More chemicals than ICI

[weefossy]

For the first time I've been looking through various posts in the car care forum and I'm so exhausted just reading this stuff
I was just about to e mail BS for an application form for the "Manky Club",
then I thought, well I do like a clean car, but all this stuff is confusing.

Ian, Andy, Marky, forgive me, but what is the difference between polish and wax? What is the differnce between wax and sealent? What is Jewellultra Diamondbrite and does it work? Ok back to the begining, what am i doing wrong in the following, because it appears I have more chemicals in my garage than ICI have in Teeside

1. Hose down the car using normal hose. Should I use my power hose?
2. Wash the car with sponge (not a mit) using Turle Wax shampoo. I do use two bucket method and the rinse off with lots of water from hose.
3. Depending on condition of paintwork might use a clay. Find it scary but it works.
4. Always use tar remover to get rid of insects and tar.
5. Sometimes use colour based T cut to shine up paintwork.
6. Wash car thoroughly again to take off all chemical residue
7. Once I have smooth shiney paintwork apply polish in straight lines. Have used Autoglym, BMWs own, Turtle wax, Mer and Magquires. Personally think Mer or Mags are best although have heard Mer is "abrasive" ??
8. Polish off with micro fibre cloth
9. Apply Auto glym "Extra gloss protection"
10. Go on Mini run and start all over again

Is there a new polish called Turtle wax Ice that works on both the paintwork and the black trim, without leaving white bits on the trim?

I have used Mags detailer with the clay and I have seen Marky and Craig obsessively using it in between run stops. Are they using it as a "bug" remover or a polish or a wax? Or are they just sniffing it

And finally what are the proper "cleaning" stages and what are the best products for each stage. Perhaps once we agree what the stages are, we can have a vote on what products people prefer

Over to the experts!

[Scottie]

you want to

1. wash the car
2. either clay bar or use other application take get rid of all the crap on your car.
3. polish the car what ever method you prefer
4. glaze the car
5. use sealant
7. wax.

I'll let the others tell you what best method to cleanse the paint polish glaze seal and wax and what products to use.

[Scottie]

I can give you a detailed list of products as to what we think works best with Pepper White.

Once you buy the products number the bottles i.e. what to use first,second,third etc etc if your anything like
Allan he forgets and always asks what sequence do I use these in again.LOL

[AndyP & Lenore]

Malcolm, you're where I was a few months ago.... You're in for a fun ride.

FWIW, you're not far wrong in your process, but allow me to impart some knowledge I've picked up mostly from Mr King....

The difference between polish and wax is extreme. Polish is abrasive and will "cut" into the lacquer coat on your car. The degree of cut depends on the polish you use. Polishing really only needs to be done once or twice a year. Wax, however, will leave your car with a protective coating of... well... wax (I guess) on your car, which then makes it easier to clean, protects the paintwork from tree sap and bird lime etc. The more coats of wax you have on your car the better.

Jewelultra Diamondbrite is the lazy persons easy get-out to car detailing. But, IMHO, it works. We have Diamondbrite on our Blue MINI and to be honest, water beads as well on that after a good wash as it does on our Red MINI after a coat of wax is applied. Diamondbrite is basically a polymer coating applied to the metalwork only of the car. It is a durable, long lasting protective film. Each month we wash the blue MINI, then rinse, then wash it over with a special "conserver" solution (provided by Jewelultra) to re-invigorate the coating. Looks brand new again for 2 or 3 weeks. We still wash the blue MINI each time it needs it, but the conserver wash is just once a month. If you are looking for a quick, easy way to keep your car clean without loads of hard work going into the detailing, I can't recommend Jewelultra Diamondbrite enough. I can even recommend a garage to apply it if you like. Cost about £150 to £200. Some folk say it is a dealer rip-off. I guess it is in a way, as the raw materials used cost the garage about £40 to £50. But they spend 3 hours detailing your car, and you get 6 years guaranteed paint protection.

However, if you like doing the detailing work yourself, you can get as good a look by putting in time and effort, but not without.

As for the process... allow me.....

1. Hose down the car using normal hose. Should I use my power hose?

Power hose to rinse is fine. Gets all the loose grit off.

2. Wash the car with sponge (not a mit) using Turle Wax shampoo. I do use two bucket method and the rinse off with lots of water from hose.
Two bucket method is good. I prefer a micro fibre wash mit. Others are happy with a good quality sponge. It's a judgement call.

