Best ways to clean your car?

[fitzuk86]

Is it just me...or is cleaning your car manually a real ball ache... untill the other day i relied on the car wash. untill disaster struck and the car wash scratched one of my precious alloys which were uncurbed and in excellent condition apart from this incident!

Ive tried many times cleaning my car manually, and i wash the car clean it etc. look at it and admire how clean it is....go in for a bru returning only to find my car all streaky with dirt!

Trying to resolve the problem. i washed it and immediatly dried the wet area's with a towel. only to find bits of the towel coming off and sticking to the car ...more frustration!

I dont fancy opting for a crap car wash such as morrisons where the wash goes over you...like i stated i much prefered the car wash that pulls you through with the hot wax. but i wont be going thier again. is thier an easier way to clean your car manually. is thier a nack to it ?

[Baz]

best to dry it with one of them leather cloth thingys. best bet would be to wait for Mattwesty to reply or PM high and see what gadgets he uses to get his sparkling smileys/smiley17.gif as i don't relly clean mine, i let the shitty english weather do that job

[fitzuk86]

Yeah but them leather cloth things get soaked really easy and are then useless :<

[adamsax]

Yeah but them leather cloth things get soaked really easy and are then useless :<

I assume you mean a shammy, or a microfibre towel.

Shammys absorb all the water, so after you've washed the car and rinsed it use a CLEAN shammy to dry it (you were probs getting streaks cos you were using a dirty shammy). Ring it out frequently.

I then do the wheels. I use a special cleaning brush and my elbow here as brake dust is a bitch!

Then comes the Wax, with possibly a TCut before the wax goes on. Do as many layers as you like.

Then windows. I use normal Mr. Muscle BUT I rub it in with Newspaper. Trust me, newspaper leaves it streak free!

Then all your detailer, like trim and tyres etc.

I then go over the whole lot with a nice clean dry cloth. This is to remove any overspray from and silicon based products that may have got on the glass, or for any streaks.

Then stand back and admire!

smileys/smiley16.gif

[fitzuk86]

Doesnt Tcut remove your paint ? like to cover up scratches etc ?

whats the best way to wax the car ? mr mayargi style, wax on wax off ?

[adamsax]

Doesnt Tcut remove your paint ? like to cover up scratches etc ?

whats the best way to wax the car ? mr mayargi style, wax on wax off ?

TCUT is a paint restorer and doesn't have to be used often, if at all!

Lol, you can wax like Mr. Miyagi, or there are some waxes which u just spray on and wipe off smileys/smiley16.gif

[barrett]

I could sit there a type for ages here, but I'm not going to. Best bit of
advice is click here (http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/)

Read the gudies on that website and they will teach you everything you
need to know about car cleaning.

[MrBirdPoo]

I use Autoglym. Shampoo it first and sponge it. If really hot dry it a bit. Polish the car, polish the windows.

And Autoglym also have a spray for alloys that I use inbetween.

[dodge]

meguiars 4 me,very gud products,u mite say there expensive,but well worth it,there shammy is £15,but probly the best car product iv ever bought,and it works,halfords av started to sell there range,all i can say is try.

[saxoash]

Is it just me...or is cleaning your car manually a real ball ache... untill the other day i relied on the car wash. untill disaster struck and the car wash scratched one of my precious alloys which were uncurbed and in excellent condition apart from this incident!

Ive tried many times cleaning my car manually, and i wash the car clean it etc. look at it and admire how clean it is....go in for a bru returning only to find my car all streaky with dirt!

Trying to resolve the problem. i washed it and immediatly dried the wet area's with a towel. only to find bits of the towel coming off and sticking to the car ...more frustration!

I dont fancy opting for a crap car wash such as morrisons where the wash goes over you...like i stated i much prefered the car wash that pulls you through with the hot wax. but i wont be going thier again. is thier an easier way to clean your car manually. is thier a nack to it ?

the reason why your car is streaky with dirt after it drys is because u dotn wash it properly, follow these steps:

1) cover car in water using either bucket or hose
2) use a bucket of warm water with car shampoo in and use a sponge to clean the car (this will remove all dirt)
2) rinse of car
3)shammy down car
4) polish car
5) stand back and admire your handy work

[Barry123]

Barrett those guides are tip top man!
nice one for pointing those out.

