Car detail - what to skip

Theboinkmaster

Hey

I don't have time to wash my car myself so every 2 weeks or so get it handwashed in Dublin for €10.

Every 6 months I do a full detail myself:

- 2 bucket wash
- de irion
- de tar
- clay bar
- glass polish with autoglym glass polish
- polish (SRP)
- 2 levels of sealant (EGP)

and a full interior detail.

The car is a bmw f10 5 series in silver. I do this detail normally in spring (April) and in autumn (sept) however with having young baby now finding it difficult to find the time.

So this September I want to perform a quicker version of the above.

So what can just be done once per year? was thinking of dropping the clay bar and polishing?

Anything I drop will be done next year in April.

Curran

Yeah, dropping the claying and polishing wont be too major a loss - the fallout removing step will do a lot of what claying will. You'll get close to similar results in appearance by just doing the de-tar and de-iron, versus the de-tar, de-iron, clay, polish. Where you may see a difference is in the longevity of your EGP...it may not bond as well and durability will be affected.
Perhaps consider sticking a decent spray sealant and a microfiber in the car, so that when you get it washed, 10-15 minutes giving it the once over yourself with them will keep it in tip top shape!

Theboinkmaster

Curran wrote: »

Perhaps consider sticking a decent spray sealant

Hey thanks - any suggested products, that may be available on detailingshed?

ronnie3585

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

Hey thanks - any suggested products, that may be available on detailingshed?

I've used CarPro Hydro2Lite and found it excellent. Simply spray it on and immediately hose it off - done! I learned the hard way not apply it on top of a filling style polish like SRP though. Other than that, it's very quick and easy, gives a nice finish and a couple of months protection.

Theboinkmaster

ronnie3585 wrote: »

I've used CarPro Hydro2Lite and found it excellent. Simply spray it on and immediately hose it off - done! I learned the hard way not apply it on top of a filling style polish like SRP though. Other than that, it's very quick and easy, gives a nice finish and a couple of months protection.

Hmm - if I used that this time I wouldn't have SRP on it, but I'd have used SRP on it 6 months previous...

I thought a spray sealant you'd just spray on and buff out, not hose it off?!

ronnie3585

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

Hmm - if I used that this time I wouldn't have SRP on it, but I'd have used SRP on it 6 months previous...

I thought a spray sealant you'd just spray on and buff out, not hose it off?!

You can spray on wipe off but you can also hose it off too, like in this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lwc0zmG9RQ.

Perfect if you're in a rush!

Edit: Here's Curran's helpful explanation as to why it doens't work on top of SRP-

And the issue is down to the SRP. Hydro2Lite will only really work on bare paintwork, or products that it is compatible with (CarPro Essence Polish, and other coatings in the range). Any other layers in between will react or hinder the product from performing as it should.
As you probably know SRP, as with all hand polishes, have fillers in them to help hide defects. As such, they are applied, buffed off and layered with a sealant, Extra Gloss Protection or a wax, AG HD wax and they are designed to work in that way.

Curran

Give the car a good wash with APC and then with the tar remover, the SRP will have been removed.

CarPro HydrO2 / HydrO2Lite - very simple, as said. Mist on a panel, wait 5-10 seconds, power wash off, repeat on rest of panels, dry car! Simples and really nice boost in shine.

CarPro Reload - once de-tar'd and de-iron'd, quick wash, dry. Mist on, buff in; job done! More durability than HydrO2

Either of those give very good protection for what is really very little time and effort!

*Kol*

Curran wrote: »

Give the car a good wash with APC and then with the tar remover, the SRP will have been removed.

CarPro HydrO2 / HydrO2Lite - very simple, as said. Mist on a panel, wait 5-10 seconds, power wash off, repeat on rest of panels, dry car! Simples and really nice boost in shine.

CarPro Reload - once de-tar'd and de-iron'd, quick wash, dry. Mist on, buff in; job done! More durability than HydrO2

Either of those give very good protection for what is really very little time and effort!

So you just mist on Reload and buff it off straight away? How long will it last compared to HydrO2?

Curran

Yes; essentially its like a quick detailer on steroids!

HydrO2 is good to 2-3 months; Reload is more like 4-5. But like anything nano, for maximum performance it needs the maintenance products from the same range. So CarPro Reset shampoo will keep it performing its best.

*Kol*

Curran wrote: »

Yes; essentially its like a quick detailer on steroids!

HydrO2 is good to 2-3 months; Reload is more like 4-5. But like anything nano, for maximum performance it needs the maintenance products from the same range. So CarPro Reset shampoo will keep it performing its best.

Would you need to use HydrO2 foam for the pre wash or can the rest be used a snow foam as well as a shampoo?

Curran

Im not sure what you mean - if you use HydrO2 and had some left over, could you use it as a snowfoam/shampoo?

There are three HydrO2 products

HydrO2 is the concentrate - it dilutes 1 product : 3 water. Spray on, power wash off or spray on buff in
HydrO2Lite is a ready to use product; used in the same way as HydrO2
HydrO2Foam gives similar results but not quite as durable as the two above, but it can be used as a foam, power wash off. It can also be used as a shampoo, so you are keeping your car topped up with a weekly wash. Used as a foam, the dilution through the lance means you'd require quite a large amount in the bottle to get reasonably durability, but as a shampoo its a useful product.

*Kol*

Thanks. Really what I was asking is if I can use a normal Ph neutral Snowfoam or do I need to use Hydro2 foam?

I haven't driven the car since June so I think I can splash out!!

Curran

Provided the snowfoam hasnt any gloss enhancers in it, there wont be a problem. If it does have gloss enhancers, they clog the nano structure. The protection and durability of it wont be effect, but as the surface is comprised by the gloss enhancers, you dont get the benefit of the hydrophobic properties. So a straight up shampoo and snowfoam, you'll be fine!

Atlantic Dawn

My biggest concern would be the quality of hand wash every 2 weeks, it that's not done properly all the other stuff don't matter. I was in a local Tesco car park during the week and saw the filth of the water the car cleaners were using to wash cars with, some cars under 2 years old too, the mind boggles.

Theboinkmaster

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

My biggest concern would be the quality of hand wash every 2 weeks, it that's not done properly all the other stuff don't matter. I was in a local Tesco car park during the week and saw the filth of the water the car cleaners were using to wash cars with, some cars under 2 years old too, the mind boggles.

Handwash actually very good - proper mitt with snowfoam and they even apply some fallout first

*Kol*

There are a few places in Limerick offering that type of service too. They are doing very good business. Better than a drive through wash anyway.

Some of them are applying traffic film remover rather than fallout remover which is no good for any wax layer that you have on the car.

Blazer

Better off to do it yourself.
I took a break out for 3 years due to babies and now only getting back into it.
Its actually nice..the first one nearly killed me from lack of exercise but I wash it now every 2 weeks or so and it's nice 20-30 mins to yourself that in fairness you deserve. The missus will curl up and watch some reality ****e and I use metime to do the car...happy all around.

edburg

OP I didn't see it mentioned in posts but maybe come march/April you could consider Going route of ceramic/nano sealant which with a good session over a weekend and with the durability of nano/ceramic coat you should be able to last the year with decent regular hand wash, iron x etc once a month as mentioned by others.

You can use the spray sealants to improve shine when needed.