*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

Status
Not open for further replies.
I bought all my car cleaning kit months ago and have only just got around to doing a proper full clean rather than just soap and a wash. Spent about 4.5 hours and my arms are absolutely ruined, I've been swirling for hours. Next time I'll have to use machinery :D.

So it was a pressure washer pre-wash, wash with Meguiars Hyper Wash using Dooka wash pads and EZ detail brush for the wheels, rinse off with pressure washer, dry with microfibre drying towel. Next up was claying with Bilt Hamber regular clay then rinsing off and giving it another wash all over with the hyper wash. Then I polished it with Autoglym Super Resin Polish and Farecla G3 waffle pads and buffed off with some microfibre cloths. Then I glazed it with Poorboy's black hole (which smells of awesome blueberry's) and the Farecla G3 waffle pads and buffed it all off with another microfibre cloth. Then finally I waxed it with Collinite 476 and the Farecla G3 waffle pads and buffed that off with another microfibre cloth.


It's difficult to compare compare because the before photos were taken in bright sun around 12pm and the afters in shade around 5pm. Doesn't look as pink now at least :p

Before:
kvpMrHz.jpg


pw4BdsT.jpg


After:
MkGwzSF.jpg


7WunYGv.jpg


ZfwPYxw.jpg
 
233 said:
Any suggestions for washing/snow foaming without a hose/pressure washer?

Any options out there?
Click to expand...

you could rent/hire one of those agricultural sprayers farmers use, fill it with soapy water then drop it on the car from say 50m above ground?

how about a supersoaker filled with foam?

or a spray gun with foam?

helpimcrap said:
Thank you for explaining Sonny. That makes far more sense now having the reasons why it was important, especially the wax as I genuinely didn't know that. I used to wash and polish only with no thought for wax.

Last question - how do you know if you are claying it right? I managed to lift loads of dark spots off the car so it looked better in that respect.
Click to expand...

you just get a feel for claying, keep going over spots until it's buttery smooth. use your eyes and your fingers to look for stuff clogged into the paintwork.

you need to use a very good sealant/wax afterwords otherwise complete waste of time claying it, as it will need done again soon.

like i said above you could depending on how dirty it gets only need to do this once a year. done properly that is with regular washes and top ups on the sealant/wax.

wish you had researched it better as claying with no sealant was literally a waste of time. at least you now know what to do.

my issue is that i need to get a new fixing for my snow foam lance, new pressure washer and new hozelock hose and system, probably a new outdoor tap too. which is why i'm currently just using the local polish car wash instead of doing it at home.

it's just not worth worrying and stressing about microscopic swirls, enjoy the car and life. plus it's not exactly fun washing your car in the constant cold rainy weather (Scotland).

MoRT489 said:
Has anyone used Dodo Lime Juice prior to sealing/waxing? I'm planning my first detail and wondering if I've got the steps right or if I've missed anything:

jetwash -> snowfoam -> hose rinse -> two-bucket wash -> clay -> hose rinse -> dry -> waxing prep (Dodo) -> sealant -> wax

When is the best time in this sequence to clean and seal the wheels/dress the tyres? Which part of this process actually removes the old wax/sealant that may be on the car as snowfoam and shampoo don't seem to do it?

I'm planning to order the Dodo Lite without the micro-abrasives as I don't like the idea of rubbing something abrasive into my paintwork (:eek:), but maybe I've chosen the wrong product. Appreciate some guidance here.
Click to expand...

i wouldn't jetwash.

i would snowfoam - wait until it's proper soaked in. then hose rinse.

i would then snowfoam again - then i just 2 bucket method after that. it's easier to let the snowfoam do the work than yourself. so i do it twice.

alloys are a pain, it's worth spending money on this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/2616...1=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=122&ff19=0

i don't get too anal about it either. i spray on. agitate with brush, spray some more on then agitate again then rinse off after a while. if they need a second going i'll do it but if it's only a speck or two i'll leave it for next time.

all of these cleaners are bad for your alloys so don't overuse them. it's by far the easiest way to clean them though. if i'm that bothered by it could always get them refurbed every 2-4 years for all the time, hassle and money they save using them. don't bother with dressings and all that malarkey. that's money for the refurb piggy bank.

acid free cleaners are no better they are high in alkaline/caustic. they will all corrode your wheels. it's worth snowfoaming your alloys a few times to reduce how much cleaner you need to use on them.
 
