Today I did some detailing...

Curran

The RainX mightnt last too long if you've got any sort of screen wash in your washer bottle.

Paint looks very well!

BillJ

Plain old water in the bottle, will prob get some gtechniq for the windscreen when this runs out though.

The paint is pretty good, DA'd the boot lid and bonnet, never got round to the rest.

Since machine polishing the bonnet i'm after getting some scratches on it though:mad: They seem a bit deeper than swirls and will polish out i think. I'm thinking they're was some dirt in my drying towel as they are in straight lines and follow the direction I would normally drag my towel.

Would some tiny grit/dirt in the towel scratch the paint? It's not like i was rubbing the towel against the paint

Curran

BillJ wrote: »

Would some tiny grit/dirt in the towel scratch the paint? It's not like i was rubbing the towel against the paint

Yeah, if grit or dirt got in the towel, it might scratch the paint. You need a plush towel to limit this as much as possible, as unless you are washing the car 2 or 3 times, there's going to be certain areas that will have a small amount of grit still on the paint work!

Also, what towel do you have...I know of some towels that will very lightly scratch the paint work, even fresh out of the packaging!! :eek:

BillJ

Curran wrote: »

Yeah, if grit or dirt got in the towel, it might scratch the paint. You need a plush towel to limit this as much as possible, as unless you are washing the car 2 or 3 times, there's going to be certain areas that will have a small amount of grit still on the paint work!

Also, what towel do you have...I know of some towels that will very lightly scratch the paint work, even fresh out of the packaging!! :eek:

Blue one with red edge, looks like this: http://www.cardazzle.co.uk/deluxe-fluffy-drying-towel-121-p.asp

Think it's chemical guys.

Could you send me that pm with the detailing guide and list of products, want to see if i'm missing/forgetting anything!

Curran

That's very similar to the one that I've experienced at first hand and have had others say it to me!
I think there is a CG's one alright, but there is cheap copies from China and the likes floating about. They look almost exactly the same and retailers are selling them as CG's ones, but sending those with nice mark ups!!

I'll fire you the PM now!

BillJ

Curran wrote: »

That's very similar to the one that I've experienced at first hand and have had others say it to me!
I think there is a CG's one alright, but there is cheap copies from China and the likes floating about. They look almost exactly the same and retailers are selling them as CG's ones, but sending those with nice mark ups!!

I'll fire you the PM now!

Thanks for the pm!

Think i'll be asking for a detailingshed voucher from santa this year:D

Mc Love

Curran wrote: »

I have a "How To Guide" and a "List of Products I Recommend" that I can PM onto anyone who wants it!
I wouldn't be allowed to post it directly onto the forum!

I think you should do post and maybe the Mod's can sticky it -btw how come you aint a mod for this sub forum anyway?

Curran

I'd have no issue being a mod

Though, there might be an issue around a Conflict of Interest

Scortho

Curran wrote: »

I'd have no issue being a mod

Though, there might be an issue around a Conflict of Interest

Nah sure a few of us would just give the cleancar links! :pac:

stimpson

Curran wrote: »

Yeah, if grit or dirt got in the towel, it might scratch the paint. You need a plush towel to limit this as much as possible

I don't move my MF towel on the paint at all. I place it down and press it against the panel so that if there was any grit it wouldn't be dragged along the paintwork.

And FWIW, mine is a blue and red towel like that, but it's not Chemical Guys branded. It's a good soft towel though.

Sidewayslarry

I did a bit of work on a really nice VW Transporter a few weeks ago from HappyCampers down in Wexford. It had just had a full respray and needed full flattening and machine polishing, sealing and show prep for a big camper van show over in the UK.

In total it took 6 days and that was just on the exterior alone.

The good news was that it won the best T5 at the show. It also got a magazine feature that same weekend, and 3 weeks later it won top 10 in Titanic Dubs up in Belfast.

Curran

Nice one Larry - she came out well!!

Sidewayslarry

Curran wrote: »

Nice one Larry - she came out well!!

Yeah I had been expecting 4 days or worst case 5 days, but then it rolled into the 6th day and a late 6th day at that.

After I cleaned it, the lads went straight to the show in the UK and from there onto the south of France for a 2 week break. They got back then and went on to the north for Titanic Dubs and they hit Galway the following weekend.

