GTGiov said:

wow thats sum hardcore cleaning, how long does all that take you? and is it vital to do all those steps? the claying is sumthing ive been told will really help with my broom yellow gt2? Would it be ok just to shampoo, clay, then polish the car? or do u reccomend waxing it too? lol i know i sounding lazy but it normally takes me 2-3 hours alone wen i shampoo and wax!! lol

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best to wax really so that the paintwork is sealed, but if you use a polish like AG super resin polish then you will be ok if you do it every month or so.

tbh, this thread only covers half of it, but if i was to break down time spent:

wheels: 10 mins
snow foam: 10 mins
Shampoo: 20 mins
Claying: 60mins
Rewash: 10mins
Polish by hand: 120mins
Polish by machine: depends on correction, but average 240 mins
Wax/ LSP: 30 mins

so depending on how im polishing, between 4hrs 10mins and 6hrs 30mins

a normal weekend wash only takes me about 45mins though

Takes you an hour to clay your car?

Machine polishing it about a day if you are going for full correction aswell

punto_matt said:

Takes you an hour to clay your car?

Machine polishing it about a day if you are going for full correction aswell

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the corsa did last week, was filthy :yuck:

none of my cars have needed heavy correction work though luckily, so what i said was right for me

Right.. Hi Guys, i've just got my 59 GP, and i love it!!! 1.4 Glory White.
i also got SupaGuard put on it, quick question is this a type of wax? so after washing my car do i need to polish and wax it if i have SupaGuard on it?
and is claying a must do? it sounds like quite a good thing to do.
Thanks
Jamie

dont wanna sound -ve but supaguard is sh*te...youve kinda been ripped off...its a sealent and it apprently last 5yrs but keeping that up is more effort than doing it properly you cannot polish it, clay it or wax it(no need)...as polish and clay will remove it...unless like me u aim to remove it...and then add your wax/sealent (sealent is basically an artificial wax in layman terms) and some proper sealents not like this can easily see 12months with just a reg. wash. claying just removes any things bonded to the top layer of cc...which is why it will remove some of supaguard...IPA wipedown would remove it to i did the same wih parents cars with diamondbrite on because i got peed off with it.

Ninja59 said:

dont wanna sound -ve but supaguard is sh*te...

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Incorrect, there is nothing wrong with Supraguard itself, but paying £300 for it to be applied is crazy and there is no way it'll last 5 years. Apart from that its fine.

Quick question...I've got a Meguiars Lambswool mitt, whats the best way to clean it? Washing machine without anything inside? And no liquid stuff? Same for the dodo drying towel?

Just rinse washmitt out after every wash and hang it to dry somewhere. I just hang my towel up afterwards to dry aswell.

I need to see how good a lambswool mitt is. I have a microfibre one - lots of soft dangly strands, seems to do it's job.

I also bought a drying towell for £3.50 from ASK, really decent for the price - better than any chammy I have used.

cheers for sticky-ing

Wow .. thank you to all ... I have learnt so much from reading this. It's been really, really helpful.

I'm a first time 500 owner and I just adore my little car. For the first time in my life I spent over 3 hours polishing and waxing her this weekend. No car I've ever owned has been treated to anything more than a bucket of fairy liquid!!!!!!

I seem to suffer a lot from stone chips - shes Bosa Nova White so the grey undercoat is really noticable. Touch up pen has been ordered and will be used this coming w/e once she's had a wash (no fairy liquid in sight these days!).

Few questions about this tho.

1. Can I use the pen immediatley after washing (no Fairy Liquid this time!) ? Or do I need to try to remove the SRP and the wax which I applied on Sunday?


2. The wax I applied was Simoniz ... but having read such a lot about Collinite I wish I had waited and ordered some on line.

Being of the generation where you "use stuff up" before buying new, will I just be able to build up several layers of Simoniz to get the same protective effect???

