Help a newbie detailer who doesn't have much time...

[steven_9709]

Due to work commitments etc, never have much time to wash and polish my car so looking for some help and assistance on some products to buy that will do a good job and protect the bodywork, without having to spend all day doing it.

Really probably just need a wash mit (or two), some shampoo and then some wax/polish.

I have a carbon grey mk 6 gti to look after 

Any help gratefully received

[kdiz]

I am no expert but, to keep it nice without doing too much you should do the following as a minimum:

two buckets with grit guards in one or both [ two bucket washing method ]
good wash mit
good car shampoo
a spray for the wheels to break down the brake dust and tar
microfibre clothes for drying
possibly clay if you dont mind doing that
and a wax suitable for application by hand

checkout:
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/

they have a lot of products

[waxamomo]

How about this:

http://www.waxamomo.co.uk/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=221&idcategory=18

or this:

http://www.waxamomo.co.uk/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=315&idcategory=18

Alternatively, a good basic starter kit without spending silly money would be:

Dodo Juice Tribble Wash Mit - £8.95
Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo - £4.95
Meguiar's Deep Crystal Polish Step 2 - £7.95
Meguiar's No.16 Wax - £11.95

Then you would just need some good applicators and microfibre towels.

You can swap and change any of the products above but just wanted to give you somewhere to start from.

Chris

[steven_9709]

Thanks for the suggestions guys

The Meguiars NXT Wash & Wax Kit looks a good buy - would you recommend that or the single products? I'm guessing the single products are better as you can pick specific products instead of being limited to what's in the box.

I have a chemical guys miracle dryer, and a couple of microfibre cloths somewhere but what would you recommend as an applicator? Maybe some new microfibre cloths too?

[kdiz]

Thanks for the suggestions guys

The Meguiars NXT Wash & Wax Kit looks a good buy - would you recommend that or the single products? I'm guessing the single products are better as you can pick specific products instead of being limited to what's in the box.

I have a chemical guys miracle dryer, and a couple of microfibre cloths somewhere but what would you recommend as an applicator? Maybe some new microfibre cloths too?

Kits can be ok for some stuff but it depends what they come with, I also have been told countless times to go for other brands and not meguairs, most of their stuff is alright but you pay quite a premium for the name and there is better stuff out there for the same money, but yea I generally prefer to buy products seperatly so you can specalise everything you want for each thing.

for an applicator i mean something like this
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/accessories/foam-wax-applicator/prod_89.html

if your microfibre clothes arnt good at soaking up the water which generally happens with age then yea it might be worth grabbing some new ones.

check out waxamomo site also for car cleaning stuff might work out better and i think you can still use the discount code on the forum 

Question to waxamomo, will you eventually be stocking menzerna polishes? I need to do a big buy soon over £200 worth I could direct it your way but I need menzerna polishes, thats the only thing stopping me.

[waxamomo]

Yep I have to agree with Kdiz, the kits are great for saving money if they have got everything you want, otherwise you are just buying items you don't really need. I do think the NXT kit is quite good though for a starter to the car cleaning world.

KDIZ - Yes I am planning on stocking the Menzerna polishes, I was speaking to Menzerna last week actually, just trying to sort everything out. I'll be honest with you and I don't think it will be until the New Year that the items will be in stock on my site though.

[steven_9709]

I've been looking into this a bit now, and am thinking that maybe I don't even need a polish, considering my car and paint are brand new. What concerns me a bit is that all polishes seem tome to be somewhat abrasive. I don't want to be unnecessarily abrading my paint! Perhaps I'd be better off with a glaze and/or sealant - what do you think?

Could you recommend some?

I've also spotted this Ultima Paint Guard Plus on your site too and that looks like good stuff. What are your views on that?

Thanks :-)

[the_stink]

Ive got my cleanign routine down to about 3 hours now i know what im doing and after spending that Day with GUY he showed me a few products which i have now bought which really give the car a great finish!!

i bought some Megs showroom Glaze no7 and some chemical guys wet mirror finish sealant and also soem colinite 915 wax and after i cleaned the .:R on sat it rained about 30 mins later but it beaded liek its never beaded before haha heres the thread to show the finish

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=136940.0

[waxamomo]

Have a look at the animation at the bottom of the following page for a quick review on the Ultima:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/ultima.html

[MDSS MK6]

I've been looking into this a bit now, and am thinking that maybe I don't even need a polish, considering my car and paint are brand new. What concerns me a bit is that all polishes seem tome to be somewhat abrasive. I don't want to be unnecessarily abrading my paint! Perhaps I'd be better off with a glaze and/or sealant - what do you think?

Could you recommend some?

I've also spotted this Ultima Paint Guard Plus on your site too and that looks like good stuff. What are your views on that?

Thanks :-)

You've probably seen this thread already, but if not, its one of a few I've read that are convincing me VW's painting isn't all its cracked up to be

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=136881.0

Certainly from my recent experiance, if you put the time in getting the car prepped right you then save time every wash for a while cos its so easy to get it back to "showroom". Its also kinda satisfying to see the end results