cleaning alloys n car n stuff

elexes

right going to start cleaning car at home as i was told that some places cleaning agents use chemicals that could dmg or fade my alloys .

what would u reccomend for cleaning the alloys and then the body ? and can it be bought online ?

dcGT

I use this and find it very good for alloys:

http://www.motormania.co.uk/product_details.asp?intDescID=299

Here's a review...

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Wonder_Wheels_Cleaning_Kit__Review_5338489

DC.

ando

that is good stuff, best I've used, but its acid based which aint good for alloys me thinks. Also it smells awful

JohnCleary

I just use warm soapy water for my chromes, and theyre *bling bling*

Blitzkrieger

Washing the car.
Never ever use washing up liquid. This contains salts, which not only are abrasive but also can help rust your bodywork. Washing up liquid destroys the shine and makes the paintwork look dull.
Always wash from the roof down. Do the roof, then windows and down as far as the moldings before attempting the bumpers and below the moldings. There is not point dragging the dirt up from the bottom and washing the windows with it.
Don’t let the suds dry in. This is bad for the paint. Wash a small section and rinse. The best Car detergent I’ve found is Autoglym’s shampoo and bodywork conditioner.


Drying the car
To avoid water spots, you must dry the car off. During washing, make sure the water doesn’t start to dry in, a quick spray all over will suffice. I find the best thing to do is straight after washing take the car for a quick spin, making to sure to accelerate, brake hard and take a left and right bend a bit quick. This gets the water out of those areas like behind the mirror glass, behind the moulding’s etc, which always appear later. As soon as you get back get your chamois out. Don’t bother with the cheap jobs, get a proper one and take care of it. It really is worth the extra money. Dry the car from the roof down again.


Tyres
To get your tires looking shiny again, first wash with a bit of a scrub and let it dry. Both meguirs and Autoglym do good tyre black to get them looking shiny again. Black in a flash never lasts that long but it has its uses in other areas. If you can get your hands on it, Autoglym do a small drum of “ Rubber Cleaner” pour this in a jar and literally paint it on the tyre.

Mouldings
Sometimes you end up with polish on your mouldings, which can be very difficult to remove. If it’s bad they may never get back to black, but can often return over time. Before you polish the car, put some sort of bumper care product on the mouldings like Autglyms ( not black in flash ). This coat’s it before you get polish on them and the polish can easily be removed. Just keep rubbing it in to the mouldings and eventually it will return to black.

Inner plastic arches
One problem I used to find was the inner arches were always grey and really spoiled the rest of the car’s clean appearance. The best solution is to tackle one corner at a time. Jack up the car and take the wheel off. Now scrub like a demon until all the dirt is off ( a jet wash will help but wont do it all ). Use a scrubbing pad or the like. Let it dry and now coat the arch either with the bumper car or tyre gloss. In future, before washing, spray black in a flash under the arch to all the areas and a light rub while washing will c it return to black. (Black in a flash on bumpers in messy as it’s a spray and gets on the paintwork, under the arches there is no overspray to worry about)

Alloys
Get yourself a good wheel cleaner, the more potent the better. Brake dust gets on the wheel at high temperatures and likes to stick to the wheel. Spray onto the wheel before you start washing. Leave it on for a good minute or two before agitating with a wheel brush, just rinse and it should be clean.
Dont use ajax like a friend of mine!!


Engine Cleaning
Although a good blast with a jet wash often cleans within a few mins, it has its serious problems. Jet washes often steam and the water can get itself into the electrics and cause damage (I learned this the hard way) Even by not using a jet wash you can still be asking for trouble. The best thing to do is cover the distributor and alarm box with a plastic bag and anywhere else you feel might be at risk from water damage. Wash the underside of the bonnet first. Now make up a spray bottle consisting of 1part wheel cleaner (this gets into the baked on grease) 3 parts car detergent (to clean the rest) and water it down (you will need to spray a large area and this keeps the cost down). Now spray the whole engine bay and spray more where there is baked on gunk. Get the wheel brush out again and start scrubbing. Try not to let the solution dry in. Scrubbing may take a while but in the end it will be worth it. Once you are happy you have entirely coated and scrubbed the engine bay rinse with a hose. When it’s all dried you will be able to see areas you missed, repeat to these areas if necessary. If you feel the need, spray the hoses with black in a flash and to any other plastic surfaces, which have faded.


Polishing
Section one, for cars more than 4 years old.
Never Polish a car in direct sunlight or polish a hot bonnet.

The paint and this stage in life with have naturally faded if not properly taken care of. Uv light, using washing up liquid, and numerous other things will have dulled the paint, you may not see it so much now, but when your finished you will c a different car. To be honest, its best to let the professionals handle it. We used to do a 4-step program on cars, which takes ages, but the results can be stunning. We compounded with a buffer, did a glaze buffer (which gets a deep shine when you’re done) then a polish, and then a wax to protect it all.
You can do this at home, but its not as effective without a buffer or the knowledge of which compounds to use and when. Buy a general compound like autoglym, you can go wrong here. Most compounds recommend straight lines with the cloth, not circular as used with polishes. Do these straight movements all over the car and rub slightly harder in areas with light scratches. Now remove with a clean cloth (You don’t need to rub it all off, as its very hard to get compound off).
Now do the next step.

