From the start...

Mister Jingles

Have always been into keeping my car clean however after reading a few things on here it seems I'm not doing it completely right.

Thankfully the previous owners of my car (an old Micra) did keep it in good condition especially for a red car. However with age there are the odd stone chippings and scrapes (minor ones) that I would like to deal with as best as I can.

My usual method of cleaning the car is :

• Spray on some wheel cleaner stuff from Lidl/Aldi onto the hubcaps,
• Scrub with a wheel brush and wipe with a regular sponge,
• Rinse the car down with the pressure washer,
• Wash it using a microfiber sponge with Simoniz wash & wax using two buckets, no grit guards,
• Rinse it off,
• Use a warm shammy to get rid of most of the water,
• When dry I spray on some ''shine'' product that I got in Lidl which to be fair isn't the worst.
• When thats done I spray some back to black on the tires and black trim.

From reading other post it seems I need to forget the wash & wax shampoo which I plan on doing.

I also noticed that Snow Foam is starting to become a big thing here however I cannot justify paying 50/60 quid for a lance so at the moment so will need to find alternative products.

My car defiantly could do with a claying in my opinion which I would like to do.

Anyway from what I can gather and just to be sure what way I should go about detailing my car, a 15 year old Micra which might seem far fetched to some is as follows.

• Rinse,
• Wash with Ph neutral shampoo,
• Dry,
• De-tar or De-ironise, I am unsure of order and method,
• Rinse,
• Clay,
• Wash again,
• Dry,

And after that I'm lost.

I plan on spending a few bob on products after having a browse on Detailing Shed (which is down again) and other sites so feel free to elaborate of possible.

Think it would also be helpful for a sticky on how to properly detail a car so that there thread don't keep popping up.

Curran

You have the process pretty much right! He's the usual process....

Pre-Wash - with APC; optional
Wash - Two Bucket Method
Rinse
De-tar - the good ones are spray on, dwell for a few minutes, rinse off - ideally you shouldnt have to wipe the tar off, as tar contains grit.
Rinse
De-Iron - again, spray on, allow dwell, rinse off
Rinse
Clay
Rinse / Re-Wash - usually, by the time you finish claying, the areas where you started will be dry and the dirt will need to be washed off

So at this point, you paintwork is full prepared...choices how you proceed.

Protection - you're paintwork is at its best condition now to apply protection - it will bond best at this point, and you will get the full durability that the product offers

Polish - you may choose to polish your paint work - if doing it by hand; it will contain fillers to help hide swirls, but will add depth and shine....your choice of protection would be best if you keep to the same manufacturer of the polish, as they are design to bond best and will give the best durability.

Glaze - a layer that is applied that gives the ultra wet look. This will hinder bonding of protection products, but again its best to keep to the same manufacturers of both products. It will help hide swirls also.

So in short, your choices are....
Protection only
Polish -> Protection
Polish - > Glaze -> Protection
Glaze -> Protection

Now machine polishing is slightly different as the polish stage is done, and the polish is washed off the car back to bare paintwork....but I doubt that concerns you right now!