*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***
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Soldato
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Hey guys, successfully managed to avoid an accident with a VW Polo turning into the Tesco car park earlier, only to slightly glance a bollard in doing so. 
No real damage but there is a large amount of scratches (none of them catch your fingernail) which I would like rid of ASAP. Metallic silver car, any particular recommendations for polish?
No real damage but there is a large amount of scratches (none of them catch your fingernail) which I would like rid of ASAP. Metallic silver car, any particular recommendations for polish?
Please don't say you mean fairy liquid!
Why not?
fairy liquid is extremely harsh and will strip everything off your paint.
Do you polish , wax, or do anything with your paintwork other than throw a bucket of warm water over it ?
Then don't bother as fairy liquid will strip all that.
But if all you do is throw a bucket of warm water over your car with a sponge, then you probably wouldn't be reading this thread....
Also bear in mind the salt content of these things. You don't really want to be pouring salt water over your metal car every week....
The only time I ever use fairy liquid is if I need to remove everything bar the paint. Small sections at a time and then a wash, polish, wax and sealant. Then apply wax everyday for the next two days to the area done.
Only had to do it once though, as the previous owner decided it must have been a good idea to use the scrub side of a dish sponge 
Only had to do it once though, as the previous owner decided it must have been a good idea to use the scrub side of a dish sponge
He WANTS to strip the wax off. Forget about the salt anyway, the car will be exposed to a billion times more salt during the course of the winter, and that gets in the unprotected undercarriage, body cavities etc.. where it actually hurts.
It's a brand new car though, I wouldn't be messing with anything like that, just put some fancy wax on if you enjoy rubbing your car.
The only time I ever use fairy liquid is if I need to remove everything bar the paint. Small sections at a time and then a wash, polish, wax and sealant. Then apply wax everyday for the next two days to the area done.
Only had to do it once though, as the previous owner decided it must have been a good idea to use the scrub side of a dish sponge
It's dish soap, not DOT4, you are massively over reacting :/
Soldato
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Lol, Just LOL, hes not talking about doing it everyweek is he. Jeez you DW fanboys are getting more and more ridiculous.
Its always best to strip the LSP in its entirety and put your favoured polish/wax combo on. Most new cars are in such bad shape anyway, they sit around for ages then get a quick wash by a garage monkey.
Hi all,
I picked up an Alpina white car last week, and as expected, it gets dirty really quickly.
I live in a second floor flat, with no access to an outside tap. Is my best bet going to the jet wash and being as gentle as I can, or do I just bite the bullet and get the local £10 car wash to do it?
I could carry 2 x 25l buckets down to the car and wash it at my place, but I suspect I'll need to make at least 2-3 trips.
If I do end up washing it myself, can anyone recommend a good drying cloth to use afterwards? What else should I do and in what order ie. clay, wax, polish etc?
Thanks
I picked up an Alpina white car last week, and as expected, it gets dirty really quickly.
I live in a second floor flat, with no access to an outside tap. Is my best bet going to the jet wash and being as gentle as I can, or do I just bite the bullet and get the local £10 car wash to do it?
I could carry 2 x 25l buckets down to the car and wash it at my place, but I suspect I'll need to make at least 2-3 trips.
If I do end up washing it myself, can anyone recommend a good drying cloth to use afterwards? What else should I do and in what order ie. clay, wax, polish etc?
Thanks
Associate
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First time I've ever given a car a proper interior detail
Washed all of the plastics with Autoglym Interior Shampoo - first time I've really found a use for the detailing brush! Gave all of the leather, especially the gearknob a good wash with leather cleaner, then piled on the leather treatment, left it with a borrowed air purifier/ozone thing going at it for a few hours and then buffed the leather. Quick carpet shampoo and then a good water vac and then another blast with the air purifier with dehumidifying set to high. Finally a serious going over with the Dyson
The 350z has such a small interior finding a decent angle is impossible!
Washed all of the plastics with Autoglym Interior Shampoo - first time I've really found a use for the detailing brush! Gave all of the leather, especially the gearknob a good wash with leather cleaner, then piled on the leather treatment, left it with a borrowed air purifier/ozone thing going at it for a few hours and then buffed the leather. Quick carpet shampoo and then a good water vac and then another blast with the air purifier with dehumidifying set to high. Finally a serious going over with the Dyson
The 350z has such a small interior finding a decent angle is impossible!
I have the same problem. I got to the local jet wash to give it a pre-wash rinse, then carry the buckets up and down the stairs.
That's not a terrible idea! I have a jet wash 1/3 mile from me. I'm guessing it won't cost very much for about 3 minutes worth of use.
Too bad I can't rinse it off with the jet wash at my place afterwards.
How often is one supposed to clay/wax/polish?
Rinsing is the biggest problem. Chucking buckets of water never quite gets all of the suds off (so you have to so another trip upstairs) and you always end up with wet feet!
Clay and polish only needs to be done once every six months to a year as long as you keep your paint protection topped up at all times.
If you apply enough wax (three layers after your clay and polish) and then apply at least one more layer every time you do a normal wash (as long as this is fairly regularly) then it should keep contaminates away from the paint and less need to clay and polish.
You may need to do it more regularly depending on how often you do the above and it also depends on your area. If you're by the sea or park under sappy trees with birds ****ing on your car every day then the wax isn't going to last as long.
I'm in the same situation but do a rinseless wash (using Dodo Low on Eau) - find it works really well and makes the car much cleaner than expected. I take down a couple of buckets of water from the flat and do a two-bucket clean.
Depending on how dirty your car is, one piece of clay can usually be used a few times.
After you clay each panel, look at the clay. You should see it getting dirty as it picks up contaminants. You can simply knead the clay again to present a clean surface to do the next panel, and so on. Eventually the clay will be so dirty, it will be hard to knead it enough to get a clean piece to use, which is when it's time to bin the clay.
When we did my car last week, me and Vox managed the whole car with two quite small pieces of clay and when finished, both pieces were still relatively clean. I've kept them, they could possibly be used again. But what I tend to do is when I think the clay is too dirty for the paintwork, is keep hold of it for use claying the glass.
If you've got a few minutes, watch this video which gives you a good insight into how to use a clay bar and the effects it has.
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