[Mattywat]

Well, after spending some time looking at the detailing posts I thought I would give the mondeo a clean myself instead of using the very nice polish people at my local garage.

I've started my collection with some meguiars gold class wash and a wash mit, and a large synthetic drying cloth. I gave it a good wash and it has come up well. However I can now see a lot of swirl marks and other minor imperfections. Looks like i'm gona have to invest in some more cleaning kit. I realy like the meguiars stuff so think I will stay with that.

I havn't only come here to rambled about how I cleaned my car today. I wanted to ask a question about polishing.

As I am new to the world of detailing I am not sure what to use. I have seen a meguiars 3 step kit which looks good, however will I get a good finish just polishing by hand instead of using a powered polisher?

Cheers

 

[220shem]

Think you need a machine polisher to get swirls out m8....meguiars is great stuff though you couldnt go far wrong with it for general polishing :thumb:

 

[Briggsy]

However I can now see a lot of swirl marks and other minor imperfections.

Thats due to these hand washes they're no better than car washes in garages yet people seem to think they are. They ruin peoples cars by using sponges to clean the car and as its a quick service they dont let the dirt get soaked to break it down to soften it up too.

Both the sponge and the not soaking car before doing anything creates these swirls by marking the car with hard dirt trapped between the sponge and paint surface.

Best way to remove these "swirls" is use a polisher but you can do it by hand with lots of elbow grease.

 

[Mattywat]

Damn, was hoping that wasn't the answer cause they ain't cheep!

What about the halfords £30 polisher, any experiences?

Cheers though.

 

[220shem]

So what do you recommend for washing the motor, are the foam lance yokes any good i assume the foam softens the dirt, and what to use for actually washing the motor (if not a sponge) i read some people use microfibre washing cloths, are these any better......
:thumb:

 

[Jamo]

Stella Artois beer towel has never let me down yet, I berleive they are actually microfibre and made by Meguires !!

Allan 'swirly' Jamo

 

[Mattywat]

after quite a bit of resurch, I used a wash mit with a lot of water to start of with.

Plenty of good guides on the net about cleaning, but as previously said you need to make sure there is no grit/dirt on the car for you to scratch with the sponge/wash mit.

 

[220shem]

Stella Artois beer towel has never let me down yet, I berleive they are actually microfibre and made by Meguires !!

Allan 'swirly' Jamo

Lmao :laugh: only got HARP beer towels over here J-swirl, where could i get these magic Stella microfibre cloths, O clean one :content:

 

[Briggsy]

So what do you recommend for washing the motor, are the foam lance yokes any good i assume the foam softens the dirt, and what to use for actually washing the motor (if not a sponge) i read some people use microfibre washing cloths, are these any better......
:thumb:

What I do to wash the car is a very very VERY light spray of normal water around the car to slowly break down the dirt so it turns into a sorta muddy form, leave it for say a minute. If you super spray the car when its dry, you are effectively putting sandpaper on the car and wiping it across the surface as the water force will just push this dirt across the panels with LOTS of force against it.

Then foam the car and let that soak in for again a minute or two, followed by rinsing it off (not using any form of contact with the car at this point, merely spraying it).

Now foam the car again but this time use a sheepskin or microfibre mitt to wash the car down using horizontal strokes and not a swirling motion.

Detailing website

Sponges dont trap the dirt in them, they just move it around.

The microfibre and sheepskin mitts are deep enough to trap any dirt in them thus not rubbing this dirt against the paint surface.

 

[220shem]

Nice one thanks for the tips thing is my motors to far gone now lol (have to get Ronnie to have a look at her and see if she can be saved lol)

if all works out i might invest in one of these foam lances :content: do they just fit straight on to a washer and how much roughly are they, cheers man :thumb:

 

[Mattywat]

cheers for the advice briggsey, what would u suggest to a novice detailer for polishing, bearing in mibd I don't want to soend losds of money on a poliser.

how ofen do you polish your car, and slso how often do you wax it as i understand there is quite a difference.

