*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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For that kind of total price I think hiring a mobile detailer to correct the swirls will be my best option thanks!

That way if something goes wrong, they can fix it :p
 
If they're just fine swirls would it not be better to get a mild cutting compound and slowly work over the bodywork with medium pressure by hand?

Can possibly get the majority out. I believe someone made a thread here when they had done it by hand there was a good product for it as well.
 
Toker said:
those halfords polishers are crap, you won't get any real correction done with them, my neighbour has one, I tried it once and got worse results than by hand.

the silverline is a rotary, so there is potential to totally wreck your paint with it, so I'd recommend reading a lot of guides etc and get a practice panel to work on before attacking your car with it. It may only be £20-30 but by the time you have bought pads, polishes, backing plates, work lamp, masking tape, buffing towels...you'll be looking at the guts of £200 if you get semi-decent kit.

also be warned, if you're a wimp you'll struggle as the silverline weighs a tonne :D
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the halfords ones are not designed with paint correction in mind, merely and automatic polisher, you won't get wonder results from it, only similar results as to hand polishing albeit less accurate and not in intricate corners of the paintwork.
 
wez130 said:
the halfords ones are not designed with paint correction in mind, merely and automatic polisher, you won't get wonder results from it, only similar results as to hand polishing albeit less accurate and not in intricate corners of the paintwork.
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I know they're not, but I was making the point in case anyone was under the impression they would correct swirls and imperfections.

They aren't worth the cheap plastic they're made of :D
 
You say that but just yesterday a mate of mine showed me what he had done to his mums CRX with one of those machines. He did have it on a very fast setting but its melted the paint work and part of his bumper and hes no idiot. Well not the kind of person just to hold it there while its smoking :p

Sam
 
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Silverline also do a dual action one for ~£20 which was the one I was referring to. For the price, it seems to be a good machine pick up and have a try with.

Also, just picking up on what Qeffects said; if you're just after de-swirling the car and removing some imperfections then maybe call in a detailer to do the work as it probably wouldn't cost much more than buying all the gear yourself. If you're treating the paintwork right yourself, then it shouldn't need doing again in the short term.
The added bonus of this is you get to see how an experienced detailer works, and pick up some tips at the same time ;)

Personally, I'm more beginning to enjoy is as a hobby as much as anything else :)
 
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Righto! now to find a detailer in my area but not after trying to do it myself by hand by use of a good few hours on my day off Tuesday!

Edit*

My bits for Tuesday will are:

-- Sheepskin wash mitt
--- 2 new buckets from pound land, I don't think the Ghee buckets are very clean these days!
- Carplan Triplewax shampoo (going back to testing this on silver)
- AG Super Resin Polish (2 coats worked in to see if it gets rid of the faint swirling)
- Collinite 476s to seal
-- Meg's applicator pads
-- Meg's Super Terry cloth for drying/finishing


Should get some interesting results :)
 
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Sam said:
You say that but just yesterday a mate of mine showed me what he had done to his mums CRX with one of those machines. He did have it on a very fast settings but its melted the paint work and part of his bumper and hes no idiot. Well not the kind of person just to hold it there while its smoking :p

Sam
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Thats because it was on a plastic bumper. You have to set it to the lowest speed and do 1 pass at a time and keep checking how warm the paint is getting with you hand.

On steel panels its a lot harder to burn through the paint as see in the videos above.
 
Well, i spent a couple of hours today on mine, started on the interior

Autoglym Vinyl and rubber care for the trim, Autoglym Leather cleaner and Autoglym Leather conditioner for the leather (obviously). Autoglym Hi foam interior cleaner for the carpets and Windolene + Autoglym Car glass polish for the glass.

For the exterior, i started with Wonder wheels for the wheels, then a quick all over rinse with the jetwash, a wash with Autoglym car shampoo and a microfibre wash mitt. I dried the car with my silicone squeegee + microfibre cloth.

I Then concentrated on the bonnet because i'm not happy with the paintwork on the bonnet, can't explain but it's like the clear layer of paint has faded, not sure if it's because of the pearlescent finish on the paintwork.

Anyway, started with Meguiars Clay bar and spray then used the Meguiars 3 stage paint cleaner stuff. (paint cleaner, polish and wax).

Here's the results....

carint1.jpg


carint2.jpg


carlomo1.jpg


carnonlomo.jpg
 
I'm actually quite glad my car doesn't have the grey or cream leather interior because I recently witnessed the condition these can get in just from a few grubby shoes and scuffs! How do you find the AG rubber/vinyl cleaner? I'm using Simoniz Silicone free foaming spray at the moment on mine which is for matt dashboards which I assume is the same style as yours, it leaves a non glossy finish but wondered what the AG stuff was like as they are roughly the same cost.

Tom|Nbk said:
You can only see swirls on my silver car under bright direct sunlight at an obtuse angle so it doesn't really fuss me. Silver hides it well :D
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But I know it's there! :eek:
 
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Cant really tell how good a job it is becuase of the awful photoshop effects and silly photography going on, just take some normal pictures and then we can judge.
 
[TW]Fox;12592960 said:
Cant really tell how good a job it is becuase of the awful photoshop effects and silly photography going on, just take some normal pictures and then we can judge.
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i can't do normal, i'm a photographer lol :D

The interior shots are as from camera, and just for Fox, some 'normal' shots...

cleancar.jpg


cleancar2.jpg
 
That look smart Wes :).


How do you guys clean the wax/polish off your microfiber towels?. I usually put them in the wash with a small amount of Persil washing powder, the blue box which my mum assures me doesn't contain softener.
 
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