Detailing On A Budget

randy hickey

NobodyImportant wrote: »

This saved me a good few bob over "back to black" and so forth over the life of the car:

http://www.205gtidrivers.com/orders/orders-plasticare.html

Its a dye, so the trim goes black permanently. Apply with a sponge. Will need 2 coats. Looks great when its done and no more having to use chemicals to darken it.

One bottle was enough with plenty left over for a 2007 Civic.

I can't see any mention of price on that link.Cé mhéad sin?

NobodyImportant

Tis about €18 shipped.

randy hickey

Detailing Brushes.

[IMG][/img]

Swissvax style 5 brush set £4.49 (€5.26) plus postage of £2.50 (€2.93) to Parcel Motel plus €3.50 from Parcel Motel to me.
That's €11.69 for a set of Envy detailing brushes delivered - there was a £2.50 discount at the time, so they'd be €14.62ish now, which still ain't bad.

http://www.envyvaleting.co.uk/products_info.asp?id=151

randy hickey

IPA Isopropyl Alcohol

Also known as Isopropanol.

This is the best value IPA I could find anywhere.
I've just had 2.5L couriered to my door for €18.98 from a company in Sligo called AS-Composites Ireland.
They do 1L up to 25L.

http://www.as-ireland.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=90_97

[IMG][/img]

fanadman1

randy hickey wrote: »

Detailing Brushes.

[IMG][/img]

Swissvax style 5 brush set £4.49 (€5.26) plus postage of £2.50 (€2.93) to Parcel Motel plus €3.50 from Parcel Motel to me.
That's €11.69 for a set of Envy detailing brushes delivered - there was a £2.50 discount at the time, so they'd be €14.62ish now, which still ain't bad.

http://www.envyvaleting.co.uk/products_info.asp?id=151

gf bought me a set of these for my bday fantastic brushes comebinded with the chemical guys wheel wollies ( not a cheap product) the large one left my wheels shineing time and time again even useing agressive wheel cleaners and dtarers the brush has not even shead as much as 1 hair

Mc Love

randy hickey wrote: »

IPA Isopropyl Alcohol

Also known as Isopropanol.

This is the best value IPA I could find anywhere.
I've just had 2.5L couriered to my door for €18.98 from a company in Sligo called AS-Composites Ireland.
They do 1L up to 25L.

http://www.as-ireland.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=90_97

[IMG][/img]

What do you use this for and how would you use it?

MetzgerMeister

Mc Love wrote: »

What do you use this for and how would you use it?

It's used to prep surfaces and remove any trace of wax/polish or silicon-based products etc. if you're going to be putting down the likes of G******* products or even to provide a fully-stripped surface for an application of sealant or wax.

It's also good diluted to semi-clean a panel after D/Aing it.

randy hickey

Mc Love wrote: »

What do you use this for and how would you use it?

Mostly I'd use it to remove any oily residue from the paintwork after machine polishing because sealants in particular need clean paintwork to bond to.
Not all machine polishes are oil based, but the Menzerna range I use is.
For this I use a 25% IPA solution.

It's also handy for cleaning glass,lcd monitors etc.

IPA can be used to strip some ordinary waxes, but will have no effect on nano sealants.

randy hickey

Hand Pump Pressure Sprayers.

[IMG][/img]

The one on the left is a 1.5L heavy duty solvent-resistant Autosmart pump sprayer that costs €25 (ironically a good price for this type of sprayer in itself!).

The one on the right is a 2L standard pump sprayer that costs €3.99 in Aldi at the moment, and while I haven't tested it to see if it's solvent resistant, even if it isn't, it'll still come in handy for things like getting APR up around wheel arches etc.

Mc Love

randy hickey wrote: »

Kent Microfibre Drying Towels.

Picked up six of these in B&Q Tallaght earlier @ €2 each.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/819/xgqh.jpg http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/819/xgqh.jpg

They are marked at €5.30 each, but when you scan them at the checkout they come up as €3 each, but they are on a 3 for 2 offer at the moment, so if you buy three they work out as just €2 each!!
Just to give you an idea of what a bargain this is, these drying towels come up fairly regularly over on DW, and in a thread in June, they were seen to be a bargain at Stg£8 for 3!!

Think I'll go back for more tomorrow.:D

Picked up 3 of these myself - great deal!

BrandNewMedium

Pretty much just about to kick off my detailing career having neglected the car for a long time, I have been scouting around for good deals and came upon this APC:

http://www.vikingdirect.ie/a/pb/Swarfega-5-litre-vehicle-cleaner/pr=QD8&id=6289677/

Grabbed 10 litres at that price, so should have me well covered. Now to work out what else I need!

Has anyone used the Swarfega before?

randy hickey

Haven't used their APC, but have used their hand cleaner which is good stuff!

I've shopped around for good value APC also, and the best deal I can find anywhere is the Autosmart G101.

I get 20L for €55, and the general purpose dilution ratio of 1:30 gives me a cost of €0.09 per litre!:eek:

Tis good shtuff too!:D

randy hickey

Just thought I'd share this:

Mistral Cleaning Products up in Antrim are currently doing a 10% OFF sale that ends on Jan 2nd.

(This is the company that I get my snowfoam from)

stimpson

I want looking for an air conditioning bomb to sort out the funky smell in the Volvo. Halfords were looking for €20, but I found this guy on adverts.ie selling it for €5.49. Met him this afternoon and he gave me freebie glass cleaner and dashboard cleaner and only took a fiver off me because he has a 10% off sale at the moment. Free deliveries on orders over €20 too.



He has lots more up there, all Polish stuff and dirt cheap. Polish shampoo, polish wheel cleaner, eh...Polish polish

The air con bomb is a bit intense, but I reckon they're all like that. Certainly smells better than it was.

http://touch.adverts.ie/member/957346

dev1lo

stimpson wrote: »

I want looking for an air conditioning bomb to sort out the funky smell in the Volvo. Halfords were looking for €20, but I found this guy on adverts.ie selling it for €5.49. Met him this afternoon and he gave me freebie glass cleaner and dashboard cleaner and only took a fiver off me because he has a 10% off sale at the moment. Free deliveries on orders over €20 too.

He has lots more up there, all Polish stuff and dirt cheap. Polish shampoo, polish wheel cleaner, eh...Polish polish

The air on bomb is a bit intense, but I reckon they're all like that. Certainly smells better than it was.

http://touch.adverts.ie/member/957346

a friend of mine is the owner of www.carcarezone.ie and all Atas products are Made in Italy :P

stimpson

dev1lo wrote: »

a friend of mine is the owner of www.carcarezone.ie and all Atas products are Made in Italy :P

So they are. They all have Polish writing though. Aircon bomb was good. I left a window open for a couple of hours and the edge has gone off the smell. Very happy with it. I gave the glass cleaner to my father in law and I'll try the dash spray myself and report back.

carcarezone

stimpson wrote: »

So they are. They all have Polish writing though. Aircon bomb was good. I left a window open for a couple of hours and the edge has gone off the smell. Very happy with it. I gave the glass cleaner to my father in law and I'll try the dash spray myself and report back.

it was a pleasure to meet you today and your feedback is greatly appreciated. Indeed majority of products contains Polish description, which may be misleading

Zaph

carcarezone, as you are posting on behalf of a company I have to ask you to refrain from posting any further until you have obtained a verified rep account from the guys in the office. They can be contacted at reps@boards.ie

Please note that further posts without having first obtained a verified rep account will result in a siteban.

carcarezone

apologies, email sent

Mc Love

Zaph wrote: »

carcarezone, as you are posting on behalf of a company I have to ask you to refrain from posting any further until you have obtained a verified rep account from the guys in the office. They can be contacted at reps@boards.ie

Please note that further posts without having first obtained a verified rep account will result in a siteban.

You really are commander of the internet unless someone reported his post!

I posted this in the 'Today I did some Detailing' thread, but truth be told, it's more suited to this thread.


Homestore and more have a sale on, on clothes storage.

I've got two of THESE plastic storage units in black, which I picked up in Homebase for €22 each. They're grand and handy (as they're in a shed and will get cold/wet, etc.) and store a fair few bits. (Also, as an additional note, the same feckin' ones have shown up in Homestore at €20 each!).


But in HomestoreandMore recently, I came across THIS WARDROBE for €25 and took a punt (as I needed another one of the above units, so decided i'd try this instead).

And it's surprisingly sturdy and has lots of space for all my crap.

