washed the S4

[Matt82]

i hadnt washed it since i got it 6 months ago, but at least it was clean when i got it.

one wash, one clay, another wash, one machine polish, hand polish and two coats of sealant.

wheels were washed and waxed and all the bright work was brightened up

i cleaned the leather yesterday and its looking prestine. really has come up well.

pics to follow, i feel dead

 

[Matt82]

ET VOILA

 

[voteforpedro]

First time I've seen your car - it's very nice! Bravo!

I also washed mine on the weekend. One quick rub down with Fairy Liquid and a quick hand buff with Turtle Wax.

 

[Blue_Thunder]

Looks like a very tidy example Matt. Mine is Ming Blue too, and it can be a real ****** to get it looking good.

I spent around 8 hours on mine on the weekend. Had to correct loads of holograms by hand which had been inflicted when I paid for a clown to machine polish mine last weekend. Had to hit it with 2 applications of polish (the first one removed all of the fillers from the clown's polish, so a load of scratches and swirls which I thought he had got rid of re-appeared) and a good coat of wax and it still doesn't look anywhere as good as yours.
I also went a bit crazy and retreated my Recaros to some more Gliptone conditioner(i'd cleaned and conditioned them the previous week), sorted the interior plastics with a 'magic sponge', cleaned and dressed the engine bay, adjusted my drivers door and bonnet as they weren't flush, wired up my replacement 'low' horn after fitting it many months ago, cleaning out my clogged up FPR again (damned corroding fuel lines) and washing, polishing and waxing my wheels to.

I was pooped by Saturday night. Still needs a vacuuming and exhaust tips polishing!

 

[calvin]

Looks great mate - did the same to mine last weekend after I "discovered" clay for the first time - got carried away and clayed and polished my S4, my Smart AND even the wifes' Xtrail(!)

Mine's Nogaro blue and the claying and polish seems to have really brought out the depth in the paint - luvverly.

One query tho - I've been trying to get my leather back to proper supple - its been neglected for a while and some bits (like the sides of the bolsters) feel like paper...

What process and products are best to use to get it all starting to feel nice and supple again and put some life back into the leather (mine are silver, like the ones above btw)?

 

[Matt82]

ive heard really good things about a product called Gliptone. i just used Turtle Wax Platinum off the shelf from Halfords and the results were very good to be honest but my leather was in good (albeit a bit dirty) condition to start with... but then white leather is always going to show up every mark going

Gliptone apparently has a separate "shampoo" and "conditioner", could be worth a try.

 

[Blue_Thunder]

Yup, Gliptone Liquid Leather gets the thumbs up from me. It's fantastic stuff!