What to purchase ? :-0

[Wilo]

Well with the purchase of my A4 Avant B6 and a baby on the way within the month i have decided to enter the world of washing my own car something i have never done properly before, as i have always had the expendable income to get my old car (a JCW Mini Cooper S) valeted once a week but with a baby on the way i think its time to start thinking about the pennies and start doing it myself.
The question is what do i need ?
i have been looking on varouis websites (www.cleanyourcar.co.uk and www.polishedbliss.co.uk) both recommended on here but to be honest i dont understand all this clay, polish, wax seal etc :-(
i dont have 10 hours plus to clean my car and even if i did i would rather be down the pub.
I want a basic kit that will allow me to wash my car wax it (with out the need any machines), clean the leather, dress the intreior and clan my wheels
What do in need?
PS i do have a Karcher K2.54M Plus jet once anc quite fancy a foam lance

Cheers in advance

 

[Jimmeh]

Hi Wilo, for now, take a read of this file - it may be of some use to you - http://www.whitedetails.co.uk/files/dummiesguide.pdf

 

[Wilo]

Hi Wilo, for now, take a read of this file - it may be of some use to you - http://www.whitedetails.co.uk/files/dummiesguide.pdf

Hi Jimmeh that is excellent thank you very much. Have just printed this off for safe keeping.
Is there any other for waxing, interior etc?
Thank again

 

[Jimmeh]

No problem - hope it proves useful to you.

Nope, just the one guide I'm afraid The rest is for me too know

RE the above.. well, first off, what colours your B6?

I wouldn't worry about clay.. maybe have it done by a third-party, sure, but, it only really needs doing once every ~6 months or so..

Dress the interior - I've only ever kept mine 'clean'. I don't like shiny vinyl and plastics.. might be worth looking for your nearest Autosmart Rep though - they do a product called 'Finish' which, by the sounds of it, can be diluted to quite a clean 'sheen' that doesn't look too nasty. (one that I'm looking at buying myself)

Clean your wheels, well, again, you shouldn't need to do this (vigorously) too often. A good coat of wax will protect them and, so long as they're not neglected, they should clean up well with your ordinary shampoo solution. Other than that, Bilberry (Sure theres a new topic on here RE the stuff...) is a good/safe product to use. Only trouble, you're getting lots! Probably more than you'd ever need (for your household fleet)

come back to me with the colours etc, I could probs reccomend a glaze/wax or two then

 

[A3Tom]

Hi,

I dont think you need to go too mad to be honest, if it was me I'd be looking at the following:

Foam Lance and Valetpro PH Neutral Foam
Shampoo
Claybar (get one that you use water as a lube)
Autoglym Super Resin Polish
Collinite 476 Wax
Sonus Wheelbright
Lambswool Wash Mitt
Couple of buckets
Drying towel
Pack of microfibre cloths
Sponge applicator pads

To be fair thats quite a lot of money to splash out, however it should all last you a long time. The Collinite wax is cheap as chips but will last a long time as its a big tub but really hard wearing.

The most expensive item would be the foam lance though. I went for ages without one but now I have one I couldnt go back.

How I would use the above would be,....

Rinse the car with water

Foam the car and leave to dwell for 10 minutes

Blast off the foam

Wash the car with your mitt, have one bucket with shampoo and water in and one with clean water in. Before dipping your wash mit back into the shampoo bucket rinse it in the clean water bucket. That should get most of the grit out of the mitt to save any swirls.

Rinse the car and dry with the drying towel

Polish the car with the Super Resin Polish and buff off with a microfibre

Wax the car with Collinite, leaving it on to make sure it cures....not too long, plus only put on a REALLY thin layer otherewise its hard to buff off.

You could get things like tyre shine etc which you can do afterwards.

Clean the glass inside and out with glass cleaner and you should be done.

Interior can be cleaned with a damp cloth (plastics) and the leather can be gone over with Gliptone leather cleaner....brilliant stuff. I dont use anything on my inside plastics as I hate that tacky shiney look they leave.

I think thats about it :icon_thumright:

T

 

[Aspen]

I think as long as you prepare your paint, with a clay bar (took me 50 minutes) then seal it, NOT WITH AUTOGLYM SUPER RESIN POLISH!

then a coat of decent wax. Dodo juice I swear by, then your hard work is done. In fact all you need to do then is keep it clean. Once the hard work has been done, cleaning is so much quicker and easier. once every 3 - 6 months re wax / clay etc dependig on how lazy you are and you're set.

And if you think about it, a "pro" valeter has the bulk buy gear that gets the job done as quickly as poss, and looks shiny, but doesn't last so you come back for more. (auto smart van man sales ploy). And you'll be using equipment not used on 100 other grubby cars before yours, thus minimising the swirly nightmare.

Oh, and the sense of pride and joy you get by looking at a job well done. (as a side note, you get some excersise too!!)

 

[A3Tom]

Autoglym SRP is fine!. Loads of people use it, its a good off the shelf cheap polish.

For a full correction and detail then I'd say use something else, but for basic 'keeping your car looking good' its more than fine.

 

[Wilo]

Thank you for all your useful responses

my audi is blue dont know the paint code as i forgot to look this monring, here is a pic

Shot with iPhone at 2009-07-10
chers

 

[WX51TXR]

At the simplest level, and covering all of the issues you mention...

Wash/Wheels: Advanced Wash Kit - http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/advanced-car-wash-kit-wash.html

Protect (best for blue): Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection - http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acat...mond-all-finish-paint-protection-protect.html (apply using a soft foam pad, buff off using plush microfibre towels)

Leather: Raceglaze Leather Care Kit - http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/raceglaze-leather-care-kit-interior.html

Interior Dressing (factory look): Werkstat Satin Prot - http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/werkstat-satin-prot-interior.html

For a slightly more time intensive routine for metallic blue paint, check out this in-depth guide...

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=73250

:icon_thumright: