*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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dacads said:
Sorry I got my terminology wrong, I think camber is what I meant.. like you see on a drift car?

Although that effect usually applies more to front wheels :p
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Camber isn't exclusive to drift cars, they tend to run lots of negative camber at the front to keep the wheel more upright on opposite lock

you see it on race cars as well, negative camber is when the top of the wheel leans into the car

You also see people that want to fit stupid wheels and ride mega low run loads of camber to get the wheels under the arches
 
Had planned to give the cars a clean today, or at least a going over with the snowfoam. Unfortunately, it's currently -3 outside, so that's not going to happen without me turning the road into an ice rink :p
 
When I went out to wash mine yesterday morning, it was still covered in frost. Backed it into the sun and it was gone in minutes. It's not really been washed in a few months, not sure it'll stay too clean when the rain starts again next week mind you.
 
Hang on a minute, I thought snow foam WAS a pre wash?!

Actually I used a snow foam thingy for the first time last night, seemed to do a reasonable job for basically no effort, bit of a pain having it freeze on the roof though.
 
Clarkey said:
Hang on a minute, I thought snow foam WAS a pre wash?!

Actually I used a snow foam thingy for the first time last night, seemed to do a reasonable job for basically no effort, bit of a pain having it freeze on the roof though.
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It is, but if you leave it to dwell for a long time it basically becomes your full wash :D As per my post.
 
Clarkey said:
Hang on a minute, I thought snow foam WAS a pre wash?!

Actually I used a snow foam thingy for the first time last night, seemed to do a reasonable job for basically no effort, bit of a pain having it freeze on the roof though.
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It is but a proper citrus wash before snow foam works better, if you're snow foaming once a week it'll be fine. It's what's recommended for more stubborn dirt and bird poo etc.
 
Talking of which....


Foam time!


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Currently having a break before I start my claying (courtesy of hyburnate the babe) and finishing off with a wax (also courtesy of hyburnate the babe)

Think I need to buy a better lance. Even on the thickest setting my snowfoam jus doesn't cling. Also don't have the best snowfoam so once this lot is out I'll be buying some autobrite I think. Ran out of my auto brite fallout removed today too so need some more of than wonderful stuff.
 
Too cold for me.. I did manage to clean the wheels last week though.

Still not completely happy, as they get dirty pretty quickly. I think some of it comes from the brake pads?

Would a wax be any use?
 
Well I was all excited about the foam and was up for buying my own one. In the light of day though, the car isn't that clean and the real killer is that it's left covered in hard water marks, overall looks worse than it did before I think. Not the magic solution I thought, probably be a lot better with purified rinse water.
 
Weather warmed up a little (albeit still only 3-4 degrees) and the sun was out. Decided to clean the cars after all.

Clarkey said:
Well I was all excited about the foam and was up for buying my own one. In the light of day though, the car isn't that clean and the real killer is that it's left covered in hard water marks, overall looks worse than it did before I think. Not the magic solution I thought, probably be a lot better with purified rinse water.
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It's really only a prewash in most cases, if you want it properly clean you need to actually wash with a mitt. It does get the very worst of the muck off though, so your mitt doesn't get quite so dirty. Although Kindai does seem to get some very good results.
 
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The cleanliness isn't too bad, perhaps a little unfair to comment, I did drive it 20 miles home after doing it so who knows how much went back on during that. It's the water marks that are the killer. Obviously you can't dry when there's still traces of dirt on, I don't like to dry anyway I find that 95% of swirls are inflicted by the drying process no matter how careful you are.
I had the car detailed while I was waiting on the registration, 6 weeks and maybe 10 washes down the line the paint still looks great and swirl free, never fully dried it though.
 
The faster you drive, the faster it will dry. :p

Though I haven't bought a snow foam kit yet. I'm still on the fence and while it looks cool, I don't know if its worth the extra faff.

What I really want to find is one of those touchless car washes like this:
 
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