Car Detailing Tips

[ELEGNT]

my car is the big problem the former owner looks like he used to wash it with some 320 grit sand paper its a white Aurion and the entire car has bad swirls in it

my car is the same, do you know the history of who owned your car? it might have been a company car and they just took it to car washes to wash it. my car is an ex government car and i know thats what they do so mine has swirling all over it too :(

[51DER]

yup I think it was company car

[DaveXR8]

Give bayside detailing a call. Im not sure if he does paint corrections or not but im sure he'd be able to recommend someone that does.

Bayside Detailing

Mobile Car Cleaning

and Detailing

Brisbane

QLD 4161

Australia

0405402845

BaysideDetailing@bigpond.com

Cheers

Dave

[51DER]

cheers Dave I just didnt want to pick some random out of th e ph book as it might end up worse than it started

cheers

[DaveXR8]

cheers Dave I just didnt want to pick some random out of th e ph book as it might end up worse than it started

cheers

All good mate.

[Sergio]

I like to use a lambswool wash mit and recommend washing your vehicle from the top down. Make sure you rinse your wash mitt in the water only bucket after each panel. This helps minimise the amount of dirt left in the wash mitt and will make it less likley to cause swirl marks on your paint work.

I had a look at super cheap auto for the lambswool wash mitt. They had one with lambswool one side and bug and tar remover on the other (sponge with netting on top). They didn't have any others available. Do they all come like this or would I be able to pick one up from somewhere with the entire mitt as lambswool?

[Kesawi]

I had a look at super cheap auto for the lambswool wash mitt. They had one with lambswool one side and bug and tar remover on the other (sponge with netting on top). They didn't have any others available. Do they all come like this or would I be able to pick one up from somewhere with the entire mitt as lambswool?

I've only every seen the type of mit you mentioned above at any of the auto stores, and have one myself. I've never found any problems only having the lambswool on one side. I'd also suggest you get some grit guards for your wash buckets. They keep the grit that rinses off your mitt in the bottom of the bucket and prevent it going back onto the car, causing swirls.

I bought mine from Adam's Premium Car Care Products Australia.

[Sergio]

That looks like a handy tool to have. As for the mitt guess i'll be purchasing it then. Thanks for that.

[Kesawi]

Good video link I found for how to wash a car:

http://www.webridestv.com/showvideo.aspx?video=43655

[Mecha-wombat]

Some really fantastic info here

I wash both my cars weekly and if you aint got on to Microfibre WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!

I have a MF noodle mitt and an assortment of MF cloths for different parts of the vehicle 3M make the best MF in my opinion

One of the things I do to rinse the car is to 'flood' the area so the water sheets off after washing the area. This makes drying with a MF cloth afterwards a breeze becuase there is hardly any water beads to pick up

I wipe down the whole car with one cloth to break up the bigger drops and then go over the car with a clean dry fluffer cloth and then finish with a final wipe down

Windows have there own MFcloth which is very different to the general purpose ones used to dry the car

I might have a look at the quik detailer might save me some time but I have got my washing of the car down to 1 hr start to finish and a full detail to 5 hrs for one car

[private number]

Hey fellas, I have a bucketload of little fine swirl marks all around my car and this friday i was thinking of removing it with a rotary machine and then waxing it after. Do you guys recommend to do this myself ? I have never done this before and after reading this thread it seems a bit more complicated than i originally thought it was but maybe thats just me?

[Kenshin X]

hey guys, i've been washing my car at the self service stations. I thought that if u blast the brush at point blank range to remove the dirt on it, it should be ok to then wash your car with it. Opinions?

cheers

[KevO]

hey guys, i've been washing my car at the self service stations. I thought that if u blast the brush at point blank range to remove the dirt on it, it should be ok to then wash your car with it. Opinions?

cheers

It's not just the dirt on the brush that scratches the car. The brush itself is very co**** and will scratch the car. Gotta get yourself a lamb wool wash mit lol.

[Kenshin X]

hey guys, i've been washing my car at the self service stations. I thought that if u blast the brush at point blank range to remove the dirt on it, it should be ok to then wash your car with it. Opinions?

cheers

It's not just the dirt on the brush that scratches the car. The brush itself is very co**** and will scratch the car. Gotta get yourself a lamb wool wash mit lol.

ok will do this next time i come to super cheap! i don't notice becuz my car was already badly scratched and has bird etchings all the way to the paint layer :( and its flaking off! :(:( i'll make a new thread to show you guys as so not to pollute this one with my comments! :P

[peregrine]

Water Spots

Water spots are caused when a vechile is not dried properly.

Regular water from taps contain minerals such as Calcium and metals which when left to dry in the sun can etch itself into your cars paint work. Rain water can contain more harmful elements such as acid which wil cause more damage faster.

The best way to prevent water spots it to make sure your car is dried properly after a wash. It is recommended to use a good Microfibre Waffle Weave towel as these are highly absorbent and is soft enought so it doesnt induce any swirl marks on the paint while drying. I also like to follow it up with a smaller Waffle Weave towel to ensure that I have not missed any areas.

If you notice any water spots on your vehicle when it is dry, attend to it straight away with some Quick Detailer and MF towel. If it does not wipe off then it needs to be polished out with some fine to medium abrasive polish.

Water spots can be a pr!ck to remove when left to bake in so the quicker you attend to it the easier it will be.

Here is what a water spot looks like. Wipe with QD and towel. It should remove the dry minerals but if you still can see the outline of the spot then that is when it has caused damage to the paint.

Cheers :)

Dave

You haven't mentioned bird droppings. My panel shop suggested boiling water on etched droppings but it will only work if it hasn't been touched with polish etc and I've had success with this. Haven't had reason to try this on water spots but maybe worth a try! ;)

[bigbass]

I have been lucky enough to have tried some of the best waxes money buys over the last 20 years.

I still reckon best VALUE for money buy a country mile is the product called bowdensown www.bowdensown.com.au

There products are very very cheap for what you get and very easy to apply and remove of all paint surfaces

Its a family owned business up the Sunshine Coast and they are Queenslanders

I have all there products and highly recommended

Just my 2 cents worth

Cheers

[1stKill]

Bowdensown is good stuff,have used it in the past :)

I have a detailing noob question...whats a good product to put on painted wheels to help protect from everyday road use?...ie sand/dirt and general dirty roads,roadworks ect ect.

Cheers

Lee

[1stKill]

Sorry to be a pest on this issue but i have a few bucks invested in these new wheels and i want to give them the best possible protection.

has anyone used Swissvax Autobahn wheel wax or similar products and if so what do you think?

Cheers

Lee

[Tash]

Sorry I can't help you on that one Lee - although I'd love to know the answer. You might just have to bite the bullet and try a few different things, see if anything helps. It's a pity those rim skins don't come in a clear colour, although they probably don't work anyway.

I've got a question to add although I haven't had a really good trawl through this thread; what do people use to clean the chrome strips around the windows??? I've got water marks on mine and I just can't get them off! I tried the chrome polish that I've used on my wheels (with great success) and whilst they made them really shiny they didn't remove any of the marks.

[-DAvo]

Lee: The best advice i can give you to use a good synthetic wax, such as meguiars nxt 2.0 or i think autoglym may do a purpose made "wheel sealer".... ive been using nxt 2.0 on my rims since new and they dont develop water marks at all...

tash - try using some swirlx or scratch x on your chrome door trim and then seal with a wax of your choice..

;)

[1stKill]

Thanks Davo...i spotted that Autoglym wheel sealer when searching online for product...i don't care how much this sh!t is going to cost as long as it works.

the Swissvax wheel wax is around $50+ postage and they have some pretty strong claims on there website,hmmm might have to give it a whirl.

[Tash]

Thanks Davo - you're a goldmine of knowledge when it comes to this stuff! :D Will make sure I include the chrome strips when I go over the car, still can't decide whether I will use Swirl X or Ultimate Compound after my next clay bar as I don't think I can apply one after the other.

[-DAvo]

still can't decide whether I will use Swirl X or Ultimate Compound after my next clay bar as I don't think I can apply one after the other.

you most certainly can! :)

if you really wanna get a perfect swirl free shine, then use ultimate compound first, then follow it up with an application of swirlX... as sometimes depending on paint condition and application methods, ultimate compound MAY need to be followed up with a less aggressive product to remove the ultra fine marks that Ultimate compound MAY leave behind.. i say MAY because ive used ultimate compound on many different cars (including my own) and the surface was ready for wax afterwards... (i will out of habit still follow it with a less agressive prod. but thats totally up to you and your situation)

its basically the comsumer line version of using M105 then M205.

:)

[1stKill]

Going to order some car detailing stuff online...gunna make myself a little cleaning hamper. :)

should i throw one of these in?

[Tash]

still can't decide whether I will use Swirl X or Ultimate Compound after my next clay bar as I don't think I can apply one after the other.

you most certainly can! :)

if you really wanna get a perfect swirl free shine, then use ultimate compound first, then follow it up with an application of swirlX... as sometimes depending on paint condition and application methods, ultimate compound MAY need to be followed up with a less aggressive product to remove the ultra fine marks that Ultimate compound MAY leave behind.. i say MAY because ive used ultimate compound on many different cars (including my own) and the surface was ready for wax afterwards... (i will out of habit still follow it with a less agressive prod. but thats totally up to you and your situation)

its basically the comsumer line version of using M105 then M205.

:)

Ah, good stuff!! I was thinking I was going to have to do it across two weekends or something and use one and then the other. So this is fantastic news lol I will do that then, thanks :)

Watching the vids and reading the bottle of Scratch X (which I haven't bought yet) it says to carry it in your car for spot 'repairs', does this mean you can use it without claying first? I'm gathering that it would be most effective after a clay bar, so now that you've mentioned I can apply the products one after another I'm thinking I can wash, clay, use scratch x in a couple of places to get the really bad ones, then follow up with Ultimate Compound, then Swirl X (both of these by hand) and then polish and wax with the Mothers wax attack palm polisher.

Heheh I'd say go for it Lee, but the images don't load at work so I can't see what I'd be recommending lol But putting together a car hamper sounds like an awesome idea :D I've got a plastic tub that permanently lives behind the backseat with 'esssentials' in it, with the other products in the house (unfortunately I have no garage or a wide carport - can't wait to have all that!), but I'm currently hunting for a Meguairs Boot Organiser to tidy it all up :)