Some Cleaning, Polish, Wax & Valeting Tips.

[xx 5id xx]

Ok here it is!!... another chance to see the 5th Gear clip on the guy that used the £6,000 tub of Canuba Wax from South America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkmZveqyU5E

....That is EXACTLY what I wanted to see!!!

Now... what products ... or similar (cheaper) ones can I buy that will get me the same results??

From cloths to the actual products?????
Start to End ... tell me please!!!

I recently moved house, so have no products or cloths at the moment, and as I've only had the car for just over 6 weeks... haven't had the need before.

The only thing I have is Gliptone Liquid Leather 1 x Cleaner & 1 x Conditioner.
Also have Simoniz Cockpit Cleaner, and Back to Black for Tyres.
Thats it.

What are the best (affordable) products?

I want to get my car into tip-top condition and keep it like that!

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Sid


This car wash would normally cost you £5,000!!

1. De-Greaser?
(Paul uses a Citrus Degreaser for lower half of vehicle, £55 for 5 litres)

2. Rinser?
(Paul uses water at 35 degrees, on a jet wash)

3. Shampoo?
(Paul uses a PH Neutral shampoo, £65 a bucket from America)

4. Rinsing (again)

5. Drying?
(Paul uses high tech microfibre blankets, no chamios leather)

6. Wheel Cleaner?
(Paul uses a special Wheel Gel, non-aciditic that doesn't corrode alloys, £75 for 5 litres ...uses a paint brush?!)

7. Clay?
(Paul uses a Clay Bar for a mirror finish, £20 a block, rubbing it straight onto the car whilst spraying water??)

8. Rubbing Compound?
(Paul uses an Ultra Spund Depth Gauge worth £3k, to determine how much paint he can rub off to get rid of the scratches... uses the Rubbing Compound via an electric swirler tool)

9. Prep for Wax?
(Paul uses something that is £35 a bottle with an applicator pad/cloth towel, then rubs it down with towels that are £16 for two towels)

10. Wax?
(Paul uses the £6k Canuba Wax, by hand all over the car ...lasts around 6 months)


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

11. Leather Seats?
(I've got Gliptone Liquid Leather 1 x Cleaner & 1 x Conditioner, what cloths do I use?)

12. Cockpit & dashboard
(again products and cloths?)

13. Windows?
(just nomal Windowlene?

14. Anything else?
(Apart from Vacuuming it!)

[speed3632002]

why would anyone spend that sort of money on cleaning a car its probably cheaper to have the car resprayed

[Dave Dempsey]

Meguirs, best affordable products about.........speak to Benn

[Dave Broomfield]

what a lot of b---k i dont know were he finds people that will pay that. lambo in stockport rang me to do a car for them and they would only pay £35 trade. i dont do trade work and i was to busy anyway lmao would have been nice

[xx 5id xx]

Just seen that most of the products used in that video are ZYMOL

[Benn]

cheers dave,

right the wax that guy uses is ok,
yeah you can eat it,but it tastews like week old snot and gives you the sh*ts,
works ok,you can use it on anything,but its so over priced for what it is,
megs,zimrol(sp?) and others do the same kinda stuff,for much much much much less,

i use meguiars as there the best i've found,and i've tryed most stuff,inc the stuff that guy uses,

1. De-Greaser?
never use it on paint work,only wheels and engines,and gunk is one of the best,

2. Rinser?
normal cold water is fine,raise off all the crap,

3. Shampoo?
gold class shampoo,if you have hard water,then use the hyper wash,as it has a water softern in it,

4. Rinsing (again)
again normal water,
5. Drying?
water drying magnet towel,gently gragged over the body to dry(washed after everyuseage)
sin shammy if really needed,

6. Wheel Cleaner?
hot rims,great cleaner,simple to use,
use it once,then wax the rims,stay cleaner that way,

7. Clay?
clay and quick deatiller,spray pannel with the deatiller,then work clay over pannel,

8. Rubbing Compound?
(hes there paying that money for a valet,it shouldnt need it more than once)
stage 1,or scratch-x

9. Prep for Wax?
stage 2,the polish,or number 7 which is hand glaze,

10. Wax?
right i use a few,
26 yellow pure Carnauba Wax,
Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax,(stage 3)
or nxt tech wax,(which can reduce fine scratchs..so the lable says)
all put on with foam app pads and removed with a mircofimber cloth,
then run over car with anit static duster,

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

11. Leather Seats?
gold class rich Leather aloe cleaner,really gets the dirt out,
gold class rich leather aloe conditioner,really shines and brings the life back,

12. Cockpit & dashboard
i use nxt tech protectant(vinal and rubber like care stuff)
or for a matt shine,bumper back to black gel,


13. Windows?
tesco glass cleaner,then rain-x,

14. Anything else?
carpet and interior cleaner,gets most kinda of crap off,

15. tyres,and trim.
endurance high gloss tyre shine Gel,
keeps tyres black and shiney,works great on door and window rubbers aswell,long lasting
appl with an old bit of sponge,

think thats it off hand...
as i've just done a quick ish clean....

