wash, polish and wax a car

event

alright, i want to wash and clean my new car.
this will be the first time i have done it to this one. with my old one, i just washed it and let it dry itself, but i want to have the new one looking nicer.

i have access to a power wash so that usually would be the way i will wash it.

what products would be best for me to get to polish/wax it? (preferably available in halfords, close to me)

is it sufficient to just wash it the once and then wax or do i wash it twice etc

basically, i wanna know what is the process of getting the car spotless, never having done it before, i dont have a clue.

cheers for any help

ZiabR

event wrote: »

alright, i want to wash and clean my new car.
this will be the first time i have done it to this one. with my old one, i just washed it and let it dry itself, but i want to have the new one looking nicer.

i have access to a power wash so that usually would be the way i will wash it.

what products would be best for me to get to polish/wax it? (preferably available in halfords, close to me)

is it sufficient to just wash it the once and then wax or do i wash it twice etc

basically, i wanna know what is the process of getting the car spotless, never having done it before, i dont have a clue.

cheers for any help

My car is my baby so here you go.

Buy nothing but Meguiars and Auto Glym Products for your cars. Don't touch Turtle Wax ever.

Get a bottle of Meguiars Gen X car wash (21 euro and will do about 50 washes)
Get Auto Glym Tar and Grim remover (about 9 euro a bottle)
Get a bottle of Meguiars Next Gen Tech Wax (about 21 euro)
Get an Auto Glym or Meguiars 100% cotton terry cloth (12-14 euro)

Start off by:

1) Rinse the car with water
2) Wash the car with the Car Wash Gen X
3) Go around the car with the Tar remover
4) Rinse the car again where you used the Tar remover
5) Dry the car
6) Wax the car panel by panel and take the wax off with the terry cloth

Total cost will be around 70 euro but its a once off fee because the products would last you nearly a year.

dogmatix

logik wrote: »

Get an Auto Glym or Meguiars 100% cotton terry cloth (12-14 euro)

Would you recommend a terry cloth over a microfibre cloth? I have a few microfibre cloths i use exclusively for drying polishing. Is that an overkill or would microfibres be too harsh on the paintwork? It's an 8 year old micra so I probably would not notice much of a dull finish in the paintwork.

My receipe for a quick and easy car wash:
1. Bucket of warm soapy water and sponge (suds provided by car wash liquid).
2. Soap and clean entire car.
3. Rinse off with cold water from garden hose.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for a second time.
5. Dry off with cloths.

If you have time you can then tackle the windows (inside and out) and the wheel rims.

Tipsy Mac

I've not seen the Meguiars products around, are they only available from specialist retailers?

ZiabR

I sometimes use a microfiber cloth to wash the car in spots where there is heavy dirt. However the best cloths you can use for waxing purposes are the 100% cotton ones as they are very soft on the paint work.

Do you use Fiary Liquid on your car? If so, this is one thing that people should never use as fairy and other washing liquids stripe the paint of any protection and lets the sun in which fades paint and also dirt and can get into the paint and cause damage.

I use many more products on my car but i didnt want to go into that as i would sound obsessive

ZiabR

Tipsy Mac wrote: »

I've not seen the Meguiars products around, are they only available from specialist retailers?

Halfords stocks the full Auto Glym and Meguiars range of products. They have a whole section made out to the both of them.

Cyrus

halfords have them.

Recommend you use 2 buckets for wash, one with decent car shampoo like megs gold and one with clean water. Use a lambswool mitt to wash panel by panel, rinsing the mitt in the clean water before suddsing up again, use a microfibre or waffle weave towel to dry.

Tipsy Mac

Yes have to look for it next time I am there, I've only spotted the Auto Glym stuff.

Evil_Clown

On the topic of car washing
Will this stuff
'Get Auto Glym Tar and Grim remover (about 9 euro a bottle)' take tar off alloy wheels
Mine have lots of tar blobs, Is there a good alloy tar removal product on the market ?
I heard petrol will do a good job is this the case ?

Cyrus

autoglym should do it

event

logik wrote: »

My car is my baby so here you go.

Buy nothing but Meguiars and Auto Glym Products for your cars. Don't touch Turtle Wax ever.

