*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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my wheels are filthy again, and it's not the fronts always the rears that get big fat coating of black dust.

how do you lot keep them clean for longer? I only did 200 miles and they're reasonably dirty.
 
Another blue car in the thread? :p

Cleaned up alright, not exactly a mirror finish but there's only a limited amount of time I can be bothered to spend on a car that's probably never been cared for and will be gone in a few months....

Car got ×××× on by birds a total of 3 times in the process, one of which must have been from an albatross in the middle of polishing. Nearly through the towel in at that point! :o

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Gangster said:
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.
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Nice to see it merged into this one massive thread and get lost (as it has done after just 3 posts) proving my point... :rolleyes:

Malt_Vinegar said:
You might want to read the first page of the car detailing thread....
It's got a beginners guide :)
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Yup read that, but I meant in terms of product list and just a get going guide. A 'shampoo' doesn't quite cut it, what one and why etc?

CaptainRAVE said:
Depends how much you are looking to spend.
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I know it wont be cheap, but I would be looking at it as an investment point of view.
 
Gangster said:
Nice to see it merged into this one massive thread and get lost (as it has done after just 3 posts) proving my point... :rolleyes:

Yup read that, but I meant in terms of product list and just a get going guide. A 'shampoo' doesn't quite cut it, what one and why etc?

I know it wont be cheap, but I would be looking at it as an investment point of view.
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This is all my opinion, but this is my 'what can I get from Halfords response'

Wash Media: Probably the Meguiars Microfibre mitt or Halfords own lambswool mitt.
Some people don't like mitt's so a microfibre sponge might suit you better.

Wheel Cleaner/Brush: The Wonder Wheels 'Hot Wheels' is very good, but pricey. Brush will somewhat depend on your wheels, i.e. what size brush you need to fit into small crevices and so on - what you're looking for is something with relatively soft bristles and no exposed metal bits that might scratch the wheels. ArmorAll Wheel Sealant works well after cleaning and is really easy as you just spray it on and leave it.

Shampoo: Meguiars Gold Class. It lubricates and cleans well, reasonably priced and lasts ages.

Clay: I'd probably recommend the Farcela Clay mitt to start off with, a clean bucket of shampoo will do as a lubricant.

Polish: Autoglym Super Resin Polish. It's an 'all in one' product, so will clean, polish and fill as well as leave some protection (aka sealant) behind. Works well by hand and is good value.

Wax: Probably the Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection. Lasts well, can be layered and works well with the SRP above. It's also cheap so you don't need to go out and spend £60 on a pot of wax.


There's plenty of good products on the market, sure you can buy better online - but in my view I'd start with a basic good value set of products and add to it when you need to. You can get a good finish from almost any product as long it's used correctly.
 
Just washed the missus after she scraped a wooden post. I said it wasn't too bad she only got a bit of the door... The front door, and the whole rear.
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:(

Will have to try harsher stuff, white at bott of door is just SRP running down the wet panel.
 
Gangster said:
Yup read that, but I meant in terms of product list and just a get going guide. A 'shampoo' doesn't quite cut it, what one and why etc?
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I'm in a similar position to you. I found there are some helpful posts on the CleanYourCar forum and Detailing World, but I didn't find a one stop guide/post for everything so asked some follow up questions in here. Probably best to look back 1-2 pages on this thread and then fire some targeted questions.
 
MoRT489 said:
I'm in a similar position to you. I found there are some helpful posts on the CleanYourCar forum and Detailing World, but I didn't find a one stop guide/post for everything so asked some follow up questions in here. Probably best to look back 1-2 pages on this thread and then fire some targeted questions.
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I think the difficulty of writing a one stop guide is that there are so many products, I could suggest 1 type of wax but 20 other people will come along and suggest their own and all profess theirs are great.

The principles are all the same. The detail steps are....if you are being REALLY really anal about it.