[xx 5id xx]

1. De-Greaser?
never use it on paint work,only wheels and engines,and gunk is one of the best,

Cheers for that Ben...
although I have just found out the best degreaser / pre-rinser for the paintwork and on alloys is CITRIGEL:

http://www.citrigel.com/pdf/citrigel_tech.pdf

[Gordon Livsey]

thought zymol concourse wax was expensive at £165

[Gordon Livsey]

65 quid for a bucket, fook that, i can go to poundstretchers and get a bucket for about £2.50

[Terry]

65 quid for a bucket, fook that, i can go to poundstretchers and get a bucket for about £2.50

B&Q 99p

[Benn]

i was gonna say,bucket....1pound,

and cant see why you'd really need to degrease the body really,
clay it,
and the grease will just wash off as it will be sitting on top of wax anyway,
i wouldnt bother,but thats me,

[Gordon Livsey]

probably just get as good a result with g3 on an orbital buffer, then a good going over with meguires cleaner wax

[Benn]

g3 has a hard cut on it,
something like 3m fast cut,which has only a light cut will do most cars,
i did astra dans mk3 with it,
had paint like sand paper....now its like glass,

[Terry]

probably just get as good a result with g3 on an orbital buffer, then a good going over with meguires cleaner wax

That's exactly how I do mine. It's about all my car is worthlmao

[N.Walliams]

www.collinite.co.uk

[N.Walliams]

oh and if I had a 500k ferrari i wouldnt mind spending 5k on a valet because whats 5k to a multi millionaire?

[xx 5id xx]

This also seems very good advice, with step by step instructions:
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides.html

[xx 5id xx]

Just seen that a really good machine orbital buffer is the "Porter Cable 7424 Auto Polisher"

Available from USA:
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/pc-7424.html

And also the UK:
http://www.thepolishingcompany.com/portercablekit.html

Mike Warner's Review here:
http://www.migweb.co.uk/reviews/show...duct/13/cat/32

Anyone else use this ... or dare I say it, a better product???

Mike, a few questions please:

Q1: What pads did you get?
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/sonussfxpads.html

Q2: Do you use yours at the lowest setting, 2.5k OPM (oscillations per minute)?
...to avoid the paint burning and making swirl marks, as highlighted by Rich in 'PolishedBliss' link???

Q3: Do you use for polishing and waxing, or just the polishing?
I plan on using a Carnuaba wax, applied by hand, and then I suppose dried by a microfibre or cotton towel... so would this machine be used for that, or just the polishing?

[xx 5id xx]

I just phoned Zymol ...www.zdouk.com 0845 226 6929
and they said:

1. Degrease
2. Wash or Wash
3. HD Cleanse
4. Clay
5. Wax

...said Polish is not needed !!

[Benn]

to be honst,
a mop/buffer isnt really needed,
do it once and you shouldnt need it again,but like when i did astra dan's mk3s or byrons mk4 gsi,
do it once,then wax it,
next time wash andpolishand or wax it and you should be fine,

i think the Zymol stuff doesnt been polish cause the "cleaner" removes most of the crap off the paint,so will act as a polish aswell,
again have tryed it, found it drys quick and dusts quite a lot when cryed,

[Benn]

and...
the mop/buffer mike tested,
WILL BURN THRU AND SCRATCH the paint IF.....
cause its how you use it,NOT the mop,
if theres dirty on the mop head,it WILL scratch,
and if you hit the paint at the wrong angle or sit on a bit to long,or run it constantly over a edge of swage line it will burn it...

[Nobbie]

Old thread, but though i'd ask a question.

Benn, you use clay, is this instead of a paint cleaner solution, a-la megs stage 1, as if your doing your first detail, would it not be worth doing both, with the clay coming second?.

Also, to make this more up to date, shall i edit the above, and put details in about the 2 bucket method, and grit guards??.

[Benn]

I clay first to lift any bits stuck in the paint, cause if not you can do more damage as you rub them in when using stage 1 or what ever.

[astra_sri_andy]

The £6k price tag on that Zymol wax is what it costs initially. Any subsequant re-fills are free afaik.

I wash my car down with one of those Flash things you attach to your hose. If I'm on a mission it's shammy dry, clay, then Megs Stage 1, 2 & 3. Using foam pads to apply and microfibre cloths to remove.

I have to say Stage 2 is a pita to get off lmao

If I'm not on a mission I'll speed detail it

[Benn]

Andy do it a pannel at a time...