[Swiller]

I would suggest getting a jet washer, a snow foam lance, some collinite wax, some snow foam, clay bar and that's it.
For the price of the machine polishers you can probably get a professional to correct the paint which is the hard bit. Don't bother getting them to do the interior or wheels.
I had mine professionally detailed and just snow foam it with a jet washer, rinse and dry once a week. Every six months, clay it and rewax. I never take it to a car wash.
Still comes up a treat with a great mirror finish 2 years later.

[fulcrum]

And some of this

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sealan.../prod_775.html

Before the wax

Great stuff

[AlanQS]

Originally Posted by chris325

Thanks for all the replies guys.

So to start, get rid of the kit supplied by bm, get a decent washmitt and shampoo.


It really does sound like to go the extra mile, unless it becomes a hobby, the time, effort and cost going into doing the detailing the whole car might be best left to an expert to do it for me?

I'm sure I like most on here when I say I haven't got time to spend 5-10 hours a week washing and polishing?

45 minutes more like!

You don't have to snowfoam every time. I only do it every few months or if it's really bogging. Thereafter for a number of weeks a straight forward wash is all that is necessary. A decent wax protection cover lasts for months so if your car has been clayed, polished and waxed then all you have to do is wash and dry it to restore the shine - job done.

Suggestion: if it has only been washed over the last six months, take one half day aside and do this:

Snowfoam it, let it dwell for five minutes and then hose the residue off the car. Wash it with the two bucket method with a wash-mitt and dry the car. If it needs claying or you just want to do that, then you can omit the drying if you want. Use a decent soft clay bar with a detailing liquid. Rinse the car and dry.
Polish it with a decent polish of your choice (assuming no correction required).

Wax with something like Collinite 456.

For the next six months just wash and dry the car when desired, using the two bucket method. When the paintwork stops beading, it's time for another coat of wax.

It takes me about forty minutes to do my car and nearly half of that time is spent on the wheels. When the paint is protected and reasnably free from contaminants, the wash mitt just flows over the bodywork when you wash it, making it very quick to do.

You're not wasting your life attending to your car and you save a fortune not paying others to wreck it with their 10 year old sponges.

[Reggie-g75]

I got into detailing after moving from a company car into my own black zed 4. I then became obsessed after finding detailing world and then opening up a whole world of car cleaning, when then led to me obsessing and thinking about cleaning, the tools, products... It is good fun, I do enjoy it, i find it relaxing and actually do other peoples cars too!

The 2BM is actually 3 buckets as you need one and a separate mitt for your wheels. Grit guards are bit of a waste of time and I never use mine now.

I do snow foam, but still not convinced it does anything. I've tried snow foam and shampoo, snow foam diluted, concentrate, on a dry car and on wet....

Claying is only once or twice a year job as can mar the paintwork. A good test is to run your hand over the paintwork and feel how smooth it is.

I've tried proper correction of swirls and RDS but so far to not much success. I had the megs DA system to try in the spring.

A good glaze like CG EZ creme or blackhole or AF tripple (a brilliant all in one) can hide most swirls and then a decent sealant and a nice wax.

My routine on my car which is protected is to wash, rinse, rinse with demon shine diluted in a watering can, gently dry, then go over with Z8. I use CG V7 on my alloys.

A good finish is all about the prep not necessarily the products, although some products do make a hell of a difference....

[davyk31]

40 mins ............ is that just washing or washing and drying ?? I sepnd longer drying the car than I do washing it but I'm obsessive about making sure there are no little runs of water from below doors, around bootlid, wheels etc.

[Brian mc21]

Mines washed at least once a week. Have a da polisher that I use with meguairs ultimate compound for the swirls once or so a year and poor boys black hole for polish. Such a difference it makes especially to the swirls.

[BIFCAIDS]

I hear a bank balance emptying lol

[jimmylimmy]

my VXR8 is my first black car and its a bitch to keep clean. I'm like the OP, the past 15 years I've used my local eastern european car wash site but now having a balck car, I'm paranoid about swirl marks....

I had it detailed professionally and decided I needed to keep on top of it and try and keep it as swirl free as possible, hence no more petrol station jet washes or dodgy hand car wash sites.

I checked out detailing world and after a bit of research, bought a Karcher pressure washer from the online Karcher Outlet, visited Autobrite website and ordered a snow foam lance, 2 buckets with grit guards, 2 x lambswool wash mitts, towel/applicator multipack, car shampoo, poorboys blackhole glaze, meguiars wax and some trim and tyre shine.

40 mins a week and it keep it looking good, proctects the finish and hopefully limits swirls

[IanS100]

I still insist on washing my car at least once a year ... whether it needs it or not - do you think that's too much?

[chris325]

Bumping an old thread, but I thought of Bifcaids' post about the bank balance emptying....

Since getting it and reading this forum almost daily for six months, I have spent about £600 on cleaning equipment, mitts, microfibres, shampoo, wax, scratch removers, sealants, polish etc etc.

Pictures taken today,

Rinsed,

shampooed with Megs wool mitt and Megs Gold Class,

Iron X,

AG glass polish

Autosol exhausts,

Poorboys Black Hole,

Sealed with Poorboys EXP,

= SHINY!