THey had a phone call then from TV3 saying that Glenda Gilson wanted to use the van for a spotlight on camper vans. After all the above going I was surprised all teh van needed to get it back gleaming again was a quick snow foam and quick detail and she looked new again

Curran

She's a big auld bus!!
Very hard to get a handle on how much work will be needed to get the paintwork fully restored, after a wet sand, and its definitely something that cant be rushed. Would have an idea in my head of how long I would like it to take, but I'd always tell someone that I cant give a definite time...nothing worse than working to a tight timeline on a job like that, espeically after a full respray - it would have to be perfect!

Sidewayslarry

Yeah nothing like a tight deadline to get the juices flowing

Yeah its always impossible to judge a car until you actually get stuck in. Even after 4 years working in a bodyshop, and then detailing for the past 6 years its still impossible to judge how difficult or easy a car is going to be until the first polishing pad hits the paintwork. I pity the guys getting into detailing without a background in paintwork sometimes.

Mc Love

Curran wrote: »

As above, what lance and snowfoam?

Have you tried adjust the air ratio mixture knob on the top, and also to a lesser degree, the fan of the spray, by twisting the nozzle.
Cold water, if you've filled from an outside tap, can slightly effect thickness, but not by that much....top it up with warm water from an indoor tap.
Is your gauze clear? Have you been rinsing water through the fitting after each use? Do that by taking off the bottle and using it, thereby flushing just water through....or fill the bottle with water and APC mixture to be extra sure.
The snowfoam dries to a sticky mess and if the fitting isnt flushed it clogs the gauze! But if its not too bad, that can be cleaned by removing and leaving it soak.

The OAC form and a Karcher lance. No I must admit I havent washed it out after using it. Would I have to get a new one if deposits have been left behind of will they just wash out?

Fan of the spray I think I have sorted, its probably the dial at the top, and maybe down to the cold water, I have used about an inch and half of the foam and topped it with cold water.

CianRyan

Mc Love wrote: »

The OAC form and a Karcher lance. No I must admit I havent washed it out after using it. Would I have to get a new one if deposits have been left behind of will they just wash out?

Fan of the spray I think I have sorted, its probably the dial at the top, and maybe down to the cold water, I have used about an inch and half of the foam and topped it with cold water.

We're using different products but I'd use less than 1cm of foam to the bottle of water, always warm water!

Mc Love

CianRyan wrote: »

We're using different products but I'd use less than 1cm of foam to the bottle of water, always warm water!

Should I fill it up to the top or to the neck? Want to make sure I get this right

I do have the AutoBrite foam lance for a Karcher washer

Curran

Depnding on the product, but approx an inch of product at the bottom of the lance bottle, topped pretty much to the top, with warm water.

Sidewayslarry

Warm water is no advantage unless the water feed to the power washer is warm also. If the water in the bottle is warm, and then when you pull the trigger on the lance, the warm water from the bottle gets diluted down with the cold water from the tap. Generally there will be so much cold water coming through that the water will be cold coming out the end anyway.

I find with snow turned up to the last the foam is too heavy and gravity takes over and drags it off the car. You are better off with a lighter covering of foam and it will then dwell longer on the paintwork disolving the dirt better .

Curran

I always found warm water improves the snow on colder days. Perhaps it's just that the snowfoam solution dilutes better in the bottle. Of course its diluted by the colder water coming from the washer, but cold water and cold water makes cold water. Warm water and cold water diluted, makes luke warm water. Perhaps its in my head....but IMO it helps!

Sidewayslarry

Curran wrote: »

I always found warm water improves the snow on colder days. Perhaps it's just that the snowfoam solution dilutes better in the bottle. Of course its diluted by the colder water coming from the washer, but cold water and cold water makes cold water. Warm water and cold water diluted, makes luke warm water. Perhaps its in my head....but IMO it helps!

Haha - you can't argue with logic lol
Your dead right, if something works for you - stick with it

toastedpickles

Yesterday and today I cleaned mine! Seeing as i've been flat out with college work, and the lack of free daylight my car had gotten a bit dirty.....by a bit i mean shockingly bad

So the befores!







I had the car washed and dried, and it began to rain, so I improvised and took it to a multistorey where it was clayed polished and waxed

By the time this was done it was dark so I had to leave the wheels till today
So the afters!







So that's me set till next week! :pac::pac:

CianRyan

Year*

toastedpickles

CianRyan wrote: »

Year*

No no :P The N7 is an unforgiving place to clean cars :P

CianRyan

toastedpickles wrote: »

No no :P The N7 is an unforgiving place to clean cars :P

To be fair it's only a month 'till next year.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

...I cleaned my car today...

