I Really Have To Clean And Polish The Car

[handicap7]

A little bit of advice from you all please! I have owned my 55 plate Alscace Grey Corolla T-Sport now for around 4 months and clean it at least once a fortnight. However i have noticed that in the sunlight there are visible polish circles that are really begining to bug me, My question is: what polish and wheel cleaner do you use to take care of your cars? i know i will probably get quite a mixed result and it may be down to personal preference but, i do not know where to start as its not something i have really done. But with your help i will be able to narrow it down to a select few, and i hopefully wont get mugged at Halfords for a bottle of Turtle Wax!!

Thanks in advance

[nickball75]

A little bit of advice from you all please! I have owned my 55 plate Alscace Grey Corolla T-Sport now for around 4 months and clean it at least once a fortnight. However i have noticed that in the sunlight there are visible polish circles that are really begining to bug me, My question is: what polish and wheel cleaner do you use to take care of your cars? i know i will probably get quite a mixed result and it may be down to personal preference but, i do not know where to start as its not something i have really done. But with your help i will be able to narrow it down to a select few, and i hopefully wont get mugged at Halfords for a bottle of Turtle Wax!!

Thanks in advance

Hello ,

I have just bought a t sport aswell, ive had it about a week I havent had the pleasure of ceaning it yet, although it needs it this time of year! its a black one so shows the dirt really well! But I was just letting you know that I have ordered some stuff called "spray and shine". Which is a dry wash, you dont need water. you ust spray it on and buff it off. Ive heard rave reviews about it. It cost £15.00 of eBay, but I saw it on a shopping channel. Ill let you now how I et on, it should be arriving on monday. Apparantley you clean the entire exterior of your ar in 10mins! Im a bit optimistic so I think I need to see it to believe it but I thought it was worth ago. It also "claims" to have very good protective properties wen it comes to protection, which for the CTS is vital as I heard from many sources that toyotas paint jobs ar not te best, Anyway, watch this space for an update.

Nick Ball

[skyliner34]

Spray and Shine is very bad. You'll swirl and scratch your car badly.

Best thing to do is head over to www.detailingworld.co.uk for information about different ways to wash, wax cars. And if you want, register and ask a question. You can also buy stuff off the approved traiders at a cheaper price :D

Good luck :)

Heres my Alscace Rolla cleaned up properly(btw ***** means Zymol, it's starred off on the forum) > Cleaned Rolla

[handicap7]

Spray and Shine is very bad. You'll swirl and scratch your car badly.

Best thing to do is head over to www.detailingworld.co.uk for information about different ways to wash, wax cars. And if you want, register and ask a question. You can also buy stuff off the approved traiders at a cheaper price :D

Good luck :)

Heres my Alscace Rolla cleaned up properly(btw ***** means Zymol, it's starred off on the forum) > Cleaned Rolla

Thanks for the info! just had a look at the pics the car looks fantastic!! Quick question:how did you get the tailpipe so clean??

Handicap7

[skyliner34]

Spray and Shine is very bad. You'll swirl and scratch your car badly.

Best thing to do is head over to www.detailingworld.co.uk for information about different ways to wash, wax cars. And if you want, register and ask a question. You can also buy stuff off the approved traiders at a cheaper price :D

Good luck :)

Heres my Alscace Rolla cleaned up properly(btw ***** means Zymol, it's starred off on the forum) > Cleaned Rolla

Thanks for the info! just had a look at the pics the car looks fantastic!! Quick question:how did you get the tailpipe so clean??

Handicap7

Hi thanks :)

I used Autosol chrome polish from Halfords. ALso Auto Glym tar remover to remove the tar spots on the pipe. You could also use Meguiars or Auto Glym metal polish.

You cant go wrong with the Meguiars 3 Stage car stuff to kick things off. Will give you good results.

[handicap7]

Spray and Shine is very bad. You'll swirl and scratch your car badly.

