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StevieDavison
11-09-2007, 03:35 PM
Cleaning the car

Products + Tools

Carplan Car Show and Shine Shampoo – ASDA
Any car shampoo will do but I tend to find this stuff is cheap and comes in plentiful bottles

T-Cut – Hallfords
Good old T-Cut we all use it for those darn difficult bug splatters &Tar ect..

Asda Polish – ASDA £1.65
Its not about the polish its about the application

Carplan Easy on easy off wax – ASDA
Its nice and easy and does the job

Chrome Cooker Cleaner
Does the job on the exhaust tip

Kitchen Worktop Cleaner
Don’t you just hate brake dust

Autoglym Bumper Polish
Does what it says on the tin .. or bottle should I say

Autoglym Glass Polish
Glass Polish obscure looking stuff works really well though

Black in a Flash – ASDA
This stuff is legendary .. well for a couple of days after application

Toothbrush
Hmm now what do I need one of these ?

Rag..
Anything old and warn .. Engine cleaning ..

Towel
Drying and wax/polish removal

Masking Tape
For masking all the trim before bringing out the wax and polish

Bucket , Sponge , Drying Blade , Hosepipe
Nearly forgot the most important there .. whoops .


Right no we have got passed the extensive list of cleaning products I shall explain my step to step guide for car cleaning .


The Initial Clean

Firstly I get the hosepipe out and go around the car removing all of the loose grime that has built up since I last washed my car. I tend to wash the car once or twice a week .This makes it a lot easier to clean and leave’s less work when I give it a proper good clean before shows and meetings. Take care to clean not only the panels of the car but under the wheel arches and the underside of the car trying to remove all silt and salt in the winter especially which will help prolong the car body’s life .

Now is when I will spray some kitchen worktop cleaner on the wheels to help soften some of the brake dust stuck to your wheels.

I will then fill a bucket with an ample amount of car shampoo and hot water. I find the hotter the water the better. There is no need in going overboard on the shampoo however as you wont be able to see were your cleaning through all the suds. I tend to wash starting from the roof working down the car with a large sponge a hard sponge if possible. After sufficiently cleaning all the panels I move onto wiping the wheels down and attempting to clean them as well as possible with the sponge not paying too much attention to detail. Wheel cleaning will come further on in the process.

It is now time to rinse the whole car down with the hose one more time to remove all the suds and dirt you have losend when washing with the sponge. I will then quickly get my blade and dry the roof windows bonnet and side panels. Then grab a clean towel and quickly dry all of the panels to remove any water marks before progressing to the next stage of the process.

Tar / Sap / Baked Fly Removal / Slight Scratching

This process can become rather annoying at times especially with myself having a white car you can see any impurities on the paintwork easily so through cleaning should be done .
I tend to work panel by panel removing every impurity which at times can take up to two hours but if you want a showroom quality you have to knuckle down and get scrubbing .

I use TCUT for this application which seams to work well.

Once removing all the tar with a lint free cloth and TCUT it is time to go around the car and check that you have rubbed all of the TCUT off as I always tend to miss some .. It will leave a green mist on the surface of the paintwork which has a granular feel to it . This will not help at all when polishing your car .

Polishing

I always prepare my car for a polish by masking all of the trim as it saves the job of cleaning it when you are finished .. I normally just use some masking tape which will do the job sufficiently and wont be difficult to remove once the polishing/ waxing process is complete .

I have used many variations of polishes from expensive £40 stuff online from America to £1.65 stuff from Asda which I used on my last few applications. To be honest the change in paintwork is that slight that id go for the cheaper stuff.

I start by working on each individual panel and apply the polish in a non uniform motion and I feel the paintwork . When you start the paintwork will have a slight granular feel to it and your aim is to make it feel as smooth as possible. This is why it is easier to work in 3-4inch patches. Yes it will take a while but once you have finished you will not be disappointed .I rub wax over each panel speratly as if you rub it over the whole car it will tend to stick and bond to the car and become a pain to remove. Take care when doing this and use a lint free cloth to apply the wax rubbing with 2 fingers rather than the parm of your hand. I normally remove the wax with a towel as this speeds the process up . After doing this process to your whole car your paintwork will look extremely shinny and should give you something to be proud of .