12 days later...









I have the sads.

On the bright side though, I made an order off DetailingShed.com! With the assistance of Curran, I made a purchase of;


1. Chemical Gus UFO Applicator Pad x2 - €5.50 x2
2. AutoBrite Clay Bar 200g
3. Orchard Autocare Tar Cleanse - 500ml
4. Orchard Autocare Iron Cleanse
5. Orchard Autocare Wheel Cleanse 500ml
6. Chemical Guys Pro Polish 3N
7. Orchard Autocare Cotton Candy Snow Foam - 1 Litre
8. Chemical Guys Glossworkz Shampoo
9. Orchard Autocare Glitz (Tyre Shine)
10. Chemical Guys - Pete's 53 (Wax)


So anticipate a lot of posts off me from Monday or Tuesday onwards asking 'wat duz dis do lolz' and so forth

Hopefully, between the knowledge (however limited it may be) i already have, and with the assistance of some decent products, I should be able to get the car looking the part again in no time.

I'll leave it another week before cleaning it though.. for a slightly more dramatic before and after photo. haha. I'm looking forward to the tyre shine... I hope it's as good as the other stuff my mechanic used before (though im realistically doubtful).


Big thanks to Curran for his assistance.



Can I ask ye guys, are there any decent products on the market for cleaning the inside of the car? It'll be a short while before I make another purchase for car cleaning stuff, but i have leather seats in my car that i'd like to do something with (nothing wrong with them, really, but they are ten years old, so... im sure there's some restoring that could be done with them) and the ceiling of the inside of the car has a small bit of marking on it. Is there a quick and/or easy way of cleaning the ceiling (not sure what the fabric across the ceiling of a car is called).


Cheers

toastedpickles

CianRyan wrote: »

To be fair it's only a month 'till next year.

True, but it'l be looking like the top photos again come friday haha

BillJ

Good job toastedpickles, tyres might need a pumping by the look of them!

toastedpickles

BillJ wrote: »

Good job toastedpickles, tyres might need a pumping by the look of them!

Thanks! I just got them done though May get em looked at again just to be safe!

Do any of ye guys drive an SUV, Jeep, van, or other such 'higher' vehicle at all?

If so, any tips for cleaning the roof of the car? With the Rav, I generally open a door and stand on the floor of the car (to get a bit higher off the ground), then with one hand I rub around with the wash mitt as much as I can, while the other hand clings for dear life onto one of the roof rails. :pac:

It's not exactly ideal. I sometimes get a small dribble of water inside the car from splashing about, but Im more fearful that some day I'm going to slip and end up either emptying a bucket of water over myself, or worse, the interior of the car.

Ded_Zebra

Deleted User wrote: »

Do any of ye guys drive an SUV, Jeep, van, or other such 'higher' vehicle at all?

If so, any tips for cleaning the roof of the car? With the Rav, I generally open a door and stand on the floor of the car (to get a bit higher off the ground), then with one hand I rub around with the wash mitt as much as I can, while the other hand clings for dear life onto one of the roof rails. :pac:

It's not exactly ideal. I sometimes get a small dribble of water inside the car from splashing about, but Im more fearful that some day I'm going to slip and end up either emptying a bucket of water over myself, or worse, the interior of the car.

I'm 6'1" and a bit and don't normally have a problem. You could get a small stool to stand on, we have had some for years that are about a foot high and come in very handy.

JAMES VTI S

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

I'm 6'1" and a bit and don't normally have a problem. You could get a small stool to stand on, we have had some for years that are about a foot high and come in very handy.

I have a caddy and I use a two step I bought a lidl

Well I had a two step look lost it.

stimpson

I have an aluminum platform I bought in woodies for cutting the hedge. Works great when I'm waxing the roof.

MetzgerMeister

stimpson wrote: »

I have an aluminum platform I bought in woodies for cutting the hedge. Works great when I'm waxing the roof.

Any chance of a link to that? I use scaffolding and it's a nuisance to move from one bit to another when I do the hedges on both sides of the house. It's more than half the work to just move the damn things!

Scortho

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Any chance of a link to that? I use scaffolding and it's a nuisance to move from one bit to another when I do the hedges on both sides of the house. It's more than half the work to just move the damn things!

I had an image of you putting scaffolding up around the 335 halfway through reading that! :pac:

Curran

Scortho wrote: »

I had an image of you putting scaffolding up around the 335 halfway through reading that! :pac:

Ha ha!! So had I....thinking he must only be 5ft tall!

toastedpickles

Curran wrote: »

Ha ha!! So had I....thinking he must only be 5ft tall!

Tallest guy in all of tipp so! :pac:

MetzgerMeister

Scortho wrote: »

I had an image of you putting scaffolding up around the 335 halfway through reading that! :pac:

Hmmmm I thought I was in the chat thread

As for the 335, it now has been completely D/A'd to remove any old coat of EXO and another 2 coats applied. Gonna wait a few weeks and see if I'll apply a third coat or not. I've already used 2 x 30ml bottles of the stuff and have another 50ml bottle waiting for me to do a job on the parents' car in the coming weeks!

stimpson

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Any chance of a link to that? I use scaffolding and it's a nuisance to move from one bit to another when I do the hedges on both sides of the house. It's more than half the work to just move the damn things!

This is the one:

http://www.woodiesdiy.com/Mobile/Product/Arrow-Handy-Work-Platform/13530/6.1.4

JAMES VTI S

A friend dropped off this Golf for a full valet in October.

The main concerns ware on the exterior, the roof and bonnet ware covered in tree sap, moss and algae ware growing in all the cracks and crevices as well so taking my time i went around all the car removing any signs of moss, algae and tree sap. I used all purpose cleaner, traffic film remover and a clay bar to remove them the exterior was de-tarred, waxed and trim/tiers ware dressed.

Next the interior was hoovered, cleaned ,shampooed, glass cleaned and dashboard dressed. The owner was extremely happy

JAMES VTI S

JAMES VTI S

A friend bought this car a few weeks ago and realized the paint was very dull and faded ('grey'), it had very bad and deep swirl marks also some nasty stone chips which I touched up. This is a one stage machine polish and it took ten hours to finish

What's that last picture of, James?


I love those before and afters. Planning on doing my own car tomorrow. Seeing those is like watching Rocky before going to the gym! Motivation! Particularly love the before/after of the whole Passat. Black tends to come up looking really well.

I have a missed delivery notice from DPD so hoping I can collect my parcel in the morning (Presumably my DetailingShed purchases).

Curran

Deleted User wrote: »

What's that last picture of, James?

Thats a before and after, 50:50 of a panel that was machine polished.
Un-polished, swirled, dull in appearance of the before on the right, and the rejunviated, polished finish on the left.

JAMES VTI S

Exactly, that passat was grey and very badly swirled.

JAMES VTI S

JAMES VTI S wrote: »

Exactly, that passat was grey and very badly swirled.

CianRyan

Those side by side shots are manxitment worthy.

Those before and afters are what I'd like to be able to achieve myself, but doubt I will (not for a long time, anyway, and without a further investment in equipment).

But I'm on the right track anyway.. Today my DetailingShed order arrived. Hooray!






The personal Boardsie touch (made me smile, anyway!)





So I got out the snow foam as a means to get started (knowing i wouldnt do a lot as i hadnt much time, but figured id get the rough dirt off first and then start again tomorrow from scratch after I google "how to use a clay bar").


I put this much snow foam into the bottle...




And braced myself for the snowfall that never came. The rest was topped with warm water (as per Curran's suggestion).


This is what I got. It's less snow and more watered-down milk:

So.. either I need to put more snow foam solution into the bottle, or i need to get the proper attachment (the proper attachment, I'm guessing). I kinda knew that attachment wouldnt work with snow, but just had to try it out anyway before buying a proper one. Ah sure, live and learn. Buy cheap, buy twice and all that.


So.. the important question now, and the question i didnt realise i'd need to have to ask until I opened up the box of cleaning products...

What order is the most sensible, in which to do things? I've a free day tomorrow (well, until around 5pm, then i get busy).

Do I powerhose it, then claybar it, powerhose it, de-tar, powerhose (I'm assuming powerhose/rinse is between every step of the way and the final move with the exception of drying with microfibre cloths?). I feel embarrassed asking, but sure if i never ask I'll never know.

Curran

The lance is your problem there!! Those ones simply arent up to the job of producing thick foam. The proper lances have a gauze in them which the water and snow foam ssolution is forced through that produces the nice snow!

Process is as per the How to Guide I sent you.

Wash
Rinse
De-Tar
Rinse
De-Ironise
Rinse
Clay
Rinse / Wash if the car has dried
Polish
Protect