[W36 EJO]

Right folks its coming up to summer, the weather is getting warmer and I'm ordering in my various cleaning and detailing bits and pieces.

The aim of this thread is for you to share your personal thoughts and achievements to give others tips and advice on the best products for their car with a picture. It would be nice to get a few different coloured cars in this thread so I will start:

If you can cut and paste the details below and fill your own details in, hopefully this will be helpful for us all!

Colour: Ink Blue
Age: 4 years

Products used for detailing:
- Diamond Brite stage 1 & 2
- Diamond Brite Conserver
- Diamond Brite Shampoo
- Chamois Leather

Products used for weekly clean:
- Simonez Shampoo / Diamond Brite Shampoo
- Once Monthly, Diamond Brite Conserver

Products used for alloys and tyres:
- Weekly was with water and car shampoo
- When gunge/tar has built up, Wonder Wheels
- Turtle Wax Extreme Tyre Gel
- When wheels are off, Turtle Wax Original Paste Wax

Products used for Glass:
- Autoglym Glass Polish
- Rain-Ex

Results:

Please note....the tyres were not dressed with gel at this point! I am purchasing Clearkote Vanilla Moose Hand Glaze and Poorboys Ex Sealant, will let you know and see the results when I get them!

 

[GaryM]

Colour: Reflex Silver
Age: 20 months

Products used for detailing:
- Swissol Claybar
- Swissol Shield Wax
- Diamond Brite stage 1 & 2
- Diamond Brite Conserver
- Diamond Brite Shampoo
- Zymol Shampoo
- Meguiars Lambswool mit
- Meguiars Drying Towel
- Flexi Blade

Products used for weekly clean:
- Diamond Brite Shampoo or Zymol Shampoo
- Biweekly, Diamond Brite Conserver

Products used for Leather Interior:
- Zymol Leather Cleaner
- Swissol Milk Feed

Products used for alloys and tyres:
- Weekly wash with water and car shampoo
- MC2 / Virosol
- Meguiars Gold Class Endurance Tyre Gel

Products used for Glass:
- Autoglym Fastglass Polish
- Mer Rainaway

Results:

 

[Martyn]

I will post a few pics of mine in the next week.....[8-|]

But swissol stuff is the dogs danglies[<)]

 

[Deadlock]

Colour: Indigo Blue Age: 48 months (owned for 6 months) Products used for detailing: - Swissol Claybar - Meguiars 1,2,3 Deep Crystal system (was a present, not used yet using ClearKote for the mo!) - Luxury Carnauba Polish - ClearKote Carnauba Moose Wax - Diamond Brite stage 1 & 2 - Diamond Brite Conserver - Diamond Brite Shampoo - Meguiars Lambswool mit - Meguiars Drying Towel - Selection of AG Microfiber Cloths and Applicators - Gold Class Applicator Pad - Flexi Blade Products used for weekly clean: - Diamond Brite Shampoo or NXT Car wash - NXT Spray Wax - 4 weekly Gold Class Trim Detailer - 4 weekly Diamond Brite Conserver Products used for alloys and tyres: - Weekly wash with water and car shampoo - MC2 - Turtle wax Tyre spray, (I've poured the contents into a jar and use a small brush to paint it on though) Products used for Glass: - Autoglym Fastglass Polish Results: Dull weather but you get the picture

 

[oxford]

(copied and edited from deadlock )



Colour: Black ? non metallic
Age: 5 years old (owned for 2.5 months)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

Products used for detailing:
- 3M claybar
- ClearKote Carnauba Moose Wax
- ClearKote Carnauba Moose Wax Hand Glaze
- Some crappy sponges x 4
- Poorboys SSR2
- Poorboys SS shampoo
- AG Microfiber Cloths megs Applicators

- Poorboys SS shampoo
- Flexi Blade<o></o>

Products used for weekly clean:
- Poorboys SS Shampoo
- ClearKote hand glaze, if I can be bothered<o></o>

Products used for alloys and tyres:
- Weekly wash with water and car shampoo
- MC2/Virosol
- Turtle wax extreme tyre gel? <o></o>

Products used for Glass:
- Clearkote hand glaze<o></o>

Results:<o></o>

Latest ones I have, perhaps not the best but they will do J<o></o>

[<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:stockticker>IMG</st1:stockticker>]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/oxfordlads/DavidGTI3.jpg[/<st1:stockticker>IMG</st1:stockticker>]

[<st1:stockticker>IMG</st1:stockticker>]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/oxfordlads/DavidGTI2.jpg[/<st1:stockticker>IMG</st1:stockticker>]

[<st1:stockticker>IMG</st1:stockticker>]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/oxfordlads/DavidGTI1.jpg[/<st1:stockticker>IMG</st1:stockticker>]<o></o>

 

[smithjoe]

Oxford that is a great wet shine you have, is yours a non metalic or black magic colour?

 

[oxford]

Non met bro.

 

[smithjoe]

Non met bro.

