*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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Anyone got any recommendations for a pressure washer? I've been meaning to try out snow foaming my car and seeing as it's best used with one, I may as well bite the bullet and buy a set that I can leave at the parents.
 
Look out on the karcher outlet site they do decent deals every now and then. The nifilsk also gets a decent write up.
 
paradigm said:
All I can say about towels is that I prefer my "CleanYourCar Huge Fluffy" towel to my Wooly Mammoth. The 'Mammoth tends to leave fibers all over the car, and never seems to soak up as much water as the CYC Fluffy.

Odd really, as the Mammoth looks, feels, and is certainly priced like the better of the two.
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Hmm I get this too when using the Mammoth. Sure it holds a lot of water but I also notice little white fibres all over the car/glass after drying and need to go round with a small microfibre to clean them off.

Is it because the wooly mammoth is not lint free? :o
 
Personally I think it's because the wooly mammoth is **** ;)

I keep meaning to try shoving mine through the washing machine a few times (detergent-free obviously), just to see if it reduces the amount of hair loss it suffers :p
 
Ended up getting a Karcher K2 from Tescos that came with some extra bits including a car cleaning brush and foam sprayer - I wont use those on my car, but my parents will probably use them on their cars - being normal human beings, things like swirl marks don't really bother them.

Looking forward to trying out snow foaming at the weekend. Anyone got any tips? I saw a couple of vids on Youtube where normal shampoo was added into the snow foam mixture as well, does that help?

Also, does anyone just apply foam and then wipe the car down with the wash mitt? Again, probably not something I'd do with my car, but would make a nice quick way of earning brownie points by washing the parent's car while I'm doing mine :D
 
rossk26 said:
Seems odd, as you'll have to go over the area again, when the foam from the roof starts to run down...
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I used to work in a pub and two of the old boys were chatting about car cleaningone day. They said to start from the bottom and work up but it seemed like the most illogical and backward way of doing things.

I put it down to being in Cornwall. :p
 
Django x2 said:
No. This is my method:

Foam
Clean wheels while foam dwells
Foam again
Sort out buckets and shampoo while foam dwells
rinse foam
wash
dry
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I've been having a browse of the forums at DetailingWorld (probably a bad thing) and everyone seems to rate citrus pre washing as more effective than snow foam, and you can put it through the foam lance too (although more effective with a hand sprayer). You ever tried anything like that?
 
Conscript said:
I've been having a browse of the forums at DetailingWorld (probably a bad thing) and everyone seems to rate citrus pre washing as more effective than snow foam, and you can put it through the foam lance too (although more effective with a hand sprayer). You ever tried anything like that?
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To be honest I don't think the citrus pre washes are counted as more effective than snowfoam for removing dirt they are just easier to use (no pressure washer needed, no foam lance, no foam mess) which makes more people try it and it can seem that people prefer it when it is just another option.

^JP^ said:
Do the citrus pre washes strip off any wax/sealant/protection on the car?
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I haven't used them all so can't comment but most of them no they wont strip the wax.
 
Got my DAS 6 Pro today. Going to practice on my OEM bonnet in the shed first before I tackle the car, will be using P1 and 3m Ultrafina for practice.
 
Is hand polishing pointless?

I bought myself some G3Techniq #3(i think) and set about trying it on the boot as it's covered in swirls and light scratches.

Pour a pound sized blob on my applicator, rubbed it for a good 5 minutes round, up, down, left, right, diagonal, you name it, then let it dry a second and rubbed it off lightly...

No bloody difference, swirls are still there, scratches are still there, what do?
 
acemastr said:
Is hand polishing pointless?

I bought myself some G3Techniq #3(i think) and set about trying it on the boot as it's covered in swirls and light scratches.

Pour a pound sized blob on my applicator, rubbed it for a good 5 minutes round, up, down, left, right, diagonal, you name it, then let it dry a second and rubbed it off lightly...

No bloody difference, swirls are still there, scratches are still there, what do?
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Depends how bad the swirling is and the type of polish you're using but I would generally say you can't beat the finish of a machine.
 
acemastr said:
Is hand polishing pointless?

I bought myself some G3Techniq #3(i think) and set about trying it on the boot as it's covered in swirls and light scratches.

Pour a pound sized blob on my applicator, rubbed it for a good 5 minutes round, up, down, left, right, diagonal, you name it, then let it dry a second and rubbed it off lightly...

No bloody difference, swirls are still there, scratches are still there, what do?
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Its completely pointless trying to attempt to do a whole panel at once by hand.

Work a small area at a time!
 
Conscript said:
Anyone got any recommendations for a pressure washer? I've been meaning to try out snow foaming my car and seeing as it's best used with one, I may as well bite the bullet and buy a set that I can leave at the parents.
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I've bought one of these recently and in the two months or so I've used it it hasn't caused me any issues - I'll also be interested to hear of anyone else's recommendations re snow foam . . . . . .
 
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