My aim is to try and grt ris of ass many imperfections as possible without spending too much money. polish and wax plus the applicators/cloths should cost no more tgan £30ish and the elbow grease is free. i just want to use the right product so as not to damage the psint work.

cheers

ps if the grammer/spelling is poor sorry. I am writting this using my mobile.

 

[SoliD]

For 30quid there is no point buying a rubbish halfords polisher, I would get yourself a clay bar kit some autoglym super resin polish and a good long lasting wax for your cash (collinite 476s or similar) Probably going to give you the best results by masking the swirls if you build up the layers of polish.

 

[Briggsy]

For 30quid there is no point buying a rubbish halfords polisher, I would get yourself a clay bar kit some autoglym super resin polish and a good long lasting wax for your cash (collinite 476s or similar) Probably going to give you the best results by masking the swirls if you build up the layers of polish.

Indeed, for £30 to be honest you're only going to be able to mask the swirls with lots of polish.

The Autoglym super resin is brilliant stuff and I use that myself. I then use a coating of Meguiars NXT 2.0 wax.

Polish = fills the gaps in the layers of paint (where the swirls and other marks are).

Wax = Seals all of the above in so it stays nicer for longer.

Generally speaking if you coat the car well and its not always about quantity but quality in the application of polish and wax then you shouldnt need to pol/wax for say 2 to 3 months, but this depends on how dirty your car gets and how often you wash it.

Once you have waxed though you need to make sure any future washes are done with a PH neutral shampoo so as not to disolve the wax and then you end up washing off the polish.

To totally get rid of swirl marks you need to use a decent electric polisher with quite abrasive applicator/polish which should set you back around £100 - £150.

I personally havent gotten around too purchasing an electirc polisher yet, I just use a more abrasive polish hand applicator (but these are no where near as good as the electric applicator) to work the polish in more of the top layers of paint coating too.

It acts like a sandpaper where you rub off a layer of sealant above the paint then apply a whole new layer with the polish/wax.

Of course doing this will eventually lead to no decent coatings above the paintwork, so you cant do it too many times (harsh abrasive scrubbings) or if you do then you need proffesional help to reapply all the nice protetive coatings on the paintwork to bring it back to its former glory, this is done using electric polishers and lots of stuff I havent looked into yet.

 

[Bleeno]

I used the Autoglym HD Wax the other day and it masks the swirls brilliantly! Expensive mind you at £40 but what a finish!

 

[Mattywat]

Clay bar, polish and wax it is then. I had looked at the autoglym HD and as its part of the 3 for 2 at halfords I am very tempted. Will wait till payday and then go shopping again.

Cheers for all the comments chaps

 

[gino666]

ave a look at this site...www.cleanyourcar.co.uk...some relly good info here too.

 

[sttdcisi]

I always thought I was quite good at the detailing side of things but I've never gone this far. So for best results I need to..

1st Clay bar
2nd Polish
3rd Wax
then sit back and admire the shine
Is this in the right order?

Cheers

 

[Mattywat]

Great site, screw halfords i know where i am going from now on.

Cheers for that link!

 

[peterex]

Depending on the colour of your car why not try some coloured polish? It worked on my cars in the past and you usually get a colour wax type crayon with the polish to fill slightly deeper scratches.
Just a thought.
:driving: :driving:

 

[SoliD]

Polish = fills the gaps in the layers of paint (where the swirls and other marks are).

Wax = Seals all of the above in so it stays nicer for longer.

Generally speaking if you coat the car well and its not always about quantity but quality in the application of polish and wax then you shouldnt need to pol/wax for say 2 to 3 months, but this depends on how dirty your car gets and how often you wash it.

Not necessarily true, a lot of the proper polishes cut away a layer of the paint but you get the filler heavy stuff like the Autoglym SRP that fills the swirls up to some extent, but make sure you get a good layer of wax on top or your hard work will be gone after a few rain showers.

With regards to buying elsewhere, cleanyourcar.co.uk is good but I have found elitecarcare cheaper and with free delivery if you spend over £60.