Oxford, ive been looking on the Serious performance website at the clearkote stuff which you use and notice that they are waxes but you are getting a great shhine with them, i thought polish gave the shine and wax just protected them, the reason im interested in this as ive got some P21s wax and find it brilliant so would it be worthwhile getting some clearkote wax to put on before it or do they both do the same job. Thanks in advance Joe.

 

[mk4 Turbo]

Colour: Cosmic Grey

Age: 2 Months

Products used for detailing:
- Autoglym Super Resin Polish
- Autoglym Life Shine Gloss Guard
- Turtle Wax Shampoo
- Autoglym Chamois

Products used for weekly clean:
- Turtle Wax Shampoo

Products used for alloys and tyres:
- Weekly was with water and car shampoo
- Autoglym Wheel Clean
- Wheel Wax (not sure what make)

Products used for Glass:
- Autoglym Glass Polish

- Autoglym Lifeshine Glass Guard

- Autoglym Fast Glass

Not the best of picutres, as I'm pretty poor at using a camera, but
this pic does the car no justice. Apologies for the lack of tyre shine
[]

 

[oxford]

Non met bro.

Oxford, ive been looking on the Serious performance website at the clearkote stuff which you use and notice that they are waxes but you are getting a great shhine with them, i thought polish gave the shine and wax just protected them, the reason im interested in this as ive got some P21s wax and find it brilliant so would it be worthwhile getting some clearkote wax to put on before it or do they both do the same job. Thanks in advance Joe.

Hiya mate, the P21 is great stuff so you have the right thing there. Usually polish with brighten up the paint as it is a little abrasive and wax will add more depth and protective. However a little gem to this rule is the clearkote hand glaze, I really cannot recommend it highly enough. When you have polished the car, slap the hand glaze on, its every so easy to use and buff it off again - you will find that it really gives a deep shine and most importantly is hides all the scratches and imperfections in the paint (some of which are removed by polishing). This acts as a wax too, so if your in a hurry you can just use it along, however add the P21 ontop of that and then you will achieve pretty much the same oily wet look. I tried P21 against the clearkote cab wax and found the cab wax ever so slightly "wetter" but the gloss on the P21s wax more impressive.

I really cannot rate the hand glaze highly enough, it is the saviour of car waxing. Jace and I use it most weeks and if you are fast you can get it applied and buffed off in under 30 mins. Also its is AMAZING on the windows too, acts just like rainx and they come up smashing.

BUY IT!

 

[Jace]

Non met bro.

Oxford, ive been looking on the Serious performance website at the clearkote stuff which you use and notice that they are waxes but you are getting a great shhine with them, i thought polish gave the shine and wax just protected them, the reason im interested in this as ive got some P21s wax and find it brilliant so would it be worthwhile getting some clearkote wax to put on before it or do they both do the same job. Thanks in advance Joe.

Hiya mate, the P21 is great stuff so you have the right thing there. Usually polish with brighten up the paint as it is a little abrasive and wax will add more depth and protective. However a little gem to this rule is the clearkote hand glaze, I really cannot recommend it highly enough. When you have polished the car, slap the hand glaze on, its every so easy to use and buff it off again - you will find that it really gives a deep shine and most importantly is hides all the scratches and imperfections in the paint (some of which are removed by polishing). This acts as a wax too, so if your in a hurry you can just use it along, however add the P21 ontop of that and then you will achieve pretty much the same oily wet look. I tried P21 against the clearkote cab wax and found the cab wax ever so slightly "wetter" but the gloss on the P21s wax more impressive.

I really cannot rate the hand glaze highly enough, it is the saviour of car waxing. Jace and I use it most weeks and if you are fast you can get it applied and buffed off in under 30 mins. Also its is AMAZING on the windows too, acts just like rainx and they come up smashing.

BUY IT!

I'll 2nd that

 

[Deadlock]

Need to get some of that ClearKote Carnauba Moose Wax Hand Glaze stuff soon, just trying to use up the stuff I have! and not overdo the polishing waxing ritual! Since the major session and Diamondbriting, all i've needed to do is wash and top up the wax!

Oxford or Jace, have you tried the Clearkote Quik Shine ??http://www.demomedia.co.uk/sp/products/maintenance.php

 

[oxford]

I have a sample of which I have tried, however not got the whole jobby yet.

I think I will get some soon, looks pretty handy!

 

[W36 EJO]

Well I have just ordered:

Clearkote Vanilla Moose Hand Glaze & Poorboys Ex Sealent with Carnauba.

This is to go over the diamondbrite as seen in the above pics. Hopefully it will arrive tommorow and fingers crossed the evenings will be nice after todays rain. Will post up pics of the before and after results to see if we can see any difference, but I'm feeling pretty sad and really looking forward to it!!

 

[oxford]

Good job mate, you will be impressed I am sure of it! *thumbs up*

 

[nathan.russell]

Man, I need some advice on this !

It sounds like you guys use some serious products and a serious amount of time keeping your cars clean - I thought a fortnightly (sometimes monthly [+o(] ) wash would surfice, but clearly not !

