*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

Status
Not open for further replies.
Dis86 said:
Mwahahaha.

Karcher K4 pressure washer. About £170 from Argos but shop around and you should find it cheaper.

Snow foam - there's far better people on here to advise on that.

Shampoo - Meguiars gold class.

Get yourself a Farecla G3 clay mitt.

Car towels - I quite like the purple monster (edgeless) although for some reason mine are blue...

Autoglym super resin polish is a good shout for a nice shine.

Meguiars quick detailer - can serve as lube for the mitt and also does what it says.

Wax - just got myself some poorboys Natty's paste. Great shine. Smells like bubblegum :)
Click to expand...


I'd say use a clay bar not a mitt, I found it next to useless and left it alone after one panel.

I'd also say go with Bosch or nilfisk pressure washer as kerchers do kill their pumps often..

As far as sealants go my go to now is carpro hydro2 or bilt hamber double speed.

Snow foam, again bilt hamber is great for removing dirt but I stick with citrus pre wash lately and it does the same job.

I'd also recommend megs tyre gel and bilt hamber auto wheel cleaner as that is amazing, expensive but does the job really well.

Purple monster towel is a good shout, love mine.
Get some detailing brushes too as they're very useful to get dirt out from tight areas.
 
Second vote for a Nilfisk here, if only because they are much better value for money (IMO) than Karcher. £65 should get you the excellent Nilfisk C110, a little bit more for the C130 which is a bit more powerful. I have the C110 and it doesn't struggle with anything I've used it for (car washing, patio cleaning, deck cleaning , etc).

I use Autobrite Magifoam and I disagree that snow foam is a gimmick. Properly mixed it sits on the paintwork for around 30 minutes, giving you time to clean the wheels thoroughly before starting on the paintwork. Because it dwells for so long it really softens up the surface muck and dirt making it extremely easy to rinse off. In order to minimise risk of damage to your paintwork you want to limit the amount of contact washing that's needed and this is where snow foams excel. Because they lift so much dirt once you rinse the car down and get on with the contact wash there's very little actual dirt that needs to be wiped off.

Wheel cleaner: I've just started using Sonax full effect wheel cleaner and I'm VERY impressed with it so far. Even without a contact wash it does a really good job of getting the wheels clean. Combined with a contact wash it's brilliant. I bought 5L of it for £55, which is pretty decent value

Tyre shine: I use (and would recommend) Chemical Guys VRP. I like it because it doesn't leave a really shiny finish. It's also great on all plastics & rubbers, both interior and exterior. I use it inside and on the engine bay plastics.

Shampoo: I use Chemical Guys Mr. Pink. It smells nice and doesn't have any other additives like waxes etc. It foams up really well and you can even use it as a snow foam, though it's not as good a a dedicated product. There are many good shampoos out there though. I'll probably try something different next time, but a ~3.5L tub has lasted me nearly 1 year.

Wash mitt: I've just bought the Dodo Juice Yeti's fist. It's very good, holds an insane amount of water but takes FOREVER to dry out afterwards (like 3 days!). I'm not sure I could recommend it as it's so expensive. I'd suggest the Meguiars Microfibre mitt. Avoid the Meguiars Lambs wool mitt...it's good, while it lasts. Mine began to fall apart about about 4 washes.

Wheel brushes: Buy something dedicated for the job. I use Wheel Woolies which many recommend but they are expensive. Some say they don't last but I've had my set for 2 years and they're still going strong.

Polish: Assuming you'll be hand polishing then I would recommend Autoglym Super Resin Polish (SRP). For the price it's very good. Cover it with either a decent wax or sealant (I use Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection (EGP), but my car is white...dark colours suit waxes better). You shouldn't need to re-wax or re-seal for 6-12 months, depending on how much you use the car.

Quick detailer: The go-to product for many is Sonax Xtreme Brilliant Shine. I buy it 5L at a time for ~£35. I use it as a drying aid (sprayed on to a damp microfibre) to avoid streaks/water spots. You can also spray it directly on the car as a "top up" later of protection over whatever wax/sealant you are using.
 
I picked up a Vax VPW4C pressure washer for £80 in a VAX factory sale, it retails around £150 normally. Seems to be pretty decent so far, good amount of power and comes with loads of accessories and a long-ish lance cable. Supposedly has good quality internals too. Probably worth a look if you see it around that price!
 
hilly said:
so I'm picking up a new car next month - its about time I bought some car supplies for her.

I'll need pretty much everything, starting from scratch so looking for recommendations for a jet washer, snow foam, and car products - can any one help with recommendations please? :)
Click to expand...

Have a look through the carpro range

Polish - essence
Sealant - hydro2
Top coat / glossifyer; reload
Snow foam; i use bilt hamber, but with all the coating on you can do a rinseless wash with ech2o (either 2 bucket with a mitt or 1 bucket with lots of plush microfibres) no rinsing and no drying, i can do the whole car in 20 minutes
Carpro also do hydrofoam which coats as it cleans, but if my car is dirty enough to need foam I use the bilt hamber followed by ech2o


All contain sio2 which will form a coating protecting the paint and making it loads easier to clean. And no buffing off like with wax, and lasts up to 6 months instead of 1-2 washes.
Wheels also wont need a wheel cleaner, just whatever else you use.