Best thing to do is head over to www.detailingworld.co.uk for information about different ways to wash, wax cars. And if you want, register and ask a question. You can also buy stuff off the approved traiders at a cheaper price :D

Good luck :)

Heres my Alscace Rolla cleaned up properly(btw ***** means Zymol, it's starred off on the forum) > Cleaned Rolla

Thanks for the info! just had a look at the pics the car looks fantastic!! Quick question:how did you get the tailpipe so clean??

Handicap7

Hi thanks :)

I used Autosol chrome polish from Halfords. ALso Auto Glym tar remover to remove the tar spots on the pipe. You could also use Meguiars or Auto Glym metal polish.

You cant go wrong with the Meguiars 3 Stage car stuff to kick things off. Will give you good results.

Thanks Skyliner, I have had a look on the Meguiars site and its a bit confusing for a novice! what would you recommend as a start as far as general care? i.e washing waxing and polishing, i really want to get the old circular polishing marks out as they look awful in sunlight??

Regards

Handicap7

[Armz]

Just a tip never touch your car with anything before you have done a proper jet spraydown to get all the tiny bits of grit road sand/salt off. Those tiny particles are where most of the swirls and scratches come from when scrubbing/waxing/buffing.

I spend atleast 20mins spraying the entire car down with a Bosch high pressure washer before doing anything else.

Autofinesse are the guys to speak to if you want a complete solution for your car.

AutoFinesse Custom Detailer

cheers

Armz.

[skyliner34]

Thanks Skyliner, I have had a look on the Meguiars site and its a bit confusing for a novice! what would you recommend as a start as far as general care? i.e washing waxing and polishing, i really want to get the old circular polishing marks out as they look awful in sunlight??

Regards

Handicap7

Armz is right. Make sure you rinse the car thoroughly first. What I do first Is foam the car over first, do not rinse the car first, otherwise the foam will run off quicker. Wait 5min or so then rinse off with spray gun or pressure washer. I usually foam again and rinse just in case. I use the 2 bucket method. 1 with the clear water and the other with the shampoo mixture. And use a wash mitt not a sponge. You dunk the clean mitt in the shampoo bucket and do a couple of gentle passes, dunk it in the clear water and clean the mitt out as much as you can, then back into the shampoo and so on. This will reduce any chances of making little scratches. I use grit guards in my buckets so I can rub the mitt on them and the dirt gets trapped at the bottom of the bucket and doesn't float around the bucket. More Info Here

For removing the swirls, you cant remove then entirely without using a cutting compound and using a rotary machine. But you can hide them using Auto Glym Super Resin Polish and wax the car. Obviously the swirls will start to come back, but thats normal.

To start the Megs range isn't bad, so I'll give you a list of what to use. You can upgrade to better stuff later on.

Shampoo: Megs Gold Class Although I do tend to use the Zymol Shampoo because I've got Zymol wax on the car, just in case.

Wheel Cleaning: Megs Wheel Cleaner

Polish: Auto Glym Super Resin

Wax is more complicated. There are quite a few Megs waxes in Halfords. Just depends what you want to spend.

Thats the basics, and will give you good results, you can always upgrade from that by either going down the Megs 3 step stuff or look at the forum link I gave you earlier, which sells far better products in their approved traders.

I've just noticed that yore from Manchester, theres a person called Gareth from Manchester from detailingworld.co.uk called 'Gaz W';. Hes 14 years old but hes ***** hot at car cleaning/detailing, does an amazing job.

[handicap7]

Thanks Skyliner, I have had a look on the Meguiars site and its a bit confusing for a novice! what would you recommend as a start as far as general care? i.e washing waxing and polishing, i really want to get the old circular polishing marks out as they look awful in sunlight??

Regards

Handicap7

Armz is right. Make sure you rinse the car thoroughly first. What I do first Is foam the car over first, do not rinse the car first, otherwise the foam will run off quicker. Wait 5min or so then rinse off with spray gun or pressure washer. I usually foam again and rinse just in case. I use the 2 bucket method. 1 with the clear water and the other with the shampoo mixture. And use a wash mitt not a sponge. You dunk the clean mitt in the shampoo bucket and do a couple of gentle passes, dunk it in the clear water and clean the mitt out as much as you can, then back into the shampoo and so on. This will reduce any chances of making little scratches. I use grit guards in my buckets so I can rub the mitt on them and the dirt gets trapped at the bottom of the bucket and doesn't float around the bucket. More Info Here

For removing the swirls, you cant remove then entirely without using a cutting compound and using a rotary machine. But you can hide them using Auto Glym Super Resin Polish and wax the car. Obviously the swirls will start to come back, but thats normal.

To start the Megs range isn't bad, so I'll give you a list of what to use. You can upgrade to better stuff later on.

Shampoo: Megs Gold Class Although I do tend to use the Zymol Shampoo because I've got Zymol wax on the car, just in case.

Wheel Cleaning: Megs Wheel Cleaner

Polish: Auto Glym Super Resin

Wax is more complicated. There are quite a few Megs waxes in Halfords. Just depends what you want to spend.

Thats the basics, and will give you good results, you can always upgrade from that by either going down the Megs 3 step stuff or look at the forum link I gave you earlier, which sells far better products in their approved traders.

I've just noticed that yore from Manchester, theres a person called Gareth from Manchester from detailingworld.co.uk called 'Gaz W';. Hes 14 years old but hes ***** hot at car cleaning/detailing, does an amazing job.

Thanks Armz and Skyliner, sorry but i should have given you more detail! the swirls are left over from a very poor half hearted attempt at polishing it. Not actual scratch swirls.

Regards

[MarcTS]

Autofinesse are the guys to speak to if you want a complete solution for your car.

AutoFinesse Custom Detailer

cheers

Armz.

ooooh. Think I might have to book my car in for a stage 2 or 3 with these guys in the spring :D :D

I attempted to give my car a really good wash today before winter really took hold. I got it sprayed down, soaped up n washed, then sprayed again. Got wax on all surfaces and was waiting for it to dry out a bit when I noticed tiny spots of rain on the bonnet :'( So I had to buff off all of the wax as fast as I could but the rain got a bit heavier towards the end, so it's a bit smudged on the passenger panels and didn't get the opportunity to give it a really good buff at the end either so there will still be some wax/dirt/whateber left on it. So I'm currently sulking lol.

[skyliner34]

Thanks Skyliner, I have had a look on the Meguiars site and its a bit confusing for a novice! what would you recommend as a start as far as general care? i.e washing waxing and polishing, i really want to get the old circular polishing marks out as they look awful in sunlight??

Regards

Handicap7

Armz is right. Make sure you rinse the car thoroughly first. What I do first Is foam the car over first, do not rinse the car first, otherwise the foam will run off quicker. Wait 5min or so then rinse off with spray gun or pressure washer. I usually foam again and rinse just in case. I use the 2 bucket method. 1 with the clear water and the other with the shampoo mixture. And use a wash mitt not a sponge. You dunk the clean mitt in the shampoo bucket and do a couple of gentle passes, dunk it in the clear water and clean the mitt out as much as you can, then back into the shampoo and so on. This will reduce any chances of making little scratches. I use grit guards in my buckets so I can rub the mitt on them and the dirt gets trapped at the bottom of the bucket and doesn't float around the bucket. More Info Here

For removing the swirls, you cant remove then entirely without using a cutting compound and using a rotary machine. But you can hide them using Auto Glym Super Resin Polish and wax the car. Obviously the swirls will start to come back, but thats normal.

To start the Megs range isn't bad, so I'll give you a list of what to use. You can upgrade to better stuff later on.

Shampoo: Megs Gold Class Although I do tend to use the Zymol Shampoo because I've got Zymol wax on the car, just in case.

Wheel Cleaning: Megs Wheel Cleaner

Polish: Auto Glym Super Resin

Wax is more complicated. There are quite a few Megs waxes in Halfords. Just depends what you want to spend.

Thats the basics, and will give you good results, you can always upgrade from that by either going down the Megs 3 step stuff or look at the forum link I gave you earlier, which sells far better products in their approved traders.

I've just noticed that yore from Manchester, theres a person called Gareth from Manchester from detailingworld.co.uk called 'Gaz W';. Hes 14 years old but hes ***** hot at car cleaning/detailing, does an amazing job.

Thanks Armz and Skyliner, sorry but i should have given you more detail! the swirls are left over from a very poor half hearted attempt at polishing it. Not actual scratch swirls.

Regards

Are the swirls like in the paint, like spider webs, or is other kind. Try washing the car with fairy liquid a few times(make sure you rinse the car thoroughly!!!! after using Fairy Liquid), that will remove any crap from the car. If it's still there try Auto Glym Super Resin Polish on the areas affected to see if it removes it.

If not post a pic up when you get a chance :)

[marty32]

ive used maguires and autoglym they both good quality. another good one to try is Mer, thats in the same league as well

whats this zymol stuff were do u buy that wouldn mind giving that a whirl

[skyliner34]

You can buy them from either:

http://www.monzacarcare.com/

http://www.vertar.com/

http://www.parcfermeshop.co.uk/

Zymol is more expensive, but well worth it. A little goes a long way. I brought the Zymol Glasur Starter Kit. A good way to start in my opinion. YOu can buy the Zymol Shampoo in Halfords.

It's Zymols beading and sheeting characteristics that makes it stand out from the rest + the finish it gives obviously :)

[Norfolk n Chance]

I use Turtlewax "Nanotech Wash & Wax" followed by AutoGlym Aqua Wax

[skyliner34]

I use Turtlewax "Nanotech Wash & Wax" followed by AutoGlym Aqua Wax

Very nice, nice job should be proud of that :) ;)

Although you can see the difference compared to Zymol:

[MarcTS]

Well I've just got back from hospital.... I looked up the price of Zymol Glasur wax, promptly passed out and cracked my head on the corner of my desk :D :D

[skyliner34]

Well I've just got back from hospital.... I looked up the price of Zymol Glasur wax, promptly passed out and cracked my head on the corner of my desk :D :D

Yeah its a bit ;) expensive

I managed to get it in a starter kit and 40% off. So that was good:)

[Armz]

Well I've just got back from hospital.... I looked up the price of Zymol Glasur wax, promptly passed out and cracked my head on the corner of my desk :D :D

Yeah its a bit ;) expensive

I managed to get it in a starter kit and 40% off. So that was good:)

How much was the starter kit?

I just saw a 8oz tubb of the stuff for £80. Very pricey.

Cheers

Armz.

[cayman]

Yes they are expensive! I bought a tub last year for £99. It lasted for 12 months----I wax my car every 2/12!

[MarcTS]

Well I've just got back from hospital.... I looked up the price of Zymol Glasur wax, promptly passed out and cracked my head on the corner of my desk :D :D

Yeah its a bit ;) expensive

I managed to get it in a starter kit and 40% off. So that was good:)

How much was the starter kit?

I just saw a 8oz tubb of the stuff for £80. Very pricey.

Cheers

Armz.

I saw the starter kit on one site for £140 I think it was, and that obviously includes £95 worth of Glasur.

[handicap7]

Thanks Skyliner, I have had a look on the Meguiars site and its a bit confusing for a novice! what would you recommend as a start as far as general care? i.e washing waxing and polishing, i really want to get the old circular polishing marks out as they look awful in sunlight??

Regards

Handicap7

Armz is right. Make sure you rinse the car thoroughly first. What I do first Is foam the car over first, do not rinse the car first, otherwise the foam will run off quicker. Wait 5min or so then rinse off with spray gun or pressure washer. I usually foam again and rinse just in case. I use the 2 bucket method. 1 with the clear water and the other with the shampoo mixture. And use a wash mitt not a sponge. You dunk the clean mitt in the shampoo bucket and do a couple of gentle passes, dunk it in the clear water and clean the mitt out as much as you can, then back into the shampoo and so on. This will reduce any chances of making little scratches. I use grit guards in my buckets so I can rub the mitt on them and the dirt gets trapped at the bottom of the bucket and doesn't float around the bucket. More Info Here

For removing the swirls, you cant remove then entirely without using a cutting compound and using a rotary machine. But you can hide them using Auto Glym Super Resin Polish and wax the car. Obviously the swirls will start to come back, but thats normal.