Seriously, I would very much appreciate some advice here.
I have just purchased a brand new MKV GT TDi, Laser Blue, Grand Prix alloys, and obviously I want to keep it nice (excluding the current supermarket trolley scrape !)

My current regime is to wash the car with Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo & Conditioner, then rinse with clean water, then chamois dry. Finally go over it with Autoglym Polish (the one with the red label)
Wheels are with water & sponge - Wonder Wheels if particularly bad, and the glass ... well, just washed as above and chamios'ed off.

I thought I was doing OK - but reading your posts, clearly not !

Whats all this talk of clay bars and the like ? What is Stage 1, Stage 2 etc ? Should I be waxing as well as polish (I thought they were one and the same thing [:$] ) And what about waxing/polishing the wheels - they are pretty grubby at the moment, so it'll be Wonder Wheels time shortly, but can I wax/polish them afterwards to pervent the grime & brake dust getting on there in the first place ?

Cheers

Nathan

 

[W36 EJO]

I got into this also via the forum. Beware though, because once you have started you will have a fetish for cleaning materials, and soon have a cupboard full of the stuff!

Your doing ok with your washing technique, however, I woud advise from stopping with the polish. Polish basically rubs away the top surface of the paint to give a better shine from the below paint. Bit like women do with with this facial scrub etc! However, paint doesn't grow back, which is why I would say move away from the polish.

Wax on the other hand gives another coat of 'protection' to the paint, instead of taking a layer away, which is why most of us use wax.

The time to use a polish would be when you have bought a second hand car thats been through car washes all its life, to get rid of he top layer.

Diamondbrite is a protective coating, not a wax or a polish really. What this does is give a protection to your paintwork AND makes it nice and shiny (see the first pic in the thread, thats mine with a diamondbrite coating). This coating will easily last 6 months. It gives you the protection against the paint, and thr shiny surface and cleaning from then on is also easier. This comes in stage 1 and stage 2 bottles to give the best coating on your paint.

Claybars are a very good way of getting rid of paint blemishes and paint oversprays or any other general blemish in your paintwork. You need to use one with a good bit of 50/50 shampoo/water, spray it on the area you are going to work on and it will bring the paintwork up to feel like glass.

Wheels, your doing the right thing. The only reason we might wax them after a Virsol/MC2/Wonder wheel treatment is to protect the alloy and also it makes cleaing with sponge and water from then on an easier task for a couple of months.

The whole reason for this thread was to spread the knowledge, so hopefully it has helped. The only thing I would advise, is that a proper detailing session can take anything from 4 hours to 2 solid days. All the materials are out there, but no matter what the material, its not going to do any justice to your paintwork if you don't apply it correctly and take care in what you are doing.

What we are doing here, if you start from the begining in the following sequence, will take you a couple of days at least if done properly...

- Wash and dry
- Claybar
- Wash and Dry
- Diamondbrite
- Wash, Conserve and dry
- Handglaze or any other material
- Wash and dry
- Poorboys or any other material
- Wheels, wash and dry, virosol/MC2, dry, wax, tyre gel (take the wheels off the car! A lot easier!!)

Stick a coat of Autoglym Glass Polish and then coat your windows with Rain-ex then go down the motorway with it raining....I swear to you, at 50mph or above, you WILL NOT need wipers!!

I'm not the best person to talk to about all this either, I have only recently got into it, so I'm sure others will be having their say!!

 

[mk4 Turbo]

Does Autoglym polish lift the paint? I never see any colouring on the
cloth, and I always thought it built up a protective layer over time.

If I've used the Lifeshine stuff, which is a permanent sealant pretty
much, which Autoglym guarantee for 10 years (if applied by a qualified
technician) will I not just be building up layers of polish on that now?

 

[W36 EJO]

Yes, thats pretty much correct. It's just I think if a poll was done, most would choose wax over polish. Because you have got those layers, it's not going to affect it that much, but if you took two older cars that haven;t been looked after and polished one and waxed the other, you would see the differences.

Some manufacturers call polish polish because it attracts people into buying it, i.e. polish sounds as if it's going to give you a shine as thats what household polish does.

However, if you are into detailing your car on a regular basis, I would reccomend mnoving from Autoglym and onto the 'higher up' stuff, such as Meguairs, Zymol, Poorboys etc, Swissol for instance is meant to be a completely different ballgame, but I;ve never tried it due to the cost of it!

 

[john_wintle]

AFAIK you won't build up layers with the A/G SRP as it has a mild cutting agent in it.

You will only build up layers using a wax.

You might not see any paint colour nowadays as you are in effect polishing the clearcoat or laquer layer, not the actual paint colour, unless you have a plain, non clearcoated colour.

As for 10 years guarantee....are you going to have the car in 10 years time? What does the small print say about the guarantee, wash it monthly using our special stuff without fail otherwise the waranty is invalid, remove any bird doo within seconds.....

Sorry to seem sceptical, but it is really a sales pitch to get people to get it done.

Now I would love it to be done on a Tornado Red Golf and see what happens in a year, let alone 10!