*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

Status
Not open for further replies.
glitch said:
Buckets of elbow grease and access to an unlimited supply of water, And, er, that's about it.
Click to expand...

It's a bit of a cop out reply, but if you are going for the Werkstat (I would, easy application and nice results), call Rich and ask him to advise you on what he thinks you need. He won't push anything needlessly, easy to deal with and if he doesn't have it he'll recommend somebody who does.

It's difficult to write out a list because you don't have a PC or rotary, pressure washer etc and you may not want to chuck money into those things.

May seem a bit extreme but unless you actually enjoy polishing your car but you want it looking its best, I'd recommend a correction detail by a pro and then products to keep it fresh.
 
Gave the ZR a good clean today.

IMG_3933.JPG

IMG_3932.JPG
 
Fett said:
I'd recommend a correction detail by a pro and then products to keep it fresh.
Click to expand...

This is what's been done to mine. Professional detail to bring the paint back to life and now just lots of elbow grease and werkstat - comes up lovely every time.
 
SoliD said:
Just wash it later in the evening. after about 8pm out of the sun the bodywork will be much cooler and you will have enough light to do a full clean and dry. Anything else you will have to be getting up very early to get there just as the light is coming up.
Click to expand...

yup managed to do it today at 6 as the houses had caused a nice shady spot where my car sits. :D

kinda wish i hadnt botherd though, so many stone chips it never looks good from the front :(
 
Fett said:
It's a bit of a cop out reply, but if you are going for the Werkstat (I would, easy application and nice results), call Rich and ask him to advise you on what he thinks you need. He won't push anything needlessly, easy to deal with and if he doesn't have it he'll recommend somebody who does.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll give Rich a call and see what he recommends.

Fett said:
It's difficult to write out a list because you don't have a PC or rotary, pressure washer etc and you may not want to chuck money into those things.
Click to expand...
Actually, I totally forgot about some other bits. I've got a Karcher pressure washer (nothing fancy @ 100 bar) and a rotary or two, but I doubt they are anything special as I don't recall them costing the earth when I bought them many moons ago.

Fett said:
May seem a bit extreme but unless you actually enjoy polishing your car but you want it looking its best, I'd recommend a correction detail by a pro and then products to keep it fresh.
Click to expand...
It's probably a good idea, but I'm somewhat OCD when it comes to cleaning anyway, so I can see myself thoroughly enjoying keeping the motor spotless.
 
Long as the results you get are good then the price has zero balance on anything!

My kits for cleaning includes a £40 Nilfisk pressure washer, some AG polish and 476s + snow foam/wheel cleaner and gets results that stand out every time:

IMG_8453_4_5_tonemapped.jpg


:)
 
mrk said:
Long as the results you get are good then the price has zero balance on anything!

My kits for cleaning includes a £40 Nilfisk pressure washer, some AG polish and 476s + snow foam/wheel cleaner and gets results that stand out every time
Click to expand...
That looks rather nice.

How much of that impressive result is down to your post-processing technique as opposed to your cleaning technique?
 
It's a 3 shot composite so the sky is not overexposed over the darker lower section of the frame (where the shot is exposed for) - nothing fancy and no special effects being used as usual, just standard photography techniques that have been used for years by people all over the world :cool:

If you saw the car at sunset or on a moody evening then that is how it looks, the same deep gloss and stuff.
 
Composites are the only cheap (free) way to get shadow, mid and highlight sections of any scene exposed on landscapes, you can use an ND Graduated filter for example but I have yet to buy them and it's not like they are cheap!

It's something our eyes do naturally but a camera has to have an image composition done to expose for each of the 3 and then merge them together.

Many people use it to get ridiculous effects that look like clay/low budget cgi but I prefer to use it to get as neutral a picture as possible so everything is correctly exposed as close to how I remember the view when actually there :)
 
Last edited:
mrk said:
It's something our eyes do naturally
Click to expand...

really? i thought our eyes only focused and "set exposure" for a tiny fraction of our field of view. i think the area is the size of a penny at arms length, only that part is in good focus, we just have to move our eyes to look at the rest properly
 
You're mixing focus for exposure I think - not the same thing!

Focus is completely dependent on distance from the subject being focused on and in addition for cameras, the zoom level and aperture size. The smaller the aperture the longer the exposure time needed and the sharper the image will be in the whole frame. My shot was at F8 which is the standard for outdoor photography to get everything nice and sharp at zooms lower than 24mm.

The shot above was at 17mm which is wide angle so everything is naturally in focus and the sharpness is helped a little more by the f8 aperture size.
 
mrk said:
You're mixing focus for exposure I think - not the same thing!

Focus is completely dependent on distance from the subject being focused on and in addition for cameras, the zoom level and aperture size. The smaller the aperture the longer the exposure time needed and the sharper the image will be in the whole frame. My shot was at F8 which is the standard for outdoor photography to get everything nice and sharp at zooms lower than 24mm.

The shot above was at 17mm which is wide angle so everything is naturally in focus and the sharpness is helped a little more by the f8 aperture size.
Click to expand...

im a camera newb still, so you lost me very quickly! im learning though, thanks
 
Rob, you can help me matey. Just got an A200 and I want to learn how to take some sweet pictures like you. At best, I can use it on Auto mode!! A few of my recent french trip are in the photography section.

So have you taken 3 shots at -1, 0 and +1 with a tripod?
 
I just spent the day giving my car a mad clean. As its 10 years old and done 125k the paint is well passed its best. Here is what I did

Pre wash.
Meguiars quick clay
Wash again with Meguiars shampoo
Meguiars Scratch-X
Meguiars 3 stage.

I have to do stage 3 (wax) tomorrow as I had enough for today.

It looks a million times better, its never going to be perfect, far too many scratches, dents, marks and scuffs.

Great sense of satisfaction though and some exercise.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom