* The Car Cleaning Thread *

grudas · 2 Apr 2016 at 20:44

Collinite 476s applied..

AndyCr15 · 2 Apr 2016 at 20:44

I'm going to the Topcats Racing V8 meet tomorrow, so gave mine a clean today, first time with new tinted lights (front and back)

Topped up with Aqua Wax for the first time. Relatively easy I guess, but not as effortless as I'd hoped

I also realise we've gone from too wet and cold to wash, to too warm and sunny so I get water spots dried in

[TW]Fox · 2 Apr 2016 at 21:05

Solus said:
Without having to delve in to the whole of this thread, what clay bar do people recommend? Clay mitts okay?

I have just spent the day doing a car and used a G3 Claymitt. It was a revolution, absolutely fantastic. So quick and easy to use.

£12.99 from Halfords. I highly recommend it.

I'd forgotten how enjoyable 'detailing' could be!

Blackhawk47 · 2 Apr 2016 at 21:09

[TW]Fox;29349577 said:
I have just spent the day doing a car and used a G3 Claymitt. It was a revolution, absolutely fantastic. So quick and easy to use.

£12.99 from Halfords. I highly recommend it.

I'd forgotten how enjoyable 'detailing' could be!

Yes another one converted!

Funny how when I posted the G3 clay mitt in here a few years ago, so many people had doubts or said it was crap.

I need to buy a new clay mitt now, they don't last forever and you can tell the clay has worn away in several places on the mitt.

CaptainRAVE · 2 Apr 2016 at 21:09

Just be sure to keep it clean, whilst very good I can imagine it scraping all of the grime across the paint. I don't use mine anymore.

Raymond Lin · 2 Apr 2016 at 22:23

Only had 3 hours today to clean the car before the rain comes tomorrow and looks like it'll be wet for a week. All planned to to clay and polish the car properly but it rained all morning so settled for a quick wash and wax with Aqua Wax.

Also treated the wheels with Sonax wheel cleaners for the first time.

Check out that lens flare

[TW]Fox · 2 Apr 2016 at 22:25

Blackhawk47 said:
Yes another one converted!

Funny how when I posted the G3 clay mitt in here a few years ago, so many people had doubts or said it was crap.

I need to buy a new clay mitt now, they don't last forever and you can tell the clay has worn away in several places on the mitt.

I'm absolutely blown away by how good it is.

Raymond Lin · 2 Apr 2016 at 22:27

[TW]Fox;29349852 said:
I'm absolutely blown away by how good it is.

I think I will give them a try, anything to make detailing easier and quicker....

Blackhawk47 · 2 Apr 2016 at 22:32

What did you think of the Sonax wheel cleaner?

I love it, found it really effective on my wheels and left them 99% clean just by rinsing with a pressure washer. Only problem is I've gone through a whole bottle in a few washes.

Raymond Lin · 2 Apr 2016 at 22:34

Blackhawk47 said:
What did you think of the Sonax wheel cleaner?

I love it, found it really effective on my wheels and left them 99% clean just by rinsing with a pressure washer. Only problem is I've gone through a whole bottle in a few washes.

Really good, and yes, just spray on, go away for 5mins and then hose it down with the jet setting on the hose and it is almost clean from that. I then wiped it down and got the rims with a toothbrush quickly and that's it.

And yes, I think I gone through at least 1/4 of the bottle already.

Dis86 · 2 Apr 2016 at 22:53

Ray, how old is the c30? The paintwork on it looks immaculate!

Raymond Lin · 2 Apr 2016 at 22:56

Dis86 said:
Ray, how old is the c30? The paintwork on it looks immaculate!

It was registered in January 2011.

The paintwork overall is good, very good in fact, there are some minor hologram if you look at it the right light, i found about 5 stone chips, some tar spots and it seems it had a graze on the right rear bumper once upon a time with something and its been touched up so hard to see unless you are down on your knees up close.

I got a Chipex kit coming this week and when I get around to it i will fix up all the stone chips and the imperfection of the rear corner bumper.

It shouldn't be too difficult to get it even better. I got a DA, pads and polish, was ready to do it today but it rained in the morning so didn't have time. Hopefully the weather is good on May bank holiday weekend and I'll do it all then.

Dis86 · 2 Apr 2016 at 23:11

I have a few chips to sort on mine. Also a weird scratch which looks like someone dragged a zipper or something down the body.
Every time I see photos of yours though it makes me want to get polishing! Hope you keep it looking as good as you have up to now.

Raymond Lin · 2 Apr 2016 at 23:13

Dis86 said:
I have a few chips to sort on mine. Also a weird scratch which looks like someone dragged a zipper or something down the body.
Every time I see photos of yours though it makes me want to get polishing! Hope you keep it looking as good as you have up to now.

I've had it 4 weeks and I've washed and waxed it twice...probably won't keep that up though but aim to wash and wax it once a month at least.

Do you have a C30 too?

Dis86 · 2 Apr 2016 at 23:16

Raymond Lin said:
I've had it 4 weeks and I've washed and waxed it twice...probably won't keep that up though but aim to wash and wax it once a month at least.

Do you have a C30 too?

No no. 3 series. Came very close to getting one a few years ago. Only thing that put me off was that I was doing a lot of cycling at the time and the boot just couldn't take anything! It was great fun on the test drives though and a car I'd still consider if my needs ever changed.

Raymond Lin · 2 Apr 2016 at 23:19

Dis86 said:
No no. 3 series. Came very close to getting one a few years ago. Only thing that put me off was that I was doing a lot of cycling at the time and the boot just couldn't take anything! It was great fun on the test drives though and a car I'd still consider if my needs ever changed.

You could get a bike in with the rear seats folded down and take the front wheel off.....

I think because they have stopped making them in 2013 so the newest car now is 3 years old, it will only get harder and harder to find a good one.

I've left the Autotrader app to send me alerts when one turns up even though I've got the car and for the past month, I've not seen another facelift T5 come up on the market once!

southy1978 · 3 Apr 2016 at 01:14

Gave my A-class a good going over for the first time since getting it in December. Also got to try my new DAS 6 pro DA polisher, fantastic bit of kit!

Untitled by Darren Santoro, on Flickr

Untitled by Darren Santoro, on Flickr

Snow foamed, washed, fallout removed, clayed with the g3 clay mitt (really impressed with this), glazed then waxed with dodo juice orange crush & banana armour.

Solus · 3 Apr 2016 at 10:06

[TW]Fox;29349577 said:
I have just spent the day doing a car and used a G3 Claymitt. It was a revolution, absolutely fantastic. So quick and easy to use.

£12.99 from Halfords. I highly recommend it.

I'd forgotten how enjoyable 'detailing' could be!

Thank you very much! That's what I wanted to hear!

Vita · 3 Apr 2016 at 11:30

Blackhawk47 said:
Yes another one converted!

Funny how when I posted the G3 clay mitt in here a few years ago, so many people had doubts or said it was crap.

I need to buy a new clay mitt now, they don't last forever and you can tell the clay has worn away in several places on the mitt.

Funnily enough when I thought about getting one I came across you using yours on the black tt you used to have.

It is a great peice of kit. Really works well even on the stubborn contaniments. I wouldn't go without one now. How often should a car be clayed though? Twice a year reasonable?

[TW]Fox · 3 Apr 2016 at 11:32

It only really needs doing when you want to strip all the wax off to re-apply or when you can feel the paintwork isn't smooth anymore.

*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

* The Car Cleaning Thread *