Get a bottle of Meguiars Gen X car wash (21 euro and will do about 50 washes)
Get Auto Glym Tar and Grim remover (about 9 euro a bottle)
Get a bottle of Meguiars Next Gen Tech Wax (about 21 euro)
Get an Auto Glym or Meguiars 100% cotton terry cloth (12-14 euro)

Start off by:

1) Rinse the car with water
2) Wash the car with the Car Wash Gen X
3) Go around the car with the Tar remover
4) Rinse the car again where you used the Tar remover
5) Dry the car
6) Wax the car panel by panel and take the wax off with the terry cloth

Total cost will be around 70 euro but its a once off fee because the products would last you nearly a year.

cheers, thats a great help

few questions:

with regards the tar remover, i presume this is only used on places where there is insect residue and tar?
i have seen some places recommend using Clay bars, are they necessary?

for the drying, i have seen places recommend using a chamois cloth and some say to use a waffle weave microfibre towel?
which of those is best?

Cyrus

only use tar remover where needed, claybar can be used instead, and would prob be a good idea if youve never really got into cleaning it before, you'd normally clay once a year.

waffle weave much better than chamois

run water from the hose over the car before drying will run a lot of water off believe it or not

JimmyCrackCorn!

My car came with alloy wheels in white. Broke my heart trying to keep them clean with a dusty break pad. I swear by Auto Glym wheel cleaner. I tried everything.

Auto Glym does exactly what it says and does it well.

ZiabR

Evil_Clown wrote: »

On the topic of car washing
Will this stuff
'Get Auto Glym Tar and Grim remover (about 9 euro a bottle)' take tar off alloy wheels
Mine have lots of tar blobs, Is there a good alloy tar removal product on the market ?
I heard petrol will do a good job is this the case ?

Yes mate it will, i use it on my white Type R alloys.

Does the trick.

ZiabR

event wrote: »

cheers, thats a great help

few questions:

with regards the tar remover, i presume this is only used on places where there is insect residue and tar?
i have seen some places recommend using Clay bars, are they necessary?

for the drying, i have seen places recommend using a chamois cloth and some say to use a waffle weave microfibre towel?
which of those is best?

I clay my car twice a year. Anymore and its too much. Tar remover is perfect to use inbetween claying.

Tar remover will remove the insects and tar from anywhere on your car.

zilog_jones

Clay bars are great - they're pretty good at getting tar off, paint from other people's car doors (now I just have the dents left :rolleyes:), and whatever dirt you can't see (it was all yellow just from using it on apparently clean parts of the car). Meguairs has a clay bar kit which includes two bars, some spray you use with the bars, a microfibre cloth and some wax - about €50, would highly recommend.

I found the Halfords brand car wash shampoo stuff surprisingly good, and cheap. Used Turtle Wax Zip Wax before that and it was shyte in comparison - it claims to clean and wax in one but fails miserably at both.

I found WD40 good for really thick tar, but I'm not sure if that does any good to the paint (any ideas?).

Neilw

logik wrote: »

I clay my car twice a year. Anymore and its too much.

You can use a mild clay bar such as the meguiars quick clay kit as often as you like, it's won't do any harm. I would clay a car before I apply any wax or sealant, every 4-6 weeks.

Green Hornet

logik wrote: »

Don't touch Turtle Wax ever.
quote]

Whats the problem with Turtle Wax? I thought it was widely used.

Neilw

Green Hornet wrote: »

logik wrote: »

Don't touch Turtle Wax ever.
quote]

Whats the problem with Turtle Wax? I thought it was widely used.

It is widely used but there are better products out there. Same with autoglym, average stuff IMO, super resin polish and glass polish are the only decent autoglym products.

For wax I would go for collinite 476s or 845, do a search on ebay, it's super durable and leaves a great shine.

Wax isn't everything tho, it's all down to the preparation of the paint before you wax.
Wash, clay, machine polish to remove swirls, sealant and then wax.

irish.rugby.fan

Neilw wrote: »

Green Hornet wrote: »

It is widely used but there are better products out there. Same with autoglym, average stuff IMO, super resin polish and glass polish are the only decent autoglym products.

For wax I would go for collinite 476s or 845, do a search on ebay, it's super durable and leaves a great shine.

Wax isn't everything tho, it's all down to the preparation of the paint before you wax.
Wash, clay, machine polish to remove swirls, sealant and then wax.

Sealant under a wax is a complete waste.

Most waxes rarely take to sealants. Just double of sealant or wax will leave a great result.

Neilw

irish.rugby.fan wrote: »

Neilw wrote: »

Sealant under a wax is a complete waste.

Most waxes rarely take to sealants. Just double of sealant or wax will leave a great result.

