Today I did some detailing...

stimpson

Can you not get those rims any shinier?

focus_mad

stimpson wrote: »

Can you not get those rims any shinier?

hmm...I'm going to guess sarcasm?

mb1725

stimpson wrote: »

Can you not get those rims any shinier?

I was just thinking how careful you'd have to be with high kerbs! :eek:

focus_mad

mb1725 wrote: »

I was just thinking how careful you'd have to be with high kerbs! :eek:

I've slightly kerbed the back left, it was either me or the fire brigade!!!

But otherwise I have survived!!!!

focus_mad

focus_mad wrote: »

I've slightly kerbed the back left, it was either me or the fire brigade!!!

The fire brigade threatened to kerb your wheel?! The bastards! :mad:





Nice job though.




Can I ask ye guys, what are the ancient, deeply buried secrets of cleaning fabric seats? I kinda feel like I don't really know what I'm doing, and not getting anywhere with them as a result.

I have Tesco Foam Upholstery Cleaner, which sprays on like a foam and dissolves, then I usually rub it in rather aggressively with a microfibre cloth, then I also have Chemical Guys fabric clean, which I do the same with, and whenever I come across stains I use a tough brush to try and get rid of them.

But the end result, though maybe marginally better, isn't all that great. The blacks don't really go black, the whites don't really go white, the reds don't go red, etc. it's all still very faded looking.

(I know worn seats are worn seats and there's no miracle cure, but I'm sure I could be doing better than I am).

Gonna wander off to google but ye guys usually are fairly on the ball.

nd

This probably isn't helpful but his videos are interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0EOb2nEWtk&feature=player_embedded#t=508

toastedpickles

Motto of today "I like my cars like I like my women, filthy and sweedish" :pac:

Cleaned it up today in preparation for its nct failure on friday

Some befores







And magic! It's all clean again!





Scrubs up well!

So, I gave my brother's wife's car a going over. I had actually wanted to clean this for a while. Just to see what kind of before/after I could get out of it. The brother owns the Megane that I had on here a couple of weeks back. This is the Wife's Citroen Xsara...


The wide photos of the whole car actually make it look nice and hide a lot of the dirt (could be the bright colour?) It was actually caked in dust and dirt.























(This roof picure was actually not taking as a 'before', it was after the Foam and 2BM, these black specs would not move until the claybar came out)

And the afters:

focus_mad

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The fire brigade threatened to kerb your wheel?! The bastards! :mad:





Nice job though.




Can I ask ye guys, what are the ancient, deeply buried secrets of cleaning fabric seats? I kinda feel like I don't really know what I'm doing, and not getting anywhere with them as a result.

I have Tesco Foam Upholstery Cleaner, which sprays on like a foam and dissolves, then I usually rub it in rather aggressively with a microfibre cloth, then I also have Chemical Guys fabric clean, which I do the same with, and whenever I come across stains I use a tough brush to try and get rid of them.

But the end result, though maybe marginally better, isn't all that great. The blacks don't really go black, the whites don't really go white, the reds don't go red, etc. it's all still very faded looking.

(I know worn seats are worn seats and there's no miracle cure, but I'm sure I could be doing better than I am).

Gonna wander off to google but ye guys usually are fairly on the ball.

Cheers man.

Ah I was on a tight street and needed to get out of the way for the fire brigade to pass = slight kerbage!!!

I use autoglym fabric cleaner, spray a HEAP of it on and rub vigoursly with a damp cloth, has worked for me getting chocolate off the black seats!

IK09

HUBCAPS....oh the humanity.

Chimaera

Deleted User wrote: »

The fire brigade threatened to kerb your wheel?! The bastards! :mad:





Nice job though.




Can I ask ye guys, what are the ancient, deeply buried secrets of cleaning fabric seats? I kinda feel like I don't really know what I'm doing, and not getting anywhere with them as a result.

I have Tesco Foam Upholstery Cleaner, which sprays on like a foam and dissolves, then I usually rub it in rather aggressively with a microfibre cloth, then I also have Chemical Guys fabric clean, which I do the same with, and whenever I come across stains I use a tough brush to try and get rid of them.

But the end result, though maybe marginally better, isn't all that great. The blacks don't really go black, the whites don't really go white, the reds don't go red, etc. it's all still very faded looking.

(I know worn seats are worn seats and there's no miracle cure, but I'm sure I could be doing better than I am).

Gonna wander off to google but ye guys usually are fairly on the ball.

Having a wet vacuum cleaner is very useful for this, since you can use lots of water to rinse out the fabric afterwards.

I usually go in heavy with foaming upholstery cleaner and a stiff bristled brush, though on bad carpets I've used carpet cleaner.

