Washing your car

Joetidman said:
All this talk about car washing has made me decide to get a Kärcher pressure washer this weekend!!
Click to expand...

Try your local B+Q. When I was in there on 'blue rinse day' they had some offers of 15% off on the Kärcher range.
 
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RVP20 said:
Thanks for all the replies.
I'm just looking now and found car plan snow foam.....any thoughts?

And auto glym car shampoo?

Thanks
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Will the carplan snow foam not do the job?
I need to wash it first thing and I was going to use it?
 
RVP20 said:
Will the carplan snow foam not do the job?
I need to wash it first thing and I was going to use it?
Click to expand...

Id have a good read about snow foam, I hardly use mine, you need a good power washer.
Then you need a lance Snow Foam Lance | Clean Your Car - Clean Your Car
then snow foam CleanYourCar - Super Snow Foam - Clean Your Car

Id use pre wash Valet Pro - Orange Pre Wash - Clean Your Car

Foam will be over you drive for ages, i've had mixed results from it on a white car.
 
So you just spray the foam on....leave it for 5 mins then rinse off??
Then wash the car with shampoo using a mitt?
 
Nilfisk pressure washers are decent quality for the money. The main thing with a pressure washer is to never let it freeze. I.e. don't keep it in the shed over winter.
 
Just picked up snow foam lance and some Krystal Kleen Blizzard snow foam wash which the detailed bloke recommended. Hoping to give it a go tomorrow. Will report back.
 
K4 Eco also available from John Lewis for £199... I am very tempted seeing as you can run it from a water can/butt (I don't have any external taps)
 
Standard K4 on amazon for £165 at the moment as well, a little bit cheaper if you don't mind losing the eco switch.
 
cyberstretch said:
For a pre wash you can get away with a decent pump sprayer.
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Thanks Cyberstretch. Nowhere to plug a hose and washer in at the mo, so going the watering can route for a while. Still two bucket though.

With the grit guard is it best to brush the mitt over it? Or is it simply there to trap the dirt at the bottom? Haven't got these yet...
 
Grit guard just to trap grit at the bottom.

Agitate and lightly "fluff" the mitt in the rinse bucket to release the dirt/grit with your other hand.
 
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w.h.i.p.p.e.t said:
Thanks Cyberstretch. Nowhere to plug a hose and washer in at the mo, so going the watering can route for a while. Still two bucket though.

With the grit guard is it best to brush the mitt over it? Or is it simply there to trap the dirt at the bottom? Haven't got these yet...
Click to expand...

As above you can agitate with your free hand or brush over the guard which were you find easier and depending if you have a deep bucket or not.
 
The higher you can keep the mitt in the bucket, the less grit you'll stir up.
 
I use very tall buckets so and solids should fall to the bottom, lots of them on ebay.
 
Use a good detailing company

We do various details ranging from £30 for a posh wash, £70 for a full detail and interior valet, £150 for a full enhancement including clay and machine polish.

Other than that if doing yourself

Get yourself a good snowfoam lance, and cover your car in snow foam let it dwell for a few mins, while it's dwelling use apc on the inside of the arches and wheels

Rinse off then starting with the wheels clean them get yourself 2 buckets with grit guards and a couple of good wash mits once done rinse off use a tar remover to get rid of any contamination. Then start with claying this is what will make the biggest difference!

Then we usually snowfoam again and rinse off, go with a compound if needed to rid scratches and move to a good Polish let that cure

While that's curing do the interior

Remove the polish either by hand or machine then if needed you could do a nice wax, dress the plastics and tyres and it should sparkle,


I did a beautiful range rover sport the other day which the owner seemed more than happy with
 
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Me or Op?


I'm personally in West Yorkshire
 
The results of my brand new K4!! :arco:

Image
 
Depends what ppl pay for tbh

If a client is In a rush we can quickly use dodo juice need for speed, but usually when doing by hand I like auto glym super resin polish if using a machine I love swissvax products
 
Snow foam, wash mits with Megs shampoo, rinse, microfibres waffle towels to dry. Claybar front end. Poorboys polish then Meg's NXT and a final Meg's quick detailer spray to finish - takes a good couple of hours, although the S3 is a little smaller than the A4.

Probably have a go tomorrow.

Having dodo juice Nano protection put on next week - 24 hours to cure, then a wax.
Should be good for many months.
 
Don't suppose anyone can recommend a way to clean Suntan lotion stains from the leather seats?

My son got lotioned up for the skate park yesterday and I took him down in the car not thinking about the seats. It's left a bit of a whitish / blueish tint that won't come off with water on a rag.

Any help appreciated.
 
One Stop Shop - Juicy Detailing.co.uk

OCD Central.

Juicy Jen and the team are great.
 
Yeah they ride pretty high as standard although that is the GT spec which was lower than standard I believe. A lot of people did lower them as one of the first mods they did. As mine was originally leased (I then eventually bought it off them) I couldn't modify and by the time I bought it I couldn't be bothered! You could get your head in there ;)
 
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Some one mentioned two buckets,

Washing Your Vehicle Using The Two-Bucket Method - YouTube

That's quite a good video to watch, I think the grit guard is vital. I've used buckets with and without and there is more grit left in the bottom with the guards in place.

Amazon.co.uk: grit guard

They are not really expensive but well worth it.

You need a special snow foam lance, which are not expensive, It does help to soak of some of the grit and dust.

This place is excellent for all your car cleaning needs. They are excellent with a very quick turn round on orders and prices are good too.

We Are Detailing - Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detailing Supplies, Car Polishers & Car Accessories Store

I'll contact them and see if they are prepared to do any discount for us. Watch this space.
Steve
 
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I always start with a pre-wash... Snow foam is my choice, along with a power wash down, I then use the 2 bucket method with my lambs wool mitts and grit guards in the buckets.. Then usually followed by a dry down, some sort of waterless wash down for lubrication when drying, optional clay bar if car needs it (paper bag finger check), then finally apply your chosen wax / polish (wheels as well), put some tyre gel on the tyres. Always done me well.
 
Looking as clean as the day I bought it, 15 months ago.....



2hr wash consisting of:

Pre-cleaned with AD Magifoam snow foam (left to dwell for 10 mins)
Wheels cleaned with VP Dragons Breath and Bilberry wheel cleaner
2 bucket wash with AD Purple Velvet
Dried with Meg's water magnet
Buffed with Dodo Juice fantastic fur MF cloth
Glass cleaned with Muc Off glass cleaner
Tyres dressed with classic tyre dressing (brush applied)
 
Despite my last assertion, I had a washing session yesterday!!

Pre-cleaned with MA-FRA Pre Wash No Touch. Sprayed on the car and left to dwell for 5 minutes.
2 bucket wash with Meguiar's Ultimate shampoo with wax and Meguiar's wash mitt
Dried with Meguiar's water magnet
vacuumed the mats
Wheels cleaned with Meguiar's Hot Rims

For the exhaust terminals I used a generic home degreaser / cleaner. It removed the soot but some black patches remained.

Despite all the screaming brands and good will I had not been able to remove all the insects from the front bumper, and because I did not want to scratch the paint I left them there.

Does anyone knows a good product to remove insects with only a slight pressure of the washing mitt?

Thanks
 
Your pressure washer? :shrug: There is no wonder product to remove contaminants without physically rubbing them off I'm afraid
 
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