Detailing chat

Thanks for the reply PsychoPete. My fingers got the better of my brain, the car has not be detailed or ceramic coated in any way. I've been looking at clay bar and I think I might introduce that next into the process. I will do a bit more research on the polishing etc.

So again went at the car, cleaning it. Method was as follows: pre wash snow foam, wheels (fallout remover, arches got snow foam directly into them), snow foam, 2 bucket wash, tar remover, fallout remover, clay bar (on glass and body), glass clean, polish, wax,

Snow Foam - ADBL YETI

ADBL Snowball Shampoo

ADBL Vampire liquid - fallout remover

Brick Port Tar Remover

ADBL Hybrid Glass Cleaner

ADBL Tire and Rubber cleaner

ADBL Liquid Spray Wax

Autoglym Super Resin Polish

Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection.

Bilt Hamber Clay Bar with ADBL Clay lube

The autoglym polish and gloss, my dad had left over and wasnt using it so that why i used that. polish was hand applied using mf cloth and buffed off. I actually like seeing it cure/dry, because it shows you if you have missed anywhere. The wax went on after that, and then the gloss. And the results of all this work....

Please ignore the tyres, i didnt dress them. So a few things of note. I did everything except for the gloss in one day (school run to be done). So the next day i went and did the gloss. The car had been driven, and some dirt was on the wheel arches (no pics taken), but i got the hose out and lightly hosed the wheel arches down, then got the mitt and with some more water, wiped them down, then gentle hose down again. Is that a decent way of doing it? Car was wet from the hose, so dried it out and then went on with the gloss. Left that for about 30/40 mins, sun was out and although weak didnt want to leave it too long in the sun. Buffed the dried gloss off and hey presto, the results are above.

Some questions though:

1. If you have to split the washing/coating process into 2 days, at what stage is it best to do this?
2. What do you have to do to the car to prep it for gloss coating, if everything up to waxing was done the day before?
3. The liquid wax I'm not too sure on, i was thinking of getting something else, preferably one that 'dries', and leaves a clay like residue on the paint (a bit like the polish i used) so then i can buff it off, and something that was hard wearing.
4. anyone any opinion on the Autoglym products that i used? or recommend something like them to use in future? I dont have an electric polisher and prefer the hand method for now.
5. After claying and cleaning the glass, can i use a polish on it or a gloss to add some additional protection or for rainwater to come off easily? the ADBL stuff worked well last time with the rain, just wondering if there is anything else that can be done to help it?
6. So in some of the pics above they are of the around the wheel arches, with some white spots on them. These are not rough to touch, or bumpy, and dont seem like scratches (i cant get the corner of a fingernail into them), so what do people think that they are? and how to get rid of them? It was a little bit heartbreaking to see them after the time i've spent on the car. (and yes i know some people spend days on cars)
7. Opinions on how car turned out in general. Any tips/advice on method, products used etc.??
8. Finally, I plan on doing this type of wash again in about a months time or even a little later. But if i wanted to wash the car for a maintenance wash, up to what stage in my process above do i do? Or what is carried out.

Thanks for reading, apologies for the long post, bit of a brain dump in the post and trying to get everything down.

1. I'd probably wash it late in the evening then apply protection the morning
2. If I'm just waxing the car then I'll wash it,dry it then apply a wax. If I'm applying a coating I'll machine polish it,ipa wipe down then apply the coating
3. The ADBL spray wax is excellent, I prefer using something like that as its quicker to apply. Wax is kind of old technology these days when it comes to paint protection there's some excellent products that are better than wax and take less time to apply
4. Super resin polish is a good product to freshen up paint work, never used extra gloss protection. If you are looking for a good bang for buck wax then bilt hamber double speed is excellent or soft99 fusso. I'd use up a product before buying a replacement as you can go down a rabbit hole of detailing products
5. Autoglym have a glass polish, I use soft99 glaco on my glass which lasts a good few months
6. To me that looks like stone chips which you can't do much about them, don't try to chase perfection as you'll drive yourself mad
7. Turned out very well. I normally clean wheels,snow foam,rinse,contact wash, dry, tar remover,fallout remover paint and wheels,clay, polish, wax, glass and dress tyres but do what ever works for you
8. I'd wash it as normal and just dry it maybe a quick going over with some quick detailer

Thanks for the replies folks. I'll go again at it and do the full wash in probably another months time. @PsychoPete do you use a quick detailer, and if so any particular one?

Included compound/polish in full detail for first time with the Maguires MT320 I bought recently.

Done in bits over a few days.

1. Wheels brake dust (Bilt Hamber auto wheel)
2. Power rinse car and wheels
3. Snow foam everything and rinse (Bilt Hamber auto foam)
4. Clean wheels (Bilt Hamber auto wash)
5. Clean tyres (Bilt Hamber auto wash and Bilt Hamber Surfex HD
6. 2 bucket wash (Bilt Hamber auto wash)
7. Power rinse everything
8. Towel dry paintwork
9. Detar (Carpro tar x) and power hose and towel dry
10. Decontaminate (Bilt Hamber korisol) and power hose off
11. Clay bar (Bilt Hamber) and power rinse
12. Towel Dry
13. Machine compound (maguires ultimate compound)
14. Machine polish (maguires ultimate polish)
15. Machine wax (maguires ultimate wax)
16. Dress tyres (Carpro Perl)
17. Some GTechnique C2V3 on glass

A good bargain if anyone uses these scrub pads. I find them absolutely excellent for cleaning interior plastics, steerings etc. Normally about €4 each here. WOWO in the UK have a deal of 5 for 5 pound

Folks , Anyone still on here from DND detailing in Cork. I see they have sponsored Sams motor and machine for a detailing session on his L322

Well done to them

Bissell spot clean is ideal for cars as it has a small head which is perfect for car carpets. Can pick them up on amazon for around 150

Has anyone here ever used a denim cutting pad to remove orange peel?

I've ordered one online, they're supposed be very effective but extremely aggressive. You have to be really careful with them, especially around edges.

Anyone using the ceramic snow foams? Are they well regarded?

Thanks PsycoPete, appreciated.

Bump

Anyone tried what Sam’s Detailing describes below- spray on ceramic boost instead of waxing?

Haven’t seen his stuff for sale here but the motor factors has an AG ceramic boost.

I tried one of these recently. Not that exact one but it was a Gtechniq product (Easy Coat). I knew buying it that it was not going to be a good substitution for a ceramic coat detail but what I hoped to achieve was that the car would be easier to clean for the next month or so...

What I found:

Went on really easily and just had to rinse off.

Beading was excellent after applying - very impressive.

After next wash, beading was still there but was not as good. Car was not noticeably any easier to clean (pre-wash and power wash).

After second clean, no real beading visible so product was gone in my view.

Would I use it again: Maybe in the summer months where it would last longer. The shine from the car after applying was really nice so perhaps if you are cleaning/detailing the car for a special event then yes, it would be worth the €10 or so.

Mike

I use labocosmetica benefica, get 6 or 7 weeks protection out of it. Light mist on the panel then rinse off. Give nice beads and slick feel to the paint. I also use Geyon wet coat it's pretty similar and an excellent product

Any recommendations for cleaning up Aluminum/Magnesium Oxidation in a bmw engine bay?

Car was in storage for a long time under a cover and now it looks pretty old under the hood. Don't really want to start taking it apart to clean the individual parts.