The trick for me is using a cotton cloth (an old towel is good) to rinse the fabric with plenty of water and then vacuum it out immediately. Rinse the cloth lots in a bucket or basin of clean water, and change the water regularly, particularly if you're working on light coloured fabrics. Avoid warm/hot water unless you're sure the fabric won't shrink.

On very dirty fabrics you'll repeat this a few times, and you may be surprised at what colour things are supposed to be!! On my car, I thought the headlining was beige until I cleaned it for the first time and discovered it was actually grey. It took two goes to get it clean too.

Colash

Does anybody want to enlighten me on the ins and outs of using a clay bar ? I'm a complete novice with a clay bar and I'm looking to give the car a going over at the wknd . I've always used Auto Glym SRP but wish to get in a bit deeper and remove some surface imperfections that the SRP won't shift

hoodie6029

Colash wrote: »

Does anybody want to enlighten me on the ins and outs of using a clay bar ? I'm a complete novice with a clay bar and I'm looking to give the car a going over at the wknd . I've always used Auto Glym SRP but wish to get in a bit deeper and remove some surface imperfections that the SRP won't shift

This got me started with claying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD9Qc84vSyY

Colash

Colash wrote: »

Does anybody want to enlighten me on the ins and outs of using a clay bar ? I'm a complete novice with a clay bar and I'm looking to give the car a going over at the wknd . I've always used Auto Glym SRP but wish to get in a bit deeper and remove some surface imperfections that the SRP won't shift

One of the most daunting things when I started, but it's actually simple.

Get some lubricant (i use a car shampoo, diluted heavily), slap it in a spray bottle. Break off a piece of the clay bar and spray some of your lubricant on it (this will soften it up). Knead it a bit and then flatten it into pancake shape.

I tend to use a piece thats about 2 or 3 inches wide in circumference.

Spray your lubricant onto the car to help the claybar glide (otherwise it just sticks to the car) and with very little pressure (under its own weight, really) make several passes across the paintwork, working in small areas at a time.

You'll feel the paint's roughness become much smoother. You'll need to continuously keep the lubricating up or the claybar sticks. Every now and then check the underside of the claybar and if it's dirty, knead it until you have a fresh surface again.


Sounds like a lot of work, but it's essentially just wiping the car down, but slower.


Youtube has a half a million videos on it, that I found helpful (though i realise boards advice is generally better than random video on el tubo).






I pulled the Rav up at the back of the house today to give it a quick rinse. I've been putting it off long enough, so the plan was to give it a quick wash and then detail it during the week.

I went up to the shop to get a few small bits and bobs (corner shop, not detailing related) and on the way back, a neighbour that often drives past when I'm cleaning stopped me and asked me did I clean and valet cars (he was obviously enquiring to get his own done).

I told him I don't really, it was just more of a hobby, but if he wanted to park up in front of my car, i'd give it a quick once over for him. He offered to throw me a couple of Euro, but I said no, it was grand.


I have it a snow foam, rinse, 2BM, iron cleansed the wheels, gave them a power washing, used some wheel cleanse on them (they were pretty bad, caked in brake dust), dried it off, APC-ed the wheel wells (but didn't go mad), APCed the tyres, applied some glitz (which, annoyingly, looked great, compared to how crap it looks on my own tyres ), hand polised the bonnet and then waxed the bonnet.

I've no idea why i polished and waxed the bonnet, but it looked pretty good, anyway. :P

It lashed rain during the cleaning, and immediately afterwards. :mad: I got soaked.








(you can see my tyre shine application is a bit patchy at best, here. I blame the rain for rushing me )






So that's my good deed done for this quarter!

Colash

Thanks lads . Any tips on a good clay bar to use ? I might hit halfords on Friday

nd

this was the first video i saw that mentioned claying

I've only used one clay and it worked grand.

http://www.cleancar.ie/valetpro-clay-bar-100g.html

I bought the blue stuff.

Colash

Colash wrote: »

Thanks lads . Any tips on a good clay bar to use ? I might hit halfords on Friday

Halfords get a bad rep but they're a pretty solid shop, in my opinion.

That said, I wouldn't be queuing up to get a clay bar off them. Most of their clay bars come in kits and are fairly heftily over priced. I'd go with an online retailer like detailingshed or cleancar and just get a claybar on it's own.

You usually get a bigger bar at a lower price.

Am I only able get Meguiar's #105 off CleanYourCar.co.uk?

