* The Car Cleaning Thread *

cadmunkey · 18 Oct 2017 at 12:36

chroniclard said:
Forgive me detailers for I have sinned. Outside tap is broken so I went to the hand car wash.

Instaban from thread! :eek:

NickK · 18 Oct 2017 at 14:10

dacads said:
Did you not dry afterwards then?

Drove along the motorway.. as good as!

NickK · 18 Oct 2017 at 14:14

chroniclard said:
Forgive me detailers for I have sinned. Outside tap is broken so I went to the hand car wash.

Penance - hand polish and waxing for you!

dacads · 18 Oct 2017 at 16:05

NickK said:
Drove along the motorway.. as good as!

I'll let you off then.. my next investment is probably some snow foam and a lance so was wondering what process you were following

(towel would have been risky of course)

CaptainRAVE · 18 Oct 2017 at 20:11

chroniclard said:
Forgive me detailers for I have sinned. Outside tap is broken so I went to the hand car wash.

I did that twice, second time they nicked the merc badge from my engine. Fortunately not the signed amg badge. Never again!

Think I need a new clay mitt. It doesn't do much anymore.

Sonax wax is amazing stuff, but having put hd wax on just the rear of the car I can really see the difference.

Desperate to have my wheels painted black and for £50 each I can't complain. Might do after the winter though. 4 callipers plus the amg decals will work out at £250 or so. Wouldn't mind amg gold/orange.

NickK · 18 Oct 2017 at 20:12

dacads said:
I'll let you off then.. my next investment is probably some snow foam and a lance so was wondering what process you were following (towel would have been risky of course)

I do a soak with shampoo in a rich mix to get into the crap on the surfaces next give the wheels a cleaner spray and then jet wash off.
If surface is smooth then Next is a 2 bucket with mitt and then another jet wash.
Then start playing with decontamination/wax stripping/polish/rebuild etc..

CaptainRAVE · 18 Oct 2017 at 20:13

dacads said:
I'll let you off then.. my next investment is probably some snow foam and a lance so was wondering what process you were following (towel would have been risky of course)

Snow foam does so little though, never seems to remove more than a good hosing. I can never bring myself to set it all up anymore. Then again, I clean the car so often and it is so well waxed nothing seems to stick anyway. May be good for a really dirty car I guess and as the road salt starts.

dacads · 18 Oct 2017 at 21:12

CaptainRAVE said:
Snow foam does so little though, never seems to remove more than a good hosing. I can never bring myself to set it all up anymore. Then again, I clean the car so often and it is so well waxed nothing seems to stick anyway. May be good for a really dirty car I guess and as the road salt starts.

I'm sure it does something otherwise people wouldn't use it.

Some such as @kindai even use it as their primary wash method but I believe he has a water filter so no water spots etc

Personally I'd only be looking to use it exclusively maybe once every two weeks alternating with the proper two bucket wash, when it won't hurt to use snowfoam before either.

Really just adding more time and money lol but that's how it goes

Blackhawk47 · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:28

CaptainRAVE said:
Snow foam does so little though, never seems to remove more than a good hosing. I can never bring myself to set it all up anymore. Then again, I clean the car so often and it is so well waxed nothing seems to stick anyway. May be good for a really dirty car I guess and as the road salt starts.

For me, snow foam helps massively for the lower parts of the car when its covered in muck or during winter months. I live in the countryside and there is a huge difference on how dirty the wash mitt gets between using snow foam and not - most evident on the lower parts etc.

I agree it is not necessary if you wash your car once a week unless its really bad and its by no means a 'must have'.

MoRT489 · 18 Oct 2017 at 23:31

NickK said:
Gave the car a quick foam soak then pressure wash to get the most of the Sahara fallout off after this week.. not touching it with a mitt until I have the time to really make sure the sand is aaallllll gone!