Outside

Hose down
Snow foam
Wait
Hose down
Spray wheel cleaner on alloys
Wait
hose down wheels
brush and wash wheels and tires
Clay bar
(some people like to hose down again at this point)
Tar remover for tar spots
Metal polish with wire wool for exhaust tips
Touch up paint for any stone chips
Use something like PERL for plaster trims
Check paint for condition
Polish (you can either fill or cut), hand polish or machine
Polish window
Wax
Apply wheel sealant
Apply tyre dressing
Apply water Repellant

(optional step)

Open engine bay.
Engine cleaner with brush and towel.
PERL for dressing

Move to interior

Remove carpet
Vacuum
Wipe down with interior cleaner on dash and plastics
Glass cleaner on the inside
leather cleaner
leather conditioner
Wait
wipe off conditioner
Brushes out to clean all the hard to reach places

Back to outside.

Get a brush out and a new micro fibre, by this point there will be white bits around the car where the wax has dried and you missed. Go over them.

Now stand back and look at your hard work !

Or you can get 2 buckets, some shampoo, wash, towel dry with aqua wax....

Now, if you ask "What do I need for clay bar" or "what product for polish" or "what to clean wheels with" then we can be more specific.

Asking "what do I need to clean a car" is very wide in scope in terms of a specific answer you see.
 
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Si105 said:
You should use the snow foam first, it will work better!

Just proving your point you can't write a perfect guide :P
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Really?

My logic is that blast of of hose (jet setting the hose) to get rid of the top layer of dirt and the the snow foam loosen the rest for hosing down anything that its still on.

So instead of 100% of dried dirt no the car, after the first blast of water, hopefully it has left only 50% of wet dirt.

But yeah, no one can agree on 100% :p

The idea remains the same, you snow foam before wash, you clay AFTER wash, then polish and then wax.

You can add other products like a sealant before wax or if you have a dark car, use something like Amigo to bring out the deep colours. So much you can do !
 
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Raymond Lin said:
Really?

My logic is that blast of of hose (jet setting the hose) to get rid of the top layer of dirt and the the snow foam loosen the rest for hosing down anything that its still on.
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The foam will adhere better on a dry car because its not going on top of water that will prevent it clinging as well and also your LSP will be more active if you rinsed first and will sheet off the foam quicker, giving it less time to do its thing.

Plus, knocks a bit of time of the wash, which is always good when its threatening to rain :D
 
Anyone got experience of AutoSol? Got a few bits of chrome to clean up - including the exhaust tips - and don't know whether to go for the "solid" polish or the liquid cleaner?

I'm guessing the solid will be easier to control and perhaps more potent?
 
Sagalout said:
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.

snip
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What pads and polish did you use for yours? Looks like it came out great! I need to get the machine polisher on mine and I'm not sure which pads I should be going for / how hard the paint is!
 
Ryan-3 said:
Anyone got experience of AutoSol? Got a few bits of chrome to clean up - including the exhaust tips - and don't know whether to go for the "solid" polish or the liquid cleaner?

I'm guessing the solid will be easier to control and perhaps more potent?
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I've always used the solid (paste) on my exhaust - great product and works well.
 
Si105 said:
The foam will adhere better on a dry car because its not going on top of water that will prevent it clinging as well and also your LSP will be more active if you rinsed first and will sheet off the foam quicker, giving it less time to do its thing.

Plus, knocks a bit of time of the wash, which is always good when its threatening to rain :D
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I figured this out with Bilberry for my wheels, it works better on dry wheels as it adheres better to loosen the brake dust.

For anyone interested, there's 7.5% off everything on ultimate finish for the B/H week when you spend over £39.95 - which incidently will get you free delivery too. (use voucher code 'MAYBH75'.

I've currently got the autoglym wheel care set in my basket, am looking at the dodo juice clay bar and the auto finesse clay lubricant, just need to find some more shampoo now and maybe a couple of microfibre cloths, but then again, i could do with a machine polisher :D
 
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