Beginner at detailing!

[Loz H]

Hi all

My car's reached the point now where there's nothing much else i want to add onto it, so ive started up my renaultsport fund.

I want to, however, spend more time & effort making it look clean & fresh so im going to throw some money into detailing

I currently rinse first, wash with DDJ Sour Pour and a noodle mit & bucket protector. Dry off with an autoglym drying towel. occasionally polish with some Turtle Wax colour magic. And some cheap wheel cleaner from asda (which i havent used on my new alloys as of yet)

But yet my car never really 'stands out' or shines, and the paintwork is abit rough in places (scuffs, swirls, light scratches etc).



So i was wondering if i could get abit of help/direction of techniques, products, anything really.

If anyone could lend any tips & tricks that would be great, as some of the cars that get posted in this section are very nice haha! thought id learn from the experts

Cheers!

 

[emma5]

This is my method

Snow foam,
Rinse,
2 bucket method megs gold class shampoo
Rinse,
Dry with a drying towel using a quick detailer as a drying aid
Then if it needs doing I will use a tar remover
Then again if it needs doing I clay my car
Then another rinse and dry
Next I use ddj lime prime,
Then a wax.

Results below: ( I'm pretty happy with them anyway)

Hope this helps.
Emma

 

[yellowbelly]

My advice is to read up on all methods and fully understand them rather than get bogged down in products.
Similar questions have been asked from people wanting to step up their washing regime so chances are all your questions will have already been answered before.

its certainly a case of not running before you can walk, don't go blowing loads of money on random products because you saw a photo of a car looking nice and shiney. Preparation is key and very often this is what you are seeing the results of

 

[Thrill]

Looks lovely, you've done a really good job for a beginner.

 

[Loz H]

This is my method

Snow foam,
Rinse,
2 bucket method megs gold class shampoo
Rinse,
Dry with a drying towel using a quick detailer as a drying aid
Then if it needs doing I will use a tar remover
Then again if it needs doing I clay my car
Then another rinse and dry
Next I use ddj lime prime,
Then a wax.

Results below: ( I'm pretty happy with them anyway)

Hope this helps.
Emma

Looks lovely!

My advice is to read up on all methods and fully understand them rather than get bogged down in products.
Similar questions have been asked from people wanting to step up their washing regime so chances are all your questions will have already been answered before.

its certainly a case of not running before you can walk, don't go blowing loads of money on random products because you saw a photo of a car looking nice and shiney. Preparation is key and very often this is what you are seeing the results of

Yeah thats what i wanted, as im new to detailing. just wanted to get a foot in the door to basic methods etc, maybe where to go after ive washed and dryed my car? maybe clay bar, or wax & sealant etc? Just would like to know the very basics

 

[Coby.]

Basic

Wash
Dry
Polish
Sealant
Glass
Wax


Bit more time effort

Clean wheels - Wash/De-iron/De-tar
Wash
Dry
De-tar
Iron remover
Clay
Quick wash
Dry
Polish
Sealant
Seal wheels
Dress tyres
Glass
Plastics
Polish exhaust
Wax

Missed a few bits but you get the idea I hope.

 

[Loz H]

Cheers Coby

I signed up for the waxybox group buy since i had abit of money spare so ill look into a proper wash, wax & seal when that arrives, see how i get on

 

[Coby.]

I still class myself as a detailing newb so there are other steps that can be done but those should see you in a good position.

 

[Loz H]

Got round to giving the car a clean & 'detail' today, quite pround of how it turned out aha

My process:

-Rinse & wash with Dodo Juice Sour Pour, dryed with drying towel
-cleaned wheels with dodo juice again
-clayed with megs clay bar & QD
-waxed with megs gold class
-cleaned windows with Gtechs cleaner sample i got from waxybox
-autoglym tyreshine

Pretty happy with the results!

 

[Rob]

Clay, then wax? No polish?

The results would be far better with a polish.

 

[Loz H]

so clay, polish, then wax?

 

[Rob]

Yessir.

 

[Alex_225]

One thing I would advise is don't get caught up in the snobbery of detailing, look into what products are recommended and rated rather than assuming if something is expensive it's better. A lot of products are produced in the same labs and work in an almost identical way.

Also don't forget that the wax or sealant is there to protect the shine you get from your polish so like many things, it's all in the prep.

 

[Loz H]

Yeah thats fair comment, most of the stuff i have is what ive scrounged from the garage anyway

​Cheers for the tips bud!

 

[Alex_225]

You'd be amazed how good your car will look with a few products you can pick up off the shelf in Halfords.

I've got a hell of a lot of waxes from Collinite, Finishkare, Dodo Juice, Poorboys etc and yet one of the longest lasting waxes I tested out was Simoniz Original which you can get in Halfords for under £10. Admittedly it was tough to work with which obviously more modern products have changed but in terms of longevity it was excellent.

This was the finish of the paintwork on my 172 after I clayed it (for the first time in it's life) and then polished it with Autoglym Super Resin polish!

I don't blame people for wanting to try all sorts of products and believe me I've spent plenty. But I believe there certain 'meat and potatoes' products you can use to make your car stand out as extra clean but not cost a lot.

 

[Loz H]

That looks superb!

Will definately have a mooch round when the time comes, but i don't think i need anything else atm

 

[Alex_225]

That's the result of claying the car and using Super Resin Polish. Admittedly that polish contains fillers so isn't correcting swirls although will remove light blemishes but detailing is purely cosmetic anyway so if you use this polish every 4 months and then re-wax it'll stay looking good.