*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

[Manbatius]

Why? What's wrong with it? By routine are you thinking about polishing your glass weekly? Monthly?
Snip

I am just making a list to do/rota, also looking at products I own but have not used. Some stuff will be weekly, some monthly, judging from advice here I see this should be 6 months or so.

Nothing wrong with it, other than being neglected since mid last year. I have time at the moment as off work, but can only do things stood up due to recent surgery. Seemed like a good height!

Cheers for the advice everyone

 

[Dunks]

Gents,

Recently picked up a soft-top Z4 and I'm looking at having a decent interior/exterior valet carried out, I came across this http://www.solovaleting.co.uk/gold.html and for ~£140, it doesn't seem too bad, especially with the good reviews I've seen elsewhere of his service.

EXTERIOR


Apply wheel cleaner (product used dependent upon wheel type) and agitate


Iron decontamination for alloy wheels


Thoroughly rinse wheels to remove cleaning agent


Apply citrus wash de-greaser to lower half of car


Snowfoam bodywork, wheels & wheel arches


Cold water rinse vehicle


Hand wash shampoo using lambswool wash mitt and the 2 bucket method


Cold water rinse vehicle


Dry vehicle using microfiber towel


Tyres dressed


Glass cleaned


Glass polished


Remove tar spots


Clay bar bodywork


Apply polish and buff paintwork with microfibre cloth


Apply paintwork sealant / wax and buff paintwork with microfibre cloth


Plastic trims dressed


Chrome trim (where applicable) cleaned and buffed


Alloy wheels sealed and protected


Hand spray engine bay with degreaser and agitate


Cold water rinse engine bay and dry with air blaster & microfiber towel


Run engine for short period prior to dressing engine bay


INTERIOR


Clean interior surfaces including dashboard, door panels, headlining, visors, grab handles, seatbelts, etc


Comprehensive vacuum including boot area


Shampoo mats, seats and carpets


Leather clean and hide food applied (if applicable)


Plastics dressed (if requested)


Door shuts and rubbers cleaned and dressed


Glass/mirrors polished


Air freshener applied if desired

If I were to buy the stuff needed to do this (excluding pressure washer/hoover etc), such as the wax/polish/cleaning products, how much do you think it'd cost? And what would I need?

Also, having never properly polished/waxed a car, do you reckon I'd probably make it worse having a crack at it?

 

[grudas]

Gents,

Recently picked up a soft-top Z4 and I'm looking at having a decent interior/exterior valet carried out, I came across this http://www.solovaleting.co.uk/gold.html and for ~£140, it doesn't seem too bad, especially with the good reviews I've seen elsewhere of his service.



If I were to buy the stuff needed to do this (excluding pressure washer/hoover etc), such as the wax/polish/cleaning products, how much do you think it'd cost? And what would I need?

Also, having never properly polished/waxed a car, do you reckon I'd probably make it worse having a crack at it?

More than £140 but it won't run out in one go. The above is probably a good 8hrs worth of work. Doubt you'll make any mess with polish.

 

[Dunks]

More than £140 but it won't run out in one go. The above is probably a good 8hrs worth of work. Doubt you'll make any mess with polish.

Yeah, for 8 hours work plus costs it doesn't seem too bad for me. I think I'll just pay someone to do it for the first time, then do some research into what I need to get for the next time around!

 

[Akagi]

On the subject of glass, is there anything that can be done with my scratched up windscreen on the BMW? Loads of light scratches on the outside which make visibility difficult in direct bright sunlight. Or is it a new windscreen jobbie?

 

[Havana_UK]

On the subject of glass, is there anything that can be done with my scratched up windscreen on the BMW? Loads of light scratches on the outside which make visibility difficult in direct bright sunlight. Or is it a new windscreen jobbie?

They will potentially polish out, but you'll need some proper glass polish and a machine polisher of some description.

 

[Amos91]

You'll need something like Ceriglass and a rayon pad.

 

[Hyburnate]

On the subject of glass, is there anything that can be done with my scratched up windscreen on the BMW? Loads of light scratches on the outside which make visibility difficult in direct bright sunlight. Or is it a new windscreen jobbie?

I've got some ceriglass, you don't half leave things to the last minute! We could have got some pads I've got a hand applicator that we can give it a go with...

Worse case, I have a hammer.

 

[Akagi]

I wasn't expecting us to fix it on Saturday!
Just asking for future.

 

[Hyburnate]

I wasn't expecting us to fix it on Saturday!
Just asking for future.

We can give it a go tomorrow afternoon even if we just lessen them It's quite a difficult thing to do, polishing glass, it's a hard material but you don't want to heat it up

 

[mrkambo]

Had the snow foam out today! Man i missed snow foam lol!
also bought some stuff, ran out of hood protector and glass cleaner today so got some new products as well as some misc stuff

 

[Lakeland]

After less than a year of irregular use my cheap eBay snow foam lance has broken - mid use the adaptor split and high pressure water was blown backwards towards my face.. not a nice experience.

The bottle has always been well looked after, never dropped and it's kept on a shelf in a garage only I have access to.

 

[Rybo89]

BH Snow foam
Washed twice
Hand polished



Would Wax it but i really can't be arsed after how long it has took to hand polish it. Just realised how much i don't enjoy properly cleaning a car anymore.

 

[Cleisthenes]

Surely it would be wise to at least protect the finish you've created with the polish? Looks great by the way

 

[Rybo89]

It would but i really can't be bothered

Ive put the car away now so maybe ill get in mood to do it the next time i have it out. Is it a must do thing?

 

[Havana_UK]

Well, without any protection on the freshly polished paint all your hard work will go to waste much more quickly (plus it's much easier to wash it with a proper coat of protection on it).

 

[Rybo89]

*gets car back out*

 

[MoRT489]

 

[Cleisthenes]

I do find it's very tedious if you're not in the mood, I hope it went OK

 

[Rybo89]

Yeah im glad i did it now. Only took a hour-ish to do thank god. Swear polishing took about 3 hours, was doing my head in lol.

Even went on to polish the exhaust with some wire wool which has made it look 10x better.

Car had a full detail just before i bought it so i have only had to snow foam and dry it for it to look mint again. Thought i best get some polish n wax on so i can carry on just only having to foam n dry it.

should have got a photo really, but i forgot.