Cleaning uncared for white car

gooner99

Havent done any detailing before. Well not looking for a showroom condition, but would like to get it looking the best possible.

The car is just in need of some care.white paint is dull with some green algae and some tar. Black trim is faded to grey, but mostly not too bad. There is lots of green algae on the plastic piece betwen windscreen and bumper. What would the best course of action and products that are needed to get it looking great again?

Also what the best thing to do with rust spots on the steel wheels. Sand and spray or just get wheel trims?

Curran

You'll first need to use a good Pre Wash or and All Purpose Cleaner, coat the car with it, and then power wash off. That will help remove the heavy dirt / algae. Follow that with a regular wash.
Then you'd be looking at de-tarring the car, followed by de-iron (this product would sort the wheels too) - both steps are spray on, let dwell and rinse off.
Follow that by claying the car. At this point the paintwork is fully decontaminated, and should look a lot better.
A light hand polish to remove oxidation, and a wax or sealant to protect, and the jobs will be very good.

There are lots of options for the trim, if you wanted a cheap option - YouTube car plastic trim and heatgun - though this can be risky - plenty of good products out there to give life back to the trim also.

gooner99

Thanks for that. I recently bought fenwicks caravan cleaner and bobby dasler to clean the black rubber stains from white pvc doors.says it can be used on cars.would that be a good pre cleaner?

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCmdMobile?srch=fenwicks&action=search&storeId=11101&catalogId=15551&langId=-1&mode=search


What products should I be looking at for the job?

Have my black car to do to, which is pretty dull and complete with suncream hands that are there for quite a long time.

What sort of price would you expect to pay to get what you listed above done professionally. ?

PGE1970

OP,

Have a look here:

http://www.detailingshed.com

Curran, who posted above, runs the site and will give you great advice and has top notch products that will suit you and your budget. Shop local!!:)

Curran

Not familiar with the Fenwicks stuff; perhaps it might be OK

If you have two cars to do, then it would be worth getting a few bits and pieces, and doing a good job on both. The sun cream marks, however, might require machine polishing to remove them permanently, but you should be able to hide them with some hand polish.

How much to get it done professionally - it really depends on the standard you wish to achieve - you might get someone who knows what they are at and do a decent freshen up, or a high end exterior valet for 100-120.

gooner99

Thanks guys.Must check out your website for products and see if I can achieve a good finish myself. Would it be an idea to post a few pictures so as you can recommend products/steps to achieve this or would the pictures be pointless?

Curran

The process is the same for any car of any condition. The only difference would be the amount of would that might be required at any given step, for example, you might need to do more Pre Wash due to the algae, or polishing I'd the paintwork is badly faded, etc

gooner99

Thanks for that.So in order to do a good job what products would you recommend?

Not sure if I would need different products for black car and white panel van.

What about inside trim and seats.what do you recommend.

One last one. Rusted steel wheels (loads of spots) on the van.whats usyally the best course of action?

gooner99

Thanks guys for the replies. I've been reading and watching youtube and now understand there's lots more to it than simply washing the car. Hell even washing is a bit of an art. Now given the poor paintwork on the car and van the first wash/clean may well be best done by a pro.luckily there seems to be a good detailer near by going by his facebook pics, so must drop in to see him. When I get a chance I'll throw up a few pics to see if you guys think I could do a good job by hand myself. Either way I guess I should invest in a few bits to keep them looking well once the initial detailing is done. I guess I'd need cloth/mits, shampoo, polish, wax, plastic/rubber cleaner,etc. Note I dont have alloys on the van or car.Can you guys give me an idea of what I should go for.I'd like products that work well without too much effort or power polishers, but don't cost an arm at this stage.one product that seems to be good is carpro perl.

Still wondering what to do with the rusty wheels on the van.Do something with them or just get some wheel trims?

Curran

When I had steelies on the van, I just primered them, and gave them two coats of a suitable colour - van was white, so went with a dark grey on the wheels, just to tidy them up!

Vital after you get the initial job done would be, a good wash mitt, pH neutral shampoo, 2 buckets, and a good drying towel - that will help keep in looking its best, for longer! After that, the list goes on! :P

gooner99

Curran wrote: »

When I had steelies on the van, I just primered them, and gave them two coats of a suitable colour - van was white, so went with a dark grey on the wheels, just to tidy them up!

Vital after you get the initial job done would be, a good wash mitt, pH neutral shampoo, 2 buckets, and a good drying towel - that will help keep in looking its best, for longer! After that, the list goes on! :P

Thanks again.Probably the best route with the van wheels.Trims just dont look great on them,well most of the ones I've seen anyway.

What about in side and rubber/exterior trim. Is the the carpro perl good stuff?

Should I just get basic microfiber cloths from anywhere for the inside and exterior trims or are there good/bad ones in the shops?

Would you be able put together a list from your shop of some products that would suit me best me from what you've listed above?

Thanks

Curran

PERL is very good. But will have to apply it more regularly than the likes of DLUX which is a nano coating and durable for up to a year or so. But it takes more preparation work.
PERL is a great all rounder as it can be diluted for different needs; 1:1 for exterior, 1:3 for engine bay plastics, 1:5 or more for interior.

Any microfibers are usually OK for doing interior, trims and wheels for example...so long as they are not really poor quality and will loose the fluff from the pile.

PM me what you would like, or a budget and I'll give you some guidance!