hifilover1979
Bigger than you...
Yup
The Car cleaning section , Please join in
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ks.234
Half way to Infinity
I thought washing up liquid had salt, which is bad for paintwork?
PhilofCas
pfm Member
For me currently it's:
Nilfisk power washer; Autobrite Snow Foam cannons
Autoglym (AG) Polar Blast Snow foam
AG Polar Wash or Ultimate Shampoo
AG Polar Seal or Chemical Guys 'Insta Wax' - this is more of a spring/summer finish, Polar Seal over the Autumn & Winter months
I use either a decent microfibre towel or a lambs wool mitt to wash the car; 2 buckets usually, but always have a grit guard in any bucket I use
The car gets towel dried with The Chemical Guys 'Woolly Mammoth' towel and the alloys/tyres dried with a normal drying towel (such as one of the Megs one or standard ones from Amazon)
I use AG Magma to clean the wheels and de-iron/tar the lower quarters of the cars; AG Tar Remover for the stubborn spots (silver cars, so it stands out a mile)
The alloys get cleaned with the Chemical Guys Red Rocket wheel brush and whichever soap I'm using; they'll get removed every other month for a full clean and wax; the wheel arches cleaned/scrubbed with a stiff brush and then treated with AG Rubber & Vinyl Care (works well IMO)
The interiors are simply hoovered; surfaces treated with AG Rubber/Vinyl care and a microfibre towel. All door seals are treated with Gummi Pflege regularly: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004B8GTQG/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
Engine bays get power washed, dried and treated with AG Rubber/Vinyl care again; works well and lasts well
As for the glass; that gets treated with wither Dodo Juice 'Clearly Menthol' or AGs 'Fast Glass'
That's about it really; I'm not a detailer, so I don't do DA polishing etc. I do have an orbital polisher, but rarely use it as don't trust myself and our cars are silver, so they hide any marks very well
Then what do you do with the 3 days of the year you’ve got left after you’ve done all that
(Can’t fault you actually, well done!)
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gintonic
50 shades of grey pussy cats
Then what do you do with the 3 days of the year you’ve got left after you’ve done all that
(Can’t fault you actually, well done!)
Snow foam, leave for 5 mins and jet wash off
Autoglym shampoo in one bucket of arm water, second bucket of warm water. Lambswool mitt and use two bucket transfer method to help prevent grit on the paintwork.
Then rinse off with hose via a de-ionising vessel - this removes all the particulates from the water so you don't need to leather off, you just get clean shiny paintwork once it dries.
Once a year a full detail (clay, cut, three polishes with a MOP polisher).
The DI vessel is a brilliant thing, link here: https://www.daqua.co.uk/divessels.htm
Autoglym shampoo in one bucket of arm water, second bucket of warm water. Lambswool mitt and use two bucket transfer method to help prevent grit on the paintwork.
Then rinse off with hose via a de-ionising vessel - this removes all the particulates from the water so you don't need to leather off, you just get clean shiny paintwork once it dries.
Once a year a full detail (clay, cut, three polishes with a MOP polisher).
The DI vessel is a brilliant thing, link here: https://www.daqua.co.uk/divessels.htm
Couldn't give a stuff about the paint as it's only a work van, but I'm a bit OCD about glass and mirrors, being one of the rare folks that uses them these days I like to keep them spotless.
Invisible Glass is what I use for that, I've tried all sorts over the years including all the usual rubbish old wives tales/tricks and this seems to be about the best of them.
Invisible Glass is what I use for that, I've tried all sorts over the years including all the usual rubbish old wives tales/tricks and this seems to be about the best of them.
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Rack Kit
pfm Member
garyi
leave blank
well I am pretty sure what ever is thrown up from the road is far worse. And to be honest I couldn’t care less I have never noticed any degrading of paint work from washing it in 25 years of owning cars.
I suspect just like audio, it’s a convenient way to sell expensive products to blokes
sean99
pfm Member
still better than chucking stuff in the landfill. If I don’t need something someone else should get some use gtt try on it even if that means reselling it.
