mike137
29-05-2009, 10:16 AM
I didn’t want to write a guide that would go into too much detail and cost a fortune to complete, so hopefully the following guide will explain (to the great unwashed :p) how to wash, polish and wax your car with better results and minimising the chance of damaging your paint while your doing it… on a budget :D hopefully explaining a few things along the way.
So here goes…
What you are trying to avoid – SWIRLS.
When you look at your car in bright sunlight, those marks that go round the reflection of the light.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/madmike137/Photo035.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/madmike137/Photo044.jpg
These are mostly caused by a bad washing technique…when dirt particles are pushed across the surface of the paint rather than being pulled away from the paint. Generally the best way to stop this happening is to jet the car off with a strong flow of water (pressure washer is preferable but not essential) to get most of the larger chunks off the paint, then to use a wash mitt, either a microfiber one (http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=30 ) or preferably a lamb’s wool one (http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=99 ).
Using two buckets is always a good idea, keeping one with fresh water for rinsing your sponge/mitt and another with the shampoo in, this keeps the dirt you are washing off separate from the shampoo you are washing with and again minimising the chance of swirling your paint with dirt.
The benefit of this can be seen below…
Rinse bucket
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/madmike137/PICT1823.jpg
Suds bucket
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/madmike137/PICT1824.jpg
Your choice of shampoo is obviously going to make a huge difference, fairy liquid is full of salt and degreasing agents that will do your paint no good (MICK! ;)). A good place to start imho is Meguiar’s soft wash (pink bottle available from most good motor factors. iirc it’s about £6 a bottle) it wont harm any wax that’s already on the car and does a pretty good job of lubricating the dirt particles etc. Following the guidelines on the bottle is essential – more shampoo doesn’t mean better cleaning, the same can be said for bubbles, bubbles don’t clean the car.
And when you’re done washing don’t throw the remains of your buckets back over the car.
When rinsing the car, an open end of a hose pipe is what I use as you can rinse the car and make the water sheet off the paint to minimise drying effort. If you don’t have a hose 8 to 10 buckets is a good estimate at rinsing the car properly and thoroughly.
Drying… is best done soon after rinsing (to help prevent water spotting caused by lime scale and other chemicals in the water). A dedicated drying towel is a good idea and will make the process much quicker and easier. (http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=31 )
Claying… is a simple process which involves rubbing a small soft piece of something (I have no idea what it is tbh) across the paint to remove bonded surface contaminants (tree sap, industrial fallout (small bits of metal etc), tar, overspray and light oxidation). Put simply this will make a huge improvement to the look of the paint and it is worth noting that no amount of polishing would remove some of these contaminants. There is an easy was of checking whether it is worth claying a car, simply put your fingers inside a piece of cellophane (similar to what fag packets come in) and run your fingers over (a clean and preferably wet) section of the car, the paint should feel perfectly flat. If not claying ‘could’ be your answer… (http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=86 )
Polish, wax or sealant…
A pure polish has absolutely no paint protection properties (auto glym ultra deep shine is not a polish). A polish contains abrasives which cut back the paint slightly to improve the finish.
A wax is a natural product containing substances which repel water and protect from UV radiation naturally (Carnauba wax, bees wax etc). Wax’s contain no abrasives and very few man made chemicals.
A sealant is mostly made up man made chemicals. They do the same job as a wax, but are much fussier about what condition the paint is and what previous products are on the paint to bond to (Most notably Auto Glym’s extra gloss protection will only bond to ultra deep shine). But on the plus side for sealants, they tend to last a hell of a lot longer than wax’s and are usually much cheaper.
There are of course cross over products and all in one products which don’t really fit into the categories above, but I could be here all day explaining why AG HD wax isn’t strictly a wax….
So, after claying your car is clean and ready for polishing. My personal recommendation is Auto Glym super resin polish (SRP) (if your not overly serious about spending mega bucks on detailing, its cheap, does what its supposed to and can be bought just about everywhere). But (there is always one…) don’t follow the instructions on the back. SRP is very filler heavy (fills swirls etc rather than rectifying them) and to get the fillers working you have to put a bit of elbow grease into it, rather than smearing the product on and leaving to cure try rubbing the product quite vigorously into the paint applying medium pressure and keep going until the product goes clear. Working a small section (2 foot square ish) at a time, and buffing off afterwards. SRP can be layered to improve the looks further but remember to buff off between coats.
Now your paint is clean, and polished, its time for some protection. As explained above you have two choices…sealant or wax. Whichever you choose it is generally best to stick to the manufacturers instructions. A couple of personal recommendations:
Wax’s:
Dodo Juice range –
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=44_45
Especially the supernatural, it really is worth the extra cash.
Poorboys nattys –
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=106
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=51
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=163
White, red or blue depending on how light or dark your car is.
Sealants –
I only own one sealant
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27&products_id=50
very good product, I’m just more of a wax man.
Hope that all makes sense, but if there is any questions please feel free to PM me or post here, if I can help I will do…
:D
So here goes…
What you are trying to avoid – SWIRLS.
When you look at your car in bright sunlight, those marks that go round the reflection of the light.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/madmike137/Photo035.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/madmike137/Photo044.jpg
These are mostly caused by a bad washing technique…when dirt particles are pushed across the surface of the paint rather than being pulled away from the paint. Generally the best way to stop this happening is to jet the car off with a strong flow of water (pressure washer is preferable but not essential) to get most of the larger chunks off the paint, then to use a wash mitt, either a microfiber one (http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=30 ) or preferably a lamb’s wool one (http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=99 ).
Using two buckets is always a good idea, keeping one with fresh water for rinsing your sponge/mitt and another with the shampoo in, this keeps the dirt you are washing off separate from the shampoo you are washing with and again minimising the chance of swirling your paint with dirt.
The benefit of this can be seen below…
Rinse bucket
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/madmike137/PICT1823.jpg
Suds bucket
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/madmike137/PICT1824.jpg
Your choice of shampoo is obviously going to make a huge difference, fairy liquid is full of salt and degreasing agents that will do your paint no good (MICK! ;)). A good place to start imho is Meguiar’s soft wash (pink bottle available from most good motor factors. iirc it’s about £6 a bottle) it wont harm any wax that’s already on the car and does a pretty good job of lubricating the dirt particles etc. Following the guidelines on the bottle is essential – more shampoo doesn’t mean better cleaning, the same can be said for bubbles, bubbles don’t clean the car.
And when you’re done washing don’t throw the remains of your buckets back over the car.
When rinsing the car, an open end of a hose pipe is what I use as you can rinse the car and make the water sheet off the paint to minimise drying effort. If you don’t have a hose 8 to 10 buckets is a good estimate at rinsing the car properly and thoroughly.
Drying… is best done soon after rinsing (to help prevent water spotting caused by lime scale and other chemicals in the water). A dedicated drying towel is a good idea and will make the process much quicker and easier. (http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=31 )
Claying… is a simple process which involves rubbing a small soft piece of something (I have no idea what it is tbh) across the paint to remove bonded surface contaminants (tree sap, industrial fallout (small bits of metal etc), tar, overspray and light oxidation). Put simply this will make a huge improvement to the look of the paint and it is worth noting that no amount of polishing would remove some of these contaminants. There is an easy was of checking whether it is worth claying a car, simply put your fingers inside a piece of cellophane (similar to what fag packets come in) and run your fingers over (a clean and preferably wet) section of the car, the paint should feel perfectly flat. If not claying ‘could’ be your answer… (http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=86 )
Polish, wax or sealant…
A pure polish has absolutely no paint protection properties (auto glym ultra deep shine is not a polish). A polish contains abrasives which cut back the paint slightly to improve the finish.
A wax is a natural product containing substances which repel water and protect from UV radiation naturally (Carnauba wax, bees wax etc). Wax’s contain no abrasives and very few man made chemicals.
A sealant is mostly made up man made chemicals. They do the same job as a wax, but are much fussier about what condition the paint is and what previous products are on the paint to bond to (Most notably Auto Glym’s extra gloss protection will only bond to ultra deep shine). But on the plus side for sealants, they tend to last a hell of a lot longer than wax’s and are usually much cheaper.
There are of course cross over products and all in one products which don’t really fit into the categories above, but I could be here all day explaining why AG HD wax isn’t strictly a wax….
So, after claying your car is clean and ready for polishing. My personal recommendation is Auto Glym super resin polish (SRP) (if your not overly serious about spending mega bucks on detailing, its cheap, does what its supposed to and can be bought just about everywhere). But (there is always one…) don’t follow the instructions on the back. SRP is very filler heavy (fills swirls etc rather than rectifying them) and to get the fillers working you have to put a bit of elbow grease into it, rather than smearing the product on and leaving to cure try rubbing the product quite vigorously into the paint applying medium pressure and keep going until the product goes clear. Working a small section (2 foot square ish) at a time, and buffing off afterwards. SRP can be layered to improve the looks further but remember to buff off between coats.
Now your paint is clean, and polished, its time for some protection. As explained above you have two choices…sealant or wax. Whichever you choose it is generally best to stick to the manufacturers instructions. A couple of personal recommendations:
Wax’s:
Dodo Juice range –
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=44_45
Especially the supernatural, it really is worth the extra cash.
Poorboys nattys –
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=106
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=51
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=163
White, red or blue depending on how light or dark your car is.
Sealants –
I only own one sealant
http://www.detailedobsession.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27&products_id=50
very good product, I’m just more of a wax man.
Hope that all makes sense, but if there is any questions please feel free to PM me or post here, if I can help I will do…
:D