Today I did some detailing...

This Volvo was new from the dealer, my friend wanted it detailed to get it perfect once again. I was asked to treat the leather and give the exterior a polish and wax. The Leather was cleaned and sealed, the floor mats were steamed and got a hot water extraction, the paint got a one stage machine polish and a coat of premium wax.

Getting in around the jambs is the bit that annoys me, last time it was serviced, they decided to overdo the grease around the hinges, so it gets messy to clean. When I'm feeling lazy the expression out of sight, out of mind comes into play :rolleyes:

Jesus fair play to ya! I know they're an important part, since the second you open the door, they're the first thing you see. Whatever about a silver or lighter colour car, with the blacks and navy's, dirty ones stick out like a sore thumb!

Ahh someone had to, out of politeness more than anythning :pac:

Joke btw!

vectra wrote: »

Huhh??^^^^^

Try it now

georgefalls wrote: »

Try it now

Ah,
Demonstrating the new Lance Cam

Nice foam there

Curran wrote: »

What foam was used there? Looks like a decent coating....have you tried spreading the fan of the spray a bit more...you'd do the whole car a bit quicker if you did.....but maybe you are having too much fun! :P

Its www.cleancar.ie their own brand stuff. I find keeping the spray tighter gives thicker foam, and yes, WAY more fun

For the price, you can't really knock it, and it does work rather well.

So I recently got some product samples from DetailingShed and was asked to review them. They are the 50 Cal products that are all available on the site!

Berry Bomb Air Freshener - This was the first thing I used because the smell was awesome! It smells like those strawberry Push Pops and the smell brings me right back to my childhood. It's probably the nicest air freshener I've ever used and knocks CG stripper scent out of my no. 1 place. I gave one spray to each of my floor mats and it has lasted about 2 weeks.

Precision Interior Trim Dressing - This smells very like the berry bomb. A few sprays onto an applicator pad and it goes on smoothly and leaves a very very nice finish, not shiny and not messy. It also smells unreal.

Cammo - This is the tyre dressing. After using Meguiars Endurance Gel for a while, I gave the tyres a clean with a mix of Megs Super degreaser and IPA (don't try that at home) to get rid of any previous products. I then gave each tyre a few sprays and let it sit for 5 minutes. After a quick buff to remove any excess (this causes sling) the tyres were as black as the ace of spades. I only applied one coat as I didn't want them shiny but it has lasted since last Monday (you'd hope it would wouldn't you? :P )

Retaliate Wheel Cleaner - To be honest, it's like a lot of wheel cleaners I have used. It goes on, you agitate, it comes off. I didn't find anything especially unique about it. I suppose it's good that 50 Cal have it in their range. It does its job but nothing out of the ordinary.

Fortress Liquid Polish - I used this on my sister's red Polo. It's not a correction polish, but one applied by hand to deepen the lustre of the paint. This polo is covered in swirls and the polish made a huge difference. It didn't get rid of the swirls obviously but lessened their appearance.

Penta Wax - I applied this after the polish. Again, it smells good and goes on very smoothly. I'm not a fan of paste waxes which this is as I find it's easy enough to rub too much onto the pad. It provides very good beading. Durability is something I will have to investigate.

20:20 Glass Cleaner - Like I said about the wheel cleaner, it goes on, does its job and comes off again. Nothing special about it but it's good to have it.

And one that's not in the 50 Cal Range;

Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel - I really really liked this. I've long been looking for a wheel cleaner that you spray on, let it do its job and wash off. Not only does it save time scrubbing but it also saves your alloys from scratches if you use a wheel brush (I use a separate mitt). This stuff also has a fallout remover in the mix which works very well. It smells good but you also get the eggy aftersmell but not as bad as the likes of iron cleanse. I sprayed it on, left it for 5 minutes as per the instructions and hosed off. It left the alloys spotless. I even went over one of them like I would normally clean them and the water was as clean as if I hadn't used it. Auto Wheel is also Ph neutral so it won't remove any wax or wheel guard you have on it.

I can't say much about the price of the 50 Cal stuff as I only got samples but when it comes to the Auto Wheel, it may seem expensive but the one bottle lasts ages even if you apply it generously like I do.

Deleted User wrote: »

Also, does anyone here use a glaze? And if so, do you think it's worth your while?
I don't know if I was just using it incorrectly, or..?

There are a few different types of glazes that fall within the glaze category.....and the category can get a bit confusing at times, in a similar way to how people can confuse polish as protection.
There is the type that are filler glazes; which help hide defects in the paint work and boost shine. And then there is oily glaze which is purely to achieve the ultimate wet look. Then there's others that combine both.

The thing is, after machine polishing, applying a glaze to reasonably fresh paintwork, will be fairly difficult to notice a dramatic difference, but they do improve shine and clarity; although often at the expense of durability of your wax/sealant.

Deleted User wrote: »

Which of those categories would CG's Glossworkz glaze fall into?

And what's the most aggressive polish you stock, Curran?

CG's call it a glaze and self leveler - so it falls into the combo product!

Wolf's Chemicals "The Equalizer" or CG's V34 are the two most aggressive polishes! Combo V34 with a Microfiber Pad and that will be an aggressive set up!
Not sure about the Wolf's polish on a MF pad, as they supply foam pads to combo with their polishes....will shoot Wolf's an email about that!

I used the machine and compound polish to try and remove the swirls on the VRs but didn't seem to do much would I be doing something wrong as I followed instructions on the bottle and done small sections at a time.

I am going to give it another go and see will it make any difference hopefully during the week.