Car Detailing.

[Tuearts right boot]

If you want to improve the cars looks another 100%. Buy some tyre/rubber dressing and apply to the tyres with a soft paint brush or light sponge. Don't spray directly onto the tyres.

 

[crublue1]

Thank you to all contributers for valued input, merci beucoup to You-Tube and thanks also to Meguiares for their excellent user friendly products. I cant fooking walk mind but that's a minor nuance as the daughter is ecstatically happy and can once again sleep safe sound and nightmare free. It took me nine hours non stop from washing and claying to final completion and my back has proper gone with olden person stoop and droop, whilst in addition I have horrendously burnt my head and face from that unforgiving midday sun, so a special mention in dispatches to Savalon for it's ever so soothing properties. The sausage who previously worked on this car should without fear of recourse be dragged out at dawn, flogged then shot, without a blindfold or that all important last minute cigarette. As the previous photos show it looked splendid under a cloudy sky were it's lived out it's tenure all winter. Black cars can be a wonderful acquisition if treated with kid gloves but boy oh boy do they need some fanny arsing around, tickling and TLC to keep them in tip top condition. Was the experience enjoyable, why no is the obvious answer and neither do I wish to make a hobby of it as Moon Walking is a far more appealing enterprise, coupled with a sherbet or three.

Final photo call with self reflections removed and pictured in Technicolor Moorland Sunshine. Thanks again everyone and very much appreciated.

Great job, looks good. Glad it worked out ok.
See, told you it wasn't that hard! You've done well to have that off in 9 hours.
Chuffed for you.

 

[Kazzydeyna]

Thank you to all contributers for valued input, merci beucoup to You-Tube and thanks also to Meguiares for their excellent user friendly products. I cant fooking walk mind but that's a minor nuance as the daughter is ecstatically happy and can once again sleep safe sound and nightmare free. It took me nine hours non stop from washing and claying to final completion and my back has proper gone with olden person stoop and droop, whilst in addition I have horrendously burnt my head and face from that unforgiving midday sun, so a special mention in dispatches to Savalon for it's ever so soothing properties. The sausage who previously worked on this car should without fear of recourse be dragged out at dawn, flogged then shot, without a blindfold or that all important last minute cigarette. As the previous photos show it looked splendid under a cloudy sky were it's lived out it's tenure all winter. Black cars can be a wonderful acquisition if treated with kid gloves but boy oh boy do they need some fanny arsing around, tickling and TLC to keep them in tip top condition. Was the experience enjoyable, why no is the obvious answer and neither do I wish to make a hobby of it as Moon Walking is a far more appealing enterprise, coupled with a sherbet or three.

Final photo call with self reflections removed and pictured in Technicolor Moorland Sunshine. Thanks again everyone and very much appreciated.

A fine job there sir, ably performed. Well done.

And ditto for meguiars, they make very good stuff that is easy to use

 

[quiet_riot]

Fantastic job @Two Gun Bob, can I book you in?

 

[Two Gun Bob]

All down to the help and advice from the chaps from here and the services of You-Tube. If any one is considering having a go then don't be daunted as you cannot really damage your car with a DA other than drop it on the bonnet.

Throughout the ordeal I mainly used the services of Meguiars with a few deviations and hand on heart cannot fault the quality of product. The DA I ordered earlier was returned as I did not like it's balance and also it had too big a backing plate making it difficult with her car having obtuse angles. After further research the Halfords DA was purchased with good reviews and at £85 eschewed value. The 5" backing pads supplied with it are pants, so I separately purchased Meguires 5" cutting and polishing pads. The pads are fully washable and of a much higher standard priced at £16 and £12 whereas the Halfords pads are a fiver and will not take a machine wash.

The Halfords DA is user friendly for a novice with six speeds and a well positioned on off switch. I cut at 5,500 revs and polished at 4,000. The waxing was accomplished by hand with the Karate-Kid wax on wax off technique. The Claying was far easier to accomplish than imagined using Halfords clay combined with Meguiars detailer for ease of glide. It really did remove the slight contaminants before continuing on.

Although the initial outlay was fairly high we now have the use of the machine and it's consumables for many years to come and if we do the sums we should be back in profit after 15 weeks so a win win situation. I spoke with a detailing company who were still in lock down and after seeing the photos of the vehicle in the shade and then bright sunlight were convinced the majority of it's defect and holograms were caused by over enthusiastic use of a Rotary machine. The heavy swirls they said were caused by poor wash technique employed in some not all of the car wash places. I did visit our local wash outfit undercover as they cleaned a full line of vehicles using the same sud bucket and clearly evident how her car slowly deteriorated. Just her wheels to finish when these co-codamals kick in : /

 

[Two Gun Bob]

We aquired a fresh vehicle last week that if not treated with kid-gloves could come back and haunt us. It's paintwork's has already been prepped so it has just been treated to a hydrophobic wipedown with dollops of synthetic polymer goodness to take it through the demanding summer months.

