*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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I bought a used approved BMW about a week ago.II have just ordered a whole bunch of cleaning stuff; shampoo, super resin polish, aqua wax, extra gloss protection etc

I was wondering how far I should go with my first clean? I know the dealership had done some polishing as some light scratches were removed. Would an clean and an aqua wax be sufficient?
 
Any recommendations on the best glaze. When I bought the car it looked inmaculate after a few cleans I'm nothing more and more light scratches etc which was obviously covered up well.
 
EdwardTeach said:
I bought a used approved BMW about a week ago.II have just ordered a whole bunch of cleaning stuff; shampoo, super resin polish, aqua wax, extra gloss protection etc

I was wondering how far I should go with my first clean? I know the dealership had done some polishing as some light scratches were removed. Would an clean and an aqua wax be sufficient?
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Depends how far you want to go. Not having known how it's been looked after before I'd be very tempted to go all the way so you can carry out a proper assessment of the paint and whether or not it needs a polish/correction.
What colour is it btw? I want to say grey from some of your other posts but can't remember!
 
My kid's just bought a Honda Jazz, solid red of course so the colour is a bit faded in places. Will it need a DA polish to bring it back to life or can it be done by hand?
Bit worried as the paint is apparently quite thin/soft on Hondas.
 
Uther said:
My kid's just bought a Honda Jazz, solid red of course so the colour is a bit faded in places. Will it need a DA polish to bring it back to life or can it be done by hand?
Bit worried as the paint is apparently quite thin/soft on Hondas.
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Likewise, I have an 07 Honda Civic Type R and the paint hasn't been brilliantly looked after by the previous owner so has plenty of micro-swirling.

My cleaning routine has never included anything more than snow-foaming and leaving it for 5-10mins, washing off, then using a wash+wax on the car with a mitt.

What should I be doing? :)
 
Dis86 said:
Depends how far you want to go. Not having known how it's been looked after before I'd be very tempted to go all the way so you can carry out a proper assessment of the paint and whether or not it needs a polish/correction.
What colour is it btw? I want to say grey from some of your other posts but can't remember!
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Estoril Blue
 
Uther said:
My kid's just bought a Honda Jazz, solid red of course so the colour is a bit faded in places. Will it need a DA polish to bring it back to life or can it be done by hand?
Bit worried as the paint is apparently quite thin/soft on Hondas.
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Would assume it would need a DA polish to be honest.
 
Hi gents

After some advice please on how best to do a thorough and complete exterior detail. The car is 7 weeks old with obsidian black metallic paint. C220D so very hard.

My current basic system is -

Pressure wash rinse
Traffic film remover
PW rinse off
Warm snow foam
PW rinse off
Hand wash. Two buckets. Microfibre mitt. Autoglym shampoo.
PW rinse off
Pat dry with microfibre towel
Meguiars quick detailer to touch up with a microfibre cloth


A few washes ago I used Gyeon wetcoat. Water does now bead well but it was a mistake using it at that time. I know now from more experience and research that the surface under the wetcoat will have been contaminated and spraying it on only trapped imperfections. I also made the mistake of washing on days that were too hot and now have a few hard to shift waterspots.

There are a few light scratches on the front bumper as a result of allowing someone else to drive the car. They don't really catch with a fingernail, and I'm reliably informed after having them looked at they are easily treatable with some careful use of Megs Scratch X etc and a microfibre. There are two small road chips on the front from normal use, and a small amount of swirls on the bonnet and on some rear areas from one pass of my handwash microfibre mitt where it must have had a little bit of crap on it. I found another scratch near the petrol cap earlier that is winding and long (probably 2+ inches) but is very light and doesn't catch. I drove down a country road earlier and think I may have caught a bramble or something. I'll try and get some photos up tomorrow after cleaning it to see what you guys think in terms of fixing them.

Unfortunately I live in the countryside so lots of pollen/dust/fallout crap gets blown around with the wind /courtesy of passsing cars and not long after washing does it get a film of dust over it again. The car gets dirty quickly, not so much with mud but with that layer of dust.

