Detailing chat

Leave it to Brian.
He will sort it for you safely.

Update 2:

Just back from Spirit Detailing. Brian tried a good few things in his arsenal and nothing worked 100%. Clay took off some of the very heavy stuff and was maybe the best of the bunch. He hasn't seen anything like it before and it appears to have stained the clear coat (wtf is it!).

Booked in for the first available slot at the start of October with him for a few days. He is hopeful a tough polish will work on the stains and if not we are looking at some sanding.

The nightmare goes on, but happy to be in good hands and I fully believe he will get it sorted.

Might swing by BMW in the meantime, car is less than two months old and see what they say, try convince them to respray it for free

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Be careful here. Unless there is some likelihood of the paint/clear coat being faulty from manufacture, why would BMW do a respray? Once you go in, itll be on tbe record and any future real paintwork warranty claim may be compromised. Just a thought!

Perhaps a better first step would be to have some bits of the substance analysed to establish exactly what it is?

Very fair point.

yannakis wrote: »

So I've been practicing the standard wash this summer (foam, wheel brushes, 2 buckets, de-tar, de-iron) up until the hose ban kicked in. I was planning to step up my game a bit, so got this rather basic DA polisher and this 125mm backing plate. Now with the hose ban hopefully ending soon, I want to buy the rest of the items and do the job!

From my research I'm missing some clay, polishing pads, masking tape, and a good polish? Am I missing something?

Looking at these Chemical Guys Hex Logic pads for example, I'm getting a bit lost. Do I need a compound and a sealant too?

Can you recommend some products?

Yes... You'll need the 2 kg tub of elbow grease (make sure you get the correctly oriented one depending on whether you're right-handed or one of them weird ciothog lads).

yannakis wrote: »

So I've been practicing the standard wash this summer (foam, wheel brushes, 2 buckets, de-tar, de-iron) up until the hose ban kicked in. I was planning to step up my game a bit, so got this rather basic DA polisher and this 125mm backing plate. Now with the hose ban hopefully ending soon, I want to buy the rest of the items and do the job!

From my research I'm missing some clay, polishing pads, masking tape, and a good polish? Am I missing something?

Looking at these Chemical Guys Hex Logic pads for example, I'm getting a bit lost. Do I need a compound and a sealant too?

Can you recommend some products?

OK
I won't recommend polishes as I haven't used a polisher with a while and polishes have moved on.
But Menz polishes are still highly rated as far as I am aware.
You could also use some Megs 105 and 205 polishes are they are very capable of giving great results.
Then seal it up with whatever product of your choice. ( ie. Wax ~ Sealant ~ Ceramic coat etc)
When I did use polishing machines I did really like the Hex pads, My favourite 3 were
Orange for heavy cut
Green for medium cut / finish cut
Black for polishing.

I described the pads in easy to understand english to make it more understandable.

vectra wrote: »

OK
I won't recommend polishes as I haven't used a polisher with a while and polishes have moved on.
But Menz polishes are still highly rated as far as I am aware.
You could also use some Megs 105 and 205 polishes are they are very capable of giving great results.
Then seal it up with whatever product of your choice. ( ie. Wax ~ Sealant ~ Ceramic coat etc)
When I did use polishing machines I did really like the Hex pads, My favourite 3 were
Orange for heavy cut
Green for medium cut / finish cut
Black for polishing.

I described the pads in easy to understand english to make it more understandable.

What would you recommend instead of polishes? I used that word without much thinking tbh.

On the pads and the examples you used above, would you go orange for Maguires 105, then green for 205, and then black for wax/sealant? Would one of each pads be enough to do the whole car in a day? (depending on the elbow grease )

What would you recommend when it comes to wax or sealant? I'd avoid ceramic coatings on the first go as I'd prefer to be confident the polishing part is done right before coating it with something more permanent.

Slattsy wrote: »

What's happening with Detailing Shed lads? Are they wrapping up? (sad face)

Most will know that Detailing Shed was a venture of mine; though no longer! So, I can give some background.

Was owned by my brother and I, after he bought out the share from the guy I initially set up the business with, back in 2010.
We had intended on running the Detailing Services under the Detailing Shed name too, but a split occurred before everything was in place. We agreed he would run the detailing products aspect of the business, and I would take on the Detailing Services and the Swisstrax Floor Tile under the D'Shed name.

Dont get myself involved in his affairs, but as far as I can make out; he has ceased the walk in shop, but online orders continue to be sent out, although the previously in place, next working day delivery commitment, I doubt is being kept up.
He has taken on hours at another job, citing the Hose Pipe Ban as the reason to have to resort to the measures.



From my own perspective, the Detailing Services didnt work out for various reasons; there was plenty of customers though. May re-visit it when timing is better.

ianobrien wrote: »

who can I annoy for "advice"?

If anyone ever needs any help, dont hesitate to contact me; dont frequent the forum 20 times a day like in the past, but do pop in and out regular enough! Always happy to help out any detailing enthusiast!

Thanks for the update, I've always appreciated your thoughts and help over the years.

Loves_lorries wrote: »

Paid a valet garage 90 euro to remove a chronic dog smell on a car I just bought, guy has always done good work for me.

Is it reasonable to go back to him, car spotless after clean but dog smell returned once chemicals smell wore off after three days

Smells are not something easily removed, if you paid €90 for the car to be cleaned and the car is clean there's not much recourse. The smell can be well ingrained in foam, roof liners, carpets etc, removing smells like this can take days to do right and even then, you couldn't guarantee it won't return unless you go stripping the entire interior!

Looking for a power washer today, just for the cars. Thoughts?! Had a nilfisk before and it was good.

https://m.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/1577941/Trail/searchtext>Powerwasher.htm

Black_Knight wrote: »

Lovely weather to have a hosepipe ban in. :rolleyes:

Is there still a hosepipe ban? I thought that was all over with

The car is getting a good clean today anyway.

Might need a whole bottle of shampoo when I do get around to washing it.

Restored the headlights on my girlfriend's 05 Golf yesterday: