You think polishing a car every two weeks is a good idea? And drying a car with anything other than water and a leaf blower etc causes paint damage no matter how careful you are and can't be considered being "anal extreme".
You think polishing a car every two weeks is a good idea? And drying a car with anything other than water and a leaf blower etc causes paint damage no matter how careful you are and can't be considered being "anal extreme".
In fairness a few years ago before i had learnt properly i had an s40 and i used to use paint corrector aswell and i did go through paint . Whoops... so only use that rarely now where its needed.
but the polish and wax i use has little or no cut in it so safe to put on as regular as i do
V70 R-Design 2.5T "work in progress"
960 Est 2.5 24v manual " rwd old school"
S80 2.4 20v auto " put me in the dog house with her indoors"
To be fair resin polish has a very very mild abrasive, more of a paint cleanser if I'm honest.
A leaf blower could be worse than a towel, no filters in a leaf blower but it's a fair point, any contact with the paint can cause marring.
Last edited by Rob_ioClean; Thursday 6th November 2014 at 20:15.
Finished result
V70 R-Design 2.5T "work in progress"
960 Est 2.5 24v manual " rwd old school"
S80 2.4 20v auto " put me in the dog house with her indoors"
This for sure.
There is a big difference between being a car "valeter" and a "detailer". I bought a few products from a Autoglym trade stand earlier this year, and whilst the "expert" talked a good game, it was clear he knew less than I did about detailing, and I am a proper amateur, believe me!
For example, the autoglym HD wax is a reasonable product. It gets good results and is easy to work with for sure. But it doesn't even come close to something like R222 wax, which doesn't cost anymore. It's not as easy to use, but my god, the results are astonishing.
Factory White 855R : 2.5 Bottom End : Ported & Flowed Cylinder Head : TD04 19T TurboVXR Injectors : ME7 Manifold : TWR Throttle Body : Blackbeast IC : AEM Progressive WI : Ferrita 3" DownpipeMilltek Cat-Back : BC BR Coilovers : IPD ARB : AP Racing Brakes : M56 & Gripper LSD
There are defo better products for the money etc and i only did it to get approval through work for some of the protective products we supplied and i defo agree about the wax i have some stuff in an un named pot i was given ages ago thats a pig to work with so only use it for important events etc and that is amazing ... but only if you have bout 3hours to do it .lol
V70 R-Design 2.5T "work in progress"
960 Est 2.5 24v manual " rwd old school"
S80 2.4 20v auto " put me in the dog house with her indoors"
LeeT5 (Sunday 30th November 2014),V70 Graham (Friday 7th November 2014),Wobbly Dave (Friday 7th November 2014)
I use Swiss vax, only because is was free from a nice man at work
Volvo ABS ECU Repair
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As pete has spent a lot of time getting his respray just so, I think it wise you invest in decent buckets (larger volume help dilute the dirt returning to the buckets), grit guards (I use lead curtain weights to hold mine in place). I use a wash schmitt foam pad above the midline,
and below I use a megs M/F wash mitt.
The long haired stuff traps the dirt to much for my liking and doesn't release it properly and on top of that they last a good long time. I also use the wheel shMitt on my alloys.
Pre-wash - I use an autobrite snowfoam and maxi suds II mix in my snowfoam lance. Prior to that I use a citrus degreaser all around the more stubborn parts, squirted on neat as a TFM. I also use bilberry wheel clean (1 in 6) to squirt onto the rims and if there is evidence of brake dust sintering I use Iron X soap on the wheels too. Then I pre-wash with the snowfoam and leave it to draw down. I have a low pressure karcher, deliberately bottom of the range in power to rinse. I never rinse perpendicular to the paint and always keep a good distance.
Washing as I've pointed out before is a 2 bucket affair. I like CG stuff and have used Citrus Wash and Gloss for many years.
Final rinse - because I am in a hard water area - trust me my water is so hard it could knock out Chuck Norris. I have a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter. Untreated my water is over 300 PPM.
Its a friggin nightmare. Subsequently I have 11 litre water purifying/descaling tank which I use to drop the TDS down to zero, by using an Ion exchange resin. Our britta water with a new filter in the kitchen only drops it to 250 ppm. I also looked at Reverse Osmosis systems too but they are too expensive for me.
Its expensive to run but saves my paintwork from watermarks and reduces drying time. If I had the time I should really prefer to collect rainwater and use that. It is on the list but like a lot of things it gets put on the back burner.
If I find more dirt like tar - I dissolve rather than hold the jet at point blank range and hope for the best. TARDIS is pretty good, though I tend to use it with a paper towel as tar make a mess of M/F cloths.
I usually let the car air dry for a while, then I spritz with QD (usually Megs last touch though I do like the Dodo juice range too) and dry with large waffle weave towels.
Once I detail a car I don't really want to have to keep on getting the buffer & pads out again and again - so a good wash technique is essential.
On average it takes me about 90 minutes to wash a car inc. alloys.
On occasion I have used Eastern European labour to clean the car.
Last edited by Wobbly Dave; Friday 7th November 2014 at 16:18.
Volvo ABS ECU Repair
Join my projecteers tribe - Old Volvos Never Die - They just get faster.
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jamesy12345 (Friday 7th November 2014),S70T5Chris (Friday 7th November 2014),t5 pete (Friday 7th November 2014)
t5 pete (Friday 7th November 2014)
Saaamon (Friday 7th November 2014)
I use a blade on the glass only
Volvo ABS ECU Repair
Join my projecteers tribe - Old Volvos Never Die - They just get faster.
Visit my VPCUK garage and my YouTube channel - WobblyDave72
Factory White 855R : 2.5 Bottom End : Ported & Flowed Cylinder Head : TD04 19T TurboVXR Injectors : ME7 Manifold : TWR Throttle Body : Blackbeast IC : AEM Progressive WI : Ferrita 3" DownpipeMilltek Cat-Back : BC BR Coilovers : IPD ARB : AP Racing Brakes : M56 & Gripper LSD
volvokid (Tuesday 11th November 2014)
All who are without sin cast the first stone LOL
Volvo ABS ECU Repair
Join my projecteers tribe - Old Volvos Never Die - They just get faster.
Visit my VPCUK garage and my YouTube channel - WobblyDave72
I run my own detailing business, i offer valets as a starting point, but a four star valet, not your standard wash n wax job, so yes i am bias. Detailing is an evolving science with new science, new technologies and new techniques almost everyday. Its a constant learning curve but its addictive for some. Some don't see the point, some do. Its horse for courses.
Most of my customers jaws drop to the floor when i discuss timescales with them. But my average Car preparation, decontamination and protection is like 6-8 hours depending on the state and size of the car and that won't include any polishing or corrective work. If i'm doing correction work, then it may take upwards of 2 days again depending on the size and state of the vehicle. My current car was mistreated to £5 backlot washes and car washes and so far i've treated it to 30hours of work in terms of paint correction and its still not "perfect".
There are many methods. learning by watching videos and reading online is only going to get you so far, even into trouble if you don't know what you are doing.
As for two bucket method, i always use that wash technique. Its simple case of making sure the contaminants/dirt coming off the car stay off the car and don't cause any further damage to your paintwork by you then dragging them back over freshly prepared/washed paintwork. Using grit guards, one bucket to wash, one to rinse, making sure the mitt is free from dirt, grit, particles as best as possible.
In relation to your comment about polishing every week - no, there should be no need for you to "polish" every week. Each time you use a polishing compound on your car (depending on the strength of it) you are removing layers of your clearcoat - this is what you are polishing not your actual paint. Doing that every week especially if your technique is poor (which you may not even be aware of) will in the end cause major damage to your cars appearance, in some case irreparably and you are left needing a bodyshop to repair the damage if someone like a detailer cannot correct the damage for you.
Polishing should be done to repair scratches, damage to the clear coat - swirls, holograms, marring etc and after that, the protection that you layer with waxes and sealants combined with your washing technique each time you wash your car, should then make sure that any further corrective work is kept to a minimum, so therefore, no need to "polish" every week. You are wasting, time, money, effort and in some cases only doing more harm than good to the clear coat on your car.
to answer your original comment, if i were to give a recommendation on a wash mitt, i recommend something like this -
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washin...prod_1350.html
Worth the extra money in the long run.
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I use that wash mitt
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