*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***
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A PTG helps if you're worried.
Soldato
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Impressive! It's a great kit, I currently use the Prime Strong as my base layer followed by layers of Dodo Juice Red Mist after each wash. I'll try to upload a few pictures of my Focus which is in Machine Silver (in between light silver and dark grey). Ideally I would have liked a machine polish but now with winter on the way I'm best leaving it until next year. However, come the end of May I'm looking to get a Focus ST in Electric Orange
would have been sooner but need to collect another NCB 
The Mini Cooper S GP also looks stunning
Anyone any ideas on this? I ordered the Black hole & some Chemical Guys Wet Mirror Finish this morning.
Black hole is basically an equivalent of SRP (all-in-one polish, cleanser and filler) so it would go instead of it. EGP is designed to work with SRP so for the best results you'd need to get a wax or sealant too. (collinite 476S, or finishkare 1000P are 2 that are very good and durable)
Wet mirror finish is a glaze that goes on after the black hole before a coat of wax.
The wheel sealant can be done last.
Wet mirror finish is a glaze that goes on after the black hole before a coat of wax.
The wheel sealant can be done last.
Ok obviously Winter is drawing near so I want to get this car fully protected from the elements. I have zero cleaning gear and limited knowlage.
I have set myself a budget of around £300 which can be increased if it really calls for it. What I need is the full shabam.
Pressure washer
Snow Foam Lance
Snow Foam
ACP
Tar remover
Degreaser
Detailing brushes (for badge's, creases, shuts and panel gaps)
Misc Brushes (for arches and what not)
Shampoo
Wheel brushes (I really want to get in through the spokes and clean behind)
Wheel cleaner
Wheel sealent
Plastic dressing
Clay
Paint Cleaner
Polish
Wax
Glaze
Sealent
Glass Cleaner
Applicators
Drying cloths/shammys
Buffing/Finishing cloths
So I'm guessing some things I've listed are the same things but as I said I'm a n00b here and I want to give my pride an joy the best. The condition of the car is pretty go so far. There is a few tar spots around the bottom of the car and the inside of the wheels are dirty. The swirls on the car are fairly light to be honest and I'm not ready for machine polishing just yet, so I'd be happy if they can be reduced slightly by hand.
If there is anything I have missed then let me know. I'd like to order all my stuff from one place ideally for example www.cleanyourcar.co.uk.
I have set myself a budget of around £300 which can be increased if it really calls for it. What I need is the full shabam.
Pressure washer
Snow Foam Lance
Snow Foam
ACP
Tar remover
Degreaser
Detailing brushes (for badge's, creases, shuts and panel gaps)
Misc Brushes (for arches and what not)
Shampoo
Wheel brushes (I really want to get in through the spokes and clean behind)
Wheel cleaner
Wheel sealent
Plastic dressing
Clay
Paint Cleaner
Polish
Wax
Glaze
Sealent
Glass Cleaner
Applicators
Drying cloths/shammys
Buffing/Finishing cloths
So I'm guessing some things I've listed are the same things but as I said I'm a n00b here and I want to give my pride an joy the best. The condition of the car is pretty go so far. There is a few tar spots around the bottom of the car and the inside of the wheels are dirty. The swirls on the car are fairly light to be honest and I'm not ready for machine polishing just yet, so I'd be happy if they can be reduced slightly by hand.
If there is anything I have missed then let me know. I'd like to order all my stuff from one place ideally for example www.cleanyourcar.co.uk.
Hey Princey, I made a few recommendations above, I have most of those products at my disposal and highly recommend them. TBH you have listed some stuff which while there are dedicated products for them, one product can be used for several jobs. Take for example the APC it can be used for:
Foaming the car
Degreaser
Other general cleaning jobs(i.e. interior, engine etc)
Also with regards to the polish, I take it you won't be using a machine polisher? If not then a glaze like blackhole will be give great finish on the paint work(hiding/masking swirls).
Pressure washer -
Snow Foam Lance - PA Foam Lance 52.95 (Megs shampoo deal 63.95)
Snow Foam - Use the Megs shampoo
ACP - Megs Degreaser 18.95 (Tesco/Daisy is much cheaper)
Tar remover - Autosmart Tardis 19.95
Degreaser - Megs Degreaser 19.95
Detailing brushes (for badge's, creases, shuts and panel gaps) - Megs Slide+Triple 11.00 or Raceglaze Set 11.95
Misc Brushes (for arches and what not) - Tesco/Sainsburys 5.00
Shampoo Meguiar's Hyper Wash - 29.95
Wheel brushes (I really want to get in through the spokes and clean behind) EZ brushes 21.95 and 12.95
Wheel cleaner - Bilberry 10.00
Wheel sealent - Blackfire All Metal Sealant 26.00 (Poorboys will do, the Blackfire will also do your exhaust)
Plastic dressing - 303 Aerospace 16.95
Clay
Paint Cleaner
Polish
Wax
Glaze
Sealent
Glass Cleaner
Applicators
Drying cloths/shammys
Buffing/Finishing cloths
That's £220ish without the pressure washer and everything at the bottom. So I stopped.
That's all from Polished Bliss, so a bit limited for the bottom end stuff.
