WANTED: Car cleaning/polishing guide

[kittie]

I clean the interior first before anything else.

I use the lambswool mitt two bucket thingie as described above.

For the wheels I use some acid wheel cleaner and an alloy wheel brush/old toothbrush. Making sure it's very well rinsed off. Also make sure you clean around the arches well.

Then use a chomois to dry, have a nice cuppa whilst it all get thourougly dry.

Then I tcut anything that needs it occasionally (red faded to pink bits, you won't have this problem although T cut can remove light scuffs)

Then I use Autoglym Super Resin Polish. Apply it all over and leave while I apply Autoglym Bumper care to the black trim. This stops the bumper stuff getting on paintwork and making a mess.

Then buff the black trim up

Then buff the polish of the car body and polish the wheels.

Then I polish the glass.

Then I do a top coat of Meguiars Gold Class wax (I always want to eat it it smells sooooo good!)

Don't forget to open your doors, bonnet and boot to get all those edges nice and clean!!

ummm think thats about it.

Need to do all this soon, have only given it quick baths over winter!! 

Wow that wasted a few mins at work

[Ridg]

yeah you need to use the two bucket method, if you've got the £ get the meguairs dirt trap bucket or zymol ones.

my full wash consist of

wheels using wonder wheels, i use a sponge to rinse these, with a dedicated bucket for rim cleaning.

wash the car using nxt shampoo, giving a second clean if needed.

dry using a squeegee & natural chamoises

clay bar horizonatl panals and the tail gate (mk4's get so much dirt on the loading lip)

meguiars stage 1 paint cleaner and t-cut where needed

meguiars stage 2 polish

meguiars ntx wax (this stuff is really easy to apply so i normally wax the bonnet and roof twice)

for polish i use the meguiars pads and  Supreme Shine Microfibre, before you apply paint cleaner / polish etc on the pads, mish water on the applicator surface to ease the application of x on the surface.

oh i use a different pad / towel for each too (that might sound lavish but those towels / pads last ages)

if you've got the money then get zymol, except its so expensive, i think the cheapest wax is £50



 

[...joe]

^^^ thats pretty much how i do mine except i just use meguiars shampoo for the wheels as well as mine are polished alloy so need to be gentle!!

kittie, theres no need to let the polish stay on that long, all it does is make it harder to remove!!! wax however is worth leaving on for as long as you can to let it impregnate as much as possible.

Don't forget to open your doors, bonnet and boot to get all those edges nice and clean!!

makes all the difference!

[gonnahavemesomefun]

Thanks guys. Seems like I made the right choice when I bought the dambs wool mit.  I'll deffo try the two bucket approach, makes perfect sense.

The tester area I did looks amazing in todays son, although I can see that the VW matalic black paint isn't a perfect surface, it's kinda bumpy (shiney, but bumpy) - is that right?

[...joe]

^^ orange peeley?! its pretty common on paint to be honest, look at most modern cars. you'll need it flatting back to get it proper smooth, something best left to the pro's.

also for a bit of info, i washed my car today with meguiars gold class wash, instead of the nxt stuff i normally used. totally different to use, didn't seem as effective at de-greasing but the water fell off the car meaning minimal drying, great for a top up wash but i'd stick to meguiars NXT stuff for the proper cleaning.

[kittie]

^^^ thats pretty much how i do mine except i just use meguiars shampoo for the wheels as well as mine are polished alloy so need to be gentle!!

kittie, theres no need to let the polish stay on that long, all it does is make it harder to remove!!! wax however is worth leaving on for as long as you can to let it impregnate as much as possible.

Don't forget to open your doors, bonnet and boot to get all those edges nice and clean!!

makes all the difference!

Yea I know there's no need to leave the polish on, it just makes it easier to avoid getting bumper polish on the nicely polished paintwork

I find that AG super resin polish glides off easily no matter how long it's on, (just don't leave it sat in the hot sunshine or anything!) it is wonderful stuff  that's why I always use it.

I do ususally have a tea break after applying the wax to leave it to do it's work too!

I love it when it rains sometime after you have waxed your car and all the water beads perfectly all over it, very satisfying 

Although I would like to try the meg's three step system some time. Probably when the other stuff has run out, as it's very expensive to keep buying these things 

[Len]

Kittie - can you please come a clean my car? pretty please!


I'd ask joe but he's too handsome and seeing his reflection in the freshly polished paint would make me jealous!

[topher]

maybe you can entice her with a bag of sweets like the other young'ns..

[...joe]

I'd ask joe but he's too handsome and seeing his reflection in the freshly polished paint would make me jealous!

ahh thanks len!

[Len]

Dont need sweeties Toph - my natural charm works well enough!

joe you know I love you really! But dont tell Gibby coz he'll get jealous!