To start the Megs range isn't bad, so I'll give you a list of what to use. You can upgrade to better stuff later on.

Shampoo: Megs Gold Class Although I do tend to use the Zymol Shampoo because I've got Zymol wax on the car, just in case.

Wheel Cleaning: Megs Wheel Cleaner

Polish: Auto Glym Super Resin

Wax is more complicated. There are quite a few Megs waxes in Halfords. Just depends what you want to spend.

Thats the basics, and will give you good results, you can always upgrade from that by either going down the Megs 3 step stuff or look at the forum link I gave you earlier, which sells far better products in their approved traders.

I've just noticed that yore from Manchester, theres a person called Gareth from Manchester from detailingworld.co.uk called 'Gaz W';. Hes 14 years old but hes ***** hot at car cleaning/detailing, does an amazing job.

Thanks Armz and Skyliner, sorry but i should have given you more detail! the swirls are left over from a very poor half hearted attempt at polishing it. Not actual scratch swirls.

Regards

Are the swirls like in the paint, like spider webs, or is other kind. Try washing the car with fairy liquid a few times(make sure you rinse the car thoroughly!!!! after using Fairy Liquid), that will remove any crap from the car. If it's still there try Auto Glym Super Resin Polish on the areas affected to see if it removes it.

If not post a pic up when you get a chance :)

OKAY

Today a parcel of goodies arrived at my door(i like getting parcels!!) the contents were as follows

Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo and Conditioner x 1

Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner X 1

Meguiars Hot Shine Tyre Spray x 1

Meguiars Liquid Wax- Gold Class x 1

Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish x 1

Lambswool wash mitt

Bucket and Grit Guard

Ultra Plush Terry Towels

Water Magnet Drying Towel

1 X Reciept for above goods which i have promptly burned(not shoes or handbag so waste of money).

That little lot should get me started! Its a shame i couldn't buy some nice weather to go with the order.

As soon as we get a decent day i will be putting my goodies to work.

Regards

Handicap7

[Armz]

Thanks Skyliner, I have had a look on the Meguiars site and its a bit confusing for a novice! what would you recommend as a start as far as general care? i.e washing waxing and polishing, i really want to get the old circular polishing marks out as they look awful in sunlight??

Regards

Handicap7

Armz is right. Make sure you rinse the car thoroughly first. What I do first Is foam the car over first, do not rinse the car first, otherwise the foam will run off quicker. Wait 5min or so then rinse off with spray gun or pressure washer. I usually foam again and rinse just in case. I use the 2 bucket method. 1 with the clear water and the other with the shampoo mixture. And use a wash mitt not a sponge. You dunk the clean mitt in the shampoo bucket and do a couple of gentle passes, dunk it in the clear water and clean the mitt out as much as you can, then back into the shampoo and so on. This will reduce any chances of making little scratches. I use grit guards in my buckets so I can rub the mitt on them and the dirt gets trapped at the bottom of the bucket and doesn't float around the bucket. More Info Here

For removing the swirls, you cant remove then entirely without using a cutting compound and using a rotary machine. But you can hide them using Auto Glym Super Resin Polish and wax the car. Obviously the swirls will start to come back, but thats normal.

To start the Megs range isn't bad, so I'll give you a list of what to use. You can upgrade to better stuff later on.

Shampoo: Megs Gold Class Although I do tend to use the Zymol Shampoo because I've got Zymol wax on the car, just in case.

Wheel Cleaning: Megs Wheel Cleaner

Polish: Auto Glym Super Resin

Wax is more complicated. There are quite a few Megs waxes in Halfords. Just depends what you want to spend.

Thats the basics, and will give you good results, you can always upgrade from that by either going down the Megs 3 step stuff or look at the forum link I gave you earlier, which sells far better products in their approved traders.

I've just noticed that yore from Manchester, theres a person called Gareth from Manchester from detailingworld.co.uk called 'Gaz W';. Hes 14 years old but hes ***** hot at car cleaning/detailing, does an amazing job.

Thanks Armz and Skyliner, sorry but i should have given you more detail! the swirls are left over from a very poor half hearted attempt at polishing it. Not actual scratch swirls.