Snow Foam Lance - PA Foam Lance 52.95 (Megs shampoo deal 63.95)
Snow Foam - Use the Megs shampoo
ACP - Megs Degreaser 18.95 (Tesco/Daisy is much cheaper)
Tar remover - Autosmart Tardis 19.95
Degreaser - Megs Degreaser 19.95
Detailing brushes (for badge's, creases, shuts and panel gaps) - Megs Slide+Triple 11.00 or Raceglaze Set 11.95
Misc Brushes (for arches and what not) - Tesco/Sainsburys 5.00
Shampoo Meguiar's Hyper Wash - 29.95
Wheel brushes (I really want to get in through the spokes and clean behind) EZ brushes 21.95 and 12.95
Wheel cleaner - Bilberry 10.00
Wheel sealent - Blackfire All Metal Sealant 26.00 (Poorboys will do, the Blackfire will also do your exhaust)
Plastic dressing - 303 Aerospace 16.95
Clay
Paint Cleaner
Polish
Wax
Glaze
Sealent
Glass Cleaner
Applicators
Drying cloths/shammys
Buffing/Finishing cloths
That's £220ish without the pressure washer and everything at the bottom. So I stopped.
That's all from Polished Bliss, so a bit limited for the bottom end stuff.
sealant is just a synthetic alternative to wax, both are products designed to protect your newly polished paintwork by adding a protective barrier on top of the paint.
With the wax / sealant in the way, dirt doesnt stick as easily to the paint making the car easier to clean, and it also helps protect it from little marks from road dust etc..
It may or may not have reflection enhancing properties as well, depending on how its forumlated
With the wax / sealant in the way, dirt doesnt stick as easily to the paint making the car easier to clean, and it also helps protect it from little marks from road dust etc..
It may or may not have reflection enhancing properties as well, depending on how its forumlated
Started the winter prep last week.
The door shuts and the tailgate water channels were done for the 1st time in nearly 16 years, so you can imagine the dirt that was there.
The main bodywork was washed with autoglym bodywork shampoo and a lambskin mitt, then dried with an MF drying towel. Then the paint was prepped using meguiars swirlX to cleanse and fill the paint. The paint was then treated to 2 coats of collinite 476s and a top layer if FK1000P. The wheels were washed with shampoo and then the difficult spots treated with bilberry and the really tought spots treated with wonder wheels. Once clean they were polished with autoglym SRP and then given two coats of FK1000P. The trim was treated to some Gtechniq C4 back in august and i'm please to see that most of it has taken properly and is still beading well. Some of the textured plastic wasn't clean enough (even after cleaning it 3 times with naptha, isopropyl and AG tar/glue remover) and it hasn't taken up in a few places.
For the shuts, I used hot water, autoglym bodywork shampoo in a spray gun and a few assorted detailing brushes. The result was then dried using a slightly grubby towel (an older waffle MF, that i use for my wheels) and then i want over the lot twice with autoglym SRP twice to cleanse the surface. Then i applied a coat of collinite 476s to the door shuts. The boot got a coat of FK1000P first then a layer of collinite. I avoided going heavy on the hinges as i didn't want to strip the lithium grease, and there is some cavity wax (dark brown) that is coating most of the drainage holes in the doors and the boot lid. (the really OCD types would have cleaned it off, but i don't like the idea of rusty/squeaky hinges)
The door shuts and the tailgate water channels were done for the 1st time in nearly 16 years, so you can imagine the dirt that was there.
The main bodywork was washed with autoglym bodywork shampoo and a lambskin mitt, then dried with an MF drying towel. Then the paint was prepped using meguiars swirlX to cleanse and fill the paint. The paint was then treated to 2 coats of collinite 476s and a top layer if FK1000P. The wheels were washed with shampoo and then the difficult spots treated with bilberry and the really tought spots treated with wonder wheels. Once clean they were polished with autoglym SRP and then given two coats of FK1000P. The trim was treated to some Gtechniq C4 back in august and i'm please to see that most of it has taken properly and is still beading well. Some of the textured plastic wasn't clean enough (even after cleaning it 3 times with naptha, isopropyl and AG tar/glue remover) and it hasn't taken up in a few places.
For the shuts, I used hot water, autoglym bodywork shampoo in a spray gun and a few assorted detailing brushes. The result was then dried using a slightly grubby towel (an older waffle MF, that i use for my wheels) and then i want over the lot twice with autoglym SRP twice to cleanse the surface. Then i applied a coat of collinite 476s to the door shuts. The boot got a coat of FK1000P first then a layer of collinite. I avoided going heavy on the hinges as i didn't want to strip the lithium grease, and there is some cavity wax (dark brown) that is coating most of the drainage holes in the doors and the boot lid. (the really OCD types would have cleaned it off, but i don't like the idea of rusty/squeaky hinges)
Disgustingly clean
Started my winter clean today! Only had the car a few weeks so still cleaning it all up it's in very good condition anyway. I took all the wheels of and cleaned them using claybar then a couple of coats sealant. Cleaned all the arches and jetwashed them all down all the mud is gone from them now! I then washed the car using snowfoam. And then washed it using a wash mitt and megiurs wash. I then sealed the car as it already had plenty of wax before. I then wiped the windows and door jams quickly. Come new year when it's nice and warm again I plan to machine polish the whole car.
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