I just realised I've used so much of it on other cars and re-doing my bonnet over and over that I probably don't have enough left to do my own feckin' car

(plan is to use that polish as it's so aggressive, and then use the AutoGlym stuff from then on). I don't think My Chemical Guys Pro Polish 3N will ever get used

Noccy_Mondy

Can one of you cleaning nerds suggest a proper decent tyre polish that makes the tyres as black as coal? I'm sick of having the car jet black and the tyres just meh. I clean them with APC first and then use that Simoniz stuff and the Aldi back to black stuff, lets just not talk about that one... So any suggestions, and linkys too, pwease

CNTRLR

if you are looking for some video's on youtube, look for junkman, he has done a fairly good series about detailing cars, but it can be a bit longwinded and the videos do tend to go on and on and over the same topic a few times, but for a complete beginner it is a very easy video series to start off with..

CNTRLR

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Can one of you cleaning nerds suggest a proper decent tyre polish that makes the tyres as black as coal? I'm sick of having the car jet black and the tyres just meh. I clean them with APC first and then use that Simoniz stuff and the Aldi back to black stuff, lets just not talk about that one... So any suggestions, and linkys too, pwease

first off don't use anything that is designed for trim on tyres, it simply will not grip and will spray all back along the car,
i use the meguiars endurance tyre gel, it works fine for me as i wash the car every week and just re-apply the stuff every week.
However as with any product the area needs to be clean first, so even though you use an apc on it it may not be clean, give it a scrub with a cloth and some apc, then rinse with some clean water, then for me i use 1 coat of megs using a tyre applicator, then about 10-15 mins later the excess is wiped off using a damp cloth, about half an hour after that i put on a second coat but with very little get on the applicator.

Chimaera

Deleted User wrote: »

Am I only able get Meguiar's #105 off CleanYourCar.co.uk?

I just realised I've used so much of it on other cars and re-doing my bonnet over and over that I probably don't have enough left to do my own feckin' car

(plan is to use that polish as it's so aggressive, and then use the AutoGlym stuff from then on). I don't think My Chemical Guys Pro Polish 3N will ever get used

Just get the Menzerna triplets and stop arsing around. They do the job well once you're patient.

Chimaera

Chimaera wrote: »

Just get the Menzerna triplets and stop arsing around. They do the job well once you're patient.

Get the what now?!

And to be fair, M105 has been doing a great job.

georgefalls

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Can one of you cleaning nerds suggest a proper decent tyre polish that makes the tyres as black as coal? I'm sick of having the car jet black and the tyres just meh. I clean them with APC first and then use that Simoniz stuff and the Aldi back to black stuff, lets just not talk about that one... So any suggestions, and linkys too, pwease

AutoGlym Instant Tyre Dressing. Spray onto wet or dry tyres, leave it to dry, job done. Lasts ages as well:)

vectra

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Can one of you cleaning nerds suggest a proper decent tyre polish that makes the tyres as black as coal? I'm sick of having the car jet black and the tyres just meh. I clean them with APC first and then use that Simoniz stuff and the Aldi back to black stuff, lets just not talk about that one... So any suggestions, and linkys too, pwease

1)
Give the tyres a good scrub with a solution of APC or I find better still a solution of Surfex HD,
Repeat if you have not done this before.
Allow them to dry
Apply a coat of Wolfs Blackout.
Great stuff,
Especially after next wash and the following washes for several weeks.

Chimaera

Deleted User wrote: »

Get the what now?!

And to be fair, M105 has been doing a great job.

This: http://www.cleancar.ie/menzerna250mlpolishpack.html

Three staged compounds to go from bad swirling to glossy. Works very well with the Hexlogic pads too - I don't honestly see how you can be running into problems with them when most people get great results using them.

vectra

vectra wrote: »

1)

That's a great 1-step programme :P

Chimaera wrote: »

This: http://www.cleancar.ie/menzerna250mlpolishpack.html

Three staged compounds to go from bad swirling to glossy. Works very well with the Hexlogic pads too - I don't honestly see how you can be running into problems with them when most people get great results using them.

Ah, i think my problems were a lot to do with inexperience and caking polish on the pad and car. Doing the Xsara, i held off on the amount of polish I was using, and it came out great. I realised I'd been putting FAR too much on the Rav.


That said, I do like the look of that polish (claims to be strong enough to work out 1200 grit paper?!)

Is there a more aggressive polish out there? or is 1200 as good as it gets?

stimpson

I'm planning on polishing and waxing the Verso this weekend so I took a few hours this afternoon to prep.

I snow foamed, rinsed, tarcleansed, rinsed, TBM with Megs Hyperwash, rinsed.

You know that feeling where you think your car is super clean but you decide to dig out the claybar anyway...



...apparently it wasn't very clean after all!

It is now though:



I'm toying with the idea of breaking out the SRP this evening.

Edit: +1 layer of SRP

vectra

Deleted User wrote: »

That's a great 1-step programme :P

I forgot to continue

2)
Stand back and admire your good work