advertisement


The Car cleaning section , Please join in

If it's not one of your hobbies then I can well imagine it. How many of the car cleaners on here spend similar time and effort on cleaning the house? I know that I don't, it's tidy and I run a Hoover round, but recently I've hired a proper cleaner and noticed how much better it looks when someone spends an hour cleaning the kitchen over my 10 minutes. But am I spending an hour on this? Jog on. Likewise on the car, if it goes beyond pipe side, sponge and a bucket, rinse, walk away, 10 minutes, it's generally not happening.

Depends on who you are and what you’re like then…

I’ll spend hours cleaning the house/cleaning the fire out, sorting outside etc… Must be my OCD

Same with our cars; they’re generally always clean, especially inside

I’m constantly busy with my business too & training, but I manage my time so these things can get done…

I’m at home, the wife’s not, so that’s how it is in this house hold :)

I also personally feel that those that find car washing and similar ‘too much like hard work’ are lazy… Because it’s really not that hard work… Simply my opinion…
 
When did car cleaning become such a "thing" ? Is it recent? I didn't think I lead that sheltered a life but it seems to have passed me by - car cleaning I mean, not life :)

it was a growing thing (outside of the strange concours polishers) back in 2003.

The massive explosion in potion production with esoteric properties and "nano" sh!t is a bit like buying hifi cables.....but it is a hobby that appeals to many, that appears to have a huge rabbit hole to dive into.

Respect to people who want to devote their time to keeping things clean and tidy; their cars, homes and themselves.....
 
I’ll spend hours cleaning the house/cleaning the fire out, sorting outside etc… Must be my OCD

hoover out once every 2 weeks (no more than 30 mins), dusting maybe once every 3 months.... windows maybe every two years.....garden - never
 
When did car cleaning become such a "thing" ? Is it recent? I didn't think I lead that sheltered a life but it seems to have passed me by - car cleaning I mean, not life :)

Like everything, if there's something to separate people from their disposable income, some enterprising soul will find it and justify why you're not doing things properly if you don't buy their eye-wateringly expensive Veblen goods.
 
AG Polar Blast, Bilt Hamber, Autobrite Magifoam, Koch Chemie, Pro Kleen, Dodo Juice…

Too many choices! I need someone to tell me which one is best:D

On the sub- thread of 'can't be arsed to clean whatever' - I was brought up to value and look after my stuff. A nice aside to this is usually if you do look after stuff, whether yours or not, its residual value doesn't prematurely diminish... and it can save you money in the long term. All IMHO of course.

Now, dare I wash my motors today bearing in mind the real feel temp is just above freezing...
 
Too many choices! I need someone to tell me which one is best:D

On the sub- thread of 'can't be arsed to clean whatever' - I was brought up to value and look after my stuff. A nice aside to this is usually if you do look after stuff, whether yours or not, its residual value doesn't prematurely diminish... and it can save you money in the long term. All IMHO of course.

Now, dare I wash my motors today bearing in mind the real feel temp is just above freezing...

Personally I’m going for a small bottle of Autobrite’s Magifoam and a bottle of Dodo Juice snow foam next; can do some ‘side by side’ washes then and see how each fairs…

The Koch Chemie stuff gets really good reviews, but it’s bloody expensive IMO

But the Bilt Hamber touch less interests me too, so will see how I go this afternoon when I nip to ‘The Detailing Shack’ that’s local to me here in Preston :)

And no; not washing mine today, it’s still -1.5ºC here and it was a sod to defrost then wife’s Racing Jazz, inside and out :D
 
On the sub- thread of 'can't be arsed to clean whatever' - I was brought up to value and look after my stuff. A nice aside to this is usually if you do look after stuff, whether yours or not, its residual value doesn't prematurely diminish... and it can save you money in the long term. All IMHO of course.

In all my years of buying and selling cars, I have never been in a situation where money has been lost because the car hadn't been meguiared up the yin-yang. It would have to be a very old car indeed for not cleaning to have caused bodywork issues that affect value and by that age, it's a few quid. Clean the car by all means but spending hours of time in some ritual of products is about taking you to your happy place, not preserving the value of your car.
 
Clean the car by all means but spending hours of time in some ritual of products is about taking you to your happy place, not preserving the value of your car.

Mmm keeping something clean and tidy will always mean I'm less stressed when moving it on, and that I'm in a much better bargaining position financially, too. But I do get your point. I just don't totally agree with it.
 