I really don't have a clue, you see. This is all completely new ground for me. I'm about to start doing a 100m per day round trip in her, so protecting her from the chips is a real priority for me.

3. Red leather interior .. previous owner seems to have scuffed the leather a little on the drivers seat .. there seem to be lots of little tan specs visible. Also the leather looks quite 'dull' as if it's been out in the sun to long.

I'm guessing I need a leather polish (have already tried leather cleaning wipes) Do any of the leather polishes restore colour? Or do Fiat sell any kind of red couloured polish that I could use??

Sorry for so many questions .. and for being such a complete girly novice! If any of you have any hair, nail or handbag related questions.. ask away!!!

Wax wont really help against stone chips. Id just wash the car, dry it and then use your touch up pen. Get some cocktail sticks to apply the paint so you can be more accurate with it.

To clean the leather i would get some proper leather cleaner and a leather cleaning brush as it will pushed into the leather so wipes wont really do anything as you have found out.

Just wanna give a big thanks for this sticky, there's a lot of info on the net with everyone having their own opinions on what are the be all and end all ultimate products but this guide was simple and informative and gave me a really good insight into the basics of everything.

That's a lot of big words for me at this time of day but anyway, my old cleaning "rig"



Oh yeah.

Don't get me wrong, I could get the car reasonably clean but I wanted to take things a step further, so on sunday since the weather was nice I treated myself



I do plan on getting some better gear in the future but in the mean time the basic buffer is a little more fun than going at it with a cloth, as for everything else, 3 for 2 at Halfrauds, need I say more.

Just going to pick the car up now then I'll get a pic up but I can't believe the difference. Claying especially, my bonnet and roof where like sand paper, now it's just... wow.

Thanks again, just gutted I didn't buy a red/blue/black car now so you can REALLY see the difference

No more swirls, well chuffed!



Now to sacrafice my sponge...

i would also loose the buffer the wool pads are too harsh for modern paint finishes imo

you can get a better finish by hand with a german applicator
http://www.exoticdetail.co.uk/products/wax/wolfgang-german-applicator/


unless you want to invest in a "real" polishing machine such as the Kestral DAS 6

Couple of quick questions.

Do I need to follow all of these steps? Or can I not clay, and go straight to polish then wax?

Also, how often should I wax my car? I know the old owner did it every three months, is that Ok?

If I am going to use collinite, as suggested by him, how should it be applied? Micro fibre?

All so much work, and very expensive!!

xFaz said:

Couple of quick questions.

Do I need to follow all of these steps? Or can I not clay, and go straight to polish then wax?

Also, how often should I wax my car? I know the old owner did it every three months, is that Ok?

If I am going to use collinite, as suggested by him, how should it be applied? Micro fibre?

All so much work, and very expensive!!

Click to expand...

you need to wash it after claying because there will be bits left behind that you dont want to grind into your paintwork also the car will be wet

re wax your car when the beading stops or when you feel like it

i just used colinite for the first time on my car(iv used it before on the fiat forum bus) and i find it very very good

i used hardly any to do my car if you opened the pot you would hardly notice iv used it

i use a microfiber pad but you could just use a microfiber cloth

damp it and then basically dab it against the wax then smear onto your car spread it out as thinly as possible leave to cure to a haze then buff of with a clean dry microfiber

you will know if its to thick coz its a complete ball ache to buff off after

people have had colinite last a good 6 months before

Ok but can I avoid claying altogether??

Thanks

you can, depending on your paint work condition and how obsessive you are, i haven't yet (but i will do it when money permits ) and still good good finishes, just dont go near it with a machine and you should be okay

What about the snow foam? I havent got a machine that will do that...

so anyway, actually you have to wash the car, clay the car, then wash the car again? before you use super resin polish?

basicaly i have got the clay the super resin polish and the wax and I am just getting giddy thinkin i may do it wrong

for instance i dont have the applicator pad for the srp is this really going to be a problem?

also anyone recommend a wax protector? necessary?

with thanks