The carpro products are much easier to use than regular wash and wax type cleans - i can do a full detail with polish and 2 coats of coating in under 4 hours - 3 if I really get on it, but i tend to have a couple of tea breaks in there too.

If i do a foam wash and fancy topping up the coating I use hydro2 as it goes on a wet car, if Ive done a rinsless with cloths then it can be reload which goes on dry.
 
Last edited:
Can anyone recommend:

1. A decent attachment piece to add onto a standard hosepipe (for Snowfoam gun)
2. Snowfoam
3. Decent polish/wax

I clayed my car for the first time a few weeks ago and was amazed how much dirt it picked up, only to find today that there's even more dirt than before due to having parked near a tree for the last 2 weeks!

Keen to try the snowfoam wash approach but would like to know of decent polish/wax too.

Car is a VW Golf in grey.

Thanks :)
 
SpartaK said:
Can anyone recommend:

1. A decent attachment piece to add onto a standard hosepipe (for Snowfoam gun)
2. Snowfoam
3. Decent polish/wax

I clayed my car for the first time a few weeks ago and was amazed how much dirt it picked up, only to find today that there's even more dirt than before due to having parked near a tree for the last 2 weeks!

Keen to try the snowfoam wash approach but would like to know of decent polish/wax too.

Car is a VW Golf in grey.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

See my post above - dont use wax, use a decent sio2 sealant instead
 
SpartaK said:
Can anyone recommend:

1. A decent attachment piece to add onto a standard hosepipe (for Snowfoam gun)
2. Snowfoam
3. Decent polish/wax

I clayed my car for the first time a few weeks ago and was amazed how much dirt it picked up, only to find today that there's even more dirt than before due to having parked near a tree for the last 2 weeks!

Keen to try the snowfoam wash approach but would like to know of decent polish/wax too.

Car is a VW Golf in grey.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

you ideally need a pressure washer for foam not a hose.
 
hilly said:
so I'm picking up a new car next month - its about time I bought some car supplies for her.

I'll need pretty much everything, starting from scratch so looking for recommendations for a jet washer, snow foam, and car products - can any one help with recommendations please? :)
Click to expand...
as you see every ones got good different ideals.i would say

Karcher or nilfisk pressure washer. what ever your budget allows but not a Karcher k2 thats where they have really bad rep from.

Snow foam dont bother go get some Koch Chemie Green Star beats all snow foams hands down.

Snow foam lance for pressure washer every one goes on about the Autobrite Foam Lance @ £40 you can get the similar item from the bay or other retailers for half the price and dose the same job.


For the other items like shampoo and dedicated cleaners for trim tyres etc you will not go wrong with autoglym or Meguiars both very good starter products at a good price point.
Get your self going from these and add over time more expensive products or things you like from other ranges.Takes time to find the stuff you like that you get on with and makes your car look good.
 
andybird123 said:
Have a look through the carpro range

Polish - essence
Sealant - hydro2
Top coat / glossifyer; reload
Snow foam; i use bilt hamber, but with all the coating on you can do a rinseless wash with ech2o (either 2 bucket with a mitt or 1 bucket with lots of plush microfibres) no rinsing and no drying, i can do the whole car in 20 minutes
Carpro also do hydrofoam which coats as it cleans, but if my car is dirty enough to need foam I use the bilt hamber followed by ech2o


All contain sio2 which will form a coating protecting the paint and making it loads easier to clean. And no buffing off like with wax, and lasts up to 6 months instead of 1-2 washes.
Wheels also wont need a wheel cleaner, just whatever else you use.

The carpro products are much easier to use than regular wash and wax type cleans - i can do a full detail with polish and 2 coats of coating in under 4 hours - 3 if I really get on it, but i tend to have a couple of tea breaks in there too.

If i do a foam wash and fancy topping up the coating I use hydro2 as it goes on a wet car, if Ive done a rinsless with cloths then it can be reload which goes on dry.
Click to expand...

acake said:
as you see every ones got good different ideals.i would say

Karcher or nilfisk pressure washer. what ever your budget allows but not a Karcher k2 thats where they have really bad rep from.

Snow foam dont bother go get some Koch Chemie Green Star beats all snow foams hands down.

Snow foam lance for pressure washer every one goes on about the Autobrite Foam Lance @ £40 you can get the similar item from the bay or other retailers for half the price and dose the same job.


For the other items like shampoo and dedicated cleaners for trim tyres etc you will not go wrong with autoglym or Meguiars both very good starter products at a good price point.
Get your self going from these and add over time more expensive products or things you like from other ranges.Takes time to find the stuff you like that you get on with and makes your car look good.
Click to expand...

Thank you both, really appreciate that - will do some enquiries and report back! :)
 
SpartaK said:
Can anyone recommend:

1. A decent attachment piece to add onto a standard hosepipe (for Snowfoam gun)
2. Snowfoam
3. Decent polish/wax

I clayed my car for the first time a few weeks ago and was amazed how much dirt it picked up, only to find today that there's even more dirt than before due to having parked near a tree for the last 2 weeks!

Keen to try the snowfoam wash approach but would like to know of decent polish/wax too.

Car is a VW Golf in grey.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...
you can get this for a hose pipe not sure how well it works www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/cleanyourcar-foam-cannon/prod_1349.html so no need for a pressuer washer just a good supply of water with good pressure behind it
 
Few new supplies. Got the spray, bottles and brush for free, if you don't ask you don't get.

IMG_20170526_184443.jpg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom