*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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ringo747 said:
Just got my order today and tried the bilberry cleaner. It really is very good stuff! I had to do a few goes at it and still a lot of tar and brake dust isn't moving but I think I maybe diluted the stuff too much. Seems to be a really good job though.
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Sounds promising. I've read some negative reviews of this stuff but the huge barrage of positive ones persuaded me to get myself a bottle. Yet to try it. Hopefully we will have dome better weather this weekend. (Probably won't).
 
Has anyone here used Motorclean down in Bluewater?

I dont have any cleaning facilities where I currently live. To wash the car nowadays I have to drive to parents house and use their driveway/extension lead/hosepipe if I want to clean the car. As I don't get much time to do that, I was thinking of taking it to the Motorclean place while my GF is one of her extensive and boring shopping trips to BW :rolleyes:

Looks like a bit more of a professional outfit than just two immigrants and a spray bottle full of spit in the local Asda car park. I saw an Aston Martin in there last weekend when I wandered past, so I guess someone has some trust for them...
 
ringo747 said:
Just got my order today and tried the bilberry cleaner. It really is very good stuff! I had to do a few goes at it and still a lot of tar and brake dust isn't moving but I think I maybe diluted the stuff too much. Seems to be a really good job though.
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Try it neat and aggitate it, if it doesn't move it, you may want to try tardis, maybe some iron-x, and claying them.
 
What is 'good beading'?

Is this any good?

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You should be looking for good sheeting, not beeding :D

As for wheels, I guess you could, but I prefer using Alloy Wheel Seal spray, much easier to blast brake dust off with pressure washer as it just lightly sits on the layer of spray.
 
Right, I'm a complete noob at giving a dam about how clean my car is, it's normally throw a bucket of water over and good to go.

But since I have purchased my new car (Black fiesta zetec s) I want to keep it looking as good as possible, so basically could someone make me a shopping list of what I should be buying??
 
matthewhotdude said:
Right, I'm a complete noob at giving a dam about how clean my car is, it's normally throw a bucket of water over and good to go.

But since I have purchased my new car (Black fiesta zetec s) I want to keep it looking as good as possible, so basically could someone make me a shopping list of what I should be buying??
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Lambs wool wash mit first of all!
 
matthewhotdude said:
Right, I'm a complete noob at giving a dam about how clean my car is, it's normally throw a bucket of water over and good to go.

But since I have purchased my new car (Black fiesta zetec s) I want to keep it looking as good as possible, so basically could someone make me a shopping list of what I should be buying??
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I recently used:

Wash mitt (I have a Meguiar's one)
2 buckets
Pressure washer (some Karsher one I got for £50 from Karsher outlet on eBay)
Snow foam lance (the one from cleanyourcar.co.uk)
Snow foam (Meguiars Hyper Wash can be used for snow foam)
Shampoo (I currently use Meguiar's Hyper Wash)
Claying kit (recently used AutoGlym surface detailing kit)
Polish (I used AutoGlym Super Resin Polish)
Foam applicator for applying polish
Wax (I recently used AutoGlym HD wax, which comes with everything you need)
Wheel cleaner (I use Bilberry Wheel Cleaner)
Glass cleaner (I use Autoglym Fast Glass)
Tyre shine (I use AutoGlym Instant Tyre Dressing)
Exhaust Polish (Autosol)

Pretty much all bought from www.cleanyourcar.co.uk

I use mostly AutoGlym products at the moment, I don't know much more about other brands.
 
matthewhotdude said:
Right, I'm a complete noob at giving a dam about how clean my car is, it's normally throw a bucket of water over and good to go.

But since I have purchased my new car (Black fiesta zetec s) I want to keep it looking as good as possible, so basically could someone make me a shopping list of what I should be buying??
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It depends on your budget really. I've just helped a colleague put together a 'basics' shopping list, he was in a similar position to you and in total, for interior and exterior it came to just under £100 (£65 as Halfords were doing buy 2 get 1 free).

If that sort of price scares you then I'm sure we could suggest a smaller list for less, of course if you're not worried about the price at all we can cater for a 'no limits' budget too.

I've recently spent about £500 on bits but that includes a machine polisher, Vax wetvac and some tools as well.

Let us know what you're happy to spend and we can help you put together a list.
 
Panzerbjorn said:
It depends on your budget really. I've just helped a colleague put together a 'basics' shopping list, he was in a similar position to you and in total, for interior and exterior it came to just under £100 (£65 as Halfords were doing buy 2 get 1 free).

If that sort of price scares you then I'm sure we could suggest a smaller list for less, of course if you're not worried about the price at all we can cater for a 'no limits' budget too.

I've recently spent about £500 on bits but that includes a machine polisher, Vax wetvac and some tools as well.

Let us know what you're happy to spend and we can help you put together a list.
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Well looking at around the £100 mark
 
Damn, seeing this thread brings back memory's of being on detailingword hours every day and taking amazing care of my clio 182, and then Audi TT mk2, both of which I sold. I now have a 4 year old Pug 206 which I'm not too fussed about cleaning, never mind detailing.
the amount of product I have in my utility room is crazy lol...

Over 20 different shampoos, 20+ different waxes, so many polishes I can't even think, tons of cleaners, sprays, QD's, huge bottles of snowfoam, different foam guns, rotary, PC, 10 large tubs of freshly washed microfibres (washed in CG MF wash of course) I spent well over 2 grand on the gear - CRAZY! :o

But when I get a new car, She's gonna get some L O V I N ! ! ! ! :D
 
Right guys, a client has canceled on me tomorrow which means i can spend some time cleaning my car :)

I would like to get rid of the swirls in the paint work, bring full life back to the paint work, protect the paintwork from the sun ect.

So what do i need? My car is red.

Need stuff i can collect from local places, as tomorrow will be the only time ill have time do it. Hoping it isn't raining or windy.......

Also feel free to tell me what order to do everything in....im no cleaning expert lol

Thank you
 
Hey knowledgeable people, i have some strange scratched blotches on the bonnet of my silver Celica. Looks like someone has scrubbed it with a scouring pad in several places...

I used some Farecla G3 Scratch Remover Liquid on the patches on Wednesday and it appeared to completely remove them completely, excellent stuff i thought! Roll on today and ive given the car a quick wash, and now the scratches have reappeared :(

Im assuming it was the washing that did it, but is there anything i can do to protect it for future washes? Or did i simply wash it too soon?

Im a complete newbie to proper car cleaning so feel free to educate me like a simpleton, the G3 range has 4 stages, should i be using the other 3 or is it a waste of money?

Thanks for any input :)
 
matthewhotdude said:
Well looking at around the £100 mark
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Matthew, sorry it's taken me a while to come back with a list for you, you'll see why in my next post. ;)

Here's what I would do with a budget of about £100 (I'm afraid I went over by £20).

All of this can be ordered at CleanYourCar.co.uk:

  • Sonus Sheepskin Wash Mitt £7.95 (better than a sponge)
  • Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo £4.95 (excellent car shampoo)
  • CleanYourCar Huge 'Fluffy' Drying Towel £8.95 (it's important to get a good towel)
  • CleanYourCar - Ultra Fine Detailing Clay £7.95 (very important before polishing and this can be used with water)
  • Bilberry Wheel Cleaner (1 litre) £8.95 (brilliant wheel cleaner but if your budget won't allow it, don't worry too much)
  • Poorboys Wheel Sealant £12.95 (good 'wax' for wheels which will last forever)
  • Trim & Tyre Dressing Applicator £2.95 (you could use a foam pad but this makes it really easy)
  • Meguiars High Gloss Tyre gel £8.95 (this is the best I've found)
  • Autoglym - Super Resin Polish £9.95 (personally I don't use AG stuff any more but for your budget, you can't go wrong with SRP followed by EGP below)
  • Autoglym - Extra Gloss Protection £8.95 (as above)
  • Meguiars Foam Applicators Pkg/2 £3.95 (for applying the SRP and EXP, you might need a couple more of these but two is a good start)
  • Ultra Fine Buffing Towels Pkg/2 £3.95 (for removing the SRP and EGP, as above, two is a minimum, I've got a whole box full of towels / pads etc but it is expensive to buy loads in one go)
  • Poorboys Natural Look Dressing £10.95 (perfect interior dressing for all of your dash surfaces except the steering wheel, gear top, handbrake and pedals)
  • Meguiars Last Touch Bottle £1.95 (for filling with water to use with the clay)
  • Meguiars APC bottle £1.95 (for filling with Tesco APC for cleaning the interior)

Total £114.20 + delivery

I'd then go to Tesco and buy their cheap All Purpose Cleaner for about £3.00

Sub Total including delivery and Tesco ~£120

This doesn't take into account that you'll need two buckets for washing but they can be picked up for a couple of quid at Tesco while you're buying the APC.

If you've got any old tea towels / towels lying around you can use them for drying the wheels / arches / interior etc, just don't use them on the body work.

Obviously the budget doesn't allow for a pressure washer and snow foam lance so I would take it to a jet-wash before the cleaning commences. Just make sure you don't use the brush at the jet wash (cover in foam, leave for a few minutes and then rinse off, don't bother with anything else).

I have to say, I really struggled to put together a list for ~£100 to do the whole car. If I were you, I would probably drop the Poor Boy's Interior dressing and get some more applicator pads and buffing towels, then just give the interior a good vacuum and clean with APC.

If you have any questions about what to do with the above give us a shout.
 
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