Yeah the premium, it’s good.
*** Car Wash / Valet / Detailing Thread ***
- Thread starter ShiWarrior
- Start date
Associate
No need really for a quick detailer if your using polar seal or gyeon wetcoat, if you dry properly afterwards..
Soldato
Polar seal and the like are easy to apply sealants in terms that they just need spraying on with water, then rinsing off - rather than applying to the panel and spreading with a cloth.
One thing people tend to do, is run the drying towel over the glass first as glass is a lot harder than clear coat. This dampens the towel before it's run dry over the paint.
You won't necessarily need a quick detailer as a drying aid.
One thing people tend to do, is run the drying towel over the glass first as glass is a lot harder than clear coat. This dampens the towel before it's run dry over the paint.
You won't necessarily need a quick detailer as a drying aid.
Associate
Thanks mate. Just back from holiday, so sorry for not replying sooner.
I have some items arriving from China today and not 100% sure on my polisher yet, but think am going to go with the Scholl S20 black as I have only light swirls to remove.
I have a black car that is riddled with micro scratches and just generally quite dull paint. I don't think the previous owners really looked after it that well.
Instead of forking out for a pro I'm keen to give it a go myself, am I right in thinking I need to give it a two stage polish? Is there a reasonably priced kit I can get that includes a DA polisher, and the polish? No real idea what to get/buy in regards to pads and stuff, so a reasonably priced newb kit that has everything would be ideal.
Instead of forking out for a pro I'm keen to give it a go myself, am I right in thinking I need to give it a two stage polish? Is there a reasonably priced kit I can get that includes a DA polisher, and the polish? No real idea what to get/buy in regards to pads and stuff, so a reasonably priced newb kit that has everything would be ideal.
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Soldato
You may need to do a double stage, but you might not.
If you’re trying to get all of the scratches out, you’d likely need to go for a 3 stage - so you’ve got to set your expectations.
Machine polishing is about doing the least amount of work needed to achieve your goal.
Your goal, it sounds like, is to bring back some gloss and remove swirl marks from years of poor wash technique.
I think you’d be really happy with a single stage cut and finish using a decent dual action polisher with good foam pads and a good compound.
I’d be going for:
DA8 or 9 (higher motor power = reduced likelihood of stalling + better cutting potential)
Lakeside HDO Blue or Scholl Concept Spyder Navy
Scholl S20 Black or Sonax Profiline Perfect Finish (both are single stage, Sonax slightly better)
If you find that you’re not happy, you can then buy a heavier cutting compound and go again at a later date.
Prep is key.
Wash
Fallout remover 3-5 mins and wash with fallout on the car
Dry
Tar remover
Clay bar
Polish
Protect
Very useful thanks..! There's no deep scratches, it's pretty much all swirling.
How often do people tend to do this type of clean to their cars?
Soldato
The protection part is the key bit - it reduces the frequency that you need to do this.
Additionally, you don’t have the ability to do it too much. There’s only a finite amount of clear coat on a car before you get to the paint.
To clarify, in case you weren’t aware, polishing removes small layers of clear coat - this is how scratches are removed.
From memory, there’s only about ~0.04mm of clear coat on a car to play with.
A ceramic coating will improve the life of your paint.
I personally have never polished a car more than once, but I’ve also never owned a car which I’ve polished for longer than a year
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Soldato
Noooo, this is 1.5 mil which is a thousandth of an inch! Something like 0.04mm
Soldato
Cheers, must say I’ve always been sceptical when I was told that - didn’t realise there was such a thing as “mil”!
Now I’m rethinking my entire engineering degree, wondering if the “mil” they were using in labs wasn’t mm
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Soldato
It's pretty old school, and I think comes from the prefix "milli" for thousand. I've never really seen the term used because yes, we almost all say mil to meant millimetreCheers, must say I’ve always been sceptical when I was told that - didn’t realise there was such a thing as “mil”!
Now I’m rethinking my entire engineering degree, wondering if the “mil” they were using in labs wasn’t mm
@MrRockliffe what would you recommend for the "protect" stage of your process i.e. after polishing?
Also, does anyone knows of any good YouTube videos for this type of one stage clean and polish? Brand new to this type of thing
Also, does anyone knows of any good YouTube videos for this type of one stage clean and polish? Brand new to this type of thing
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Soldato
There are two main types of liquid/paste protection:
Chemical and abrasive
Ceramic sealants & waxes give chemical protection and hydrophobicity.
Ceramic coatings (including graphene coatings) give slight abrasive protection in addition to chemical protection. Some are hydrophobic, some aren’t.
Sealants & waxes last between 1/2 washes and some as long as 6 months.
Ceramic coatings can last upwards of 5 years if regularly maintained and “topped up” with a ceramic sealant. In reality, the topping up acts as a top layer which is the first to go.
My preference is to ceramic coat, because in my mind, why do the hard work of prepping, only to get swirls/tar/fallout build up again.
There’s a lot to it, and I won’t lie - it takes a while to digest.
Treat it as a hobby and enjoy the journey
Check out Forensic Detailing on YouTube- good source of non-biased, research-based info.
I did a single stage on my Boxster today. The paint was good enough that it doesn’t need a dual stage to achieve the look I’m after.
I’ll be ceramic coating it when back from a road trip to Switzerland
For now, Sonax BSD + Gyeon QD for a hydrophobic, super glossy finish.
DIY DETAIL
I swear by then now
This video is well worth watching
Taught me a lot of things
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Don
Washed both of mine at the weekend - not perfect job given the heat, but still pretty happy with the results.
Almost full Autoglym treatment (Polar Blast, Bodywork Shampoo, Magma, Clean Wheels, Rapid Detailer)
Then finished up with what's probably now out of fashion, Collinite 845 Insulator Wax.
(Only thing I didn't get around to doing was tyre dressing)
Almost full Autoglym treatment (Polar Blast, Bodywork Shampoo, Magma, Clean Wheels, Rapid Detailer)
Then finished up with what's probably now out of fashion, Collinite 845 Insulator Wax.
(Only thing I didn't get around to doing was tyre dressing)
Your tyres don't look brown on my phone, looks good
Don
Yep the Countryman does especially - not sure what was used on it by the dealer, but it's got a lot of horrible "banding" for want of a better word.
Thanks - I'll certainly check out the Gtechniq, as I looked into AG's but was put off as I think theirs is an aerosol which I heard was bad for plastic.
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