Detailing chat

OP in response to your question....

Is the reason you are asking the question because you have applied a sealant, then wax, then washed it, and its not as shiny as you had hoped?

The reason could be two fold here.
Sealants are applied first, then waxes (if you are choosing to apply both, its not necessary to do so)
The products used arent a good combo - by that, I mean they arent designed to be used together, so they may not work together. As a rule of thumb, its best to stick with products from the same manufacturer when layering on the paintwork. So its best to use a sealant and wax from the same manufacturer. They are designed to bond well together. If you mix product manufacturers they arent designed to specifically work together and as a result the sealant might hinder the bonding of the wax applied afterwards.
Its for this reason that sometimes people hear great things about certain products and when they use it themselves they think its rubbish, but that could be partly down to the preparation or process they've used.

There is no problem in topping up protection at a later date; however it shouldnt really be necessary. What is easier is if you feel that the shine isnt what it used to be, is to have a spray sealant / quick detailer type product. Wash the car, dry it, spray this product on and buff it off. Boosts shine and protection. But again, choosing which one to buy is sometimes restricted by the product you applied on the car initially. There are certain ones available which will bond to almost any product.

Another thing to consider is the preparation of the paintwork - did you clay the car when you applied the products first?
Going forward its probably best to get some life out of the wax / sealant you have applied. After a few weeks, wash it down with an APC, clay it and re-apply; sealant first, then the wax (assuming they'll work together)

If you let me know what you have, I'll tell you if they'll work. And if you tell me the colour of your car, I'll tell you which would be best on its own if they dont work well together.

Hope this helps!

Yeah; SRP isnt a wax its a polish. It contains fillers to help hide swirls. SRP and EGP are designed to work well together.

EGP would be more durable applied directly to the paintwork.

You could, but I wouldn't be able to say that it would work well.

Hi where is a good place to get the collinite or something similar as I have no sealant.

I have done the Wash, de tar, wash, clay and wash taking wheels off and fully cleaned inside out and then used turtle wax ice wax and found the results amazing but looking for that bit extra to make the car stand out and look the job.

Any other tips as it's been 6 months since I done all that and have put a lot of mileage up and have been unable to wash as much as I use to.

I have a slight dent in the bodywork, will this magical Collinite 845 sort it?

Liamalone wrote: »

I have a slight dent in the bodywork, will this magical Collinite 845 sort it?

Nope
It would certainly show it up more though so as it would be easier to find LOL

Any recommendations on keeping a new car coat nice and shiny. Will Collinite 845 be the dogs? Also what's good for keeping alloys sealed. Want to keep them handy to clean for future.

Thanks.

Curran wrote: »

. Some people get the car reasonably dry and follow up with a quick detailer spray. Spray on, buff off to ensure the perfect finish.

And then follow up with a LSP?

Using a quick detailer before applying an LSP will reduce the efficiency and bonding properties of the LSP due to the quick detailer adding a layer in between the paint and the LSP.

Do you mean improve it permanently by hand? Wont really be possible. A hand polish will improve the appearance due to fillers but will eventually wash out and back to square one. The very fine marks might be improved slightly by hand, but overall not a huge difference will be made. DA Im afraid.

Yep, that's certainly a D/A job.

Washed well
Hand polished and protected - ask them what they'll use to protect it...if its something like Autoglym Super Resin Polish; thats not protection.
Wheels cleaned well
Tyre dressing
Interior vacuumed, including dash/plastics wiped/dusted down
Glass cleaned

There's a certain standard you'd expect, but you cant expect perfection either....thats what a Detailer will try to achieve.

You might have to pay extra, but a good valet should have a wet vac.

Richard tipper is really good to follow on Twitter for anyone interested, details some really exotic and nice cars

Yes, it's a bugbear of mine, confusing wet vacs with spray extraction machines.

As Chimaera says, a wetvac is a fairly basic device that will suck up liquid - you can pick one up for about €50.

A spray extraction machine injects a chemical into the upholstery/carpet that you are cleaning and sucks it back out almost instantaneously - giving a deep washing action.These will cost you about €300.

I have an old clio I use as a run around.
I recently gave it a good wash (tbm) did a de iron and a polish. There are a few scrapes along the doors that are to deep to be polished out.
It's the a product that would make it easy for a beginner to fix? Also. The head lights are really worn looking, any tips fpr refurbing them. ?

looking some advice, i gave my car a good going over about 4 months, ago, snow foamed, detarred, deironed, 2bm, clayed polished and wax etc, the car still beads to this day however what is best to bring it back, would washing and polishing it again only remove the layer of wax? would i be best to power was 2bm and use quick detailer?

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Polish goes on before wax so applying polish over wax is like putting your boxers on over your pants.

You'll still have the protection underneath the layer of polish but the whole thing is a waste of time.

so what would be best as i dont feel car needs the full works again yet, would 2bm and quick detailer be best, the point i was trying to put forward since car is waxed and mostly still protected polishing would only strip the wax already applied would it not?