Just wandering what the best cleaning solutions is for the body work and chrome. I was looking at autoglyn as it is quite reasonable priced compared to others but I'm still not sure. Anyone have any preferences? I so what are the reasons?

I did a bit of Car Valeting back in the late 1980s and Autoglym was the product of choice. There may be others around now, but it is good stuff and what you buy in the shops is the same as the trade stuff.

I also use Williams and Spray and Shine for waterless cleaning which also waxes with Carnuba wax. Great stuff. Just don't use it on the windscreen but you can use it everywhere else.

It depends how obsessive you are really - keen detailers obsessed with keeping their cars immaculate-looking at all times will have a wide array of expensive products to correct and clean the paintwork and will polish and wax their pride and joy twice a month or more. I like a shiny car but have neither the time nor inclination to go to these lengths. I keep my crossover black 500 looking pretty decent (get regular comments on how good it looks) most of the time using following cleaning regime:
Once or twice a month: hose car down from top to bottom, wash with Muc-off über shine car shampoo using Meguiars microfibre mitt and two buckets (one to rinse the mitt frequently), rinse Car, dry with large microfibre towel, spray paintwork with Meguiars Ultimate Quik Detailer and buff off with microfibre cloth. Finally, clean alloys using Meguiars wheel cleaner. The Quik Detailer is a superb product, giving the car a deep shine that lasts for up to 2 weeks and beads water for days.

Every 4 months: wash car as above, but instead of finishing with Megs Quik Detailer, polish paintwork with CarLack 68 nano systematic care (brilliant paint cleaner and sealant in one), then apply a layer of Collinite 476s car wax. This pair of relatively inexpensive products brings the car up to near showroom shine, and the car beads water for over a month following this treatment.

That's basically all I do, and my 6-year old 500 looks in very fine fettle with this cleaning regime.

typecastboy said:

I did a bit of Car Valeting back in the late 1980s and Autoglym was the product of choice. The others around now, but it is good stuff and what you buy in the shops is the same as the trade stuff.

I also use Williams and Spray and Shine for waterless cleaning which also waxes with Carnuba wax. Great stuff. Just don't use it on the windscreen but you can use it everywhere else.

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I did look at the waterless cleaning products but to be honest I thought they may be a bit of a con and not work. All of my previous cars have been older and I only ever took it to the car wash. The fiat is newer and more costly than the rest, hence the requirement to keep herrtidy and clean.

A while back I bought Showroom Shine waterless cleaner, after much deliberation. Whilst not a long-ish term polish as such it does a brilliant job when time is short. Also you can get it on the "black" bits and it doesn`t leave any white residue.

Yeah, I've got a couple of showroom shine cleaners.

I still go for AutoGlym polish every few months, and a cheap shampoo for smaller cleans.

Maplechops said:

I did look at the waterless cleaning products but to be honest I thought they may be a bit of a con and not work. All of my previous cars have been older and I only ever took it to the car wash. The fiat is newer and more costly than the rest, hence the requirement to keep herrtidy and clean.

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Absolutely not, it's not just a cheat like, say, Dry Shampoo. It disolves the dirt and lifts it away leaving a coating of Carnuba wax unlike when you wash it and you spread the dirt around with a sponge scratching the paintwork.

Who remembers the old days when we used to use washing up liquid to clean our cars?

Good shampoo to work with - Chemical guys citrus - 5 to 8 ML inside a 10 liters bucked will do the job, it dissolves grime and dirt very well.
cons - in higher concentration will strip some wax, thats why use less product.

also you have the ultimate waterless cleaner shampoo - Optimum No Rinse.
this is the best product to work with in the 2 buckets method, get some good MF towels (high quality to stay without streaks), some of the Optimum Car Wax and that's it, you are protected for a good 2-3 months (usually i clay the car before to lose all the dirt i can).

Btw - i use Autoglym Super Resin Polish, its not really a polish but a glaze it will hide lightly swirls very good, leaving the paint smooth and shiny (use before wax).

Megs wont last a month, they go pretty fast and they are a waste of money for me (and for you)

have fun

typecastboy said:

Who remembers the old days when we used to use washing up liquid to clean our cars?

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Certainly do. Also I used to do all of my car maintenance in the late 60's and through the 70's, which meant at times I got a lot of crap in my hair when working underneath the car.

Who needed shampoo? Just used Daz washing machine powder, didn't half put some body into the hair

Back in the 70s I used shampoo to make my hair shine. Now I've got the shine without the hair.

TrevC said:

Back in the 70s I used shampoo to make my hair shine. Now I've got the shine without the hair.

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Back in the '70's I used wash 'n go.

It did exactly what it said on the label.

I washed - it went .

Back to cars .................

I reckon it's all to do with where you live and drive.
Here, out in the sticks, we can wash and polish our cars, and within 200yds they're splattered with mud up the sides.

Mick.

Mick F said:

Back to cars .................

I reckon it's all to do with where you live and drive.
Here, out in the sticks, we can wash and polish our cars, and within 200yds they're splattered with mud up the sides.

Mick.

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Yes, but if you make sure your car paintwork is polished, sealed and waxed, that splattered mud/salt spray/horse dump/bird bomb won't be able to work it's way into your lovely clear coat and will slide off your car like melted butter come your next wash.

I've got two things to say to those who want deep long-lasting shine and great protection for their car paintwork but are unsure how to achieve these aims: Carlack68 NSC and Colinite 476s.

jrkitching said:

Back in the '70's I used wash 'n go.

It did exactly what it said on the label.

I washed - it went .

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It was known as 'Go n Wash' over here!!

typecastboy said:

Who remembers the old days when we used to use washing up liquid to clean our cars?

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My dad still does this for his Corolla, even after I bought him some Mint Bathe car wash shampoo :bang:

After 10+ years of this and a kitchen sponge, he claims the Corolla isn't scratched at all