Some Cleaning, Polish, Wax & Valeting Tips.

[astra_sri_andy]

I do generally...if I've got my proper cleaning head on

[Benn]

Cool.

[astra_sri_andy]

Cool.

I have more to polish than you though

[Nobbie]

I fancy a rotary.

[Benn]

I have more to polish than you though

So?

I fancy a rotary.

Do it.

+ changing the thread name would be good, is a bit miss leading..

[CraigGreen]

Good tips in this thread. I havent cleaned a car I care about for years & I love washing cars (hate polishing).

Looking forward to cleaning my Nova though. Its a full on state & although the paint has some bad reactions appeared in the paint, it should still buff to a nice colour. Shouldn't be long now.

[TURBOTIGRA]

im a valeter at nick whale sportcars in bromsgrove, i do porsche,lotus,maserarti,bmw,audi,tvr etc and ferrari, we use auto glym products and there fantastic!!! check out the website www.nickwhalesportcars.com

[Benn]

Good tips in this thread. I havent cleaned a car I care about for years & I love washing cars (hate polishing).

Looking forward to cleaning my Nova though. Its a full on state & although the paint has some bad reactions appeared in the paint, it should still buff to a nice colour. Shouldn't be long now.

Bet you cant wait to see it all clean on the drive...

[Rubix_Cube]

im a valeter at nick whale sportcars in bromsgrove, i do porsche,lotus,maserarti,bmw,audi,tvr etc and ferrari, we use auto glym products and there fantastic!!! check out the website www.nickwhalesportcars.com

http://www.nickwhalesportscars.co.uk/

Rather cool

[TURBOTIGRA]

cheers mate

[CraigGreen]

Bet you cant wait to see it all clean on the drive...

Aye! I dont have a driveway but seeing it parked in the sunlight will be a buzz tbh.

[wilson_bw]

Im also a valeter, but i use a mixture of differant stuff. I spent a lot of time using differant ones to see whats best. And i use a mixture of autosmart, nielsen, carbrite, black diamone, auto glym and meguirs stuff. All trade though.
A lot of retail meguirs and autl glym stuff is rubbish in my opinion, i think its just made cheap to sell to the general public for a big profit as they normally dont really know the differance. Products for that list are

1. De-Greaser?
Auto smart traffic film remover

2. Rinser?
water from pressure washer at about half setting, around 50 degrees

3. Shampoo?
pre rinse with black diamond foam wash, then wash with black diamoned wash and wax

4. Rinsing (again)
with cold water this time, mainly to let steam cleaner cool down. Also doesnt really make a differance as vehicle should be clean now

5. Drying?
Natural chamois leather, always kept clean though and changed every 2-3 weeks for a new one

6. Wheel Cleaner?
Auto smart ALI acid wheel cleaner.

7. Clay?
auto smart clay bar

8. Rubbing Compound?
Depends really on the vehicle, G3,g10, autosmart compound range,nielsen compound polishes.

9. Prep for Wax?
a good clean and polish.

10. Wax?
carbrite wax


Then ... what products and cloths for the INSIDE of the car???
What is ideal for:

11. Leather Seats?
autosmart leather cleaner

12. Cockpit & dashboard
All depends on what effect the customer wants. If they want it shiney i use either nielsen blueberry silicone sheen or autosmart strawberry silicone spray. If its a natural look there after i use auto smart pazzaz.

13. Windows?
Either carbrite or black diamone window cleaner, or autosmart galss glow (good shine)

[CraigJOV]

I am a Valeter/detailer too and do a lot of expensive cars (Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Porsche to name a few) and IMHO believe it's all about the preparation? If you don't prepare the bodywork properly before you wash it (ie: Clay, remove tar, sap etc) you run the risk of doing more harm than good. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there???? Only my opinion and the way I work


1. De-Greaser?
ValetPro Citrus De-Greaser

2. Rinser?
Water from pressure washer at about half setting

3. Shampoo?
Pre rinse then wash with either Duragloss Wash Con, Zymol Auto Bath or Q-Wash (PH Balanced) depending on vehicle and previous waxes applied etc...

4. Rinsing (again)


5. Drying?
Duragloss drying towels (one car use only then machine washed)

6. Wheel Cleaner?
Valet Pro Bilberry Wheel Cleaner (Non Caustic/non acidic)

7. Clay?
Varies depending on amount of contamination - Poorboys, Sonus or Megs.

8. Rubbing Compound?
Depends on the vehicle and the purpose of the compound? Is it for general machine polishing or for imperfection correction (ie: swirls etc) Poorboys, Pinnacle, Menzerna etc.

9. Prep for Wax?
Rinse, Wash, Snow Foam, Rinse, Clay, Wash, Rinse, WAX (On a full detail)

10. Wax?
Again varies and depends on car colour etc, Victoria Wax, P21S, Zymol, Megs....


Then ... what products and cloths for the INSIDE of the car???
What is ideal for:

11. Leather Seats?
Zymol Leather Cleaner
Duragloss Leather Cleaner
Duragloss Leather Conditioner

12. Cockpit & dashboard
Never use any silicone based products. Duragloss Vinyl and Leather Dressing or Autosmart G101.

13. Windows?
Megs Glass Cleaner

14. Cloths
Microfibre Cloths everytime, new one used for every new job
Different cloth for each job and chemical (one for glass, one for dash etc)

www.thevaleter.com

[Benn]

Nice site craig.