Where did you hear that...complete rubbish. 99% of waxes will bond to sealants.
Maybe your mixed up, a sealant wont bond to a wax.

WHITE_P

Does anyone know where you could get this product in ROI, Halfords don't stock it, and Meguiars UK won't ship to ROI, they did give me contact details for the two main agents for their products here in Ireland, but one didn't have it and the other couldn't be bothered to reply to my e-mail.

If anyone has used it, how would you rate it.

http://www.meguiars.co.uk/cgi-bin/specwd.pl?pc=M2116&tp=0

I was also trying to get some of their marine products, but sadly no joy there either.

vectra

WHITE_P wrote: »

Does anyone know where you could get this product in ROI, Halfords don't stock it, and Meguiars UK won't ship to ROI, they did give me contact details for the two main agents for their products here in Ireland, but one didn't have it and the other couldn't be bothered to reply to my e-mail.

If anyone has used it, how would you rate it.

http://www.meguiars.co.uk/cgi-bin/specwd.pl?pc=M2116&tp=0

I was also trying to get some of their marine products, but sadly no joy there either.

Why dont you buy some of these excellent products ??
Detailer.ie

Neilw

Halfords only stock the basic consumer meguiars range.

There is an importer of the full meguiars range, consumer, detailer, bodyshop and marine products up north. His name is Derek Fullerton - 07710 338291 NI number.

I was talking to him at the Mosney car show last Sunday he should be able to sort you out.

WHITE_P

vectra wrote: »

Why dont you buy some of these excellent products ??
Detailer.ie

I have the deep crystal polish and wax already, I've only used it once so far but was really impressed with the finish, used to use Autoglym products until I read / heard about the Meguiar's products.

There seems to be a bit of conflict in some of the other posts about using sealant, before or after wax, I would have thought you would polish, then wax and finally use the sealant, anyone got the definitive answer.

event

so i got some of the autoglym bug remover, it didnt really remove the bugs. i left it on for 30 secs like it said but it did nothing.
after applying it, do you wipe or wash it off?

also, when waxing would you wax the whole car and then remove teh wax or do it one panel at a time?

TomMc

WHITE_P wrote: »

Does anyone know where you could get this product in ROI, Halfords don't stock it, and Meguiars UK won't ship to ROI, they did give me contact details for the two main agents for their products here in Ireland, but one didn't have it and the other couldn't be bothered to reply to my e-mail.

If anyone has used it, how would you rate it.

http://www.meguiars.co.uk/cgi-bin/specwd.pl?pc=M2116&tp=0

I was also trying to get some of their marine products, but sadly no joy there either.

You will only get it in the North or the UK. The two Irish (ROI) distributors are stuck in a time warp of sorts and so they only bring in a small selection of their entire range. But then the Irish market is kind of backward anyway, so I cannot say I blame them entirely. It is not really worth their while since more specialist products would not sell in bulk. People tend to talk the talk but when it comes to parting with the cash, the cheapskate mentality comes through where Halfords cheap and cheerful stuff will suffice.

M21 is a very good product if all the prep work is done first, but there are others as good or better & some cost a good bit less. Marine products are not Megs thing even though like Turtle wax they would like to think so. Other lines are way better. Just too specialist to name on a motors forum.

TomMc

WHITE_P wrote: »

I have the deep crystal polish and wax already, I've only used it once so far but was really impressed with the finish, used to use Autoglym products until I read / heard about the Meguiar's products.

There seems to be a bit of conflict in some of the other posts about using sealant, before or after wax, I would have thought you would polish, then wax and finally use the sealant, anyone got the definitive answer.

Megs 1 & 2 are very good but their step 3 wax is poor. Not worth applying that after all the hard work beforehand. It will be shot in no time.

You should wash, remove tar spots, clay, wash again, polish, then use a sealant or a wax. Sealants will bond better to the paint than a wax and in most cases have much better all-round durability. A sealant will not bond to a wax, but a wax will in most cases work ok on top of a sealant. A sealant will give better protection but a wax will have the edge on looks.

The problem is that manufacturers sometimes call a product a sealant when in fact it is actually a wax (or at least the main ingredients are). Some products called waxes are actually synthetic sealants. I myself would just use a sealant (2 coats applied a day apart) or topped up after a wash a few weeks later. If you apply a wax on top of a sealant it will (in most cases) break down much quicker as it has a lower melting point than a synthetic sealant meaning the surface gets contaminated all the quicker and so you need to re-apply the product more frequently. When waxes break down they attract contaminants which means you have to go through the whole process again all the sooner.

So the net result is if you do have limited time and want the best protection, a high-gloss and less ongoing care, work with sealants only and layer a few coats. If you enjoy the whole thing and have the time to spruce up a car every month or so well then use a wax if you prefer. In the past sealants looked a bit plasticy (some still do) where as waxes gave a nicer finish, wetter, warmer and deeper but with recent advances in chemical technology, sealants have closed the gap and now have far more pros than cons. Some are a combination of both a sealant and wax so give the best of both worlds, durability and looks. Waxes are becoming obsolete at least for everyday cars. They are not worth the hassle. The law of diminishing returns applies - you are doing twice the work for or only a miniscule improvement in looks. And the funny thing is most people (including enthusiasts) could not tell the difference.

Seperate

Depends how far into cleaning the car you want to go... you coud just get the 2 buckets, lambswool mitt and some shampoo and it would be clean afterwards. Or like Neil said, clay after washing, then rinse again and apply a good wax.

Sealants do work under waxes... sealants replenish oils and gives UV protection to the newly polished surface. They also have a 'glaze' property that leaves a slick, glossy surface for the wax to bond to. All the wax does on top is protect and in some cases will add their own glossy nuance. Waxes tend to 'yellow' towards the end of their lifecycle, but you're talking 4-6 weeks from application, and like Neil said, you would be claying and reapplying new wax then anyhow.

I find that layering sealant on light coloured cars gives the best shine. Whites, Silvers, light blue and so on.

I can get any Megs (trade) products to my door within 2 or 3 days from an Irish supplier. Its not that they are stuck in a time warp, its just that the demand for the 'bodyshop' or 'detailing' range isnt there to have it stocked the whole time. We will be stocking the likes of last touch, #80, 86, 16 etc but only in small quanities.

Wertz

Neilw wrote: »

It is widely used but there are better products out there. Same with autoglym, average stuff IMO, super resin polish and glass polish are the only decent autoglym products.

For wax I would go for collinite 476s or 845, do a search on ebay, it's super durable and leaves a great shine.

Wax isn't everything tho, it's all down to the preparation of the paint before you wax.
Wash, clay, machine polish to remove swirls, sealant and then wax.

+1 on the collinite 476s
Great stuff, especially on darker colours but even leaves my silver paint like a mirror. Collinite's leather/vinyl wax is excellent also .
I don't go to the lengths of machine polishing or that, just wash, clay, wash, wax, buff.

TomMc

event wrote: »

so i got some of the autoglym bug remover, it didnt really remove the bugs. i left it on for 30 secs like it said but it did nothing.
after applying it, do you wipe or wash it off?

also, when waxing would you wax the whole car and then remove teh wax or do it one panel at a time?

The Meguiars Bug & Tar Remover isn't great. The AutoGlym Tar Remover is OK but really only for removing tar only. Concepts Tar & Glue Remover is one of the better ones but too strong for frequent usage (and in trade sizes only). I would use either a good shampoo or a diluted APC for bug & insect residues and just the tar remover for tar spots. Wipe it over the area, let it sit for a few minutes so the tar starts to dissolve, then go over it a second time and presto - all gone. Then wash & rinse off any solvent film with shampoo.

As for waxing, it really depends on the wax. All waxes are not the same. Some having cleaning agents, some don't. The ones that do usually have poor durability. The ones that don't really need to be applied to fully prepped paint. Also the level of wax in a product varies greatly. The really expensive ones (with high carnauba content) tend to be wax on wipe off without much drying time at all otherwise they would set too hard to buff off easily or would require a detailing spray to assist in the process. They tend to be applied and removed one panel at a time. The key is to apply them as thinly as possible. A thick coat is a waste of product, will not bond as well and is a bitch to buff off.

For the kind of waxes most people would use (liquid ones rather than paste), I would allow them 10-15mins drying time, depending of course on weather conditions (and working in the shade), then buff off. So a few panels of the car at a time. But it really is trial and error as every product has different characteristics, some drying much quicker if a very high solvent content, and so have to be removed within say 5 mins. Plush microfibre cloths been the best tool for the job not cotton t-shirts!

The newest synthetic sealants are fantastic once all the prep is done, you just wipe them on and that's it. They have the same viscosity as water, so no elbow grease required, just wipe them on and after they have dried out, there is no residue left behind afterwards to wipe off. Makes life much easier.:D