My Detailing Plans - Any Tips?

[Rishi]

I work every other saturday & it's quiet so get the chance to wash my car, we also have a huge Karcher pressure washer at my work so i might aswell make good use of it, i really want to avoid swirl marks so im thinking to get myself a snowfoam lance/snowfoam & to first use that, then use a decent shampoo & finish off drying with a decent microfibre or chamois.

Im only looking to wax it once in a blue moon, so any recommendations on what would be the best shampoo to use to give the paint a bit of protection at the same time are welcome.

Also when i do wax it what should i use (i have an albi blue), i hear about wax, polish, clays etc & have absolutley no clue what to use & when... i think its polish then wax, but i'd appreciate some advice on it.

I'm fairly familiar with autoglyms range if that makes a difference, on my old black 1.6 id use their bodywork shampoo & then ultra deep shine afterwards.

Right now i'm thinking to use magifoam, then autoglyms bodywork shampoo, then super resin polish, then finish off with high gloss protection if im doing a full clean, if not a full clean then miss out the resin polish/high gloss protection.

Cheers!

.

 

[Ed...]

So what do u want to know?

 

[Rishi]

Whether what i have planned is a good idea, whether anyone has any better recommendations/tips?

 

[BenW]

I personally don't think snow foam is all that, loads of people love it though so all down to personal preference.

If you want a shampoo that will put down some wax too then I'd maybe go for some meguiars gold class, not bad shampoo and does definitely leave some wax on the paint.

Dry the car off with a plush drying towel, don't use a chamios.

SRP is a good product for polishing by hand and I'd recommend it. Then if you want to wax the car occasionally then a durable wax would be best, I'd suggest some collinite 476s which can last up to about 6 months, you won't get much better than that.

 

[Rishi]

Cool i'll go with a good microfibre towel for drying for sure

I like the idea of the snowfoam for getting some dirt off prewash, sometimes a good blast with a pressure washer gets some dirt off anyway but i figure the snowfoam can't hurt so why not... it could also be good for a quick lazy wash - snowfoam, rinse w/pressure washer & quick dry could be enough for an almost clean car.

I remember my lazy days of just pressure washing off all the dirt & not even bothering with shampoo!

Thanks for the advice

 

[Willis]

SnowFoam is good stuff but it's not the supercleaner some would make it out to be. It does take the edge off the grime and that in itself has to help reduce the chances of you rubbing grit into your paint but it's just a starting block really.

I usually do something along the lines of;

1. SnowFoam (straight onto dirty car, no rinse beforehand)
2. Let SF sit for a few minutes and then blast it off.
3. Bilberry Juice the wheels and give them a good scrub, blast if off.
4. Remove any tar spots, then wash using Two Bucket Method with a nice mild shampoo (I swear by Sonus) and a Lambswool wash mitt, then blast it off.
5. Dry car with Microfibre drying towel(s).
6. Polish (Sonus SFX-1, or any other ''2500 Grit' polsih, removes most swirls and random scratches).
7. Polish (Sonus SFX-2, or any other ''1500 Grit'' polish, removes swirls and scratches a bit more).
8. Filler (Black Hole or Sonus SFX-3 but Auto Glym SRP is great too).
9. Wax (I like Valet Pro Armetis, but I've used Collonite Marque d'Elegance and that was good too).
10. Have a brew and admire what you've done.

I do that every 4 months. The rest of the time I just use some SnowFoam and the Two Bucket Method to keep on top of things and keep the wheels clean with Bilberry Juice. I probably wash her every 2 weeks, the wax lasts longer and I don't really see the need to wash her EVERY week. It probably does more harm than good and I'd rather go out for a drive anyway.

Check out www.cleanyourcar.co.uk if you haven't already. Very good shop and very friendly forum.

 

[Willis]

With polishing as well, use as LITTLE as possible. Do you use a DA/Rotary or do you apply with a cloth? Also, I apply my wax by HAND, i.e; I don't use a cloth. I rub the wax between my hands and smooth it onto the bodywork. It goes on really easily as it's warm and it sets very well, nice even spread and not too thick so it settles quickly and is easy to rub off. It sounds ood, but seriously give it a try.

This is a shot (Drivers Door) from Friday after I'd used Sonus SFX-1 and Sonus SFX-2 and before I applied any fillers/sealant or wax;

 

[Rishi]

Thats nuts i can barely tell what color the car is!

Im going to apply the polish by microfibre cloth and instead of circling im going to go along the body work like the air would pass over it, i only want to polish/wax it once maybe twice a year as i don't really trust rubbing stuff on paintwork, that's what appeals to me about doing snowfoam...

Im gonna go for the billberry wheel cleaner for sure, nice one

 

[Willis]

Hahaha, cheers!!!

She's Deep Black, or at the moment she's more of a mirror sort of colour.

I apply the wax like that, following the contours of the car. I use a DA now for polishing but microfibre is fine and some people prefer it. Have a look at foam applicators too, they're a little harsher than microfibre so they help to work the polish a bit more... But if they get to dry then they can also help to add swirls & scratches!!!

Clay, I missed that bit before in your original post. Clay is great and it's surprsing what it'll pick up when you think your car is clean and it turns out it actually isn't!!! It helps to pick up dirt/grit out of scratches and also remove any little bits of bug or tar that you can hardly see. But, again, if it's rushed or you don't fold the Clay every few minutes then you can end up making things worse. Most things are trial and error I've found!!!

You'll still need to wash with a mitt & bucket after using SnowFoam but it does help to loosen things up.

 

[PB.200]

With snowfoam it's genrally the better then wax the better the snowfoam works.

 

[Paul]

Yeah I would agrees there Phil, good wax means there is nothing for the dirt to cling to and falls off easier.

TBH detailing is like a lot of things - it is all about the prep work. You could run the car through a car wash and apply a £5k wax, it would look awful. Whereas a decent shampoo, clay, polish could cost £50 for some mid-range products and give a much better look. Wax is really just for protection and adds very little to the look of the car. That 'wet look' or 'deep shine' comes from removing everything from the paintwork that shouldn't be there and then giving it a good polish.

 

[BenW]

If you want the car to stay cleaner between washes then you'd be better off with a sealant rather than a wax

 

[Rishi]

First wash today!!! Pics to follow...

Gonna use a powerful karcher washer (its a MONSTER!) to get some loose dirt off, then 2 bucket method, one bucket with warm water & autoglym shampoo/conditioner, one cold bucket for rinsing. Then got a meguiars water magnet & halfords cheap imitation of it (microfibre drying towel) to dry it off. Also got some autoglym SRP & Xtra Gloss Protection but might not use em today... will use the autoglym wheel cleaner though to get my anthracites back on track/less black

Im hoping my drying towels are good, the halfords one feels a bit rough tbh, just gonna use it lightly...

 

[Mike]

Good luck with it!

Would you like my sign??

 

[Rishi]

My phone batterys so low it wont let me take pics!!!

 

[Roy]

get yourself some Uber drying towels mate and patt dry not wipe:thumbup1:

 

[Willis]

get yourself some Uber drying towels mate and patt dry not wipe:thumbup1:

+1.

I have a lot of love for Sonus stuff.

 

[Rishi]

get yourself some Uber drying towels mate and patt dry not wipe:thumbup1:

Cheers, they look good, i think a couple is a good idea & ive decided to wash them after each dry as i like to go round door sills with em aswell

 

[Roy]

just ordering me another 1
dont tell the misses though lol

 

[Liambo-201]

It becomes an addiction huh?

I just drove up to Polished Bliss, bigggg mistake