If you look at some older cars the top coat can wear on angles when washed too often; i've got a 28 year old car with perfect paintwork.
Newer car gets washed in September in the two year service.
Suffolk Tony
Aim low, achieve your goals, avoid disappointment.
It would be nice to have a decent non-stick coating on car paintwork. Things like ceramic treatment are very expensive, and don't seem that good at stopping cars from getting dirty. A BMW Z4 I bought from a local dealer had some sort of plasticky coating that did work extremely well, just a quick hose down kept it clean. I never found out what this stuff was, and the only sign it was there were a couple of small runs near the headlights. I showed it to a couple of my fellow forum members, and folk at the garage, but no one had a clue what it was.
venton
pfm Member
Snow foam lance with snow foam/wax mix in. Spray on dry car, leave 5 mins, jet wash off. Put another capful of snowfoam in bucket of hot water and whizz round with brush dipped in water. Final spray with hose. Not fool proof in terms of grit but I don't really care, the cars are always worth f all when I trade them in anyway.
Dave H.
Revolutionary relativist
I used to have a much more involved routine, was even a member of Detailing World at one time. Bilt Hamber, Carlack, Collinite, Poorboys etc. I used to enjoy it.
But more recently it’s been something like the above method, followed with AG Aqua Wax every couple of weeks.
Until the pandemic, that is. Living in a flat, with all my car stuff in my shielding parents’ garage (as much as anything else, going round there to wash the car provided a good excuse/reason to visit regularly), I’ve hardly cleaned the car at all since March.
Think maybe when such things are possible again, I’ll get a local detailer to give it the once over in celebration of the return of normality. If that ever happens.
manicatel
pfm Member
Used to spend hours, plus a fair £££ on all the gear. Expensive wax, polish etc etc.
Nowadays, my cars are parked on our driveway, not garaged as they used to be.
So it’s a bit soul destroying to spend ages on cleaning the car only to have it rain or whatever the next day.
Now I just use the Autoglym Polar 3 stage stuff. A snow foam, wash & then wax applied using a power wash. I bought 3 snow foam guns, one for each product. It works pretty well, it’s quick, & with minimal effort. Not as thorough as hours spent on detailing, but I want a pretty clean car for frequent use, not a garage queen.
Nowadays, my cars are parked on our driveway, not garaged as they used to be.
So it’s a bit soul destroying to spend ages on cleaning the car only to have it rain or whatever the next day.
Now I just use the Autoglym Polar 3 stage stuff. A snow foam, wash & then wax applied using a power wash. I bought 3 snow foam guns, one for each product. It works pretty well, it’s quick, & with minimal effort. Not as thorough as hours spent on detailing, but I want a pretty clean car for frequent use, not a garage queen.
TheDecameron
Unicorns fart glitter.
Any recommendations for generic substitutes and domestic alternatives to top car branded cleaners?
hifilover1979
Bigger than you...
Just stick with Autoglym IMO
Nero
Re: Tired
Didn't you know it always rains the day after washing a car? They feed that into the Met Office forecast computer.
manicatel
pfm Member
Yea, the AG stuff isn’t that expensive, it’s made for cars.
There is other AG stuff which are equivalent to the usual products but are bought in bulk, designed for professional use.
If that’s too expensive, I guess Turtlewax, or Halfords own brand stuff will still do the job.
Washing up liquid or other domestic products probably wouldn’t do as good a job & also probably cost a similar amount.
A lot of the local drive-in car washes use some pretty caustic stuff, which is why a lot of car wheels look so scabby. Once there is a crack in the alloy finish, this stuff gets underneath it & eats it away.
There is other AG stuff which are equivalent to the usual products but are bought in bulk, designed for professional use.
If that’s too expensive, I guess Turtlewax, or Halfords own brand stuff will still do the job.
Washing up liquid or other domestic products probably wouldn’t do as good a job & also probably cost a similar amount.
A lot of the local drive-in car washes use some pretty caustic stuff, which is why a lot of car wheels look so scabby. Once there is a crack in the alloy finish, this stuff gets underneath it & eats it away.