Last edited:
So spent most of this weekend working on a friend of a friends car, bought as a bit of a 'doer upper', mechanically its got a few minor issues and it has been quite badly treated + been a bit chavved up.

The car is a 2012 Mustang GT with some tuning mods (although not 100% known as the car came with literally zero history). I set about sorting the exterior out while the owner stayed and started to de-chav the car and remove the crap from the interior of the car!

Forgot to take many before pics so this is one the owner sent me before I'd seen the car in person,

1.jpg


The colour is 'lava red' which in anything but basically full sunlight looks black, but it is actually very dark red with a fairly big fleck in it. One of only 60 ever specced with this colour (or should I say color!) apparently!

As the owner was there for most of the process a quick 50:50 both to work out what was needed for the car and an easy way to impress! After a good snow foam, general wash and clay - two passes with a 3M green pad and then a couple of passes with a finishing pad really brought it back to life!

2.jpg


Harder to see but this was the difference between the initial correction (left) with the much harsher green pad and megs 105 and then a Chemical guys finishing pad and megs 205, really shows the extra depth you get from those final refining steps :)

3.jpg


Quite a pile of these later ... !

4.jpg


Once the correction was done I got some sealant onto the car, and then finished off with a couple of coats of 476S :) Also advised the owner on a few issues like the rust (on a 2012 car ... I guess it's a Ford!) on the bonnet lip and mocked Accelera tyres (yeah, on a 400bhp+ car!) which the previous owner had decided was the best choice. Thankfully they will be going soon :)

5.jpg


Gives you a better idea of the real colour of the car, I found it amazing how quickly the car changed colour depending on light - obviously post detail so nice clear paint :)

6.jpg
 
Uther said:
That looks stunning!
Click to expand...

Yeah I've never been a massive fan of that shape Mustang but this is the first one I've seen I thought 'yeah that actually looks really great'. Once its been put back more so to original with repainted calipers, loose the illegal window tints and some proper tyres it'll look great!
 
Oh cool, I think this guy just joined the Mustang Owners Club GB. The pics he posted made it look totally black, but the colour is amazing isn't it!

I like the wheels too. Have been wondering about some similar for mine.
 
A "quick wash and wax" turned into 2 and a half hours of wash, then decided to use some new Collinite insulator wax, PERL, leather clean the seats and then spent 15mins with a brush getting into the gaps. Car looks great, should last until end of May when I get round to clay it.

HUMoayx.jpg


gAOc17u.jpg
 
Last edited:
After buying the car a couple of months ago, I noticed on the first wash just how swirled the paintwork was (one year old car). Finally had a day to myself and the weather was almost perfect so decided to sort it out!

Forgot to take any 'before' pictures, but it was typical light swirling over most panels, especially the bonnet.

Gave the car a snow foam, rinse, wash, clay, machine polish and then a wax. I really need to look into paint sealants - I'm pretty new to this, but this will do for a couple of months.

Suffice to say though the car looks great now - I even gave the tail pipes a quick buff, although a proper polish with the Dremel would bring them up better!

A few pics of the final result.

26018099123_875b3e5f7d_b.jpg


26015619894_36993e09d7_b.jpg


26015610184_0052ab94af_b.jpg


26621143555_1c7c9faceb_b.jpg


26015607064_52a7a8e588_b.jpg


26528328512_451aba0f52_b.jpg


26555664371_d9ba6e9f7b_b.jpg
 
Car detailing?

Hey guys

I know there is a car cleaning thread, but I just wanted to post this here because I feel it could get lost fairly easily and maybe only one person will answer it versus many that will just see this specific thread.

I'm looking into giving my car a good clean, aka detail. Wondering if there was somewhere which gave like a beginners guide to what products/equipment was needed rather than just a generic site.

With summer approaching, hopefully good weather to give the car a good clean in and out with proper items (not just a weekend Halfords trip). (*If Halfords is a competitor, please remove... dont think they are!)

Anyone found a good guide or YT video which goes through the basics of getting started? Would appreciate it.

Edit: Didn't want to bump the thread, but for anyone reading I found this car detailing guide was a decent read.
 
Last edited:
Looks great,

Was going to ask if I had seen you driving through Aiskew yesterday but alas the pictures above do not show the personalised number plate it had on.

This must have been the same one driving through Northallerton I had spotted before so local to me.

The guy notices I was checking the car out so opened the throttle as he went passed...what a noise, just made me laugh out loud how ridiculous it is coming from a RR...very very nice!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom