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All confused by this jargon...

rivarama

rivarama

New member
With the arrival of my new (to me) F430 next week, I have been doing some research about car washing, and the magic of detailing opened its arms to me...

Although I have had pretty decent cars in the past (991s and maserati), I had never really realized how big a deal swirl marks were. Car was until now, to me at least, was as easy as driving to a manual car wash, staying in the car while an army of dodgy looking mens kept splashing shampoo and chemicals on the car, handing a fiver and then driving away.

After the hours of videos and forums reads I went through, I think I understand why detailing is such an unknown and misunderstood art. The information out there is vast, totally conflicting, with about 73 schools of thoughts, and millions of products with thousands of compounds...

The bottom line, as you guessed it, is that I am utterly confused with what to do when it comes to car washing.

I am going to summarize what I think my technique should be, based on what I could gather, and hopefully you can tell me if I am way off. Given the multitude of methods out there, I don't really expect feedback about the perfect way of doing it, but just for you to point out any major flaw in my approach.

- Let it be said first that I live in central London, with no front porch/front garden to park the car in for a wash. Nor do I have a spigot out front, which really prevents me from washing the car with a hose. Hence, we're talking (pressured?) watering cans to get the car wet and then the good ole 2buckets method.

- Given that the car has quite a few swirl marks already, I do intend to have it professional detailed at the end of the season, ready for her hibernation. But that won't happen for another few months.

First wash
- Get the car wet thoroughly (with the use of a watering can)
- Wash the car a panel at a time following the 2 buckets method. I intend to use Autoglym bodywork shampoo, with a capful of of Optimum No Rinse added in the water to soften it (London water is very hard, or is ONR an overkill?)
- Dry the car properly with clean microfiber cloth
- Clay the car with clay bar and lube
- Dry the car again with clean microfiber cloth
- Apply 2 coats of wax on top (Autoglym high definition wax)
- Buff well and that's it

Routine wash
This would be my preferred way of cleaning the car following short day trips... obviously long drive/week end away, or car being caught in the rain would revert to previous method (excluding claying, which I don't intend to do again).
- Get the car wet a panel at a time with pressured watering can
- Wash the car a panel at a time following the 2 buckets method, but this time with ONR and their waterless method
- Apply 1 coat of wax on slightly misty car (autoglym aqua wax)

That's about it. The car would be covered under a clean car cover while in the underground parking I am renting for her.

Any thoughts?
Thanks
 
A good detail spray could be your friend if the car is only dusty after a run out.

I use meguiars last touch sprayed on with a bottle and microfibre off after a run out if the car hasn't got wet and proper dirty.

AG HD wax doesn't last. Try one of the slightly better ones but don't pay silly money. A lot on here use raceglace 55.

Otherwise enjoy the car.....


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rivarama said:
Thanks for the tip on the detail spray Mike !



At £70, I already consider this silly money. I used to use the following on my granturismo, and thought it was OK... I guess every is more expansive with a Ferrari ;-P

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IHW4QDK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A18KNZ0ID7MNQY&psc=1
Click to expand...

To be honest your right......

I used AG HD for a couple of years and it was fine on the 360. Where I noticed it not lasting was on my regularly washed cars and with my 360 getting 2-3 washes a year, longevity is not that important.

The shine is mainly down to the paint prep.


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I tend to think of the detailing industry and its associated products as the male equivalent of the female beauty & cosmetics industry. To me a lot of it is way overpriced and a bit nonsensical.

I've found a machine correction with Meguairs Ultra-Cut compound and then a machine polish with the Ultra-Finishing Polish provide an excellent starting point. These products are £25 for both: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meguiars-...192550?hash=item1eb1929526:g:LVsAAOSwBPNXRvBc

After I've done the initial machine polish I give the car an annual hand polish and more frequent waxes throughout the year.

When I wash it I just wet the car with the hose pipe and wash it with a sponge - two buckets split top/bottom of car. I don't use any virgins to do this nor or purified water from Saturn :grin:
 
After the clay stage, consider using a polish with something like Dodo Juice Lime Prime then a glaze such as Prima Amigo - the polish will take out fine swirls, and the glaze will fill the swirls and lessen their appearance until you get the car fully detailed.

Lots of folk don't like glazes and fillers, but they may do a job for you here in that the car will look better until the swirls are properly dealt with. The glaze isn't a long term solution though.

Edit to add that Tardis is something I use before claying - spray on and it dissolves tar etc on the paint

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Oh and a couple more things

Is there a recommended product for wheels cleaning? My car has ceramic brakes, so I assume there won't be much brake dust - hence can I get away with a product that's not too corrosive? I used to use AG Clean Wheel on the GT, but this stuff was properly dangerous... would it damage the CCM?

Any suggestion for the inside leather as well?

Thanks
 
I deep clean the wheels every so often with something that dissolves iron (Bilt Hamber auto-wheel); other times with Autosmart smart wheels - spray this on, hose off, job done. Take the car for a short drive after cleaning the wheels to dry off the discs.

Leather, I used to use the Gliptone stuff (GT11 & GT12) but now use the Renapur stuff.

This probably all seems like a giant hassle to you, but like a lot of things you'll get better results with the more time and effort you put in. Get the car immaculate over the winter by spending a whole day, maybe two, on it; and the rest of the year should just be maintenance washes with a quick detail spray afterwards to bring the shine up again.
 
MWStewart said:
I tend to think of the detailing industry and its associated products as the male equivalent of the female beauty & cosmetics industry. To me a lot of it is way overpriced and a bit nonsensical.

I've found a machine correction with Meguairs Ultra-Cut compound and then a machine polish with the Ultra-Finishing Polish provide an excellent starting point. These products are £25 for both: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meguiars-...192550?hash=item1eb1929526:g:LVsAAOSwBPNXRvBc

After I've done the initial machine polish I give the car an annual hand polish and more frequent waxes throughout the year.

When I wash it I just wet the car with the hose pipe and wash it with a sponge - two buckets split top/bottom of car. I don't use any virgins to do this nor or purified water from Saturn :grin:
Click to expand...


NEVER use a sponge, ever. They retain grit in them.
 
Carper said:
This thread is in danger of turning back into "hamster versus small fluffy dog" :grin:
Click to expand...

If using a small fluffy dog, ALWAYS bath the dog first and dry it off with a proper drying cloth. When bathing dog it is better to use a car wash and wax type product, (Meguiars do a pet friendly one). This is because there is no salt content in meguiars products. "Don't get the shampoo in the dogs eyes as it is not good for them.
 
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rivarama said:
Oh and a couple more things

Is there a recommended product for wheels cleaning? My car has ceramic brakes, so I assume there won't be much brake dust - hence can I get away with a product that's not too corrosive? I used to use AG Clean Wheel on the GT, but this stuff was properly dangerous... would it damage the CCM?

Any suggestion for the inside leather as well?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Once a year take wheels off car and clean backs of wheels thoroughly . Remove spots of tar with a tar remover, there will be lots of spots on rear of wheels.
When cleaning fronts of wheels try to get to as much of backs of wheel at same time, they look so much better if they are clean behind as well.
 
mon the fish said:
I deep clean the wheels every so often with something that dissolves iron (Bilt Hamber auto-wheel); other times with Autosmart smart wheels - spray this on, hose off, job done. Take the car for a short drive after cleaning the wheels to dry off the discs.

Leather, I used to use the Gliptone stuff (GT11 & GT12) but now use the Renapur stuff.

This probably all seems like a giant hassle to you, but like a lot of things you'll get better results with the more time and effort you put in. Get the car immaculate over the winter by spending a whole day, maybe two, on it; and the rest of the year should just be maintenance washes with a quick detail spray afterwards to bring the shine up again.
Click to expand...

The Bilt Hamber neutral pH stuff is really good. You certainly don'twant to use one of the cheaper corrosive wheel cleaners. I have also recently got this https://autocurators.com/product/flawless-wheel-cleanser/ which is similar to the Bilt Hamber stuff and very good.

No doubt Mark at More Than Polish has similar stuff
 
De-Ionised Water

As the London water is very hard it has a high amount of TDS, which will give you the dreaded white spotting, so I would be inclined to purchase treated water from a local window clean company and store it in, ideally, a 1000 litre tank, you see these at the better Romanian car wash outfits, but never never ever, take a decent car to the £5 brigade as they use TFR which is very effective at removing dirt but is far too aggressive.

For it's first clean I would get the car washed and clay-barred by a local valeter/detailer, then get them to polish it with a decent carnuba based wax, such as Swissvax, get the wheels off and throughly cleaned, also get them to clean the wheel arches whilst the wheels are off:grin:, after that you should be able to keep the wheels clean with the same shampoo that you use for the car, unless you plan to go off-roading:laugh:
 
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