*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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Used Auto Finesse Aqua Coat today after the first wash, it'll be a month or so before I have the time for a minor correction.

20 miles of country lanes later and I shouldn't have bothered! Mortified how quickly it got dirty today. :(

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I citrus prewashed mine and then waited for the Co-op jet wash to become empty, a guy was washing a black 69 plate Fiat 500X, basically vandalising it with the brush head…:eek:

Quick rinse only then for me and 80% of the crap was off, it looks nearly as dirty now after 50miles so I’m glad I didn’t do a proper wash with these road conditions.
 
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It really is a losing battle at the moment, but at least it hasn’t rained here. When it does, the sheer amount of grime on the road that is going to get kicked up is going to make me miserable :p

Almost every car I see is covered. I couldn’t even see the plate one one car yesterday.
 
Cheers. Also, is the snowfoam chemical itself okay to use on a soft top (BMW Z4). I'm assuming so? I already use Meguiars soft top cleaner a few times a year but I assume the snow foam will just drip off and remove any surface dirt on the fabric roof anyway?
 
Draeger said:
Cheers. Also, is the snowfoam chemical itself okay to use on a soft top (BMW Z4). I'm assuming so? I already use Meguiars soft top cleaner a few times a year but I assume the snow foam will just drip off and remove any surface dirt on the fabric roof anyway?
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Its not designed to clean soft tops but won’t hurt if you get any on it. I got some Polar Blast on my soft top and it just evaporated off leaving no residue.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
It really is a losing battle at the moment, but at least it hasn’t rained here. When it does, the sheer amount of grime on the road that is going to get kicked up is going to make me miserable :p

Almost every car I see is covered. I couldn’t even see the plate one one car yesterday.
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To be honest, I wouldn't mind a bit of rain. They gritted the roads here a a few weeks ago when we had a particularly cold snap. But it hasn't rained in ages to wash it away.

Also I washed my car on Friday and applied some of that CarPro Hydro2 stuff and want to see how it stacks up. I could go and just spray the car with the hose but that feels kind cheating :D
 
Draeger said:
Cheers. Also, is the snowfoam chemical itself okay to use on a soft top (BMW Z4). I'm assuming so? I already use Meguiars soft top cleaner a few times a year but I assume the snow foam will just drip off and remove any surface dirt on the fabric roof anyway?
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Personally I wouldn't use it as it could possibly dry and stain.
 
Well I did a 2 in 10 dilution of bilt hamber autofoam, but at that dilution it’s nowhere near as good as polar blast on the same lance setting (maximum product vs water), so I’ll up the concentration next week. Was expecting it to be better than that.

nlel1975 said:
For the Polar series it’s not something to be worried about see here...

https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=426086
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I mean it’s almost impossible not to get some overspray. It doesn’t seem to do any harm.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Well I did a 2 in 10 dilution of bilt hamber autofoam, but at that dilution it’s nowhere near as good as polar blast on the same lance setting (maximum product vs water), so I’ll up the concentration next week. Was expecting it to be better than that.



I mean it’s almost impossible not to get some overspray. It doesn’t seem to do any harm.
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From Bilt Hamber -

Use on cool surfaces. Dilute product as required to reach a PIR (Panel Impact Ratio) of 1 part in 100 for light cleaning and up to 5 parts in one hundred for heavily soiled vehicles. It is important to know the flow rate of your equipment to determine the correct add rate. To correctly calculate the required quantity of auto-foam to use in a pressure washer reservoir or foam lance bottle; For virtually touchless cleaning 4% is needed at the panel not in the detergent bottle or reservoir. To obtain this fill up the detergent bottle or reservoir. Take a large container and discharge the lance into this until the detergent bottle is empty of water. Measure the total amount of water collected, and multiply this number by 0.04. Fill the detergent bottle or reservoir with the calculated amount, and top it up to full with water. This method will create the correct concentration of auto-foam discharging from the lance.
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That’s the thing, I’m sure it’s already putting out more than they recommend. I’ll double it next weekend and see what happens.

I used the steam cleaner for the first time today, mainly for the engine bay and a few tricky to get to bits behind the doors. It reminded me how great a steam cleaner is for this job - very little water delivered and it lifts even the most difficult grime instantly. So that’s one job down that’s been bothering me…and no chemicals required.

I’ve also managed to get the rubbish out from where the soft top lives, so that’s another cleaning job ticked off.

The next few cleans should just be quick washes. Mid feb I’ll treat the soft top itself properly.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
That’s the thing, I’m sure it’s already putting out more than they recommend. I’ll double it next weekend and see what happens.

I used the steam cleaner for the first time today, mainly for the engine bay and a few tricky to get to bits behind the doors. It reminded me how great a steam cleaner is for this job - very little water delivered and it lifts even the most difficult grime instantly. So that’s one job down that’s been bothering me…and no chemicals required.

I’ve also managed to get the rubbish out from where the soft top lives, so that’s another cleaning job ticked off.

The next few cleans should just be quick washes. Mid feb I’ll treat the soft top itself properly.
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When I calculated the PIR with my MTM lance it worked out at 500ml of Autofoam.
 
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