Mmm keeping something clean and tidy will always mean I'm less stressed when moving it on, and that I'm in a much better bargaining position financially, too. But I do get your point. I just don't totally agree with it.

In agreement

For me, because I’ll only ever buy the cars I do from fellow enthusiasts via the car forums I’m on etc; knowing a car has been mechanically cared for & maintained, as well as it being washed & looked after in that sense, means a lot to me and that’s why I do exactly that to my cars

Some folk will get it, others won’t etc…

Horses for courses
 
Personally I’m going for a small bottle of Autobrite’s Magifoam and a bottle of Dodo Juice snow foam next; can do some ‘side by side’ washes then and see how each fairs…

The Koch Chemie stuff gets really good reviews, but it’s bloody expensive IMO

But the Bilt Hamber touch less interests me too, so will see how I go this afternoon when I nip to ‘The Detailing Shack’ that’s local to me here in Preston :)

And no; not washing mine today, it’s still -1.5ºC here and it was a sod to defrost then wife’s Racing Jazz, inside and out :D
I've invested in 5 litres of the Jenny chem Cherry Blizzard as it's as good as the top price stuff and these products are similar chemical compositions bar concentrations. i.e. hence the volume you place in the snow foam lance varies - as the car is sparkling afterwards then I consider it £15 well spent as it should last years!
 
Mmm keeping something clean and tidy will always mean I'm less stressed when moving it on, and that I'm in a much better bargaining position financially, too. But I do get your point. I just don't totally agree with it.

In agreement

For me, because I’ll only ever buy the cars I do from fellow enthusiasts via the car forums I’m on etc; knowing a car has been mechanically cared for & maintained, as well as it being washed & looked after in that sense, means a lot to me and that’s why I do exactly that to my cars

Some folk will get it, others won’t etc…

Horses for courses

I get it. Cleanliness of a car is something to factor in when considering if it's a good one, but bodywork condition (dings, rust, chips), mechanical condition are more important and a clean car does not automatically mean a mechanically good car. A clean / shiny car is a good way to sway a prospective buyer, hence why people always take pics of their car just after a wash to go on sales / auction sites (or PFM ;)). Less honourable dealers do a £200 clean, polish, jetwash the engine bay, 'wembley turf' the carpet and go mad with the back to black and that ***t that smells of cherry (the same used in rubbish recycling centres BTW) as a cheaper alternative to actually fixing a car. You can get the 17-year old on minimum wages to do that, anything else needs a mechanic and that costs money.

But you know all that. :)
 
on my leases when i have returned the car which i always - it is always dirty. On my last 5 cars (including the current one) - the dealer has not cared about the odd ding. On the car am about to return i have a noticeable bumper scuff/graze and a crack to the front splitter (thanks spred bump) - they are not bothered in the slightest. In fact they are giving me the max financial allowance for the lease (due to the car going up in value) towards my next one, plus some cash-back, and the repayments for the next are lower than the existing. IME dirty doesnt make any difference on my lease returns.
 
Fair enough. My car isn’t leased. It’s my own so I’m ‘invested’ in it, so to speak.

It doesn’t matter, really. In the great scheme of things we all have different standards regarding all sorts of things. It’s what makes us different and unique.

Just been to Detailing Shack (expensive visit) :D

Bought KKD snow foam (il bottle as a trial but it’s highly recommended); already have Autobrite car shampoo. Bought Koch Chemie F601 cutting/polish compound too and some 6” cutting pads; so will look to give that a bash on the boot lid and bonnet first with my new to me DA

Bought Gyeon tyre dressing too, as the Chemical Guys one I have is good, but it never dries and flicks everywhere!

Will report back on my findings ;)
 
@AudioAl you'd only need to do a 4 mile round trip to the village and your car would look like that around here, the roads are filthy at the moment and greasy, but that's the winter and rural roads for you.
I always view people who are not prepared to look after their stuff as either lazy or part of the easy come/ easy go sector, doesn't matter if its cars, houses, hifi, etc
 
@AudioAl you'd only need to do a 4 mile round trip to the village and your car would look like that around here, the roads are filthy at the moment and greasy, but that's the winter and rural roads for you.
I always view people who are not prepared to look after their stuff as either lazy or part of the easy come/ easy go sector, doesn't matter if its cars, houses, hifi, etc

Same here , Lots of tractors straight off the fields full of produce and mud
 


advertisement


Back
Top