[vxrmarc]

Preparation is key to reflection and depth , if you dont prepare the paintwork/clearcoat properly then you are wasteing your time..

The key to a well detailed finish is all about the prep and the best wax in the world be it Royale at just over 70% white carnauba or Swissvax Crystal Rock at just over 74% will look pants on an unjustified finish and the relative hue of the paintwork wont change nor will the juxtaposition of colours when viewing the car down its length..It should magnify the fleck and pop and it also should appear light to dark front to rear.

This is a typical exmaple of a car i did usin a simple wax petes 53 after 4 hours correction on the front end alone and bonnet , 2 microns removed with 3m fast cut plus followed up with 3m 80349 finished off with po85rd then zymol hd cleansed and finally waxed....Without the prep work the depth would be non existent and bearing in mind this is simply a £25 wax compared to the £500+ wax i normally play with





and reversed to show the depth and detail , this was a simple tigra

[Benn]

As all ways a fantastic finish Marc.

[vxrmarc]

Well ive gotta few posts to catch up with you Benn....It seems you live you life on here like me moderating for vauxhall on vxronline

[Benn]

Sadly yeah...lol

[xx 5id xx]

Wow Marc, that is a mirror!!!!
Congrats!

This is an old thread and something that I completely forgot about. Since then, probably the last time I washed my car!!! lol ... I have been a busy bee trying to get back into the whole car wash thang!

I have just bought the following:

Pressure Washer: Makita HW131 (£252)
Pressure Washer Lance: HD lance (£50)
Buckets: Dodo Juice Twins - 20L clear buckets with colour coded grit guards and measurement guide (£48)
Pre-Wash: Bilt-Hamber Auto-Foam, 5L (£13)
General Cleaner: Bilt-Hamber HD Surfex, 5L (13)
Washmitt: Sheepskin wash mitt, double-sided with thumb x 2 (£12.50)
Wash: Bilt-Hamber Auto-Wash, 300ml (£9) / I also use Meguiars #62, 5L (brilliant stuff! ... think the equivalent now is Megs Shampoo Plus?)
Clay: Meguiars Quik Detailer Clay Kit (£12) / in future will get the Bilt-Hamber soft clay (winner in Auto-Express mag too Nov'08, not that it actually counts for much)
Polish: Werkstat Acrylic Prime
Glaze: Poorboys Diamond White (£11)
Sealant: Werkstat Acrylic Jett Trigger
Finishing Product: Werkstat Acrylic Glos (the WA kit was bought for £49 with all the proper cloths and applicators etc - a brilliant product for light & silver cars!)
Window Cleaner: Einszett Glass polish (£4 or £13)
Window Cloth: Dodo Juice Mint Merkin (£6)
Interior: Einszett Cockpit Premium (£7)
Leathers: Gliptone Leather Cleaner, and Conditioner
Wheel Sealant: Poorboys Wheel Sealant (£12)
Tyre Care: Meguiars Tyre Endurance (£10?)
Tyre Applicator: Meguiars Applicator Brush (£3)
Tyre brush: Vikan Multi-Purpose brush (£6)
Drying Towel: Serious Performance Uber Drying Towel (£10) - or get the Dodo Juice Soft-Touch drying towel, or the HUGE 1.2m Supernatural Drying Towel!
Other: Loads of other MF towels!!


It's expensive stuff this, car detailing!! I guess I best use the products this weekend!!!!!! lol
If you guys want any links then I'll add them...

[frankiben123]

really nice tips thank you guys

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[tom_moran]

oh wow! i thought you just washed your car then waxed it.

id like to get some kit for sorting my car as its looking a bit sorry for itself, only thing is the above has confused me!

i guess i need a wash, wax, clay?(its really bad), polish?, loads of micro fiber towels, microfiber mit and two buckets? not too bothered about wheels as they are really rusted under the paint anyway!

i dont have a massive amount to spend and its no Lambo etc but i would like a really nice finish to the paint and shine.



anybody got any links?

[Benn]

Tom, wash, clay, polish, wax.

Check out,
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/index....fe86cd67c209d9
They are very good.

[tom_moran]

thanks benn, ive ordered some megs gold class wash and wax, clay kit, and 10 microfiber towels. i just need to get a polish now. what sort of polish should i go for? there seem to be so many

[Benn]

thanks benn, ive ordered some megs gold class wash and wax, clay kit, and 10 microfiber towels. i just need to get a polish now. what sort of polish should i go for? there seem to be so many

Well as your using megs all ready, you could get stage 2. As you have the stage 1 inthe clay kit.

[tom_moran]

nice, ill get some ordered tonight. Thanks benn