Thoughts / recommendations on my current cleaning regime?

alsiet2017

Hi All - fairly new to the whole "detailer" thing but recently got a nice new car (not brand new but almost) and it was absolutely immaculate when i got it so hoping to keep it so. Wanted to provide my current exterior cleaning procedures and see if anyone has any recommendations or comments that i could consider to improve it even more:

Every 1 / 2 weeks:

1.Rinse off any heavy dirt with power hose (lowest setting so does not damage paintwork or strip protection)
2. Hand wash with lambskin mitt and Autoglym HD Shampoo using 2 bucket method
3. Dry car using Autoglym Drying Towel

Every 3 months or so in addition to above I also:
1. Polish using Autoglym Super Resin Polish and microfibre cloth
2. Apply Autoglym HD Wax

My Questions:
1. Does the above seem like a good procedure or are there additional and worthwhile procedures that could be include, and if so, what products are best for these?
2. Should I be using some sort of sealant and if so, what is best, and when should sealant be applied?
3. If the car doesnt get very dirty do I really need to consider snow foam pre wash? (i find power washer gets most of the stuff off anyway so little remains for risk of swirls)
4. Any thoughts on my choice of product overal? Are there better ones I should use? I'll pay good money for a good product so cost is not an issue.

Thanks a lot!

Curran

1: Seems OK - you have the basics covered; Wash mitt, decent shampoo and drying towel; certainly beats a sponge and chamois or water blade
2: No need for a sealant; you chose protection - either a wax or sealant, or both, and sealant first then wax if doing both. Its not necessary, but a sealant will usually be more durable - AG HD Wax is very good.
3: You might be OK this time of year, but even washing regularly during the winter, you will have a build up of dirt, girt, salts, etc - it is beneficial
4: Autoglym is very much entry level detailing products - dont get me wrong, they do some very good products (HD Wax for example), but there are better options out there....going forward, they likes of fallout removers, tar removers, etc, the difference will be seen in the better products.

alsiet2017

Curran wrote: »

1: Seems OK - you have the basics covered; Wash mitt, decent shampoo and drying towel; certainly beats a sponge and chamois or water blade
2: No need for a sealant; you chose protection - either a wax or sealant, or both, and sealant first then wax if doing both. Its not necessary, but a sealant will usually be more durable - AG HD Wax is very good.
3: You might be OK this time of year, but even washing regularly during the winter, you will have a build up of dirt, girt, salts, etc - it is beneficial
4: Autoglym is very much entry level detailing products - dont get me wrong, they do some very good products (HD Wax for example), but there are better options out there....going forward, they likes of fallout removers, tar removers, etc, the difference will be seen in the better products.

Thanks very much for info. Very helpful. Just in terms of the higher ended products in lieu of AG ones , any ones In particular that I should add to my collection ? I'd be looking at some alternatives for the body shampoo , wax, maybe sealant too, and also some sort of snow foam that won't strip the protection.

ronnie3585

Unless you're using a petrol industrial pressure washer, you won't strip your paint or wax. Most domestic pressure washers run in anywhere from 100 to 140 bar of pressure which is perfectly safe for use on your car. Unless you've got obvious damage such as flaking paint, or bubbling rust there's no reason to fearful of it.

Do you use a separate mitt/brushes for your wheels? If not, I'd strongly suggest doing so.

There are a vast amount of products out there all of which promise the same thing, give or take. The ones I've been most impressed with are CarPro and Bilt Hamber, but everyone has their own favourites.

There's lots of information and helpful contributors on this forum (and even more over on detailingworld.co.uk), so feel free to ask any other questions.

alsiet2017

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Unless you're using a petrol industrial pressure washer, you won't strip your paint or wax. Most domestic pressure washers run in anywhere from 100 to 140 bar of pressure which is perfectly safe for use on your car. Unless you've got obvious damage such as flaking paint, or bubbling rust there's no reason to fearful of it.

Do you use a separate mitt/brushes for your wheels? If not, I'd strongly suggest doing so.

There are a vast amount of products out there all of which promise the same thing, give or take. The ones I've been most impressed with are CarPro and Bilt Hamber, but everyone has their own favourites.

There's lots of information and helpful contributors on this forum (and even more over on detailingworld.co.uk), so feel free to ask any other questions.

Thanks for that info. I'll check out those brands. Yes I use separate gear for the wheels

leupold90

A couple of times a year consider using tar remover, fallout remover & claying the car before polishing & LSP.
It can take a good few hours to do the whole car like this or you can do it gradually, a couple of panels at a time.
You may be doing it already - but dressing the tyres is a good finishing touch to a wash.