[saxodan]

I got a halfords car cleaning kit for £19.99!

Has everything in it and leaves it sparkling smileys/smiley4.gif

Dan

[Barry123]

suprised the kit hasnt left your car with no lacquer left.

[saxodan]

suprised the kit hasnt left your car with no lacquer left.

haha!

Why does everyone hate halfords so much?

The cleaning stuff is really good..

Dan

[fitzuk86]

i wouldent trust halfords with my push bike

[oz_borne]

Equipment required:
2 x buckets
2 x washing mitts
4 inch sponge
1 x hose with gun attachment
1 x pressure washer (optional)
1 x shampoo
1 x MF cloth for drying

Process:

Add the recommended amount of shampoo to the bucket and add the required warm water. (adding too much or too little is equally wasteful). Now fill the second bucket with just warm water.

Rinse the car using either a pressure washer or a hose. Try to use a trigger gun if using a hose and rinse the car from roof down. Pay particular attention to the areas that are subject to the highest volumes of contamination (sills, wheel arches etc).

Using the first wash mitt dip the mitt into the first bucket containing the shampoo. Clean ¼ of the roof section, ensuring to work in straight lines. DO NOT scrub, or use circular motions. Once you have completed this section, submerge the mitt into the second bucket and shake to release any dirt/grit. Dip back into the shampoo mixture and clean the next ¼ section. Then rinse in the clear water before moving to next roof section. Continue with this process until the upper half of the car is clean.

Then rinse out the first mitt and leave to dry in a clean place. Using the second mitt, follow the same process as above, and clean the lower sections. Remember to work cleanest areas first and complete dirtiest last. This ensures the shampoo mixture remains as clean as possible. Once all the paintwork is completed, rinse out the second mitt and store. Make sure to know which mitt is upper body panels and lower. Never use the lower panel mitt on upper panels. As time passes you will find the lower panel mitt will need replacing before the upper.

Now rinse the whole car free of shampoo. To do this, either just an open ended hose, or a shower type trigger spray. ‘Water chase’ the water from roof down, following the flow until you reach the lower sills.

Using the first bucket and the 4 inch sponge clean the front alloys/trims and rinse. Empty the bucket contents. Using the second bucket (this will now have sufficient shampoo from rinsing the wash mitts in it, clean the rear wheels, rinse and empty bucket contents.

Fill one bucket with warm water. Using a MF cloth (ideal are Meguiars Water Magnet (£10 ish), dry the car from roof down. If the cloth gets any dirt whatsoever on it, rinse in the bucket and ring dry.

If the MF cloth does become dirty over time, wash in the machine, on 40 degrees, with no softener, powder only.

There ya go

smileys/smiley14.gif

[fitzuk86]

Good news.... Had a go at cleaning it today manually...Used the following technique and its gleaming

*Rinsed car with hose* (got bollocking off some grandad down the street came out and said thiers a hose pipe ban and he's going to report me)

*filled bucket with hot water and car cleaning agent, carnt remember what its called but its just your average car cleaning stuff.

*rinsed car again with hose, after id cleaned each part to stop the soapyness streaking, so like left, right, back and front were done individually with hot water then rinsed then onto the next pannel*

*dried the car with a clean dry sponge obviously leaving some water*

* went over the car with a dry unused shammy removing all the excess water the sponge couldent pick up*

*left to properly dry for 20 mins (had a bru)

* Went over the car Mr miyargi style with turtle wax waxing a pannel at a time then wiping clean*

*Used alloy cleaner on all the alloys*

*back to black all the bumpers and bump strips*

*cleaned inside, hoovered it. then used a mixture of "cockpitshine & Flash Dash" only had a bit left in each bottle but thier pretty much the same thing.*

*new air freasher in*

And thats it...it was gleaming....

Obviously got the typical neighbour coming out while i was admiring the shine "You can do mine next if you want"

they really carnt help it....like terret's

[MartinC1504]

lol, so true about the neighbours Fitz! Every damn time!!

