What and how, to maintain a machine polish?

[Davyy]

So i have just had my 172 machine polished, paint corrected and the rest of it and i want to keep it tip top!

I am completely new to all of this, and on a budget.

Can anyone recommend me a process, how often etc, and products to use? I want good value for money products, so reasonably cheap.

Thanks in advance!


http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/27/uzy2y4ur.jpg

[moxy89]

2 buckets
Lambs wool mitt
Wax

[m4tt274]

buy some SRP. wash the car off, dry it, apply SRP, buff off.
will come up great.

[griff_106]

How much are you wanting to spend mate? You can do it reasonably cheap, but the bits do add up if you want to do things properly. Ideally you'll need three buckets - one for the soapy water, one for fresh water (you'll want to put grit guards in both) and another solely for the wheels. This is obviously the two bucket (2BM) method that works well. Shampoo wise, I use Meguiars Gold Class which does the job nicely, and you cab get this from your local Halfrauds for about a tenner.

If the car's been detailed then it should have a coat of wax or sealant on so that should last around 6 months dependent on what's been applied so you won't be needing any of that or clay to repeat the decontamination stage for about the same time as the length of the wax/sealant so that'll save you some money as well.

I use a microfibre mitt when in contact with the car (about a tenner as well) - sponges are one of the main causes of inflicting swirls, marring and minor scratches so avoid them like the plague.

This is my basic routine:

-Clean the wheels with various brushes and Bilberry wheel cleaner and scrub the tyre walls with Bilberry as well (for dressing later) and pressure wash them down.

-Soak the lower panels in a pre-wash traffic film remover (TFR). I have been using Auto Finesse Citrus Power, but at about £9 a litre, it's pricey. I'd recommend ValetPro Pre Wash - it's more expensive to start with (~£18) but you get 5 litres and can dilute it. It doesn't strip the wax, either which most others do.

-After leaving to dwell or around 5 minutes, jet wash off.

-Snow foam with a lance and Ultimate Finish foam. You can probably get away without this stage, but I like to do it as it's a laugh and does actually work well. For reference, the lance and foam combo I got from Ultimate Finish is about £65, so again - not cheap.

-Jet wash down

-Starting from the top, doing a panel at a time, rinsing out the mitt after each panel is done.

-Jet wash down.

-Dry off with a fluffy blue drying towel, patting down as you go. I think I bought 3 for ~£15, but believe you can get them for around £8 each.

-Clean all glass with Autosmart Glass cleaner.

-Dress tyres with Chemical Guys rubber/plastic dressing for a satin shine - you might prefer a gloss shine and can recommend Meguiars Endurance Tyre Gel.

Done :)

Apologies for the essay, but I do enjoy my car cleaning haha. With regards to the buckets - I used to use two small(ish) black buckets with the guards in, but this was a complete PITA as they weren't big enough to rinse the mitt in. I've now got two 5 litre white buckets (costing ~£25 with grit guards) which do the job nicely and with them being white, you can see how dirty the water is easily.

To be honest, keeping the car clean at this time of year is nigh-on impossible but I aim to do mine every 2 weeks or so at least... the weather as it is at present rather determines that. Come summer though and I'll be doing it on a weekly basis.

I get most of my products from i4detailing.co.uk (http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/) or Ultimate Finish (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/) and I've never had a problem with either so would happily recommend them. Bit cheeky but I always use these (http://www.vxronline.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?65625-Discount-codes-for-detailing-products...) codes to limit the damage to my wallet slightly as well ;)

Hope this helps! :y:

[Davyy]

Thanks for that mate, and especially thanks for the discount codes haha!

[MuZiZZle]

A drying towel is a must!

also wash in lines, not circles with your mitt

[Davyy]

Any links to half decent, cheapish stuff which are essential?

[griff_106]

buy some SRP. wash the car off, dry it, apply SRP, buff off.
will come up great.

Absolutely no need mate - the car's just had a full detail and will have had superior products used with a DA or rotary machine and you'd be putting polish on top of wax/sealant lol. Maybe top the wax/sealant up in 3 months or so if you're an anal fecker like me, but no polish needs to hit the car until the next time it's been mini or fully detailed.

Thanks for that mate, and especially thanks for the discount codes haha!

Haha no worries! Nothing like a cheeky discount if you ask me ;)

Right ok - essentials:

-Shampoo (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/meguiars/gc-shampoo-and-conditioner-large.aspx)
-Buckets/Grit guards (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/uf/ultimate-finish-wash-and-rinse-two-bucket-set.aspx) (I just use a bog standard sized bucket for the alloys)
-Alloy cleaner (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/valet-pro/bilberry-wheel-cleaner.aspx)
-Traffic Film Remover (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/valet-pro/citrus-pre-wash-5-litre.aspx) (Pre-wash)
-Mitt (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/meguiars/deep-pile-microfiber-wash-mitt.aspx)
-Drying towel (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/gtechniq/zero-scratch-microfibre-drying-towel.aspx)

That's obviously the basics - it does help to have a pressure washer but you can always go down to Tesco's, whack a quid in and get the most of the crud off :y:

Don't think I've missed anything to get you going mate! :)

[YourDreamGirl]

On a side note, if you ever want to machine polish yourself take a trip down to your local bootfair. I got a brand new one for £4.. Saves me a lot of time and back ache.

Otherwise I use all the Glym range, its very good, but quite expensive. Can give you my list of what I do if youre interested though :y:

[Gabbastard]

On a side note, if you ever want to machine polish yourself take a trip down to your local bootfair. I got a brand new one for £4..

Im guessing it was an rac or halfords number

[moxy89]

Lol at a £4 machine polisher, would be a pile of wank and add swirls... Tool

[YourDreamGirl]

I wouldnt have bought it if it were Halfords, I dont know what it is out of honesty, I'm at uni atm so cant check but it seems everyone is intent on thinking I have no idea what I'm talking about so I shall leave at that. Just some honest advice is all guys.

[readie]

Right ok - essentials:

-Shampoo (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/meguiars/gc-shampoo-and-conditioner-large.aspx)
-Buckets/Grit guards (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/uf/ultimate-finish-wash-and-rinse-two-bucket-set.aspx) (I just use a bog standard sized bucket for the alloys)
-Alloy cleaner (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/valet-pro/bilberry-wheel-cleaner.aspx)
-Traffic Film Remover (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/valet-pro/citrus-pre-wash-5-litre.aspx) (Pre-wash)
-Mitt (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/meguiars/deep-pile-microfiber-wash-mitt.aspx)
-Drying towel (http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/gtechniq/zero-scratch-microfibre-drying-towel.aspx)

That's obviously the basics - it does help to have a pressure washer but you can always go down to Tesco's, whack a quid in and get the most of the crud off :y:

Don't think I've missed anything to get you going mate! :)

I have never been a huge fan of tfr I would usually use a snow foam if you are on a budget you can get 5l for about £20 and a hose end sprayer for cheap


And as said srp would do more damage than good as it is a polish most people think that polishing a car regularly is good but when your finish is perfect polish is not needed it will most likely degrade the finish you already have.

I use a wax and a glaze normally do glaze wax glaze wax which was recommended to me on dw and seems to give a very nice deep finish.


I would look at a snow foam like AF AVALANCHE which includes a strong(non wax degrading) prewash(AF citrus)