Anyone got any specific requests re: car care?

[B3NZARMY]

yer debo the hoover i use is a old one from when i used to do static valeting its called numatic wv570 blue bucket a bit bigger than little Charles and yes your right its very powerful indeed but still wont lift the grit stones even with a narrow crevice im thinking about stripping the carpet out and using brisk shampoo and wet vaching it,maybe then it will be clean

thanks for the tip on the over-spray micro cloth is the way forward

[Debo]

No probs. If you stripped the carpet out, there's no reason why you couldn't just then use a fine comb and go through the effected area? Doubt giving it a wet vac would make much difference than a dry vac tbh, as that's mainly used for stains and deep cleaning if really mucky.

Mawb, I don't do smart repairs mate, everything I do is paintless (apart from stone chips and fine scratches). Most scratch removals I do are based around wet sanding - as per the thread I made about my dads Punto.

Thanks Matt.
I have been looking at the Waxes, Sealants & Paint Protection section of DW as I wasnt sure If I should spend a little bit more on this part?

DW is a minefield when it comes to last step products. I tend to ignore a lot of what that forum has to say, especially regarding waxes and sealants. Some people say Autoglym HD only lasts for a few weeks, yet I have used it on several cars now, and even 6mths after its initial application there is still protection present. Some go for bigger branded products. But the reality is, some of these £100+ waxes are no better than a £30 wax.

Its up to you Mike, but my personal opinion is that the G|Techniq sealants are good, as are the Zaino ones, and wax wise, the Naviwax is good, as is the HD I have previously mentioned. These are all well priced products (except maybe the G|Techniq, as that is quite expensive for the amount you get, ie £15 for 100ml, and it does 1 car, once, but does last about 8mths).

[B3NZARMY]

(except maybe the G|Techniq, as that is quite expensive for the amount you get, ie £15 for 100ml, and it does 1 car, once, but does last about 8mths).

until you take it to a Bosnia car wash and they spray 1ltr of truck-wash all over the car i always ask for not truck-wash and no acid(treble x) on my wheels easy clean also easy paint decayer an pits yr wheels

ta for the advice once again debo thinking about getting back into valeting but the winter really battered my hands ended up with cracked skin dermatitis

[Debo]

Ouch! Good luck with it if you choose to get back in the game.

Yes, the times I quote for these products are all assuming the correct type of products are used during regular washing. Everything I use is gentle, I don't have any acidic wheel cleaner or harsh chemicals.

Tomorrow, I'll show a few pics of some wheels as part of a massive detail I did, and explain the processes used and why. There wasn't a need for anything stronger than none-acidic wheel cleaner, using the correct techniques and a bit of know-how.

[Debo]

So, these photo's are from last week.

19" BMW M-Sport wheels!

On arrival, they started looking like this:



The first process carried out after an initial rinse at high pressure was to soak the wheels in the Bilberry wheel cleaner. Once that was done, and it was left soaking for a minute or so, I then agitated the wheels with various brushes, including through to the wheel backs.

Gave them a second rinse at high pressure, which removed the majority of the dirt. All that was left then was embedded brake dust and stuck on tar - so next up was the tar remover, which unlike bodywork, was just sprayed on liberally, and then I wiped the wheels down with a microfibre to remove the tar, and rinsed the lot off.

Embedded brake dust was all that was left then, this is what would stump most people.

So here's some pictures of what happened next. I used a specific iron decontaminant. It sprays on clear, but turns purple when it reacts with iron particles (which is basically what most of the baked on brake dust is).



Left that on for 5 minutes and then took it off with a damp microfibre cloth. Rinsed at high pressure for the last time, to leave:



Same process was carried out on all wheels, took me about 40mins in total just doing the wheels. Here's a closeup of the nearside front..



No harsh chemicals were used, all this is none acidic.

That's what you're paying for when having your car detailed. A traditional valet is nowhere near as in depth. A wash takes me around an hour including drying the vehicle.

Spent a total of 25hrs last week on that car.


Cheers,
Matt.

[MiniMike]

I will be doing the same on my wheels this weekend, im going to go for the Chemical guys jetseal and also try the 50/50

[Debo]

Jetseal gets a good write up mate. Let me know how you get on.

[MiniMike]

Jetseal gets a good write up mate. Let me know how you get on.

Will do! Also looking at. Clay bars for the little spot on the sills if you can recommend a product ?

[Debo]

Well, you would usually use a clay bar for the entire car, to remove any bonded contaminants, though you can just use for patch work like you want.

Normally the order would be to wash the car as thoroughly as possible (so if that means snow foaming if you have it etc then so be it), then clay the entire surface, rinse it down again and then finally dry it. It's at this point you'd then apply your wax/sealant - the paintwork will be like glass afterwards, providing you worked the clay properly when prepping.

I'd go for a mild (soft) clay, as the more aggressive ones can marr the paintwork. Good buy would be the "Meguiars Smooth Surface Clay Kit", as you get everything you need in it, and it's only about £15. You can pay more than that just for a clay bar sometimes!

[MiniMike]

Well, you would usually use a clay bar for the entire car, to remove any bonded contaminants, though you can just use for patch work like you want.

Normally the order would be to wash the car as thoroughly as possible (so if that means snow foaming if you have it etc then so be it), then clay the entire surface, rinse it down again and then finally dry it. It's at this point you'd then apply your wax/sealant - the paintwork will be like glass afterwards, providing you worked the clay properly when prepping.

I'd go for a mild (soft) clay, as the more aggressive ones can marr the paintwork. Good buy would be the "Meguiars Smooth Surface Clay Kit", as you get everything you need in it, and it's only about £15. You can pay more than that just for a clay bar sometimes!

Ive asked CG's to put me together a starter sealent kit and bar kit

Ive gone from spending up to £50 to over £150..... Now looking at snow foam kit to but this would have to be budget