[Clouds_mate]

HaRdCoRe lets bump a masive long thread with a unneed comment ;)

[hesslevtr]

wrong section

[Clouds_mate]

section wasnt created when this thread was ;)

[hesslevtr]

section wasnt created when this thread was ;)

neither was half the forum

[mark16v]

meguiars 4 me,very gud products,u mite say there expensive,but well worth it,there shammy is £15,but probly the best car product iv ever bought,and it works,halfords av started to sell there range,all i can say is try.

I had one of these, lasted 2 weeks then started to fall to bits. Changed it no problem for a Halfords own one, cheaper and 8 months on still in one piece. ;) :detective:

[srcnix]

When I was my car, and what I will be doing this weekend, but slightly quicker version that I did on my last car.

Here is a guide I will be posting (And updating) on srcnix.com:

Materials:
2 buckets
1 wash mitt (Thanks to Dan if he is still up for lending it to me)
1 Nail brush (If you haven't detaling brushes)
Detailing brushes
Shampoo
Clay
Intensive polish
Polish
Sealant
Back to black spray
Window cleaner
German applicator pad
Normal polish and sealant applying pads


The beginning:
Rinse the car with a bucket of warm water and a sponge (Don't actually touch the car with the sponge, use it to throw the warm water over your car). Doing this will loosen the grit form the surface of your body work.

Leave the water to soak for about 10 minutes then move on.


Detailing:
With the detailing brushes and a nail brush go round all the crevices to get rid of all the grit that is trapped.

Places to detail: Windows, sun roof, roof, and the joints of skirts and bumpers.


The wash:
Fill one bucket width warm water and your shampoo and then the other bucket with just warm water..

With a wash mitt or sponge (Note, the sponge will cause swirl marks) wash your car. When ever you go to put your wash mitt back into the sudds bucket wash it in the warm water bucket.

Doing this will prevent grit and dirt being on your wash mitt before it touches your car again.


Drying:
With a chamois leather dry your car and get rid of all water marks. This will also give a nice reflection to your car even before you have clayed, polished and sealed the paint work.

You will need to soak your chamois leather in water and then thoroughly rinse it out.


Clay your baby:
With your clay bar and solution clay your car. Do a panel at a time, you will be able to tell if the clay is working if you run your hand down the clayed panel and it feels as smooth as glass.

Do this to your entire car except black bumpers.


Intensive polish: (Removing light swirl marks and scruff marks)
With your intensive polish go over a panel at a time using the white side of a German applicator pad. Once you have completed one panel go onto the next, once you have applied the polish onto that panel go back and buff of the intensive polish from the previous panel.


Polish -- let's make her shine!
Much like with intensive polishing apply your polish to one panel at a time using an foam applicator pad, leave and buff off. This will help bring out the cars colour and if using decent polish, should leave a good reflection.


Seal your baby:
Like polishing apply the sealant with a foam applicator on a panel at a time, move onto the next panel, apply and then move back onto the previous panel and buff of the residue.

If you use a good sealant you should see a great reflection.


Back to Black bumpers:
Apply your back to black to your bumpers. Do this by spraying the back to black onto a cloth and running over your bumpers. Then simply buff the bumpers to keep the perfect black colour.


Windows:
Pretty simple to do, with a window cleaner simply spray it onto your window and rub off. You'll need to put a little elbow grease into it.

If you haven't a window cleaner a damp cloth to clean your windows and then chamois the windows. It works pretty well but not as reflective.

[hesslevtr]

cant belive you have just wrote all that out

check the date of some of the posts

[srcnix]

I wrote it for srcnix.com anyway -- so will be updating it and posting it on my car blog.

[S9_DAN]

Just take it to your local hand car wash and for £3 you get the hole lot done for you if you cant be arsed to do it yourself !!

[jaybiss]

i find using the albanian at the petrol station your best bet :)

[hesslevtr]

after my recnet incident with washing my car i wont be doing it again

[srcnix]

after my recnet incident with washing my car i wont be doing it again

What happened?

[Polished_Bliss_Detailing]

Good news.... Had a go at cleaning it today manually...Used the following technique and its gleaming

*Rinsed car with hose* (got bollocking off some grandad down the street came out and said thiers a hose pipe ban and he's going to report me)

*filled bucket with hot water and car cleaning agent, carnt remember what its called but its just your average car cleaning stuff.