Section two, for cars less than 4 years old.
Get a good polish (not a wax) and start you normal circular movements, put the polish on the cloth and don’t pour it onto the paintwork, again remove with a clean cloth (All the remnants of the compound should be removed with it if you have just compounded it). To top it off, give it a good coat of wax. The best protection I have found is again by Autoglym. Its called “Extra Gloss Protection” Its expensive stuff but in my opinion well worth it. Apply with a perfectly clean cloth and allow soaking into the paint for up to an hour. Remove and you have a brilliant coat. Using their own shampoo to clean it after will keep this coat intact for months and makes washing much easier.


Interior
Again we can break it down into a few sections. Work from the roof down if you are doing a full clean.

Glass
Ive heard of people using vinegar and newspaper and if this works well then keep using it, ive never tried it but it sounds messy and smelly. Get a decent glass polish and do the outside first, just wax on and wax off and Mr Miyagi would say. The interior can be more difficult. If there is a smoker in the car or its unusually dirty then apply the polish, rub it in and take it off before it dries, what often happens is people apply the polish, it sticks to the tar from cigarette smoke and you cant get it off easily. For the front windows roll the window down first to reach the area at the top which you only ever see when u roll it down, ive seen lovely clean windows and when u wind them down they are dirty at the top.

Door jambs
Get a damp old cloth with water and some detergent on it and wipe the dirt away, then wipe again with a clean cloth. The trick of the trade, is to get a sponge, cut it in 4, use a piece of this and wet it with tyre slick ( the Autoglym one) and wipe the dirt off, then again wipe with a clean cloth, its weird but it works wonders.


Hoovering
May seem a pretty obvious thing but there are tricks here and there. For carpet that seems to hold hairs and bits of dirt under the fibres so you cant hoover it out, get a nail brush and scrub the area, this usually releases the dirt and allows the hoover to pick up offending material. For dog hairs and the like, I would hoover and any leftovers I would pick up with selotape wrapped backwards around my hand. Of the nailbrush can sometimes work in this case.

Dash Cleaning/Polishing
For all the plastic areas like the dash and door trims, I would first get detergents in a warm basin and wipe the damp cloth all over the dash. Wipe with a clean cloth afterwards. ALWAYS do the windows first, then the dash.
From now on usually a quick hoover and a polish should keep it looking clean. After years in the trade, the guy who taught me uses Mr. Sheen to keep his dashboard clean. Theres a few reasons for this. Most dash polishes give it a shiny appearance, this can often cause glare in the sunlight. Mr sheen usually come with an anti-static dust guard which keeps dust from settling to easy.


Seat Cleaning
Again this is something best left to the Professional’s. If you are going to attempt it, this is the best way.
Take out The front seats and the rears if possible. If the roof is dirty, start here. Get a basin of clean warm water, and as many clean cloths as possible. Get Autoglym Car interior shampoo. This comes in a spray bottle. Spray sparingly for just a freshen up and apply more heavily for stains or a roof that is covered in tar. Now get a clean damp cloth and rub the affected areas. Rinse the cloth in the basin and repeat. You will need to change the water in the basin often enough as it will get dirty fairly fast.
Once the roof is sorted get on with the seats. Bring them into the house or garage and do them in there. The same applies, spray more than you used on the seats, rub, rinse, repeat. Leave the seats in the heat while you get back to the car. Hoover the carpet and again start cleaning this down. Clean the rest of the car, i.e. windows dash etc.
Start the car and put on the heaters on full with the windows down a crack to let out the moisture. Re-fit the seats which will probably be still damp and leave it all to dry for about 2-3 hours.

dcGT

Excellent guide there Blitzkrieger...fair play to ya!

Also, with regard to drying the car off.... I use one these....

http://www.speeding.co.uk/acatalog/Products_Hydra_Flexi_Blade_154.html

(First item in the list)

It's a bit pricey (around 15 - 20 Euros I think), but well worth it.

It's one of the most useful cleaning tools I've ever bought. It removes surface water from all over the car with ease and as a result, your drying cloth/chamois isn't soaked by the time you're half way through drying off.

It can be used everywhere; bodywork, plastics, mirrors, glass etc.

By the way, check out the last item in the list in the URL above. I might buy some of that

DC.

elexes

dcGT wrote:

I use this and find it very good for alloys:

http://www.motormania.co.uk/product_details.asp?intDescID=299

Here's a review...

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Wonder_Wheels_Cleaning_Kit__Review_5338489

DC.

i should of read it more it dosnt do crome

mike65

dcGT wrote:

Also, with regard to drying the car off.... I use one these....

http://www.speeding.co.uk/acatalog/Products_Hydra_Flexi_Blade_154.html

(First item in the list)

It's a bit pricey (around 15 - 20 Euros I think), but well worth it.

It's one of the most useful cleaning tools I've ever bought.

I bought a Kent blade Deveys down here for about 17 euro and its the business, the rubber flexes nicely and catches the all water with a bit of care.

I like to hear the squeak as it gets the last of the water off!

Mike.