*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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nam said:
ordered the EP801 Sonax kit, I have a small scratch near the drivers side door which i will post photo of once i have washed and clayed the car tomorrow.

Can someone comment on my workflow

1) Start of with 2 small pea sized drops on the Orange Pad with speed setting on slowest settings no pressure just spreading the polish
2) after 60-90 secs , turn up the speed and continue (left > Right) motion until polish is dissolving, no additional pressure
3) Continue working at high speed until polish is dissolved..
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When you first use a pad you need to prime it, so the first time add (asusming its a 5" - 6" pad) about 6 pea size drops and then use. When it comes to reapply polish you should only use 3. Obviously on smaller spot pads you need less polish.

As for technique, I could give some tips but best bet (if you haven't already)is read this thread: http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=66024

Bigpig said:
Does Halfords stock anything similar to an api wipe? To remove polishing oils?

also the lower door is a right pain to get comfortable. Anyone just sit on there arse?

cheers
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They sell panel wipes which apparently do the same job. Alternatively you can use a distilled water / IPA mix though many arguements about what ratio to use. Generally varies between about 4:1 to 1:1.

Yup, I do the same, lower part the car I sit on the floor. Same as when putting wheel sealant on.
 
Cleaned my rear wheels ready for the front ones to be refurbished!

Rear wheels hadn't been fully cleaned for 12 months or so, so lots of baked on brake dust.
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A wash down with hot water and then Autosmart wheel cleaner and they're looking better already!
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Now, time for Tardis to work its magic (and what Tardis does can only be described as magic). This tar gluey stuff wouldn't have come off for love nor money otherwise.
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Shiny!
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Ready to go back on the car.
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Can you guys spot any thing that's jumps out? Not sure if i want to see faults or in fact there is :D Top shot is the car facing the direct sun. Finding it hard to tell what is reflections of clouds or holograms lol




 
My Car is Swirl free for now

Ok even using Da its hard work but very enjoyable.

Meg's Ultimate compound really is great stuff. It and a green hex logic pad took care of nearly all of my swirls. It is a bit dusty with the Da.

I used it by hand on the pillars and along the top of the doors. It took care of swirls. It will be my go to hand polish from now on.

Finished off with white pad with megs 205. Its less dusty and more oily but a microfiber picked up most of the residue.

I do have megs 105 and an orange pad and am sure if I used it, nearly all of my rds would have been removed. Just was a little apprehensive of using it first time with the da.

Very happy chappy with the results using a DA for the first time.

Going to invest in some spot pads and a nice to use wax than the 476s. It was a pig to remove and it was not sunny or left on to long.
 
bainbridge said:
Anyone know the best way to get spots of cement off the side of the bodywork? Goodness knows how it got there but its doesn't seem to be shifting.
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Autosmarts tango is supposed to be good for that sort of thing, also vinegar soaked into a microfiber and then held on it until it softens
 
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Thanks for the advice further up guys... btw I bought a Nilfisk Centennial pressure washer for £72.25 from a well known home and garden retailer yesterday with a 15 percent discount on all weekend. Great price!
 
Clean my new civic this morning, took 3.5 hours with the missis helping me for the last hour and half so speeded things up no end, will take some pics and post in the "show us your motors" thread later.

Soaped up and washed down.
Dried off.
Meguire's quick clay.
Dried off.
G3 on main scratches.
Meguires Swurl X on.
Taken off with microfiber cloth.
Autoglym super resin polish on.
Taken off with microfiber cloth.
Meguiars Gold Class Carnauba Plus Paste Wax on.
Taken off with microfiber cloth.
Meguiars Endurance tyre shine on.
 
After a bit of advice please.

The wife's car has some white marks on it which I'm 99% sure are sun cream from our darling little treasures and their mucky fingers. A standard car shampoo (Turtlewax wash and wax) didn't shift them. Should I be trying something more aggressive like washing up liquid or perhaps a clay bar ?

Its a new car (13 plate) so the paint is in good nick.
 
peterwalkley said:
After a bit of advice please.

The wife's car has some white marks on it which I'm 99% sure are sun cream from our darling little treasures and their mucky fingers. A standard car shampoo (Turtlewax wash and wax) didn't shift them. Should I be trying something more aggressive like washing up liquid or perhaps a clay bar ?

Its a new car (13 plate) so the paint is in good nick.
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I usually find autoglym resin polish pretty good at removing a lot of things as its lightly abrasive given its a polish. Im new to claying and have only used it twice so far but dont believe it would work, claying tends to grab on to dirt engrained in your paint and will leave a smoother, cleaner finish.

Sure the other guys will come along with better suggestions. Please do not use washing up liquid though :D
 
peterwalkley said:
After a bit of advice please.

The wife's car has some white marks on it which I'm 99% sure are sun cream from our darling little treasures and their mucky fingers. A standard car shampoo (Turtlewax wash and wax) didn't shift them. Should I be trying something more aggressive like washing up liquid or perhaps a clay bar ?

Its a new car (13 plate) so the paint is in good nick.
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Pictures would help, it really depends on whether it is actual sun cream that has dried on or whether the sun cream has etched the paint.

If it is the former I would expect a good wash to get rid of it but as apparently not then clay should move it easily as it will remove any contaminent that is bonded to the paintwork.

If it is the later then you will need to polish them out. Which polish is best depends on the paint, a soft paint you could use SRP or a finishing polish but I doubt they would touch a super hard ceramic paints that are on some German cars.

I remembered these from DW so a quick search found them. These are examples of sun cream etching
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=281696

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=308987
 
Greboth said:
Pictures would help, it really depends on whether it is actual sun cream that has dried on or whether the sun cream has etched the paint.

If it is the former I would expect a good wash to get rid of it but as apparently not then clay should move it easily as it will remove any contaminent that is bonded to the paintwork.

If it is the later then you will need to polish them out. Which polish is best depends on the paint, a soft paint you could use SRP or a finishing polish but I doubt they would touch a super hard ceramic paints that are on some German cars.

I remembered these from DW so a quick search found them. These are examples of sun cream etching
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=281696

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=308987
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Looks like I need to register on detailing world to see the pictures. I'll head over there and trawl those threads. Thank you for the pointer.

The car is a Mitsubishi ASX, so I guess a normal paint. Its not a metallic colour.
 
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