Right, ive cleaned alot of cars in my life and i have used alot of products. However, you can never try them all. If anyone has any good tips or products to get that showroom finish to your car, hows about letting me know?
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Cleaning Products
- Thread starter king.stromba
- Start date
Right, ive cleaned alot of cars in my life and i have used alot of products. However, you can never try them all. If anyone has any good tips or products to get that showroom finish to your car, hows about letting me know?
I have tried loads of different types and used to swear by Auto Glym - untill I tried Zymol, it is by far the best stuff I have ever used. These give an idea of how good it is, but they dont really do it justice:
http://www.mcmillan-uk.com/clio/111.jpghttp://www.mcmillan-uk.com/clio/111.jpg
http://www.mcmillan-uk.com/clio/s3.jpghttp://www.mcmillan-uk.com/clio/s3.jpg
http://www.mcmillan-uk.com/a4001.jpghttp://www.mcmillan-uk.com/a4001.jpg
Yeah i noticed loads of them scratches on my car. I might try this then. What about products other than polishes? I use back to black. is there a better product?
Shiny red R32
Well Im going to be different as I think Auto Glym is well over rated and I prefer Turtle Wax Extreme Polishing Wax and Turtle Wax Gloss Guard which is better than Auto Glym. The Gloss Guard is £6.99 for 500ml and the Auto Glym Gloss Protection is £11.99 for the same amount, and this is what I used to use before I discovered the Turtle Wax Gloss.
Zymol is fine and smells nice, but for me the Turtle Wax beats it, partly because it is quicker and easier to apply and remove and also for those who dont want to spend too much, Zymol is nearly double the price and doesnt last quite as long.
I have a cupboard full of every type of polish and car cleaning stuff, much to the annoyance of hubby as I never completely finish any of them as I like a nice new tin or bottle when I clean my car!
I use wonder wheels trim and tyre shine for, wait for it, the trim and tyres. Its far better than back to black. Armour all (or whatever it is) for the interior plastics and door seals. I dont polish my car that often at the moment as next door are having a house built and as soon as I have washed it it is filthy almost straight away. I am still on free samples from the motor show.
Nik
ClioSport Admin
Clio Trophy #355
Zymol Cleaner Wax
Turtle Wax Extreme Tyre Gel
Windolene & kitchen towel
http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/file.php?image=1060040528__shiny1.jpg
The Jinx
Dont use back to black. Its just a silicon spray. This means that all the crap on your plastics just gets sealed in. When you wash it all you do is clean the silicon, thereby not getting the plastic clear of crap.
You can use Acetone to remove those nasty white polish/wax on plastic/rubber stains. I use cheap nail varnish remover (contains acetone) and this works a treat.
Weeman sucks ****
I use MER, it comes in a blue bottle and smells pretty damn good to. It brings my cup up trumps and is good at getting the bugs off to.
Anyone find any difference between polish that is a solid and one that is liquid? Personally i prefere the solid, i find it covers the paint a little thicker. Any comments?
The Jinx
Me too. Turtlewax Extreme for me, with TW Extreme Rapid Drying Wash, which also acts as a top-up for the wax.
i use mer, i avent cleaned my car for about a month now but it still gleams when the sun is on it
http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/psc/imageup/1060099624__front.jpgI use all turtlwax products as they were buy one get one free,I have used many brands over the years and find they all work well if used properly
http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/psc/imageup/1060099554__side.jpg
Shiny red R32
Here is a nice shiny car, must have had the hard-wax treatment!
http://www.cheshirefinance.co.uk/transp33.gif
John V6 i dont have a wife. Can i call your wife on my way back from work?
the best cleaning products are the proffessional ones.....
MUCH cheaper than Auto (stain the plaistic polish etc)
to do a full job you need
TFR (traffic film remover) - cleans the plastics etc well (spray it on before a jet wash
decent shampoo, non waxing (with a large sponge and warm water)
rinse wax for speed... spray on after you have jetted the soap off (like the stuff in the jet wash)
best chamis (or however you spell it) you can buy
non chalk based (water based) polish
tire shine spray... (several available)
plastics spray.... apply this before the polish
window polish... (easy on and off)
clean paint brush for brushing interior vents etc etc
fbreeze for making the inside smell nice
anti - static mop for taking any final bits of dust off the paint...
a full valet should take about 5 hrs if you really going for it....
we also do valets at GDI (I used to run a valet company) and have all the stuff you need, I can order in for you if you want more.... mostly 5 ltr bottles but it is so much better than any of the retail products its not true...
oh forgot alloy cleaner.... not acid so wont damage your paint.... spray on leave for 5 mins jet off... clean wheels even if they are spoked alloys and really dirty!!!!
Cheers Andy GDI. Ill bring her over about 5 ish? Also if you could find time to dry clean the clothes on the back seat it would be appreciated
.Ive used loads of stuff and used to work for Halfords many moons ago, where we were allowed to take stuff home to use it so that we could recommend products with some authority and experience.
I always start with a Halfords car shampoo. Not found a better one yet and Autoglyms is particularly poor I find.
Some will insist on using a Chamois cloth to dry the car and I have used this too, but it takes ages to dry and in the summer the water will dry and streak before you get a chance to chammy the whole car. I would recommend you try (shock!) a towel to dry the car. Now, I know some will say this scratches the paintwork... but not if you wash the towel in your washing machine just before use. Make sure the towel is still just damp and warm from the wash for best results!!! This is honestly the best method Ive found and for a quick effect just wash the car and dry it like this (having in the past applied some decent synthetic wax that wont get washed off). Id keep about five towels in various different sizes for this job. Remember also to dry the whole door frame, under the wing mirrors, inside the bonnet, under the rear windows and inside the boot. Otherwise water will linger and usually get blown out when you drive the car - ruining your carefully prepared shine!
Everyone has their favourite waxing routine with certain products. Id personally say that it depends on colour. On my pearlescent black Valver, the Meiguars range worked best for a deep shine from a natural carnuba wax at the final stage. With the Williams 449 Sports Blue, I find that Autoglyms Extra Gloss Protection synthetic wax gives the best results. Dont know why, but with the Autoglym finish the paint shines more and goes kind of purpley in the sun (of course it still does this with any other wax, but not to the same degree). I use a Turtle Wax solution for the tyres (works best on those with lots of sidewall ridges like a Michelin, try Autoglym trigger spray for Yokohama or similar with more exposed rubber/less ridges).
Dont forget the carpets either, especially in a Williams (blue carpets)! If you havent done it for a while, then the difference will be incredible. Halfords range works fine for this - and is currently half price (IIRC).
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