FAO dan (skate2create) or ne one else that washes their car regularly!!

[Ryan]

what are the stages you use to make your car soo shiny?
how do you polish it, and what price are the products and where can i get them?
i have a car in your colour too and it looks so nice when all shiny!

thanks
ryan

 

[Dave]

wash, dry, polish , stand back and smile

 

[ryan]

well, when i was reading the previous post about this subject, dan mentioned something about waxing,polishing sealing etc??

 

[Buzz]

a FULL DAY clean would consist of:

An interior clean, starting with a vacumn, then a wipe down with a clean damp cloth. Chances are its a fine day, so you can immediately set about using a plastic cleaner/renewer, and sometimes a wipe down with a dashboard protector (silicon based ones are shiniest, but greasy to touch)

Then you should clean, and polish your windows. meguiars do a nice window polish (thats not streaky like windolene can be.) Windolene is my second choice though, and much quicker to use. Then tackle the outside.

A wash to remove all the crap. At this stage make sure to clean your wheels and inside the arches/under sills properly.

A clean of the paint (use Meguiars quik clay to take and spots of tar and other contaminants off)

A polish to smooth out any swirl marks or scratching.

Last up is protection meaning a wax coating (for most of the time this is part of the polish phase) Sometimes protecting is called sealing

Also, you want to keep your wax coating topped up once a month. some, like Dan i suspect may do it more, but most modern waxes can usually last 2 or 3 months before they need renewed. so once a month is plenty imo.

I use pretty much only Autoglym products, except for meguiars Quik Clay. Oh, and i've had reasonable success with Turtlewax Xtreme wax, though I find it leaves more white dust/residue than Autoglym.

I probably have over £100rrp worth of products, though i only use half of them some of the time, and some of them less than half of the time.
some stuff like plastic protector, also doubles up for use on rubber. as theres very little rubber, a medium bottle of this will easily last a year.

Mequiars and Autoglym arent cheap, but they are the bes IMO.

Dan might not reveal his specific regime, but i bet its a weekly job, not monthly. This isn't really practical for a car used daily, but if you can set aside a full day every month or 2, you can keep it in great nick by doing most of this. the polishing phases for the paint and the window can be skipped without trauma. but i do recommend regular washes, and monthly interior vacumning and wipe down and waxing of the paintwork.

Buzz
The champion of the Bravo 1.4
Owner of the Bravo 1.8

Member Page

 

[Buzz]

this pic of part of my car while its not particularly clean shows what sort of shine you can achieve.

Thats my fuel filler cap in the bottom left. The car hadn't been polished for several months before that pic was taken. It HAD been waxed the day before though. and rinsed off hours before that pic was taken.

Buzz
The champion of the Bravo 1.4
Owner of the Bravo 1.8

Member Page

 

[Ryan]

thanks for that buzz m8,
so to polish am i better of doing it by hand or using a polishing machine?
what kind of sponge/mitt do u use to wash your car?

 

[Bahney]

i wash mine once a week polish/wax once a month with interior etc once a month also

i use Meguiars quick clay bar and detailer to remove all the crap and crud left on (only once a year after winter)

i then use a turtle wax car shampoo and wash/leather shammy the surface.

then it is time for the meguiars gold class finish polish and while that is drying, clean and polish the alloys

wipe off the polish after it has dried on, i use a kitchen towel for this or a 100% cotton towel.

once you have a nice shine i use meguires NXT wax (it is a spray bottle) and cover the car in wax, it dries quick and is really thin but it seals in the polish well.

then once every 2 or 3 weeks i re apply the NXT wax just to top up the shine.

i use meguires aloe leather cleaner and conditioner as well for my interior and RainX for my windows.

like buzz i must have about £100 worth of cleaning stuff, lol

ohh and regards the orbital polisher, i have one and it is crap, unless you have an industrial one they arnt worth it, useing your hard is far quicker (ohh err missus!)

 

[RR]

I've not heard or seen this McGuires stuff - is it readilly available at the usual motorfactores etc?

 

[Dan]

seeing as I wont be around for much longer I'll give up my secrets gladly.

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides.html

all of what I do is within those guides. including washing using a 2 bucket method, clay bar'ing, polishing and then sealing afterwards.

its not a five minute job however so set aside half a day for good results.