Regards

Are the swirls like in the paint, like spider webs, or is other kind. Try washing the car with fairy liquid a few times(make sure you rinse the car thoroughly!!!! after using Fairy Liquid), that will remove any crap from the car. If it's still there try Auto Glym Super Resin Polish on the areas affected to see if it removes it.

If not post a pic up when you get a chance :)

OKAY

Today a parcel of goodies arrived at my door(i like getting parcels!!) the contents were as follows

Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo and Conditioner x 1

Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner X 1

Meguiars Hot Shine Tyre Spray x 1

Meguiars Liquid Wax- Gold Class x 1

Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish x 1

Lambswool wash mitt

Bucket and Grit Guard

Ultra Plush Terry Towels

Water Magnet Drying Towel

1 X Reciept for above goods which i have promptly burned(not shoes or handbag so waste of money).

That little lot should get me started! Its a shame i couldn't buy some nice weather to go with the order.

As soon as we get a decent day i will be putting my goodies to work.

Regards

Handicap7

Nice! thats a lot of car goodies! Can i move in with you?!? :P

I will have to invest in some of those products once my car is back from a respray, mainly the wash mitt, grit guards, terry towels and some wax's and polish. I'm going to rethink my car washing tactics and step it up a few notches as i don't want a single scratch or swirl on my new paintwork. I've always been very careful but with a dark colour, even the smallest of scratches stick out like a sore thumb.

Cheers

Armz.

[MarcTS]

OKAY

Today a parcel of goodies arrived at my door(i like getting parcels!!) the contents were as follows

Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo and Conditioner x 1

Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner X 1

Meguiars Hot Shine Tyre Spray x 1

Meguiars Liquid Wax- Gold Class x 1

Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish x 1

Lambswool wash mitt

Bucket and Grit Guard

Ultra Plush Terry Towels

Water Magnet Drying Towel

1 X Reciept for above goods which i have promptly burned(not shoes or handbag so waste of money).

That little lot should get me started! Its a shame i couldn't buy some nice weather to go with the order.

As soon as we get a decent day i will be putting my goodies to work.

Regards

Handicap7

Wow, you've taken this pretty seriously then. From the list it looks like you've picked some really solid products there and should do a very good job on the car. Good luck with the weather and the cleaning and make sure you post up some pics when you are done.

I will have to invest in some of those products once my car is back from a respray, mainly the wash mitt, grit guards, terry towels and some wax's and polish. I'm going to rethink my car washing tactics and step it up a few notches as i don't want a single scratch or swirl on my new paintwork. I've always been very careful but with a dark colour, even the smallest of scratches stick out like a sore thumb.

Cheers

Armz.

I'm going to be doing something very similar there (shock horror lol). I think when spring comes around, I'm going to get it professionally detailed to try and bring the finish back to the paint, then I'm going to get some top quality cleaning gear including a foam lance i think, and then I should be able to keep it looking good from there on.

[Armz]

Given that a full detail is going to cost alot you will want to keep that finish for a long time, much like i do with my car now.

I'm going to be super careful with my Bosch pressure washer and have it on medium to low pressure so not to 'cut' any laquer off. To be honest i have quite alot of cleaning products but most are cheap. I need to invest in a proper washmitt, badly. Some of the pics i've seen on this forum regarding cleaned cars look great, really fantastic finishes. And usually done using some really fancy products. So they must work.

One thing i always use and swear by it, is Radox hand wash, the blue bottle that smells like fruity does a great job to all the dirt and oil on the car. It's always cleaned very nicely, smells great and when it comes to drying with a chamois leather the cloth literally glides off the paintwork. There is some sort of protective film that makes the car stay clean for atleast a week till i wash it again. It tends to bring out darker colours more, as my black merc always gleams compared to the silver merc, so a direct comparison.

Cheers

Armz.

[skyliner34]

Nice products handicap. Should give you great results ;) .

I'm also waiting for a parcel for car cleaning. Should be here tomorrow :)

Fingers crossed that the weekend weather will hold until we get on with it :)