*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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Never spent more than a few quid on buckets. Just have 4 of them about for various washing areas (2BM, wheels, underside etc).

kindai said:
Some cleaning might be in order...
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That's one Primera in need of a wash! Looking forward to seeing her shiny!

Recently grabbed some CarPro D-LUX. Amazing plastic/rubber sealant restorer. Turned my faded plastics back to a nice (not overly garish) black and they've stayed like that for a good 3 weeks so far in amongst the rain, snow and salt.
 
So with the new car having been collected before xmas and the horribly dirty roads I drive down I really need to get a wash in.

I have some decent shampoo etc and just order a couple of new microfibre wash mitts

But I was considering the snowfoam everyone raves about

Now my issue is really location. My car is parked about 20M from my house. I can get my power washer there if needed, but I am cautious on doing so.
It means it goes along and then across a footpath, potentially leading to a claim should some muppet trip over it. Plus it directly crosses the path where the local dog walkers go, so its highly likely it would have people stepping over it when in use, rather than some tiny risk of someone stepping over.

So I just wondered if there is an alternative for people without jetwash. Would one of them pump action sprayers (such as used for weedkiller) give a similar effect with snowfoam do you guys think, or is there a specific product designed for manual application?

My plan is to try to at least biweekly wash the car until around end of march or so, and then spend a little time checking over the bodywork and starting to polish and wax.

I am trying to avoid it turning into a chore. With loads of diy and an allotment my car washing / polishing regime needs to be "fun" and not too time consuming otherwise I know I will just not do it!
 
Bilt hamber autofoam works great in a pump sprayer as well as a foam lance. Cheap and one of the best cleaning ones too. Powermaxed TFR is also good in a pump sprayer.

You would be better off doing one big detail, decontaminating then polishing up the paint and then sealing it with something that lasts a while. A good cheap choice woudl be Bilt hamber double speed wax which should last 6 months. After that you can simply wash it until the protection is gone and repeat but it will be much easier the second time.

You can get both the snowfoam and wax mentioned for under £30 at polished bliss
 
Si105 said:
Bilt hamber autofoam works great in a pump sprayer as well as a foam lance. Cheap and one of the best cleaning ones too. Powermaxed TFR is also good in a pump sprayer.

You would be better off doing one big detail, decontaminating then polishing up the paint and then sealing it with something that lasts a while. A good cheap choice woudl be Bilt hamber double speed wax which should last 6 months. After that you can simply wash it until the protection is gone and repeat but it will be much easier the second time.

You can get both the snowfoam and wax mentioned for under £30 at polished bliss
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Perfect thanks, will look at that.
I had another wax recomened a while back, but for a couple of months just washing will do :)
 
Any decent cleaner polishes in hellfrauds, got someone's car to do tomorrow and might not have enough lime prime.

Got plenty other stuff, this is a just in case moment.
 
After years of drooling over Kranzle I finally decided to get one. My little Nilfisk was still working ok but the lance was starting to leak, I was always underwhelmed with the quality of the lance and the patio cleaner. Hoping I'll be more impressed with the Kranzle, went for the K 1152 TST and the UFO floor cleaner, ordered from Germany as it was much cheaper than the UK. I'll cut the Euro plug off and stick a UK one on. They also recommend not using a long hose, so I ordered a Gardena connection set, this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardena-Connection-Comfort-Affiliation-between/dp/B00GHDDQFK hopefully the hose is good, I don't want something that will kink or restrict the flow. Then I'll finally fit the tap at the front of the house and the Kranzle has a 15m high pressure hose, so I should be able to reach across the drive easy.
 
Finally got to give car a good wash - Being black as soon as you get on the road it's filthy again so limit number of washes - I had it detailed last year and whatever they finished it with was good - each time I wash it it looks like new - except for chips and trolley scratches - I seem to have been washing it properly as can't see too many swirls.

Being as I am at end of list will add some more.

I need to clay bar my car - Usually after that it's a wash - cover with car-lack 68 followed by a good waxing with Collinite marque d' elegance 915.

The wax is a pain to apply now and does my hands in - So what can I use instead of Collinite that is as good but is easy to apply and polish off.

And another Edit -- I do have a small spray bottle of Car Pro Reload Silica Spray Sealant - so how would I use that - After the polish stage ??
 
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Talk to me about...alloy wheel sealant.

I'm looking to get my wheels refurbed in the next few weeks (finally), and probably ditching the diamond cut in favour of a single colour. Probably just standard silver (although shadow chrome is also a nice looking alternative). Whatever it is, it'll probably be powder coated, there's a refurb company near my house which has been recommended by a few people and seems to get an excellent write up.

When they are refurbed, given they will be of the car with with a fresh, hopefully pristine finish, I was going to take the opportunity to seal them properly. Any recommendations for the best product to use? Is it worth buying something specific, or would a good coat of Collonite 476s do the job?

I'll be honest I'm a bit lazy with regards to washing wheels - a spray with BH Autowheels then the pressure washer is usually all they get, sometimes I run a mitt over the face of the spokes. So I'm looking for something nice and hard which means any future washing is nice and easy.
 
There needs to be a FAQ or something in the first post as the same questions keep being asked :p or use the search function ;)

For wheels Gtechniq C5 or Poorboy's wheel sealant will do the trick, unless you have some wax already then use that.
 
Between last night and today, I managed to clean the new motor. Not a quick process.

Pre-rinse
Snowfoam - Gyeon Q2M
2 bucket wash with Simoniz car shampoo and wax
Autosmart Tardis
Snowfoam again
Meguires claybar with quick detailed as lube
Machine polish with Mezerna PF2500
Mezerna power lock sealant
Windows done with Gteqniq G6 then G5
Leather cleaned with autoglym leather cleaner, then treated with Raceglaze leather balm
Interior carpets hovered then febreeze.

Still to polish & seal wheels, and properly do interior plastics.

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But getting there. Next up, servicing almost everything.
 
It is their actual foam stuff. This stuff: http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/gyeon-q2m-foam.html

It's pretty good. I have used several different foams over the years, including Megs Hyperwash, and some detailing sites generic foams. But this is right up there among the best of them.

I have a pump on the bottle (5L), and I use around 5 pumps per bottle, and it goes on super thick. I could probably use only 2 or 3 pumps to be fair.

This is a few minutes after it was sprayed on. And it's still there, working away, nice and thick.

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