Mine is in with the dealer presently to sort out some scratches that they put on it last time it was with them for a service, though god knows how it will look if they buff it without properly removing the sand

Fingers crossed the hard BMW paint protects it from further damage!

robj20 · 19 Oct 2017 at 09:45

dacads said:
I'm sure it does something otherwise people wouldn't use it.

Some such as @kindai even use it as their primary wash method but I believe he has a water filter so no water spots etc

Personally I'd only be looking to use it exclusively maybe once every two weeks alternating with the proper two bucket wash, when it won't hurt to use snowfoam before either.

Really just adding more time and money lol but that's how it goes

I found it did nothing, went back to spraying the lower half of the car with a shampoo mixture. Then housing it down a few minutes later.

MoRT489 · 19 Oct 2017 at 10:30

Leave it to sit on the car for 15-20 minutes before jetting it off.

Cookeh · 19 Oct 2017 at 10:38

Ah, the "is snowfoam worth it" debate again. I think so, here's an old post showing why.

Cookeh said:
For anyone debating whether or not snowfoam is actually worth it, or indeed does anything, meet my sister's 107 that hadn't been washed in 5 months...

And here is the results from a 1:10 dilution with 10 mins dwell time...

Yeah, I'm aware colours are washed out. My poor photography combined with the fact the paint is trashed and faded

Final product after 2BM, and a quick wax:

Cookeh said:
I'd definitely say its worth it. Not only was the majority of the dirt moved, but it would have been impossible not to marr the paint without a prewash using a standard 2BM.

NickK · 19 Oct 2017 at 16:24

And the car is dirty again - rain + fallout. So looks like Sunday will be a full rewash!

silverblack · 19 Oct 2017 at 17:22

I tend to use snow foam more on the colder days ,winter months.Let it sit for 15 mins and then power wash off leaves the car reasonably clean.
I never dry tho as there is still dirt on there that could scratch the paintwork.

CaptainRAVE · 20 Oct 2017 at 14:08

Half the time I suspect the pressure washer is doing most of the work. I would do it more often if I had the time though and probably will once the gritting starts again.

Washing the car tonight then on holiday - hope it keeps reasonably clean until silverstone next weekend or I will be washing it under floodlights. The wheels should keep ok.

Blackhawk47 · 20 Oct 2017 at 18:23

CaptainRAVE said:
Half the time I suspect the pressure washer is doing most of the work. I would do it more often if I had the time though and probably will once the gritting starts again.

Washing the car tonight then on holiday - hope it keeps reasonably clean until silverstone next weekend or I will be washing it under floodlights. The wheels should keep ok.

Haha I saw your username at the top of the Pistonheads event. I’m not in the 500 yet but usually 100s drop out so hopefully I get in. The Silverstone SSs are always good.

CaptainRAVE · 20 Oct 2017 at 18:51

Blackhawk47 said:
Haha I saw your username at the top of the Pistonheads event. I’m not in the 500 yet but usually 100s drop out so hopefully I get in. The Silverstone SSs are always good.

Highest I have been! You'll be fine. I was 700 or so once and got in the night before. The Silverstone SS is my favourite - great cars on track, great atmosphere, a decent breakfast. Seems to keep the wife entertained too.

Car is clean. How clean it stays on the drive for a week is another matter!

Gilbert89 · 22 Oct 2017 at 14:56

Halfords have 20% off selected Meguiar's Products therefore I bought a bottle of Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax for a quick and easy top up.

NickK · 22 Oct 2017 at 16:44

Spent today cleaning the car.. it's done a good ~400 miles in the last week along motorways in the UK and France including being sat outside in the french rain getting masses of fallout..

Gave it a 75:25 mix of gold class shampoo and water as the 'snow foam' to start and left it to get into the dirt. Power washed off and you could see the strips of the clean areas. Followed by two bucket mitt and then focused on the interior as it needed it.

One thing that people haven't said is that 'foam' is good to get rid of winter salt and grime..

*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

* The Car Cleaning Thread *