What's the quickest way to acheive a good appearence?

[sam_mcn]

I’ve never really given that much attention to cleaning my car, always been a hose and a sponge man ,but after joining this forum I feel I should invest in some decent products to keep the little beasty looking good. I’ve looked at some of the detailing sites, but I don’t want to spend that much time cleaning neither do I want to spend a ridiculous amount on products.

So, I was thinking of getting some decent shampoo, wheel cleaner and some good wax and do away with the clay bar and the polishing.

Can I still get a nice glossy finish using just these products? What process do other people do to get a really good finish without spending over 3 hours on the job?

Thanks in advance for any advice…

 

[Mike_182]

I'd set aside a Saturday/Sunday (pretty much whole day) and wash it using Meguiar's Gold Class, dry it, clay it with Meguiar's Quik Clay (this is infinitely worth it in itself) and then give it another rinse, dry, and get some Meguiar's Three Stage on there - for doing a car once every so often it's perfect and then you only need to do it every weekend/other weekend depending on how often you drive it and wash/dry and then use Meguiar's Gold Class Wax on it - that'll set you back no more than a ton in total and the results will be worth it. The only pictures floating around of my car at the moment are of it having just had that treatment - I've not attacked it with my PC yet.

 

[Rich]

The most important stage is the polishing, this is what creates the depth and gloss to your paint aswell as removing any defects do you can really skip that stage.

You could skip the claying stage and the car will look ok, but the paint will never be quite as clean as it would be without.

I would do the whole process, wash, clay, polish and seal if you do ant it to looks its beast and last

There is no need to spend lots of money, some shampoo, a Meguiars Clay Kit, Bottle or Autogylm Super Resin, Extra Gloss, some trim/tyre stuff and some applicators and towels would cost around 50 quid and last a fair while, give you 3 months protection on the car, the products would last a long time, meaning all you would need to do when the car was dirty is wash it, clean the glass and dress some trim.

You could always invest in some Quick Detail spray to renew gloss and shine and refresh the looks after a was. Takes and extra ten mins after a wash. The iniatl prep process would tahe you 3 or 4 hours every 3 -6 months, with and hour or so to maintain it when you get a chance.

Use the right products and process and it wont cost you much or take up to much time.

I dont rate any of the consumer Megs stuff be it the 3 step one or the Gold glass and NXT ranges, the Autoglym twins will out last them all and make you life easier.

 

[Rich]

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[sam_mcn]

Cheers, some good info here for a novice like me! I think I've got some super resin somewhere in the garage too . What should I apply the resin and the extra gloss with? a microfibre cloth?

Also, my seat belts are filthy, what would be a good product to get these cleaned up with?
Thanks for help.

 

[Rich]

Apply the SRP with a foam hand pad, remove with a microfiber.

Seat belts depend on how dirty they are, Autoglym interior shampoo may sort them or you may need to look at something like Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner.

 

[sam_mcn]

Rich, is the extra gloss applied in the same way as the SRP?

Put a shopping list together:

Poorboy’s super slick & suds
Meguiars Quick Clay kit
Autoglym Super Resin Polish
Autoglym Extra Gloss

Meguiars Lambswool Wash mitt (for paintwork)
Meguiars Deep pile microfibre Wash mitt (for wheels)
Poorboy’s waffle weave towel
Couple of foam applicator pads
Meguiars microfibre cloth
Couple of buckets

Probably come to about £70 (some of it comes as a kit from Polished Bliss)

Might add to that some stainless steel exhuast polish (for the protruding Janspeed) and interior shampoo/cleaner.

That should get me started shouldn't it? How long should I spend doing the clay part?

 

[Rich]

The EGP is applied with a foam hand pad aswell.

I use the SRP a panel at at time and remove.

The EGP needs to cure on the car, so I apply it to all the panels, leave it 45 - 60 mins and then remove.

 

[medici999]

whats egp??

 

[Rich]

Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection - a paint Sealant

 

[riz]

EGP is good but u may want to look at jeffs acrylic trigger or chem guys m seal i think its a bit easier than EGP and jeffs is a spray so will reduce ur worktime by a bit. EGP very nice results but to get most of it it takes a bit of time.

id also get some chem guys synthetic detailer to aid drying also to remove wax when buffing. Also there new blitz spray sealant for a top up post wash, (see my reflections post) that is the blitz and i havent waxd it for 2-3/12

with the clay spend time till its smooth but make sure u keep looking at the clay to check ur not rubbind dirt on ur paintwork either nead it out or pick it out and manipulate it a bit so its warmish not rock hard like off cheese.

 

[riz]

oh yeah u need a wax on that list, i just got chem guys 50/50 but before i used there XXX or p21

 

[Rich]

EGP is great as it easy to get without mail ordering. Jeffs AGT would get my vote if you do fancy mail ordering. Not a fan of M-seal it just does not last like the EGP and Jeffs and it not that great in the looks department.

As your ordering from Rich @ Polished Bliss I would grab some Jeffs Sealant.

 

[sam_mcn]

Ok, so will replace the EGP for Jeffs Sealant. Can't see it at Polished Bliss though...can anyone post a link?
Riz mentions some wax but doesn't the SRP replace the wax by producing similar results?

 

[Rich]

SRP is a polish/ paint cleaner that leaves some protection, still needs sealant and/or wax over it.

JEFFS Werkstatt Acrylic Jett Trigger Sealant - http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/pb214protect.html

 

[riz]

sealant and wax over the polish as rich says and top the wax up every 3/52 dpending on weather and it will look nice,