This application can take up to 4-5 hours if the paintwork on the car is poor remember keep rubbing until the granular feel changes into a smooth surface . It wont take this long if you polish quarterly I would say 2-3 hours as the paintwork should already be in a good condition.

Now you wonder why did he have a toothbrush in his equipment list? This is for the gaps between trims and door panels all the seems on the car … they tend to fill with polish/ wax so I find a hard toothbrush removes this well.


Waxing

I use Carplan easy on easy off wax as it does what it says on the tin. If you pay attention to detail when polishing to produce the shine the wax mearly protects this shine for a prolonged period. I apply the wax with a sponge in a thin coat and leave to dry to a haze. I tend to work in lines with the panels and the shape of the car to produce less marking. I will also wax each panel individually as if you leave it on for too long it will become difficult to remove . Use the wax sparingly as the more you put on the more difficult it will be to remove. I will also use the toothbrush to remove any wax form the seems in the car.

Once you have completed waxing you can remove the masking tape from any trim / window surrounds

Window Clean

I use AutoGlym Glass Polish when cleaning my windows .. It I s weird textured green liquid that does wonders and creates a superb shine to the windows on your car . I tend to use a set of two lint fee cloths .. 1 to rub on and 1 to rub off .. You will be surprised by the shine this stuff creates . Superb fro removing even the tougthest grime on glass surfaces .

Black Trim / Tyres

On a quarterly basis I use Autoglm Bumper Shine which works very effectively but can be a long tiring process after waxing and polishing your car . It brings the bumpers back to black and will last for a considerably long period of time . This is much like applying a wax however rubbing into the bu,pers with a cloth..

Personally I use Black in a flash most times when I wash my car . This comes in a aerosole can and takes 5 mins to apply if that .. It will bring all trim to a glossy shine and last 3-5 days which is ideal iff you wash your car on a regular occasion ..

Black in a flash also blackens tyre walls very efectivly giving that just out of the showroom look .

Exhaust tip / Chrome Trim

I use a Chrome Cooker cleaner for these to remove all watermarks and give a shinny mirror finnish

EngineBay

Many people use lotts of different products for cleaning these engine bays . I find just a bit of hard work does the job ..
A Bucket of soapy water should be used taking care to sufficiently ring the sponge out before going near anything mechanical .
I tend to strip the engine down slightly removing the airbox the washer reservoir and some piping to make life easier getting into tricky areas ..
I will firstly wipe down with a damp soapy sponge once or twice to remove most grime. I then use a Rag to remove almost all of the dirt from around the bay. I sufficiently dry the bay with a fresh towel to bring it to a gloss finish. I would advise waxing before a sale of the car as a clean engine bay shows you have a well running car .

Whilst the parts are removed form the engine I normally laquer the engine in a clear engine laquer or a colour coded one the the vehicle . I tend to think that dark colours look better however as they are easier to clean . Some people pain tthere rocker covers but I am not a fan of this .
Now its time to put it back together and sit back and look at the job you have just complete .

Believe you me if you have done it right your hands will be sore and you will want to go to sleep but your car will be immaculate and you will have something to be proud of

That’s my guide to cleaning your car … Extensive yes but needed if you want that showroom appearance even in a car that is 15-20 years old. I can park my L reg VW against a brand new car and see a much better paint quality .. Its down to hard work and grafting .. Its worth it though it really is .

Seat til I die
23-09-2007, 02:15 PM
*grabs coat, gets in car, goes to shop to buy chrome cooker cleaner in order to make tailpipe shiny :D

valet magic
08-10-2007, 11:33 PM
For using T-CUT you should be shot

chrisvrscrx
09-10-2007, 12:42 AM
For using T-CUT you should be shot

Why is it so bad??

