*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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Blackhawk47 said:
Just find a non acidic Wheel Cleaner. If your really concerned find one which you can dilute with water but imo you won't having any issues using Wheel Cleaner on those wheels.

They usually advise not using Wheel Cleaner on chrome wheels etc as it can affect the finish.

Personally I use Sonax Wheel Cleaner but have just ordered some Bilberry to try. A pressure washer is a must have.
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Thanks, I'll take a look
 
timmeh said:
I've spent what feels like all weekend cleaning the car. I bought it a few weeks ago and the paint was full of swirls, etc so I thought I'd have a crack at fixing it all. I went with all Meguair's products - Wash & Wax, Clay Kit, Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polish, Ultimate Liquid Wax.

I can't believe how well it's turned out considering I did it by hand. I'll be doing the other car once we get the big paint dings sorted. I'll post some pics when I get it out in the sun.

I need to give the wheels a proper clean, there are some marks on them that I can't budge. It looks like brake dust but it's welded on there (pic). I've heard that wheel cleaners can damage the finish on some wheels so I don't really want to risk it. Any ideas what I could use?
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once you've got them clean, use a sealant like carpro hydro2 and for the next few months you'll only need to use a noodle mitt to get them clean until it needs topping up again

probably too late now that you've got it all, but modern products are much faster to use and give as good if not better results - ech2o is godlike for a wash product, can use it as detail spray, clay lube, rinseless wash etc. blackfire crystal seal is the slickest and shiniest I've ever seen a car and water beads straight off - literally takes less than 15 minutes to do the whole car, its wipe on walk away, but if you've waxed your car you'll need to get that off first

I do use megs polish though when its needed

oh yeah, and polymer / synthetic clay cloth is loads easier to use than traditional clay bar too, and if you drop it on the floor you can just rinse it off under the tap and still use it
 
Probably been covered before but I'm thinking about getting a dual action polisher, mainly for the car as it's covered in swirl marks, but also to do my new motorbike. Spotted a few swirls on the tank when I picked it up from the dealer a few weeks ago.

Have tried hand polishing using srp, poor boys black hole and prima amigo (not all at once)and it has masked them slightly but not fully.

Seen one in Argos for £50 and a mezerna kit on clean your car for £109

Also any recommendations for a clay bar for motorcycle and a drying towel. Got a Meguiars one at moment but been told the waffle weave type aren't great.
 
timmeh said:
I need to give the wheels a proper clean, there are some marks on them that I can't budge. It looks like brake dust but it's welded on there (pic). I've heard that wheel cleaners can damage the finish on some wheels so I don't really want to risk it. Any ideas what I could use?
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More than likely it's tar and not brake dust. Give them a good clay and use a decent tar remover. Easier to do if you remove your wheel
 
cadmunkey said:
More than likely it's tar and not brake dust. Give them a good clay and use a decent tar remover. Easier to do if you remove your wheel
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Thanks I'll give it a try.

I've also snagged a Meguiars DA polisher attachment for my drill for $15 from Walmart. Bargain.
 
So with the lovely weather, I decided to break out the CarPro DLUX today. My interior leathers are protected by their Leather Coating and I bought this at the same time, sadly the weather has held me off from applying it previously. I had planned to do it when I bought the car brand new but, well, I didn't :p The rubber seals had already started fading and I don't want this happening any further.

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As you can see they looked terrible for a 16 plate car, it's scary how quick it happens.

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Sadly I didn't get a photo, but cleaned the trims up with CarPro Eraser which removed a lot of muck that would have hindered the performance of the coating. And then on went the application. In progress:

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I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks in the morning, but here's an after shot (was a couple of hours later admittedly - I was watching the grand national)

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I'm a really big fan of CarPro's products, for simple stuff that works it really does well.
 
Can anyone recommend a product which might be able to remove this?
Tried a clay bar to no avail, image showed what it looked like afterwards, a little better but not great.

I thought it was oil (somehow...) as it had an almost purple swirls in it.I think it might have been left a while and permanently damaged the paint.

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P.S. Excuse dodgy reflection!
 
Sometimes I just use g3 scratch remover for that kind of thing, then give it a nice wax or similar to help stop it happening again.
 
Well since it was a nice sunny day yesterday I decided to give my car it's first proper clean. Never done the whole detailing thing before so had to do some much needed research. Had a few bottles of various products in the garage so dug them out and added some new bits. Quite fancy investing in a DA as after spending hours polishing and waxing by hand my back is killing this morning :lol:

TFR on alloys, then car
Washed, clayed, washed again, dried, polished, two coats of alloy sealant, tyre dressing, waxed then finished with glass cleaner

Power Maxed Tfr5000 Concentrate Traffic Film Remover, 5 Litres (I'm calling this Miracle Juice as it's mind boggling how it works so well)
Megs Ultimate Wash
Bilt Hamber Auto Clay Bar (you really can just use plain water)
PoorBoys Wheel Sealant (laid two thick coats of this)
Megs Ultimate Polish
Megs Ultimate Liquid Wax (really like this as it's so easy to put on and take off)
Megs Tyre Gel
Megs Perfect Clarity

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