*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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Blackhawk47 said:
Finally got a set of wheel woolies. They are good and I'm hoping they will last for the price but seem well made.
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Had mine for nearly a year and they are still fine. Only damaged the large brush slightly but it was my fault as it got snagged on a brake dust shield and pulled some thread out :)
 
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rhysduck said:
Planned on cleaning the Golf today as it's desperate.. Pi$$ing down with rain though :(
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That beats cleaning a car twice while the weather is nice and having it start to spit for the very last 2 minutes while buffing off wax, twice in two days and it only rained for 2 minutes each time :mad:
 
Washed mine this morning and it started raining half way through, I was already soaked because of the crappy hose pipe so the inclusion of rain didn't matter :p

Personally, all I'm bothered about at this time of year is keeping salt off the car as much as possible. It can have water marks and rain spots on it until Spring for all I care, then I'll clay, polish and re-wax it and keep it looking tidier during the rest of Spring and Summer.

My Microfibre Madness Incredimitt and wheel woolies are still holding up really well after almost a year of cleaning at least one car every weekend. I was a big fan on the Meguiars Lambswool Wash Mitt before, but they didn't last anywhere near as long. I think I may still go back to the Lambswool Mitt, because although the Incredimitt barely requires any effort to remove dirt I get the impression it contributes to swirl marks appearing a bit quicker.
 
This may be a really dumb question, but is there a way to keep wing mirrors from going dirty/speckled after washing. I manage about half an hour of driving after cleaning my mirrors before they are speckled with dirt again and it really reduces visibility when driving at night.
 
i seem to remember a post about someone using something to take the shine off their steering wheel and give it a matt look again. Can anyone tell me product does this?
 
Flash Magic Erasers. It's not permanent though and you're effectively taking a thin layer of the leather off each time. I've not tried them personally but this is what I've read.
 
I posted about using a Magic Eraser on the steering wheel in my car, the eraser made it look a lot better... for two weeks. If you really want to try it then make sure not to go anywhere near plastic with it because it will scuff plastic very easily.

Found my post about it:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=26866301&postcount=8722

Pretty good if you just want to clean your wheel a bit more deeply so you're not touching 10 years worth of someone else's hands/germs, but nothing near permanent.
 
Used a Magic Eraser on the wheel of my E46 and as above, the matte look lasted about a week. If it really bothers you then I'd look at a refurb from somewhere like Royal Steering Wheels, worth the ~£120 every single time :)
 
I will give it a go and maybe look at a refurbished in the future.
Ive had the car 8 month and will have it for maybe another 3 years. Ive not really done anything on it bar jet wash it so it's time to start tidying it up.

I was hoping it would take the shine of the dash also though. Its not hard plastic. Anyone used this on bmw interior?
 
What's the best sort of thing to take off really light scratches?

I have only ever washed, dried, polished and waxed my car in the summer there.

Over the winter when the dirt wouldn't come off with a pressure washer I did use a foam brush(after cleaning it myself as much as possible) and I've left a few light scratches that only seem to be on the very top coat. I actually think it's from the hose for the pressure washer banging against it when it's covered in crap.
 
Is the paint finish smooth when you run your fingers along it? if not then you could try a claybar then apply some SRP to fill the microscopic voids where the scratches are. Apply your wax on top of that once buffed off and the scratches should be as good as invisible for however long your wax lasts and then after that, however long the SRP lasts from weathering. Assuming your wax is topped up every 6 months then the SRP should last a very long time below it.

I've ordered some new Gliptone leather care having done some reading around. Giving Zaino Z-10 a rest for now as the last ounce of the bottle ran out today. Also got round to ordering the wheel woolies and a refill of Bilberry.
 
Is there anything more annoying that cleaning door mirrors?

No matter how thoroughly I dry the car, you can guarantee that in the time it takes me to fetch some wax and a clean cloth, there'll be a drip of water running down the side of the car from where the mirror is attached to the door.

Similarly, the mirror looks bone dry, then as soon as you try and buff the glass itself, water will start appearing and smear everywhere....argh!

First world problems.
 
Anyone got some tips on restoring this trim

Trim by peige10101, on Flickr

Its the roof rail trim on a 205, The paintwork has come up a treat but this one trim evades me. I think at some point in this cars life it spent several months under a tree.

In other news, I spent Saturday afternoon giving my 120d some tlc after the worse of the winter has past, wash, claymitt, a coat of wax and then sealing it in with some gtech v2. Had three of the wheels off and removed all the tar, then a coat of poorboys wax on for good measure... just one more to do but its takes so long!
 
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Going to order some Bilberry Alloy wheel cleaner as I've read it's not to bad, I have a car with 20" split rims and there a pain to do with a sponge.

Question, these alloys have been refurbished a year or so ago and also have new high polish stainless steel outer rims. Will Bilberry cause any damage?
 
I almost ordered some Chemical Guys no touch snow foam recently, but was worried when it described itself as 'thick'.

I don't have a hose up at the garages so I use this -

2015-03-01%2009.20.33_zpswubxwdio.jpg


It has reasonable power, managed to wash off slightly dried on bird muck for example, but do you guys think the snow foam would be okay in the little bottle attached to the spray gun? (I can get a photo of it if needed)
 
Born_2_Kill_83 said:
Going to order some Bilberry Alloy wheel cleaner as I've read it's not to bad, I have a car with 20" split rims and there a pain to do with a sponge.

Question, these alloys have been refurbished a year or so ago and also have new high polish stainless steel outer rims. Will Bilberry cause any damage?
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Nope. Bilberry is less acidic than others out there but it is also a dilute based alloy cleaner so just adjust your water dilution as required.

I would normally spray on Bilberry then work it in after a minute with an MF cloth to really get the grime off. Now of course wheel woolies take over that part :D
 
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