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

I can understand that, especially if it will never be yours as such. Our current car is shared between me and GF, but its going to be hers completely after we've been backpacking. It gets cleaned, waxed irregularly and the odd other bit, but nowhere near as much as if it was mine and something I really enjoyed!
 
Yeah, not sure I understand the distinction personally. Whether it's bought outright, or however it's financed, I would still be considering it my car during its ownership.

I may not be as thorough cleaning it before handing it back, but while I was driving it around, it would be treated the same way regardless.
 
Hmm I'm surprised myself with this psychology change and I also enjoy the process and find it quite therapeutic...I have a desk job so like getting out ..

I'll try and give it a go today if the rain holds off.... Seeing it all shiny will maybe re-enthuse me
 
Hi guys, on my BMW the paint always feels abit gritty to the touch! Even after a fresh wash. At the moment I'm just washing with the two bucket method and drying.

Anyone got any tips on getting it smooth?
 
Last edited:
Clay bar.

A real clay bar from Bilt Hamber or the like will be best. But you would probably get 80-85% of the results with a clay mitt, and get the job done MUCH faster. You will need to polish the car afterwards though, as the clay will introduce marring most likely.
 
leoncuprar said:
I need to re-find my enthusiasm for being a weekend warrior.... I had a 5 series that I owned and took total care over, was in superb condition when I sold it... I'm now two weeks into a 3 yr lease and haven't touched it. I just cannot get excited about cleaning the new car because it's not mine as such... Have other people found this ?
Click to expand...

Exactly the same as you. I hardly cleaned my last 2 lease cars but after buying my own car now, I really look after it.

I don't see the point in spending money on products for a lease car.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
Yeah both those products for tar and iron should be good enough. I think claying has kind of had its day now? Cos the polishing process after will remove the same stuff anyway.
Click to expand...

Always best to start with a properly prepared surface. Tar and other contaminants can be quite hard, and you don’t want them embedding themselves into the polishing pad :)
 
MrRockliffe said:
Always best to start with a properly prepared surface. Tar and other contaminants can be quite hard, and you don’t want them embedding themselves into the polishing pad :)
Click to expand...
This would be my fear. I don't want the stuff I might have picked up with clay getting stuck on my pad, whirring round at 1'000's of RPM on my paint. I don't think that would help much.

It has been a while since I have used proper clay though. I find the clay mitts to be fine for my needs now. That said, there is a valleter close to me who will wash, clay and polish my cars for £45. He does a great job too. So if I plan a proper polish on my car, I sometimes get him to start it off to save me the ball ache of claying properly, ha ha.
 
In other news though, I just got my new wheels for the R back from the powdercoating, and so last night I decided to apply some Krystal Kleen Detail REVOLVE. Not the easiest product to work with, but the results are meant to be superb. I did use it on a set of wheels previously, but ended up selling them shortly afterwards, so never got to see how they performed unfortunately. I do have multiple wheels that need done, so will see what this stuff looks like in a few months, then decide if I'm gonna just do all my wheels. I did get loads of it.
 
xs2man said:
This would be my fear. I don't want the stuff I might have picked up with clay getting stuck on my pad, whirring round at 1'000's of RPM on my paint. I don't think that would help much.

It has been a while since I have used proper clay though. I find the clay mitts to be fine for my needs now. That said, there is a valleter close to me who will wash, clay and polish my cars for £45. He does a great job too. So if I plan a proper polish on my car, I sometimes get him to start it off to save me the ball ache of claying properly, ha ha.
Click to expand...

Blimey I would never get out my polishers for less than about 200!


For me to do a full polish (single stage), decon wash on a car, it's a full days work easy
 
adam cool dude said:
My water is as hard as it gets and cleans spotless. You don't use it with a pressure washer (You can but you will just waste the resin and you need gauze to stop from sucking the resin into your washer). You wash with a pressure washer as normal then connect the vessel and rinse off with the hose which removes all the hard water and then just leave it to air dry. I have connected mine on a splitter so just switch between what water I want to use.



Yeah you can get 7 litre and 14 litre. I got the 14 litre simply because I will only change the resin once a year as I have 3 cars to clean. All the resin comes in 7 litre bags anyway. I haven't towel dried once since getting it.
Click to expand...
Re-visiting this, do you have issues with using the same hose to wash and then rinse. The website when I'm placing my order states this..

"We recommend the use of brand new hose on the outlet side, as existing hose will have limescale deposits inside which will be washed off onto your car, producing a less than 0PPM result where it matters most."

Just debating whether I cut off a section of my current hosepipe to make the run from the bottle or if it is indeed better to buy a piece of new pipe.
 
Dominic-Toretto said:
Hi guys, on my BMW the paint always feels abit gritty to the touch! Even after a fresh wash. At the moment I'm just washing with the two bucket method and drying.

Anyone got any tips on getting it smooth?
Click to expand...
I posted this a few pages back and I use this every 3 months now and my paint is perfectly decontaminated. My wifes car hadn't been done ever since 2019 and it only took 2 passes using this method to get it perfect. I've had no marring and it's really fast. From about the 24 minute mark of this video. Use very little product. I do my car every 3 months at the end of the normal wash and including doing my wifes car haven't used a quarter of the bottle.

I used the DIY detail clay towel but in hindsight you could probably buy the in2detailing one for half the price.

 
Last edited:
A clean car again. Will last about 5 minutes in the current weather :(


BTW Gyeon Bathe+, which I got as part of a Gyeon trial pack, is utter pants.


It’s a ceramic shampoo and is designed to add hydrophobicity to the car as a shampoo.



Ceramic shampoos, in my experience, work best as a secondary shampoo, after washing with a normal one.



This is what I did with Bathe+, and increased the dosage too, as again they usually need more to be effective.


It did nothing. I would definitely avoid.






 
Last edited:
Has anyone treated/converted/done something to make their garage a 'washbay'? It seems pretty common in the US where they have lots of space, but would actually be useful for me. I have a double garage but it backs onto an alleyway with people coming and going, If I start washing in the alley invariably I have to shuffle in/out of the garage couple times to let people passed. Probably not feasible in reality but interested to see if anyone's done it / knows someone who has.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom