Make her sparkle - cleaning products?

[goose]

After being inspired by RadicalMachines pics of a ULTRA gleaming GTV, I thought to ask..What is a simple / wash & wax combination for good results on the GTV. I.e I don't want to have to wax & buff 5 times, just wash & wax once really.

Are the products like AutoGlym actually any better than the Halfords 3 quid car wash liquid? As they are twice the price

How often do you wax yours?

Cheers
Goose

[Chris_C2000]

I'd check out the detailing forum on here Car Detailing - Alfa Romeo Forum lot of information on there.

For me (I'd never touched a car polish in my LIFE before I bought my GTV, something about it just makes me want to make it look nice!)

My routine is:

1). Rinse car down with plain water, then wash with ONP (Optimum No Rinse) make sure to use the Two Bucket Method. Make sure to use a good microfibre wash mit (Tescos do a surprisingly good one for about £3)

2). Dry with a good quality microfibre cloth.

3). Optional : Clay the car. Claying removes anything that washing didnt remove. It takes a LONG time to do right and is hard work. I usually only do bits of the car with this.

4). Polish with Autoglym Super Resin Polish (My car has a LOT of swirls, this contains fillers to help hide them.

5). Repeat 4 2-3 times.

6). Wax with Dodo Juice Purple Haze (Trial size was only £3.95 and it's covered the car 3 times already and it's still half full). Alternatively I've used Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection instead of wax and it's come up pretty similar in quality.

Then there's the alloys, glass, interior..

Even my kids give me funny looks!


Do that once. Then just do a wash down (Step 1-2) every week or so, probabily wouldnt have to do the full thing more than once every 2 months.

Alternatively.

Wash properly with a good car shampoo. Dump Demon Shine all over it. Looks pretty fine. Does nothing for the swirls or ground on dirt but beads up quite nicely in the rain and gives a nice wet look.

[.:ian:.]

Dont know about "shampoo" but I`ve given mine a couple of coats of collinite 476, and it the water beads nicely still after 4/5 months. A huge tin is less than £20 on the bay of e. Easy to put on if you dont leave it for too long before buffing.

I would also give it a going over with a clay bar, will remove loads of hidden dirt and leave the surface nice and smooth.

[goose]

gREAT, thanks, I didn;t even know that this part of the Forum existed! I love this place!

Cheers
Goose

[bigjim]

it's all in the prep. if you do a good job the first time and put the hours in, it'll be easy to clean and keep looking nice for months.

[goose]

Hello, at the weekend I got some Autoglym shampoo and SRP and Clean wheels products. I have to say that it does make the car shine more than before. I didn't want to go tooo crazy, but this seems like a middle path, just avoiding OCD :-) It's funny judging for the first time how much SRP to put on the cloth and each panel!

Cheers
Goose

[Bezste]

Nice one. But remember SRP is only a polish - i.e. it is very, very slightly abrasive so cleans up the surface of the paint (usually the clear-coat) nicely and brings back the "shine".

As already stated it contains some "fillers" too which enchances the look of the surface, hiding swirl marks and very light scratches.

However, you need to finish off with a good wax to seal in the fillers which will just wash out otherwise. Wax protects the paintwork too and ensures your car looks good for weeks rather than just days. I find SRP followed by Autoglyms Extra Protection gives excellent results.

Be prepared for a thousand different opinions on which products to use!

[goose]

Thanks Bezste, so there's even more to do!!! The wax seals the new shine and probably makes the grime not stick so much, so next time it gets washed it's easier to get the grime off, right?

One thing for sure is the AutoGlym will be making a fortune out of car owners like us.

My alloys need a refurb, I did post before, but not on here.. With a new badges she will definately shine. People have already commented that she looks stunning!

Cheers
GOose

[Bezste]

Yea, that's right. She will look good for longer and when you wash her the muck comes off easier.

Just a note about claying: It is definitely worth doing (after washing and before polishing) as it "flattens" the surface, removing any contaniments bonded to your paintwork ready for the polish and wax. The smoothness of the paintwork is amazing after claying; feels like glass.

I don't think it is time consuming either. I can do my GT in about 30 mins - it's very theraputic too! Only needs to be done once a year IMO. I use the Meguires kit (clay and Quick Detailer which acts as a lube) from Halfords. Think it's about £15.

[aziraphale]

clay once a year, or every 6 months if you do high mileage.

i personally use Zymol shampoo/conditioner.

i have used Meguiar's gold class wax, it's quite hard to work in and buff up, and easy to get holograms with, but still easier than Autoglym's wax or even super resin polish.

for speed, i use Autoglym's ultra deep shine. it's a very quick polish with filler in to hide swirls and fine scratches, it shifts holograms, and only takes light work to buff up. well worth using.

[alipet]

Originally Posted by Bezste

Just a note about claying: It is definitely worth doing (after washing and before polishing) as it "flattens" the surface, removing any contaniments bonded to your paintwork ready for the polish and wax. The smoothness of the paintwork is amazing after claying; feels like glass.

I don't think it is time consuming either. I can do my GT in about 30 mins - it's very theraputic too! Only needs to be done once a year IMO. I use the Meguires kit (clay and Quick Detailer which acts as a lube) from Halfords. Think it's about £15.

I had my first go at claying this week. Much easier than I expected, and amazing results. I used Bilt Hamber clay (£10.95 off eBay) which uses water as a lube - very easy to use.
BUT 30 MINUTES??? It took me well over 2 hours. I suppose the first time is probably the longest. But definitely recommended.

[Ralf S.]

Yeah.. next time round (assuming it's not years later) there's just less rubbish to clean off. The smooother the paint, the less dirt can stick to it.. so it's a lot easier and quicker to keep it tidy the next time.


Ralf S.

[aziraphale]

it took me ages - i think even longer than 2 hours - when i first did my GTA, shortly after purchase. it was caked in tar, all up the front wings and front doors.

if it been any other colour, i wouldn't have bought it after looking at it closely and seeing how poor it looked, how much crud it had on the paint.. it's black, and i didn't see the crud on it.

[David P]

I think it's probably safer to detar the car first ( I use paraffin oil ) & then clay it as you don't want to contaminate the clay bar with tar/grit & increase your chances of damaging your paint

[springbok]

Originally Posted by David P

I think it's probably safer to detar the car first ( I use paraffin oil ) & then clay it as you don't want to contaminate the clay bar with tar/grit & increase your chances of damaging your paint

+1 I always use a paint cleaner and then clay. Some say "a little OTT" but it makes claying MUCH easier and your clay lasts longer.

[Bezste]

Yea, fair comments about de-tarring. I did just the lower parts of my car before claying. I used Autoglyms Tar Remover but found it a bit dissapointing. Will be trying Tardis next time cos I've heard so many good things about it. Again, I only do this about once a year or maybe twice if needed.

[Starkers]

Originally Posted by aziraphale

clay once a year, or every 6 months if you do high mileage.

i personally use Zymol shampoo/conditioner.

i have used Meguiar's gold class wax, it's quite hard to work in and buff up, and easy to get holograms with, but still easier than Autoglym's wax or even super resin polish.

for speed, i use Autoglym's ultra deep shine. it's a very quick polish with filler in to hide swirls and fine scratches, it shifts holograms, and only takes light work to buff up. well worth using.

When you wax the car, do you use a machine to put it on and take it off, or do you use good old elbow grease?

I ask because so far, have only rinsed, shampooed and then rinsed my car and more recently, I have started to use Aquawax. She has never had the clay treatment (sorry), so at some point, I will need to de-tar her first (tar spots are quite prominent on silver), then she will need her first clay session.

Once I've got that out of the way, what should I do next, put on some SRP, or just go straight for a wax?
I use the car almost every day, mostly on A roads / dual carriageway (i.e. continuous 60mph+) so that is why I am leaning towards the idea of using wax over polish.

[Chris_C2000]

If you have a pressure washer you could always try snow foam.. that stuff looks fun and lots of people recommend it.

SRP is good stuff.. Brings out my (admittedly dark) care lovely, dont just finish at one coat tho, 2 or more can make big improvements on swirls.

Autoglym Super Resin Polish (SRP) F.A.Q - - Detailing World - <- Guide to SRP

There's a youtube video showing how to apply SRP somewhere.. Takes them about 10 minutes to do an area the size of half a door, really have to put some elbow grease in.

And for waxing.. lots of opinions there and it can be expensive (£30-90 per pot) but this place does sample size pots for £4-£9 Sample size detailing products then you can try some out and it wont cost you a bomb.

[aziraphale]

Starkers, it's elbow grease for me!

I've been told not to use SRP, or at least not often, as when i had my car machine polished, apparently so much was removed from the car to get it looking good that i was told the paint was now quite thin!

Ultra Deep Shine seems to produce the effects of SRP with only half the effort or at least it seems that way to my untrained eye.