Cheers,

Dan


Skate2create/D-Unit: Angeltuned Fiat Bravo 1.2 16v......LostInMyOwnWorld......

 

[Nigel]

RR - http://www.meguiars.com/

Available at all good motorist factors

 

[Anonymous]

omg dan if u do that ur a bigger crank than me... let me show u how its done... get in ur car drive to the asylum seekers hand car wash hand them ur keys and says i want the full works go back 4 hours later and hand over £15 look on in amazement at ur pretty car

Smee

http://www.visionstyling.co.uk for ALL your car needs!!!

 

[Dan]

yes Lee,

but some of us are still on minimum wage (£4.25 p/h) and can't afford to pay someone else to do it.

plus wheres the satisfaction in paying border jumpers to clean your car, really?!

Dan


Skate2create/D-Unit: Angeltuned Fiat Bravo 1.2 16v......LostInMyOwnWorld......

 

[Anonymous]

depends if u get satisfaction from washing ur car.. i have to admit i dont get any satisfaction cleaning my car un till its like to hot to where clothes and i got a female helping me clean it.. makes for a fun activity. other than that i pay them cos they need a roof over there heads too

Smee

http://www.visionstyling.co.uk for ALL your car needs!!!

 

[Paul Hogg]

The easy way

I'm well known for my obsessive cleaning. I dont mind cleaning in the rain or polishing in the snow, its all good. If you think people like me are mad but still want to get a good finish and shine and cant be bothered to get busy with the buffer every weekend I've devised a way of keeping your car looking good and you only have to do it 4 times a year.

1. Wash Car with hot soapy water, use fairy liquid not car shampoo.
2. Use Coloured T-Cut to remove dirt and scratches. (doesn't matter if the car is still wet)
3. Use pure carnauba wax immediately after the t-cut. only PURE 100% carnauba wax will do, nothing else comes close for lasting a long time, i've tried them all.

Thats it. 3 steps and your done. do NOT use soap or fairy liquid from now on unless you plan to do the 3 stages again. instead just rinse and lightly sponge with a mild car shampoo once a week, its a 10 minute from now on. the dirt and water will drop off leaving a deep shine that lasts for 3 months.

Another tip, buy pure carnauba wax that is designed for industrial use. its cheap. if you buy wax designed for cars its expensive and usually mixed with other polishes so it wont last as long.

As for interiors I recommend autoglym plastic conditioner. its designed for external use so it lasts a good few weeks and makes plastics like new. it is a bit greasy so I usually apply it thick with a small sponge and then wipe the excess away with a towel.

 

[Nigel]

Doesnt washing-up liquid contain the one thing we try to keep away from our cars?

 

[Andy]

looking at the state of mine atm that would be soap Nige???

Andy_sx

 

[Nigel]

LOL Andy,I was refering to salt but then you parking your car by the docks every day thats inevitable.

 

[Ryan]

@ DAN

cheers 4 that website, its ace!
but do u really polish your car every time?
as it seems like a massive job that cannot be done properley without a machine that costs 80 quid! also it seems like everytime you polish it, it takes a layer of clear coat off your car?

 

[Dan]

never use washing up liquid...EVER!

theres a chemical in it which will slowly eat away at the clearcoat top layer

better to use warm water than fairy bloody liquid!

I use either autoglym Car shampoo or turtlewax wash and wax.

Dan


Skate2create/D-Unit: Angeltuned Fiat Bravo 1.2 16v......LostInMyOwnWorld......

 

[Dan]

dunno if I said it before (cant remember!)

but in off season I will polish and seal my car one a month maybe a little more if the cars getting extra dirty. say every 3 weeks.
I do was my car weekly however.

during show season I get a bit silly.

at modified nationals last year I polished, waxed, sealed and treated the plastics on my car before every day it was on show (3 days!)

Super resin polish isn't very abrasive and if you don't use too much force its ace.

The product I now use is even less abrasive that super res' and gives a mirror like finish.

I also have a few other trial products I'm using at the moment

Dan




Skate2create/D-Unit: Angeltuned Fiat Bravo 1.2 16v......LostInMyOwnWorld......