*rinsed car again with hose, after id cleaned each part to stop the soapyness streaking, so like left, right, back and front were done individually with hot water then rinsed then onto the next pannel*

*dried the car with a clean dry sponge obviously leaving some water*

* went over the car with a dry unused shammy removing all the excess water the sponge couldent pick up*

*left to properly dry for 20 mins (had a bru)

* Went over the car Mr miyargi style with turtle wax waxing a pannel at a time then wiping clean*

*Used alloy cleaner on all the alloys*

*back to black all the bumpers and bump strips*

*cleaned inside, hoovered it. then used a mixture of "cockpitshine & Flash Dash" only had a bit left in each bottle but thier pretty much the same thing.*

*new air freasher in*

And thats it...it was gleaming....

Obviously got the typical neighbour coming out while i was admiring the shine "You can do mine next if you want"

they really carnt help it....like terret's

not bad but a couple of things you need to change are:

1) use the 2 bucket method with wash mitt/s

2)dont use a sponge or chamois to dry your car, a waffle weave towel is far more effective and safer

:)

[srcnix]

not bad but a couple of things you need to change are:

1) use the 2 bucket method with wash mitt/s

2)dont use a sponge or chamois to dry your car, a waffle weave towel is far more effective and safer

:)

Well put PB, but if you haven't a waffle weave towel would you say a chamois leather is better than a sponge?

Also, why not use a chamois?

[Polished_Bliss_Detailing]

if you insist on it then yes the chamois would probably be better than the sponge (they're both as bad as each other to be honest), and i would "pat dry" the car with it as opposed to wiping the car dry.

Chamois' are prone to streaking and more often than not just drag water about the surface along with any tiny dirt particles/dust that may be on the paint surface and therefore causing marring and swirls.

Waffle weave and MF drying towels have thousands of fibres per square cm and have somewhere for the dirt to go instead of being dragged over the surface, basically the same reason for using a wash mitt instead of a sponge to wash the car in the first place :)

whenever i dry a car with a waffle weave i dont have to wring it out once either ;)

[srcnix]

Funny thing, I use the chamois leather to remove water marks and streaking... Works fine for me.

But again, as said before, I wouldn't go questioning your judgment.

[Polished_Bliss_Detailing]

Funny thing, I use the chamois leather to remove water marks and streaking... Works fine for me.


maybe so, but it wont be doing anything to prevent swirling and marring ;)

[Grant]

lol, so true about the neighbours Fitz! Every damn time!!

lol.. so true, funny thing is it's always the same old guy lately lol

[danzman1991]

Use Cold water, stops it streaking..

Edit: Thread made over 2 years ago :P

[rey]

18 months old... smooth

[saunders]

if you insist on it then yes the chamois would probably be better than the sponge (they're both as bad as each other to be honest), and i would "pat dry" the car with it as opposed to wiping the car dry.

Chamois' are prone to streaking and more often than not just drag water about the surface along with any tiny dirt particles/dust that may be on the paint surface and therefore causing marring and swirls.

Waffle weave and MF drying towels have thousands of fibres per square cm and have somewhere for the dirt to go instead of being dragged over the surface, basically the same reason for using a wash mitt instead of a sponge to wash the car in the first place :)

whenever i dry a car with a waffle weave i dont have to wring it out once either ;)

Couldn't agree with you more, waffle weave WTF:y:





Edit: this thread is long time old

[Predator_R32]

damn it people bring back the dead why dont ya

[Furio_Rob]

damn it people bring back the dead why dont ya

yay hitler ftw :oops:

[Ryyy]

Does anyone use a PressureWasher?
Want to buy one lol Because they look good to clean your car with?

[bullit]

yes we do. best thing to have imo. gets most of the shit off before you touch you paint. i have a foam lance for mine too

[Sammy-Boy]

Gets all the shit off and gives you just the paint to wash and then another spray

[evans1089]

I could sit there a type for ages here, but I'm not going to. Best bit of
advice is click here (http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/)

Read the gudies on that website and they will teach you everything you
need to know about car cleaning.


GREAT website! thx 4 the link ;)

[Ryyy]

Cheers Bullit and Sams