Clean & protect mythos black car

[SuperKid]

So I have a 9 month old mythos black (metallic) A3 and looking for advice on what to use..

I am completely new to this so have no idea on what to use, I have looked at autoglym and gtechniq products and I gave the car a wash the other day but i just get swirl marks (i used stuff my dealer gave me it looked unbranded so could be any old).

I want something that is good to give it a good clean like the snow foam looks the best method (and more fun) what do you recommend?

Then I want something to protect the paintwork.

Something good to clean the alloys from brake dust and also protect them?

And then a glass cleaner and hydrophobic coating for the paintwork and glass (like the beading effect).

Any recommendations?

 

[DrEskimo]

Its a bit of a minefield my good man...

Black is a very involving colour to keep looking its best!

In terms of getting it looking at its best, you can either research and buy all the kit yourself (decontamination, claying, compounding, polishing, surface prep and then a durable protection coating, often referred to as ceramic coatings like Gtechniq Crystal Serum)...or...you could pay a pro to do all this for you. You can then just learn how to do simpler maintenance washes (pre-wash, such as snow-foam, 2 bucket wash with good wash medium, dry with MF towel and finally top up with a quick detailer from the same brand as your protection coating) and keep it looking good for years to come.

Neither approach is cheap, but it depends if you want to make a hobby of it.

 

[SuperKid]

Its a bit of a minefield my good man...

Black is a very involving colour to keep looking its best!

In terms of getting it looking at its best, you can either research and buy all the kit yourself (decontamination, claying, compounding, polishing, surface prep and then a durable protection coating, often referred to as ceramic coatings like Gtechniq Crystal Serum)...or...you could pay a pro to do all this for you. You can then just learn how to do simpler maintenance washes (pre-wash, such as snow-foam, 2 bucket wash with good wash medium, dry with MF towel and finally top up with a quick detailer from the same brand as your protection coating) and keep it looking good for years to come.

Neither approach is cheap, but it depends if you want to make a hobby of it.

Thanks! I am looking into a professional detailer to clean and protect the exterior and add the hydrophobic coatings. The interior I will just do myself with a basic leather and fabric cleaners and then spray it with hydrophobic interior coating to protect.

 

[scotty76]

Black is a pain but so nice when clean. My S4 currently has pro detailer applied Kamikaze ISM coating. I'm maintaining this with washes using Gyeon Bathe and top ups using Gyeon Cure.

I'd recommend the pro detailer route and maintain yourself. I have a lot of kit but still do this to ensure an excellent base protection to work with.

 

[SPIKE_]

Black is a pain but so nice when clean. My S4 currently has pro detailer applied Kamikaze ISM coating. I'm maintaining this with washes using Gyeon Bathe and top ups using Gyeon Cure.

I'd recommend the pro detailer route and maintain yourself. I have a lot of kit but still do this to ensure an excellent base protection to work with.

This is the best way for a black car. Pro detailed!

 

[SuperKid]

Black is a pain but so nice when clean. My S4 currently has pro detailer applied Kamikaze ISM coating. I'm maintaining this with washes using Gyeon Bathe and top ups using Gyeon Cure.

I'd recommend the pro detailer route and maintain yourself. I have a lot of kit but still do this to ensure an excellent base protection to work with.

Any detailer recommendation for Birmingham area?

I'll look at Gyeon for washing thanks.

I also decided to try out the gtechniq stuff for protecting the interior and also a auto finesse interior spray just to occasionally clean off any dirt/mud.

 

[scotty76]

Any detailer recommendation for Birmingham area?

I'll look at Gyeon for washing thanks.

I also decided to try out the gtechniq stuff for protecting the interior and also a auto finesse interior spray just to occasionally clean off any dirt/mud.

Midlands Car Care have a good reputation. Do a search on here, I'm sure someone asked before.

 

[SuperKid]

So I got the Gtechiq Smart Fabric and thought to test it i'll do it on the carpet mat, applied it and it doesn't work at all water soaks in. I think the carpet mat has holes in it and a hard bottom which holds the water because tilting it then drains out the water? Am I being stupid?

Also it smells a lot maybe I applied too much because it wasn't working so I applied some more.

So question is, is this safe to apply to the A3 S Line seats (the fabric in the middle, it's leather on the sides). I have Gtechniq leather protect for the leather parts. Also is a quick one spray good enough? I don't want my car to smell really bad.

 

[scotty76]

So I got the Gtechiq Smart Fabric and thought to test it i'll do it on the carpet mat, applied it and it doesn't work at all water soaks in. I think the carpet mat has holes in it and a hard bottom which holds the water because tilting it then drains out the water? Am I being stupid?

Also it smells a lot maybe I applied too much because it wasn't working so I applied some more.

So question is, is this safe to apply to the A3 S Line seats (the fabric in the middle, it's leather on the sides). I have Gtechniq leather protect for the leather parts. Also is a quick one spray good enough? I don't want my car to smell really bad.

That doesn't sound right based on...



I can confirm it does smell strong though. My local detailer applied it to my wife's Golf when new and the smell took a couple of weeks to fade.

 

[SuperKid]

That doesn't sound right based on...



I can confirm it does smell strong though. My local detailer applied it to my wife's Golf when new and the smell took a couple of weeks to fade.

Yeah well I tried putting water on it and it soaked right in fast. Strange. Must be the carpet mat will try something else..