3. Depending on condition of paintwork might use a clay. Find it scary but it works.

I don't clay. Too abrasive. I use a solution called Autosol Tardis. Does the same job, is effortless and probably a lot quicker. But it's a nasty chemical stuff that will probably rot the earth, so may not go down well with tree huggers. Oh, and wear gloves!

4. Always use tar remover to get rid of insects and tar.

Autosol Tardis will do this. But only in preparation for a major detail as it will take everything else off as well, apart from the lacquer and paint! For bug and tar remover between details - like on runs - actually, I've no idea what to use. Megs stuff maybe. Someone else will need to pipe in here.

5. Sometimes use colour based T cut to shine up paintwork.

T-cut is like polish. It will shine up your paintwork, but it will also remove your wax.

6. Wash car thoroughly again to take off all chemical residue

Cool.

7. Once I have smooth shiney paintwork apply polish in straight lines. Have used Autoglym, BMWs own, Turtle wax, Mer and McGuire's. Personally think Mer or Mags are best although have heard Mer is "abrasive" ??

This is where the "difference between wax and polish" comes in. Not sure if the Autoglym/BMW's own is wax or polish etc.

At this stage you want to be polishing the car - like I say above only once or twice a year though. I guess you could do it more often if you want, but it's gonna be hard work without a Detailing Machine.

If you're not polishing, you wanna be waxing. I use Blackfire Wet Diamond Carnuba wax. Goes on and buffs off very easy. Leaves a great finish. I really like it. But there are loads of waxes on the market and you may get better advice from someone else on what would work best for your colour of MINI.

8. Polish off with micro fibre cloth

Cool. I think you mean "buff" off though.

9. Apply Auto glym "Extra gloss protection"

No idea what this is or does. Mr King?????

10. Go on Mini run and start all over again

Attaboy! That's what it's all about.


Hope all that helps. If you need more advice, give me a shout. But Ian King, MarkyC, Scottiedoop's other half and Craig are all much more accomplished detailers than I am, so can no doubt advise you better. I just beat them to the reply, that's all.

Best of luck.

A.

[AndyP & Lenore]

you want to

1. wash the car
2. either clay bar or use other application take get rid of all the crap on your car.
3. polish the car what ever method you prefer
4. glaze the car
5. use sealant
7. wax.

I'll let the others tell you what best method to cleanse the paint polish glaze seal and wax and what products to use.

Glazing and sealing are the two steps I didn't use when I did the red MINI. Starting to think I should have.

A.

[Gismo]

Walks in for a look..........oops, wrong place, slams door on the way out

[Scottie]

Autoglym EXP is a sealant. If you have waxed and built up layers of wax your car when it comes to removing bug and tar marks washing your car using hot water should be enough to remove them. Surely when you first got our cabrio you noticed how easy bird dropping and bug splat was to come off.

[ianking]

Yeah what Andy said except its 'Autosmart Tar Remover' that I told him to use. You will definately need a good tar remover for a white car.

Remember when washing to be very thorough. A good wash makes all the difference. Do the door checks, under the wheel arches (carpeted annoying things on R55, 56) and the alloys all the way to the back.

If you want to polish by hand a couple times a year you could use Autoglym super resin or one of the new poorboys polymer polishes (they do one specifically for light coloured cars) then wax on top with the likes of blackfire or a Zymol wax (£££) or even just megs 16 wax (not £££). Collonite wax lasts a long time if you dont want to be out every month redoing. Razeglaze is getting good reviews at the mo as well.

I would never use the T cut colour magic stuff. Its pretty nasty stuff and is full of die. It can make a real mess.

Dress arches with the likes of black wow, or even minis own bumper dressing is OK. Dress tyres with Blackfire tyre gell or meguiars tyre gell or liquid dressing.
Always worth waxing the wheels as well or using a specific wheel sealant such as poorboys (makes future cleaning much easier)
Clean the glass in and out and thats pretty much a fair detail.

[euan]

...and the alloys all the way to the back.

How do you suggest getting in there? My MV2's are a nightmare to clean, and the alloys of the missus Polo are the same (at least I can reach round the back of them!). Problem is they are so wide and the car has longish overhangs so it's not easy to get round the back.

This is the MV2:

[ianking]

Wheel cleaning brush from polished bliss for £1.99 is great for getting to the back then use a nice soft clean half inch paint brush with tape around the metal bit to clean in between the spokes.