Ben
14-10-2007, 03:13 PM
t cut actually wears away the paint.

Use enough of it and you'll be down to bare metal.

RickT
18-11-2007, 02:24 AM
I like the in depth review using basic products..

Rick

DEBBIE.G
24-11-2007, 09:39 PM
You should have a look at detailing world to see how you really should clean your car.
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/index.php
I am on there as lady penelope

Auto-Brite
04-12-2007, 12:31 PM
If there is anybody who wishes to ask me any advice/problems about detailing/valeting or products please contact me on 01782 744115 or 07951 576174

Mark @ Autobrite:p:beerchug:

hongkongstuey
01-08-2008, 03:36 PM
i thought t-cut was only effective on non metallic cars, i know it wears the paint away to smoothen up scratches etc but on metallic you'd just be working on laquer wouldnt you?

i used clay on my last car, which was a way smaller car and that took a few hours, so im trying to get a dry dull day in which to do my passat, a lot bigger panels to get clean, but it is very worth it!! even after i had washed my old car it showed up every scratch and swirl in the paint, it didnt look clean!! so i clayed it and before i polished it i took a few photos, i will try and find them and post them, it is the best thing you can do in my opinion if you want to bring your car a 'back to new shine'

first picture is after wash with 2 bucket shampoo
second is bare paint after clay
third is polished

Eshrules
04-08-2008, 09:11 AM
t cut actually wears away the paint.

Use enough of it and you'll be down to bare metal.

an extreme example, but a point well made nonetheless.

T-Cut, whilst popular, actually oxidises the paint, so although the finish may be brilliant for a few weeks/months, it'll fade your paint, if you have a red car, you better pray to the paint gods for forgiveness, or you will surely be doomed to pinkiness forever. :Blush2:

StevieDavison
04-08-2008, 09:17 AM
Since writing this report i have been researching other methods and looks like i wasnt cleaning my car the "correct" way .

I have recently purchased a new car which had exhausted paintwork ..
To revive the paintwork to a glass like finnish form a dull matt white i used a couple of new products to myself ..

I used G3 which is a cutting compound over the whole car . Basically t-Cut but less abrasive . This took a thin layer off the top of the paintwork which had oxidised . The new car being a saloon took a fair bit of time .. 8 hours infact to do properly . I worked on the car in my unit under light .

I then used a polish i got from my local paint suppliers called Encore it is also a very slight abrasive which is used for removing aorange peel tecture from surfaces and other such light imperfections . This worked very well and got the paintwork gleaming and was very smooth to the touch .

I sealed the paintwork with Zymol wax which i find is good but takes a while to apply but really does give the paintwork a good shine .

Then tthere was a final coat of meguires tech wax that deeped the colour making the paintwork look almost wet .

I have also found another product . PBA vinyle die .. I use this for all black trim . I would advise it to anyone as its cheap due the the fact that its a non branded product and is so much better than any meguires / auto glym product i ahve used before last's twice as long and gives a rich glossy shine to all black plastic trim .

Steven

The results ..
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc112/steviedavison/ShinnyLoon.jpg

The car as it stands now ..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc112/steviedavison/Side-1.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc112/steviedavison/Pimp.jpg

hongkongstuey
05-08-2008, 03:03 PM
there arent many polos i could say i like after driving a totally worn out harlequin as a courtesy car, but your car looks very nice, stance is spot on and those wheels, tasty!! oh yeah and paint looks ace too

sean37
29-11-2010, 08:58 PM
i use something called showroom shine bt greased lightning,
no need to wash car firts it breaks down dirt
doesnt scratch paint, protects paint
so ,uch easier than washing and polishing,
may be woth a try,
just wipe on with 1 cloth
let it dry then wipe off with another cloth,
recomend using micro fibre cloth

zim_boy92
06-04-2011, 10:27 AM
t cut actually wears away the paint.

Use enough of it and you'll be down to bare metal.


i agree used it once never again. i use farcela compound.