Gotham Knight

Looks like you have a good routine there. I agree that CarPro and Bilt Hamber are excellent product ranges. Bilt Hamber do very good shampoo products in Auto Wash and Auto Foam, and their wheel cleaning product (Auto Wheel) is excellent, as is Korrosol, their fallout remover. These are not too expensive and you can either buy them direct from Bilt Hamber in the UK or from Detailing Shed in Dublin (quicker and easier tbh). My car doesn't get too dirty but I still like to snow foam it (it's fun ). A snow foam lance will set you back €50 but it's worth it.

With CarPro I think their most impressive products are Hydro2, Reload and TarX. All excellent and very easy to use.

For towel drying I suggest you look at the Microfiber Madness Dry Me Crazy towel. I use it often and all I have to do is lay it flat on horizontal surfaces and gently pull it off the car, and apply a light wipe to vertical surfaces. I can dry the entire car without even squeezing it out. It's the best drying towel I have used.

And if money is really no object I really recommend Hydrate from AMMO in New York. You have to buy direct from Larry at AMMO and shipping and duty makes it quite expensive but I bought Reflex, Skin and Hydrate from him and they are all excellent products, with Hydrate being excellent as a drying aid. You have to use it to appreciate it, as there is no other product like it. The AMMO videos on YouTube are really good imho, even if you never buy any of his products as they are focused on technique rather than simply being about sales. And if you're really into this stuff then it's worth checking out Matt at Obsessed Garage on YouTube as well.

Once you get into this you find that there are far better products available than the stuff in Halfords, etc. I discovered Bilt Hamber about 10 years ago, Carpro about a year and a half ago, and AMMO about a year ago. I just wish I had a garage and then I could completely destroy my bank account :rolleyes:

Hope all this is helpful

alsiet2017

many thanks for that. excellent help . ill research those brands you recommended. by any chance do you have an opinion on wax or sealant... which do you prefer to use? i like my wax but reading up on sealants makes me think i might enjoy the durability on them a bit more. wolfgang deep gloss paint sealant 3.0 comes up quite a bit. any thoughts?

Curran

What colour is your paintwork?

leupold90

What colour is your car?

leupold90

Curran wrote: »

What colour is your paintwork?

Beat me to it : )

alsiet2017

Curran wrote: »

What colour is your paintwork?

it's "scuba blue" (metallic)

Curran

A wax is going to look better on that colour - if you do want durability and want to go down the sealant route maybe some of the more durable hybrid wax / sealants would be a good option - something like Bilt Hamber Double Speed Wax or Soft99 Fusso, will give 8-12 months of durability.

alsiet2017

Curran wrote: »

A wax is going to look better on that colour - if you do want durability and want to go down the sealant route maybe some of the more durable hybrid wax / sealants would be a good option - something like Bilt Hamber Double Speed Wax or Soft99 Fusso, will give 8-12 months of durability.

thansk again curran. you seem to know your stuff! ill look into that and maybe replace my AG HD wax with it.

alsiet2017

Curran wrote: »

A wax is going to look better on that colour - if you do want durability and want to go down the sealant route maybe some of the more durable hybrid wax / sealants would be a good option - something like Bilt Hamber Double Speed Wax or Soft99 Fusso, will give 8-12 months of durability.

just did a quick google and that BH double speed wax is far cheaper than the AG stuff i have. thats not a reflection on quality i presume, and that AG are just more pricey by default? would the BH be a better product do you think or is the AG stuff really all that, with the exception of longevity.

Curran

AG make some good products, some very average, and some useless - its finding the ones that work. The HD Wax is very good; if made by a company like Chemical Guys who have a slightly stronger reputation, it would be more expensive. Price is definitely not a reflection on performance or quality with regard to detailing products....well, if its cheap, its usually for a reason - but if its mega expensive, it doenst mean its worth it.

ronnie3585

Bilt Hamber produce some of the highest quality, best value for money products out there. They are basically a chemical factory in the UK, they spend feck all on marketing or sales crap - they invest in their products, and it shows.

Price is not indicative of quality. I would rate BH's products higher than each of it's equivalent AG product.

Check out this guy on YouTube, he makes some brilliant videos about all things detailing. This is the one about BH, a bit long but well worth watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M0y7IWIZAc

Gotham Knight

I agree that Bilt Hamber products are all excellent quality. I have used Auto Wash, Auto Foam, Auto Balm, Finis Wax, Korrosol, Auto Clay, Auto QD, Cleanser Fluid, Auto Wheel and Surfex HD. So you can assume I like them . (I will always have AW/AF/K/AWh/S in my collection.)

