Detailing / Cleaning... Help A Noob!

[nrgizerbunny]

Well I've decided to give my a car a clean and usually I don't really pay that much attention to it. Vacuum with my henry, wash with soap, dry and wax.

Apparently this is not the way to do it and having had a look on detailing world, I'd like to improve! therefore can anyone give me any tips on what to do and also what gear I will need?

here's my shopping list so far:

1. leather

2. Soap

3. Hoover

4. Wax

5. Claybar? what sort?

6. metal polish for my exhaust

[BRIDGES]

Hey mate,

I know there's a lot of info available on detailing world as I'm a member there myself, but searching up will give good tips.

Leather - Not sure what's best as I don''t have leather

Soap - Hope you mean shampoo!! - Dodo Juice Born to be mild or Sour power is damn good and Chemical guys Glossworks is good too.

Hoover - Henry are used a lot I just use my Dyson

Wax - There's loads lol!!! Meguiars 16 is a great wax which is on the cheap side and can out perform most expensive waxes. Collinite 915 is very good. There are also sealants which are classed as man made - Jetsea 109 is a good sealant and the best I've used is FK1000p.

clay bar: I'm using Bilt Hamber soft clay bar and that does the job nicely as our paint is classed as soft paint. There is a Harder version but that could cause marring which can only be removed by polishing. Again theres loads.

Meatal polish - Britemax metal Twins best there is - currently a deal on detailing world and i've purchased more

Hope thta helps

[TommyTsport]

Are you using the two bucket technique (one bucket for clean water and one for dirty)? the best way to wash your car without causing any damage to the paint. My method is usually:

Rinse blast with the karcher

Clean with Mers shampoo and a sheepskin mit using TBT

Dry with a large microfibre

clay with Meguiars clay kit

Wax with Meguiars

Polish with autoglym

Seal with poorboys sealant

Clean the wheels with billberry wheel cleaner (this stuff is the nuts)

Hoover and go over bits i've missed (exhaust, door jars, sills etc)

[nrgizerbunny]

i've got a hose so i suppose one bucket would do me.

The other thing is as I did the plumbing in my house, i have a hot tap outside. what do you use on the wheels?

[TommyTsport]

billberry

[farhanali89]

im getting a bit more into detailing.

Heres my set up for a weekend wash.

Rinse car with karcher

Foam Car

Rinse with karcher

2 Bucket method washing (I use meguairs gold class or autoglym)

Rinse again

Wheel cleaner (Moving over to bilberry wheel cleaner)

Spray off with karcher

Dry with Meguiars water magnet towel

Usually just use gold class wax but after the spray im probably grabbing some chemical guys and poorboys stuff.

[BRIDGES]

Have a look at Autosmart too buddy. Give them an e-mail and they'll give you the number of the local dealer. Will pop round in a van and they have some good stuff.

Tardis - Best tar remover ever

G101 - All purpose cleaner (for sills, arches, tyres)

They have loads and most items are rated high

[CorollaD4D]

My personal Saturday morning regime:

1. Check oil and start engine, immediately go to a trusted air machine and check air pressure on cold tyres

2. Return home and put the kettle on while finding the motivation to wash the car while freezing your bits off in the weather!

3. Rinse car with hose pipe (I've not bought a pressure washer just yet)

4. Spray BilBerry wheel cleaner onto all 4 wheels using the correct dilution ratio on the back of the container

5. Wash car using 2 bucket method and grit guards with a Microfibre wash sponge. I use Chemical guys citrus wash, it is simply the best on the market!

6. Rinse car with hose pipe allowing water to sheet off.

7. Dry car with Drying towel. This towel is amazing, it dries the whole body in one go, no need to ring it out or anything.

8. Apply Chemical guys wheel guard after drying wheels with a separate but identical drying towel. Wheel guard is applied with applicator pad.

9. Dry all the sills etc with another separate drying towel.

10. Clean glass inside and out with microfibre towel and glass cleaner, also apply tyre shine to make the tyres come out nice

11. Inside vacuum and dashboard detailer to wipe down all plastics etc etc

I don't do the clay/polish/wax weekly (obviously)...

I hope this is of interest to you. Basically the idea is to use plush cloth with pile so that any dirty is 'absorbed' into the pile of the microfibre rather than being dragged along the paint work and scratching the whole car.

Incidentally if you don't fancy paying for all that yourself you can do what I do and go 50/50 with a friend and share the stuff, there is more than enough to go round. Also after finishing I put all microfibres including the sponge into the 50 degree cycle with half a table spoon or washing powder. You can get special microfibre wash formulations but I don't know if they'll damage my/your washing machine or not.

Edit: I forgot to say using a separate and dedicated wheel microfibre sponge thingy I rub the wheels down last before rinsing so the bilberry has time to do its thing.

2nd Edit: As has been stated Autosmart make some very good products, I just choose not to use them but they are very good products providing you don't use the most budget/cheaper lines.

3rd Edit: If you wanted to clay then after the wash dry the car and clay with clay bar and lubricant, then rewash the car using 2 bucket method and then dry. After this second dry apply polish (personally I stick to autogly super resin polish, its the best hand polish IMHO) and then after the polish has cured apply your wax.

4th Edit: If you are unsure on anything please ask on here but also I've seen some very very good videos on youtube regarding 2 bucket method and other techniques such as claying so check those out too!

5th Edit: I think I'll stop thinking of extra stuff I want to say and go downstairs and watch the election night drama! Enjoy!