I would like to do a thorough detail ending with a mirror like polish and UK Quartz coating + gliss on top. Totally decontaminate, sort out those scratches, swirls, take off the wetcoat layer and the waterspots, and then have the nice hard glass coating to make it harder for these imperfections to happen again and to make washing the dust layer off as easy as a quick snow foam rinse. And also obviously have the car absolutely glistening and reflective.

Does the following regime sound correct to you guys?

PWR pressure washer rinse
Traffic film remover
PWR
Iron X on wheels and paintwork
PWR
Warm snow foam
PWR
Autoglym shampoo Hand wash
PWR
Mf drying towel
Automotive tape application on trims etc
Window clean and polish with Autoglym fastglass
Bilt Hamber medium Clay bar w/ Q2M clay lube
Car Pro Eraser + mf cloth
Meguiars Ultimate Compound + DAS 6 Pro + shinemate medium blue cutting pad

Will compound buffing the whole bodywork be necessary/a good idea/worth doing if you have the time or overkill on a new car? Or will I only need to concentrate on compound buffing the scratch/waterspot/swirl areas? The whole panel for those areas so it looks even?

Menzerna Super finish 3500 + DA + SM orange polish pad
Menzerna Final finish 3800 + DA + SM white finishing pad
Car Pro Eraser again + mf cloth

Cquartz 3.0 UK
Poorboys wheel sealant and Meguiars High gloss tyre gel
Car Pro Gliss hyper slick 5 few hours later

Does all that sound sensible? Too little/too much? Crucially, are those tasks done in the right order, or have I said something stupid/got something wrong and there's a better way of doing things?


Cheers.
 
That's what I'm trying to establish - will the 3500 and 3800 polishes be sufficient or is a compound stage a good idea/required/useful and worth doing if you can be bothered/total overkill/actually stupid to do?

I'm taking it to a proper detailer tomorrow for an examination and quote so will be washing it in the morning. I'll get some photos up on here after washing under torchlight for you guys to assess the paint. It's not bad, just very localised light scratches. There is also a bit of marring on the back as a result of grease holding the merc badge on running a bit after being pressure washed. An expert detailer who's already seen the car who I had looking at the bumper scratches (suggested £120 paint blow in. Think he mentioned wet sanding) said that marring will come off with a polish, it's just a small area of what looks like a light, fairly transparent film over the paint.
 
It's a lease going back to merc in two years so each and every individual scratch and chip etc that occurs that may contravene the return standards and result in ££££ invoices further stresses me out :D I want the bugger looking like a mirror and then having the glass coating applied to provide a bit of protection. I know it's not magic and things will still go wrong but I'd rather have a layer or two of ceramic to take the brunt of a stone chip or daily use scratch/mark than bare clearcoat and very revealing black paint. Plus the ideal of having a silky finish a quick maintenance snow foam wash and dry will preserve rather than the current situation of bare clearcoat attracting dust and fallout and waterspots and turning matte minutes after drying.

I don't mind doing it myself or paying a proper detailer, it depends on the gulf in price really in terms of what they'll charge vs how much I'd need to drop on the stuff I don't already have, like a DA and polishes and the coating/glazes. It would be nice to do it myself simply to learn all the skills. Plus I'd be investing in materials and products I'd use again continuously rather than spending a wedge on a one-off service.
 
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WoodyUK said:
Likewise, I have an 07 Honda Civic Type R and the paint hasn't been brilliantly looked after by the previous owner so has plenty of micro-swirling.

My cleaning routine has never included anything more than snow-foaming and leaving it for 5-10mins, washing off, then using a wash+wax on the car with a mitt.

What should I be doing? :)
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Go over it with some Auto finesse tripple. A little goes a long way with that product, it's very similar to a glaze so will mask scratches quite well then top it up with some wax. It lasts quite a long time as long as you don't take it to a hand car wash place or use overly aggressive pre-cleaner/wash.
 
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