Cut and shine question

[gibby]

This is a question for all you shiney bodywork people. I've been using some cut and shine called funnily enough, cut and shine and it's made by a company called Nielson (or Neilson, can't remember), it's pink and does a cracking job as you just put it on and rub it off and it cuts and shines as it says on the tin. 

Now the bad bit, I'm running out of this stuff as my dad got it years ago in a 5ltr tin and I don't think it's in production anymore, so I wanted to know what people thought the best stuff was these days, does anyone know of a similar product that cuts and shines ? I can't be doing with having to cut it with one product then have to do the whole car with a polish as it takes me long enough to do it once. 

I find that after a while, especially after the winter that my bodywork needs a cut as it just pics up loads of marks on it so I'm not just after a good polish as I need a cut too. Anyone any recomendations ? Or do people use t-cut then a good polish ? 

[topher]

If you really need to cut it that often, then the "shine" part of your gunk must be pants. No good for the paint taking all those layers off !
Try a clay bar to get the stubborn marks off the paint, never used one myself but heard great things about them.
I think the method is wash, dry, claybar + cleanse (you use a spray to keep the clay moving on the paint so it doesnt stick) then wax, then wax again if you're a perfectionist!
Or pay a bodyshop to mop it proffessionally, but have a colour wax handy as it'll need a couple of coats to keep the shine in.

[gibby]

Anyone else ? What do you use to cut and shine your bodywork ? Come on peeps I'm after some guidance here, some of you must polish your cars at some point ?   

[eyeletboy]

i use the carplan colour fast t-cut,auto glym super resin polish and autp glym extra gloss protection.it does do a nice job but it is time consuming but you only get out what you put in.i have heard good things about "mer".never used it myself but might try it this year.

[G6dub]

OK this is what Gary does, but he says you need to know what your doing.

Buy a mop if you don't have one and do the hole car with M3 compound, water and the mop very messy job. Be very gental on teh endges or your go through to far.


Then you want to polish it with a decent polish, once it has been moped it should be ok for a long time as long as you keep the polishing up. Auto Glym is fine.

(if you don't want to do it yourself get a body shop to do it but it will cost, also make sure they will be responsible and sort out any edges they may mess up)

[S11EPS]

My reply is nearly word for word the same as Clares!

I use the 3M cutting compound with a mop, followed by one or two coats of a high resin polish (I use Autoglym).

The mop isn't essential (cutting compound can be applied by hand) it's just considerably easier and less tiring if you do use it.

As Clare said, go easy if you do use a mop - it needs to be kept as flat as possibly to the bodywork, and do not allow too much heat to build up in the pad - ignore these two golden rules and you will ruin your car in less time than it took to read this sentence.

I have also heard good things about the clay bar (a lot of the ferrari dudes use it) as it picks off microscopic bits of crap off of your paintwork, that washing misses, meaning it is 100% clean and debris free before you begin the polishing operation.

Alternatively, check out ebay - there are a number of guys operating on there that do a full days valet using real high end products (including clay bar) for about £200. They are there the whole day and will travel to wherever you are. Your car will never look as good as it would with one of these guys.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=72201&item=7966040766&rd=1

I may have the Zymol one done (they come up on ebay from time to time) in the summer.

[gibby]

Thanks for the replies. £200    That needs to be from the factory shiney for that ! It's nice to get someone else to do it but there's a certain amount of satisfaction to be gained from doing it yourself. 

[Mr Blue]

I use autoglym on mine. if ive got some scratches then i polish them out using G3 cutting compound. Dont use G3 like an everyday product or you will end up with a bare metal finish

^heard toothpaste is a good one to get scratches out but dont hold me to that

[G6dub]

opps I menat G3 not M3 lol Thanks Blue

I think we should get autoglym to read this, we should all be in for some discount 

[Mr Blue]

Thanks Blue