Which order?

[blinky88]

I decided to take it upon myself to give the old mk3 a good old clean which proper products but before diving into halfords i looked at the products my dad already had and hell..he had a lot!

Could someone advice me which products to use and in which order? Or if I need anything else? My car is a tornado red mk3:

-halfords "advanced car wash"
-autoglym "bodywork shampoo conditioner"
-t-cut "the original colour restorer"
-t-cut "color fast"
-autoglym "paint renovator"
-autoglym "extra gloss protection"
-autoglym "super resin polish"
-autoglym "clean wheels"
-halfords "showroom polish"
-simoniz "car polish" spray
-turtle wax "colour enhanced car polish"
-mercedes-benz "windscreen washer concentrate"
-halfords "glass and mirror cleaner"
-simoniz "back to black"
-sh!t loads of valeting cloths
-a few sponges
-buckets -----------------> (is the two bucket method worth doing??)
-and a shammy 

could someone help me derive a good routine for cleaning my car i dont mind putting in the hard work

thankyou people

i dont have one of those microfibre cloths is it essential?
-karcher

[...joe]

-autoglym shampoo
-autoglym paint renovator
-autoglym super resin polish, 2 or 3 coats will work wonders and give you arms like popeye
-autoglym extra gloss protection

then buy a good wax, ie meguiars NXT

throw away (or just don't use) the sponges (buy a proper lambswool washmit)

also buy some microfibres and some applicator pads like these:

http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=140

http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=64&products_id=44

oh and definately use the two bucket method.

[Rhyso]

before the paint renovater stage i'd clay the car; you can get a Meguairs Clay kit from Halfords for around £20; this includes the quik detailer and 2 clay bars.

what the clay bar does is remove most of the bonded contaniments from the surface, preping it for polishing and waxing etc

and as joe says DO NOT USE SPONGES!!! just as well get a rake and pull it across your paintwork!

[blinky88]

-autoglym shampoo
-autoglym paint renovator
-autoglym super resin polish, 2 or 3 coats will work wonders and give you arms like popeye
-autoglym extra gloss protection

then buy a good wax, ie meguiars NXT

throw away (or just don't use) the sponges (buy a proper lambswool washmit)

also buy some microfibres and some applicator pads like these:

http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=140

http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=64&products_id=44

oh and definately use the two bucket method.

thanks a lot joe yet again your a star!

rhyso i will look into the clay thanks for the info guys much apprieciated!

[blinky88]

just gotta say, after 4 hours of thorough product usage on my mk3 yesterday and some rain today, i can see the results!! perfectly beaded water over my car BEAUTY!!! thanks

[Rhyso]

just gotta say, after 4 hours of thorough product usage on my mk3 yesterday and some rain today, i can see the results!! perfectly beaded water over my car BEAUTY!!! thanks

it only took you 4 hours?? you sure you didn't miss something out!!?? 

sounds like you've done well - get some pics up!

[Simon8v91]

sounds like you've done well - get some pics up!

I second that! 

[blinky88]

prob missed something out but its only my first time

[Bluefox]

-autoglym shampoo

...joe, you tried Zymol? I like it better than Autoglym, seems to clean as well but it foams up a lot more. Plus it smells nice

[...joe]

not tried zymol, purely because i don't know anywhere that sells it! i use elite snowfoam and then meguiars NXT shampoo because it is ph neutral and has water softeners and i live in a very hard water area.

i only suggested autoglym as that's what blinky said he already had!