Looking for tips on cleaning an A5

[Parkesnk]

Hi, Can anyone recommend any products I should use to wash & polish my A5 Cab paint work, metal trims, leather seats, wheels and soft top.? Or should I just pop into Halfords and grab anything that comes to hand?


And can you share any useful tips on how to remove bird droppings from the soft top?


Feel free to treat me as a total novice.
Thanks
Nigel

 

[shariain]

There are lots of products out there and some of the Auto Glym and meguiars stuff you will get at Halfords are a good place to start you off and have a place in everyone's garage.

I have now started to using Angel wax products and I'm finding them to be really good.

This might help you out a bit.

Wash procedure monthly/bi-monthly

(citrus pre wash&Rinse if car is really dirty)
Then
1. Snow Foam
2. Rinse
3.Tar Remover
4.Rinse
5. Wash with Shampoo 2bm method
6.Rinse
7. Dry with Micro fibre Towel
8. Clay Bar
9. Wash (repeat step5&6)
8. Dry
9. Polish or glaze
10. Wax
11. Tyre Shine
12. Metal Polish for Exhaust
13. Clean glass

A normal weekly/fortnightly wash would be step 1-7 and 11-13.

 

[shariain]

When you say polish what results are you trying to achieve. Are you trying to remove swirls and light marring from your car.

 

[Parkesnk]

Hi,
Thanks for the useful tips. With regards to the polishing, I'm not the sort of person who'll be cleaning my car every day, but i want to make sure the paint work, metal trim around the window and wheels, etc, get a bit more TLC than just the odd wash.

Should i invest in a toothbrush to remove bird mess and how would you recommend removing it?
cheers
nigel

 

[ex911driver]

Wouldnt use atoothbrush , you can buy detailing brushes that are alot softer. Autoglym sell bird dropping wipes.

 

[Parkesnk]

Thanks for the great tips. I'll pop into my local halfords at the weekend

 

[shariain]

I normally use a micro fibre cloth and a quick detailer spray for bird $h!t, quick blast of QED on the mess then load the micro fibre with a few sprays and wipe job done.

 

[shariain]

When you say polish what results are you trying to achieve. Are you trying to remove swirls and light marring from your car.

This might explain things more.

Polished have abrasive particles in them which will aid in the correction of swirls and marring. Some have more abrasive particles than others.
http://youtu.be/_u-QTCbOUW4

You would never be able to achieve that result with autoglym super resin polish even although it has abrasives it also has fillers that mask the imperfections.

If you are not wanting to correct your paint then you could use a glaze which has fillers in it to hide the swirls and marring but once the glaze wears away through time your swirls and other imperfections will come back to annoy you.

Either way what ever route you go down you will still need to put something on top of your polish or glaze to give it a better durability and longevity, you can use either a sealant or a wax, or you could do both sealant and then wax.