows, then Megs tyre dressing with AG alloy seal and exhaust tips polish with autosol. (let's ignore the fact I've curbed the offside wheels too shall we

)

Raymond Lin · 19 Jun 2011 at 15:56

BennyC said:
Yes, especially when machine polishing. Otherwise you're just rubbing contaminants in to the paint causing swirling & scratches.

If you think your car is clean give it a going over with a clay bar and you'll be surprised. It's worth doing if you're polishing by hand anyway. Won't take more than an hour or 2 depending on how anal you are with it.

Done, for some reason the passenger door was about 5 times dirtier than the driver's door?!

4 hours of washing, claying, washing again, polishing, washing again, waxing later....

daveydave · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:04

The paint looks almost wet on that Yaris. Nice.

Raymond Lin · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:16

Is it wrong to like the smell of that liquid when claying? it smells like sweets!

Irish_Tom · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:25

BennyC said:
I use AG E&M on my wheels to help break through grease and dirt. Combined with polished and properly protected (poorboys wheel sealant) wheels it makes them a pleasure to clean. Stuff stays on for ages. I did my wheels last August with 2 or 3 coats and I've only got a few bits of tar bonded on. The rest cleans up beautifully.

I used WW before hand to clean them up as they were a right mess and my tar remover wasn't doing much good.

I did more-or-less the same thing yesterday. Cleaned them inside and out with Werkstatt Autobody Wash then used Wonder Wheels to remove the really caked-on crap. A second wash to remove the WW and then a couple of layers of Poorboy's on the alloys and Meg's tyre dressing on the tyres. (took about an hour per corner).

I won't show a shot of them on the car because the wheels are the cleanest thing about it at the moment.

daveydave said:
Mine had a bath yesterday...

Stunning.

Raymond Lin said:
Done, for some reason the passenger door was about 5 times dirtier than the driver's door?!

4 hours of washing, claying, washing again, polishing, washing again, waxing later....

Nice one Raymond, looks fantastic. It's a slippery slope mind, a bit like photography, you'll keep trying to get an even better finish with a variety of products and then when you think you've found the perfect combination you'll be forever trying to keep it clean (especially as it's black).

daveydave · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:37

Thanks...I'm holding off getting a polishing machine, but looking at some of the results that people are achieving I don't know how long I can hold out

Irish_Tom · 19 Jun 2011 at 16:40

daveydave said:
Thanks...I'm holding off getting a polishing machine, but looking at some of the results that people are achieving I don't know how long I can hold out

I caved in back in March and can highly recommend getting a machine polisher.

I said earlier on in this thread that it shouldn't be seen as a quick fix but if you put the time into it the rewards are worth the effort.

Raymond Lin · 19 Jun 2011 at 22:19

Panzerbjorn said:
Nice one Raymond, looks fantastic. It's a slippery slope mind, a bit like photography, you'll keep trying to get an even better finish with a variety of products and then when you think you've found the perfect combination you'll be forever trying to keep it clean (especially as it's black).

hmmm, I dunno about that, i spent like £150 on cleaning products so far ! it aren't cheap! I used all AG stuff and its given me nice results so I am sticking with it

Hate to spend £20 on a bottle of something else and hate it and go back to AG again.

Took this tonight while its semi covered in bugs (drove to a cloud of them at one point! :eek:

)

Begbie · 19 Jun 2011 at 22:32

Looking very very shiny there. Nice car too

daveydave · 20 Jun 2011 at 08:59

Few edited ones from me...seems my phone washes out the colour quite a bit.

Raymond Lin · 20 Jun 2011 at 15:32

Note to self:-

Do Not wash Microfibre clothes at 60c

I thought to make sure I get rid of the polish, dirt and what not on it I put them in a 60C wash....they came out 25% of their original size!

mrk · 20 Jun 2011 at 15:34

Raymond Lin said:
Note to self:-

Do Not wash Microfibre clothes at 60c

I thought to make sure I get rid of the polish, dirt and what not on it I put them in a 60C wash....they came out 25% of their original size!

But Ray, your car is 25% the size of a normal car so it works out OK!

Westyfield2 · 20 Jun 2011 at 15:55

Raymond Lin said:
Note to self:-

Do Not wash Microfibre clothes at 60c

I thought to make sure I get rid of the polish, dirt and what not on it I put them in a 60C wash....they came out 25% of their original size!

What Polished Bliss say to do is:

Wash after each use in a washing machine at a low temperature (40 °C) using a non-biological liquid detergent (avoid soap powders and detergents containing bleach or fabric softeners). Allow to dry naturally on a line or tumble dry on a cool heat setting (avoid radiators and other sources of high heat).

Raymond Lin · 20 Jun 2011 at 16:21

Westyfield2 said:
What Polished Bliss say to do is:

Wash after each use in a washing machine at a low temperature (40 °C) using a non-biological liquid detergent (avoid soap powders and detergents containing bleach or fabric softeners). Allow to dry naturally on a line or tumble dry on a cool heat setting (avoid radiators and other sources of high heat).

Too late....

BennyC · 20 Jun 2011 at 17:52

Raymond Lin said:
Note to self:-

Do Not wash Microfibre clothes at 60c

I thought to make sure I get rid of the polish, dirt and what not on it I put them in a 60C wash....they came out 25% of their original size!

Raymond Lin said:
Too late....

Use them for the wheels or other grubby tasks?

I usually wash them at 30degrees straight away ( 'Silks & Accessories') comes out clean no problems.

bob055 · 20 Jun 2011 at 19:24

Quick Clean

Raymond Lin · 20 Jun 2011 at 19:57

BennyC said:
Use them for the wheels or other grubby tasks?

I usually wash them at 30degrees straight away ( 'Silks & Accessories') comes out clean no problems.

£30 of Chamois down the pan?

Gustov · 20 Jun 2011 at 23:29

*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

* The Car Cleaning Thread *