*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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Gilbert89 said:
One thing to mention is if you wash them, like any towels avoid fabric conditioner as this coats the fibres and acts as a repellent.

I tend to hand wash after falling victim to this as even without adding softener there must be some residue still in there affecting my car drying towels.
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That kind of makes sense as I’m aware of not using fabric conditioner and always washed all my cloths with either woolite or non bio.

Both my drying cloths I’ve had for a while, but all of a sudden one of them in particular, which was my best one, just stopped absorbing water.
 
I’ve been washing my cloths in the washing machine for years and I’ve only had the issue with this one cloth. It was an absolutely brilliant drying cloth. Anyhoo I’ll keep using my Sonus Blue Perl Drying Towel for now. Looking at my past orders on Clean your Car, I brought it 10 years ago lol.

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It’s nuts to think 10 years ago I made this order and I still have all these items lol.
 
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Any advice on a decent wheel cleaner? Not looking for something as heavy hitting as Bilt Hamber - Auto Wheel as I have a couple of bottles of Purple Rain by Autobrite.

Something for general maintenance wheel cleans which can potentially be diluted down depending on how soiled the wheels are making it economical to use?

Looking for something which can be sprayed on to then pressure wash off before going in again, or using brite gel and agitating.

Tempted to try Turtle Wax - Redline as 5L can be had for £21.45. It states PH Neutral and Acid Free but since it reacts and turns red I’m concerned it’s quite heavy duty for regular wheel cleans, as they are Diamond Cut I try to avoid regularly use of such chemicals as I’m concerned about starting/speeding up any corrosion of the finish.
 
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Gilbert89 said:
Any advice on a decent wheel cleaner? Not looking for something as heavy hitting as Bilt Hamber - Auto Wheel as I have a couple of bottles of Purple Rain by Autobrite.

Something for general maintenance wheel cleans which can potentially be diluted down depending on how soiled the wheels are making it economical to use?

Looking for something which can be sprayed on to then pressure wash off before going in again, or using brite gel and agitating.

Tempted to try Turtle Wax - Redline as 5L can be had for £21.45. It states PH Neutral and Acid Free but since it reacts and turns red I’m concerned it’s quite heavy duty for regular wheel cleans, as they are Diamond Cut I try to avoid regularly use of such chemicals as I’m concerned about starting/speeding up any corrosion of the finish.
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Can't you just dilute the BH?
 
sigma said:
Can't you just dilute the BH?
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I could but it’s on the more expensive side being £60 for 5L.

Plus not sure I want to use the fall out remover chemical on my wheels weekly/fortnightly if they don’t need it which I suppose brings me back to my concern with TW - Redline however it is cheap and again could probably be diluted to be less aggressive.

Something to consider though.
 
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If I don't feel the need to use a full on 'active' wheel cleaner like Auto Wheel, then either just the regular car shampoo is normally enough with a mitt (I use an old one for wheels though) or maybe a quick spray of slightly dilute APC like the Autobrite Citrus if you're aiming for something to spray on, pressure off.
 
Kenai said:
If I don't feel the need to use a full on 'active' wheel cleaner like Auto Wheel, then either just the regular car shampoo is normally enough with a mitt (I use an old one for wheels though) or maybe a quick spray of slightly dilute APC like the Autobrite Citrus if you're aiming for something to spray on, pressure off.
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This is what I usually do to be fair.

Usually Autobrite Citrus in the IK Foamer (Or Magifoam via lance) a once pressure washing I’ll go in for the contact wash with Brite Gel or something.

dLockers said:
I've never needed more than car shampoo.
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To be fair for the agitation stage car shampoo would probably do the same job as a dedicated wheel cleaner.

Could be a case of the I want new shiny products syndrome :rolleyes:

Do you not find the need for a fall out remover every now and then? My alloys show up rusty iron particles if I’ve driven hard and not washed it for a small period of time :(
 
I think I may just be lucky with the type of wheels/coating I have? I do go to town on them with the Megs microfibre brush. I did buy some Magma but other than the fun of it turning pink, haven't noticed any difference tbh.
 
BH Touchless seems to a good job with the looser stuff then I just spray on AD Britegel and use a brush but I could probably get away with just normal shampoo tbh. I use AG Magma every few washes just to get off any embedded bits of brake pad/disc.
 
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Is there an up to date version of the first couple of posts in here? ideally without going through 15 years worth of posts.
Quite the n00b when it comes to this, but need to improve and take better care!
 
sidimmu said:
Is there an up to date version of the first couple of posts in here? ideally without going through 15 years worth of posts.
Quite the n00b when it comes to this, but need to improve and take better care!
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Plus how much time do you want to spend pn cleaning your car?

Personally, I made the mistake of thinking I wanted to spend the time polishing and waxing my car, when in reality it's pointless for me as it's a daily driver/commuter @ 10k miles / year, the paint gets trashed by stone chips / grit no matter what protection I put on.

Now I focus more on the glass / underchassis / wheel wells / sills and after all that I can't be bothered polishing / waxing so I use a clay mitt for a quick minimal clay (when needed) and a spray on and rinse ceramic. Sure it's not as durable, but I can do it every month or two to give the car a bit of protection.
 
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ShiWarrior said:
I'll come up with something and start a new thread as the OP is banned
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Cracking idea.
Very grateful for the replies @ShiWarrior @Janesy B @VaderDSL !!

So driving a white Jag XE, its my daily driver and will get the stone chipping as I am estimating to do around 8k miles a year in it. In terms of cleaning it, I am happy to spend 2-3 hours every couple of weekends to get it looking beautiful again.
Been cleaning it recently myself through clean parks, hard work and cautious care, but this is not the way.

Think its best splitting this in to 3 sections of; cleaning, water, wax/dry

Cleaning - I have some auto gylm super resin, car body shampoo and some wheel cleaner. Hoping this can do majority of externals of the car, although happy to look at other suggestions based on the next topic.

Water - I currently live in a flat with a designated car port at the back, I do have access to a outside tap with no fitting on it currently, car port is about 15m away though. I suspect need a hose system or a pump pressure sprayer? Or both with not being pump? I know you get soap coats or whatever they are called to cover your car in for a bit, again happy to use if they are good, just I dont have an idea how or what to use.

Wax/Dry - seen the towels mentioned above which look awesome, may pick some up anyway. But for a form of protection/extra shinyness, any recommendations on wax to use and any additional equipment?

Many thanks in advance and apologies being the biggest n00b of all.
 
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