Couldn't hack another white or grey car so we've been studying all week to ensure holograms and swirl marks are resigned to history by practising good wash techiniqe. Never really been one for Snow Foaming as I was under the impression it was all gimmicky, but it seems that pre washing is an essential armoument against paint defects on black and more so on louder colours with this Mo-Fo being beyond the loud.

I have had to source a foam lance for our Titan 2200 pw as it was supplied without one, according to Screwfix they don't sell them anymore. After making lots of telephone calls I managed to glean that Titan were one and part of the same group as Mac Allisters but actually trade through the B and Q portal. We managed to buy one for £25 from the Cheetham Hill branch, so right back on track and now it was time to evaluate the foam itself.

I needed a realtively netral PH as I didnt want to continually strip back the sealant I'd just applied and it had to perform the job of removal of detritus from the car body before the 2 bucket contact Meguires wash was to begin. Mixed bag of results overall with many people dissapointed with the big boys so I spent a few days on you-tube to see if the professional detailers could throw some light on the subject.

I decided to err with a company called Bilt and Hammer and was wondering if any one has actually used them?

Supplied in a handy 5ltr container which should see us out for the year being diluted at around the 4% pir. (panel impact ratio) Calculi by filling up your detergent bottle or reservoir and taking a large container and discharging the lance into this until the detergent bottles empty of water. Then measuring the amount of water collected and just multiplying by 0.04. Effecively by using this method it creates the correct concentration of auto-foam discharging from the lance and once done is good to go each time. Hoozah!

Surely the modus-operandi is not to get the swirl marks/holograms in the first place and the old adage that the best defence is a good offense is beginning to ring true.

Have a watch of this shootout as these different snow foams are rigouously tested to the hilt so that we don't have to. A very intetresting watch disecting all elements of the clean. A slight irritating nuance with the Bilt is it's lack of intense foam density that some of the others seem to posses but I guess thats just there for the cosmetics and appreance ain't everything.

 

[Boo or Boo-urns]

I decided to err with a company called Bilt and Hammer and was wondering if any one has actually used them?

Yep, I use:-

Bilt Hamber Detailing Clay (soft)
Bilt Hamber Surfex HD (Water based degreaser)
Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel (Wheel Cleaner)
Bilt Hamber Autofoam (Snow Foam)
Bilt Hamber Cleanser Fluid (Pre-Wax cleaner)
Bilt Hamber Double Speed Wax (Last Stage Product)

Basically, Bilt Hamber.

 

[crublue1]

I've not washed my car since you polished your daughters astra Bob.
It cleans itself when it rains.
The ceramic coating must be doing its job.
Admittedly it's not pristine, like you get when you do a full detail, but it's bloody good.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

If anyone is looking for a cost of living detailing deal then look no further, as Meguires have recently created a new Liquid Wax called "Ultimate" new formula offering super higher than ever reflectivity thats shiny than shinier than the one they just sold before.

A new to the shelves whiter than white soap powder product that aims to please, at a higher than higher price price of £37.50 a bottle : /

"Meguiar’s proprietary Hydrophobic Polymer Technology increases surface tension for relentless water beading action that lasts. This advanced formula also delivers deep, darker reflections, incredible gloss and shine while leaving a slick finish" Oh do feck off : )

Ultimate Liquid Wax - Meguiars UK

Meguiar’s Ultimate Liquid Wax is a premium paint protectant with a pure synthetic wax blend for maximum performance. The improved formula now delivers even better durability than before. Meguiar’s proprietary Hydrophobic Polymer Technology increases surface tension for relentless water beading...

www.meguiars.co.uk

So .. to offload their already brilliant and original best selling Liquid Wax they have made a box set containing Mequires original Liquid Wax, Mequires Compound and Meguires Polish, that also includes three softer than soft applicators and a wipe on wipe off polishing cloth.

The retail break down was over £60 and previously sold in box set format at £55 but now has been reduced to £30 the set on Amazon. Good grief!

An absolute steal and will not be around for long at these prices. Will you be savvier than savvy by locking in the goodness whilst stocks last?

 

[Two Gun Bob]

So it would appear on the kit I just received that I should have got the old Ultimate Liquid Wax as per the box picture but have actually recieved the "new Ultimate Ultimate Liquid Wax" as seen on the bottle beside the box.

The old Ultimate has a black background whilst the new Ultimate has a yellow background clearly stating Hydrophobic Polymer Technology that retails at £37.50 as a stand alone.

Was the packer dyslexic or colour blind or are Mequires actually offering the deal of the century here ?