When it comes to sealants I have not used a particularly long-lasting one on my paint. I recently changed my car (moved from a black one to a white one) and I decided to use Reflex and Skin from AMMO once I had cleaned and decontaminated it. They are both very easy to apply and since I have to work outdoors I thought it would be best to keep it simple. I know some guys here swear by CQuartz and other ceramic sealants and I may have tried one of those if I could work indoors but I'm happy with how it turned out. I then applied a coat of Reload and subsequently also sprayed on some Hydro2 (the easiest water-repelling sealant to apply). It has all worked well. You may get better gloss from wax so it's down to personal preference, although I used Reload and Hyro2 on my black car too and it looked very good.

For what it's worth I highly recommend a good sealant on any black trim you have. I used CarPro DLUX on trim for the first time on my last car and it made a huge difference and lasts over a year. Made it look like new when it had looked faded and old. On my new car I've applied it to all the trim and rubber and also to the wheels (inside and out), so I hope to avoid any problems with fading and also reduce the effect of brake dust build up on the wheels. I know from reading this forum that users also like Gtechniq C4, which I believe works in a similar way.

Of course there are no miracle products out there and the key to success is preparation, as Curran and other experts on here will point out. That's where videos on YouTube from AMMO, Detailing Forensics, Obsessed Garage, CarPro and many others can be extremely helpful.

Cheers

alsiet2017

Gotham Knight wrote: »

Looks like you have a good routine there. I agree that CarPro and Bilt Hamber are excellent product ranges. Bilt Hamber do very good shampoo products in Auto Wash and Auto Foam, and their wheel cleaning product (Auto Wheel) is excellent, as is Korrosol, their fallout remover. These are not too expensive and you can either buy them direct from Bilt Hamber in the UK or from Detailing Shed in Dublin (quicker and easier tbh). My car doesn't get too dirty but I still like to snow foam it (it's fun ). A snow foam lance will set you back €50 but it's worth it.

With CarPro I think their most impressive products are Hydro2, Reload and TarX. All excellent and very easy to use.

For towel drying I suggest you look at the Microfiber Madness Dry Me Crazy towel. I use it often and all I have to do is lay it flat on horizontal surfaces and gently pull it off the car, and apply a light wipe to vertical surfaces. I can dry the entire car without even squeezing it out. It's the best drying towel I have used.

And if money is really no object I really recommend Hydrate from AMMO in New York. You have to buy direct from Larry at AMMO and shipping and duty makes it quite expensive but I bought Reflex, Skin and Hydrate from him and they are all excellent products, with Hydrate being excellent as a drying aid. You have to use it to appreciate it, as there is no other product like it. The AMMO videos on YouTube are really good imho, even if you never buy any of his products as they are focused on technique rather than simply being about sales. And if you're really into this stuff then it's worth checking out Matt at Obsessed Garage on YouTube as well.

Once you get into this you find that there are far better products available than the stuff in Halfords, etc. I discovered Bilt Hamber about 10 years ago, Carpro about a year and a half ago, and AMMO about a year ago. I just wish I had a garage and then I could completely destroy my bank account :rolleyes:

Hope all this is helpful

thanks for your information. just looking locally at what i can buy in a physical shop in terms of snow foam that will not strip wax but do a decent enough job anyway. any experience / thoghts on GTECHNIQ W4 CITRUS FOAM or KLEEN FREAKS SNOW FOAM? seems to be the only 2 they have in stock.

Gotham Knight

alsiet2017 wrote: »

thanks for your information. just looking locally at what i can buy in a physical shop in terms of snow foam that will not strip wax but do a decent enough job anyway. any experience / thoghts on GTECHNIQ W4 CITRUS FOAM or KLEEN FREAKS SNOW FOAM? seems to be the only 2 they have in stock.

Haven't used either of those, but the brands are well respected so I expect you'll be fine with either one. Don't know if you're in/near Dublin but Detailing Shed stock Bilt Hamber Auto Foam, which is where I got mine. They also deliver. And they supply foam lances if you need one.

(BTW, I'm not on commission )

Good luck with it

Foxhole Norman

Gtechniqs W4 is fantastic, about equal to Bilt Hambers Auto Foam. I find you get more out of the W4 due to dilutions but at the same time get more (quantity) for your money with Auto Foam.