*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

[ShiWarrior]

Well I brought my first proper car back in January at the ripe old age of 34 a 2017 Seat Leon FR 1.4L with 28k on the clock . Only just hit the 1st full year of driving. So while not as nice or powerful as some of the cars here it was a nice upgrade over my £500 Rust bucket Ford Focus 1.6 Desire with 100k on the clock.

Anyways I gave the car it first proper wash, clay cloth and then spray wax. Quite happy with the results

nice

just do some trim details on the black (or should i say now grey) trim.grille etc, that be nice and finished then

 

[Merlin5]

i think (my Autoglym does i think) specifically says do not wash in direct sunlight or something, but in winter, and its sunny , your still going to wash it lol
but in summer and direct sunlight, washing car shouldn't really be done

Yeah, problem is I get less motivated towards the end of the day. I'm kind of fired up to clean it now.

 

[ShiWarrior]

just do it !!!!!!
it will be fine

 

[Muska]

I would recommend waiting till later in the day if you can, or at least be out of direct sunlight if at all possible.

I always clean the wheels first @Merlin5 I spray them down, then I spray on Bilt Hamber auto wheels, when it starts changing colour I then agitate with Wheel Woolies brushes & a long detailing brush cleaning inside the barrels and behind the spokes too. Tyres are degreased with Gyeon tyre cleaner and a dedicated tyre brush if required (I've not found I need to repeat this step after an initial good clean) After the wheels are all done I move on to the body then.

I had my wheels on the R32 freshly refurbished, including the OEM diamond cut lip. Yesterday I had them off one by one and ceramic coated them with G Techniq C5 Wheel armour. Left the car 24 hours for them to cure and they should now be nicely protected for the next 12 months.

I'll be out later today to clean the car again

 

[ShiWarrior]

wheels first ?
i do them once I've dried the bodywork

 

[Muska]

There is no way I could clean my wheels effectively without splattering water and cleaning chemicals all over the bodywork again (especially as I jet wash out the arch liners too) but to each his own

 

[Merlin5]

Ok thanks guys. Wheels first, car body second. I presume you then come back to the wheels again to dress them right at the end with your choice of tyre shine blackener rather than dressing them before washing the car body?

 

[Merlin5]

I would recommend waiting till later in the day if you can, or at least be out of direct sunlight if at all possible.

I always clean the wheels first @Merlin5 I spray them down, then I spray on Bilt Hamber auto wheels, when it starts changing colour I then agitate with Wheel Woolies brushes & a long detailing brush cleaning inside the barrels and behind the spokes too. Tyres are degreased with Gyeon tyre cleaner and a dedicated tyre brush if required (I've not found I need to repeat this step after an initial good clean) After the wheels are all done I move on to the body then.

I had my wheels on the R32 freshly refurbished, including the OEM diamond cut lip. Yesterday I had them off one by one and ceramic coated them with G Techniq C5 Wheel armour. Left the car 24 hours for them to cure and they should now be nicely protected for the next 12 months.

I'll be out later today to clean the car again

Those look immaculate!

 

[Muska]

Absolutely, they'll likely get re-wet throughout my cleaning process so I'll dry them and dress the tyres. Currently I really like CarPro PERL but I think I noticed you bought Meguiars Endurance Gloss dressing? That also gives great results, just be sure to wipe down any excess so it doesn't 'sling' when you drive the car.

ps, thanks

 

[ShiWarrior]

merlin, take it from me, was bodywork first, dry bodywork before it dries (keep it wet), then clean wheels

you'll thank me later

 

[Muska]

I'm not disputing your technique @ShiWarrior but I'm interested to know what your reasons for doing it that way around are compared to what I said my reasons were for doing the opposite.

 

[ShiWarrior]

if you wash your wheels first, when you come to the bodywork, they get wet again and leave streaks

water runs down, not up lol

 

[Merlin5]

That makes sense. On the other hand, if you wash your wheels last, you'll get splashing on the already washed and dried paintwork wouldn't you? Or perhaps it's easier to dry off bodywork splashes than drying off the wheels again?

Absolutely, they'll likely get re-wet throughout my cleaning process so I'll dry them and dress the tyres. Currently I really like CarPro PERL but I think I noticed you bought Meguiars Endurance Gloss dressing? That also gives great results, just be sure to wipe down any excess so it doesn't 'sling' when you drive the car.

ps, thanks

I think the Endurance might be glossier than I like, I kind of prefer a more matt or satin finish, similar to the way yours look. But there was nothing else in the shop. Still, this is a very popular product so I'm looking forward to trying it.

 

[Muska]

I have never had an issue with streaking (ooh er) as I mentioned I keep them wet throughout my cleaning process (Rinse, foam, rinse, wash, rinse, dry) and they're dried at the end with the body.

I'm still struggling to see how you're not potentially getting spray/dirt/chemicals back over your clean and dried car body but as I say, to each his own.

 

[Conscript]

I wash the wheels first, then the last thing I do after washing is take the car up the road to clear the brake discs of rust. This tends to spin the wheels pretty dry. I have a water filter now, so streaks aren't much of a concern anyway, but I always used to do this and it seemed to work quite well.

 

[Robbo]

Wheels first, always.

 

[Merlin5]

About wheel cleaners. I know the Bilt Hamber products are supposed to be excellent and I'd like to buy their auto wheels. However, do I wait to order it or go buy something today from Halfords? Halfords have Meguiars Ultimate wheel cleaner for £12.80 for 709ml, and the Bild Hamber on amazon is £15.74 for 1 litre. I think they're close in quality but I think the Bilt Hamber is meant to be better. There's also cheaper products like Turtle Wax. Shall I buy something from Halfords or order the Bilt Hamber and just scrub the wheels with car shampoo today?

edit: If I were to buy Surfex HD degreaser, could I use that as both a wheel cleaner and rubber cleaner and not need the auto wheels?

 

[grudas]

same here, wheels first.

I use bilt hamber atom-mac on disks before I wash it, just spray on and continue with my wash.

stops like 70-80% of the rust build up, they go a little yellow but that's it. No real rust build up.

bought one bottle months ago and still got loads left.

premix with water at 5%

 

[grudas]

About wheel cleaners. I know the Bilt Hamber products are supposed to be excellent and I'd like to buy their auto wheels. However, do I wait to order it or go buy something today from Halfords? Halfords have Meguiars Ultimate wheel cleaner for £12.80 for 709ml, and the Bild Hamber on amazon is £15.74 for 1 litre. I think they're close in quality but I think the Bilt Hamber is meant to be better. There's also cheaper products like Turtle Wax. Shall I buy something from Halfords or order the Bilt Hamber and just scrub the wheels with car shampoo today?

I would not buy megs one, it is OKAY but not worth the money.

auto wheels is VERY good but also very expensive but you spend less time cleaning and messing with the wheels.

buy a 5ltr one and it'll last months. 1ltr is 2-3 washes max.

 

[Temujin]

Same here, wheels first or during the snow foam phase if doing that. Then after i've dried off the body work i'll go over the wheels to dry them off.
I'd much rather rub my wheels to remove a water spot than i would on paint work if i were to clean wheels last.
If it works for you fine, but it's definitely backward.