Just thought I'd mention it incase anyone's looking for a cheap and cheerful way of organising their detailing or general shed/garage stuff. For €25 I think it's a bargain, and, as I say, it's sturdier than I'd have expected, too.

Like i say, it's not really detailing gear, but might help someone. Makes me wish I'd never bothered with the homebase plastic storage (they're now pretty much redundant, I think).

To add to the above, you can also buy, for €4.50 (each), a hanging shelf set for the wardrobe. As I never plan to put much in the way of clothes into it, I bought two of these to hang in it. This is what I'm talking about:

http://www.homestoreandmore.ie/other-organisation/grey-5-compartment-hanging-organiser/invt/058794


I bought two of them. I've since moved all of my Detailing Gear from the two plastic shelving units, into the wardrobe itself. Here she is in all her glory, next to the two plastic units:






The price for two of the plastic units (which started to get a bit cramped and difficult to reach into as the drawers can be quite difficult and deep) was €44. The price for the wardrobe with the two hanging shelf sets inside, was €34, so a €10 saving and a much more practical piece of kit.

It's also got the handy cover to keep dust out:




The only downside (if you'd consider it a downside, that is), is that the canvas drawers/baskets that come with it (on the left in mine above) are better than the plain old shelves on the right, but you only get 3 with it, and you can't seem to buy them separately. Which is a bit of a shame. They also don't pull out/push in very smoothly, but neither do the plastic storage drawers and they're not really much of a struggle either (though i can see the bottoms warping over time, though I don't think they'll ever tear).


As far as I'm concerned though, it's the best value for money you'll probably ever get for a brand new organising 'system' for your detailing (or indeed, general garage/shed gear. Well worth the money, and I'm tempted to buy another one just incase I ever have any reason to use one down the line. t €25 (or €34 with hanging shelves) it's a steal.

Add a dozen microfibre polishing cloths to it (as per the opening post in the thread) and two wooden hangers (for a cheapo jacket and tracksuit pants to clean in) and you're all set up for €40 and even have a few cloths to clean with.

united2k11

Hi, does anyone know any good deals on products such as clay bar(s) with a detailer/liquid with it is possible, polish,wax,shampoo (ph neutral) microfibre cloths and towels? Need products to make my new car shiny and protected. Thanks for any help

randy hickey

Just a heads up as these work platforms were discussed here in the last few months in relation to getting access to work safely on high-roofed vehicles like SUVs, or just for the vertically challenged detailer!

Aldi are doing the work platforms next Thursday 13th March for just €29.99 - these are currently €46.99 in Woodies.

www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/thursday-13th-march/products-detail-page/ps/p/work-platform/

stimpson

I have the Woodies one and I'd say it's bigger , but the Aldi one looks big enough. It's great for doing a proper job on the roof.

randy hickey

Just in case some of ye are on the lookout for a bargain wetvac, Lidl are doing a 1300W one for €49.99 from next Thursday 20th March:

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/SID-D02CB7EE-D5F1E028/www_lidl_ie/hs.xsl/Offers.htm?action=showDetail&id=3907

Gabico

randy hickey wrote: »

Just in case some of ye are on the lookout for a bargain wetvac, Lidl are doing a 1300W one for €49.99 from next Thursday 20th March:

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/SID-D02CB7EE-D5F1E028/www_lidl_ie/hs.xsl/Offers.htm?action=showDetail&id=3907

Would this be better than a karcher wet&dry vac? Saw the karcher in B&Q for 60E on Saturday (model wd2 iirc).
I'm thinking to get one for the garage, and the karcher seems a better buy because you can find parts easier if something goes wrong.

randy hickey

I couldn't comment on the quality of either unit, as I use a spray extraction machine myself and have no use for a wetvac, but what I CAN tell you, is that the Karcher unit retails for the equivalent of €23.89 in the UK here.
How in the name of jaysus can B&Q justify marking it up to €60 for the Irish market?

Gabico

In fairness that's a refurbished unit which is always out of stock. I am on the waiting list but everytime i get a notification it gets out of stock in few minutes. I would buy the refurbished one right now if I could.

SeaFields

Aldi Leather Cleaner

Has anyone any experience of this? Is it any good?

Im really getting into this car cleaning craic lately