Today I did some detailing...

Yeah I've noticed it's not exactly a whole heap of fun.

I've had my cleaning gear for the guts of a week now (since Monday) and I've barely gotten near the car with it (in fairness, i did get to use the tar and iron cleanses, and the autosol stuff, so im happy enough with that, but it's the polishing and waxing that I want to get into with it).


What do ye guys do in poor weather? I can wash the car outside and then bring it into a multistorey for the polish onwards (polish, wax) but i can't really use water in a car park (no access to water, though if i had im sure the local lads would let me clean it on the top floor/roof anyway).

So what I can currently do is give the car the wash up to the point of claybar involvement, rinse the car down after claybar, then drive it to the car park and polish and wax in there, but im not sure if bringing the car on the road mid-wash makes the process as a whole a bit redundant. The car park would be a solid 5-6 minute drive away on fairly busy roads with start/stop traffic (so if the road is wet...).


I have a shed in my back garden that I can park the car in, but it's half kitted out as a home gym.. I'm gonna take a look later on and see if i can squeeze the gym stuff down into the corner (without the exercise gear i could fit the car with space to walk around it, but with the gym gear, i can only get to one side of the car as it is).


All very annoying. Just wish I had a couple of million euro to build a purpose-built state of the art detailing garage (complete with typical millionaire's accessories, like buckets of cash and naked female mechanics, etc.). Would make the process a lot easier.

Mc Love

James on here has a savage tent or gazebo that he used when he cleaned my sister in-laws car! But it would probably be worth having something more permanent I guess!

vectra

Deleted User wrote: »

What do ye guys do in poor weather?

I have no other option only detail my car outdoors.
"Watch the weather" and run when it looks fine.

Hal1

Grand day out there this morning. No excuses .

JAMES VTI S

Mc Love wrote: »

James on here has a savage tent or gazebo that he used when he cleaned my sister in-laws car! But it would probably be worth having something more permanent I guess!

Sure do 20ft X 10ft popup gazebo, has side wall a door .................... ................ and a window :pac:

stimpson

I meant to do a post of this last week. I had a buyer coming up to see the CRX and I had about an hour of daylight to work in. The missus has been driving the CRX for the past few months, so I hadn't given her a proper wash in a while. As time was short, I had to break a few rules...

First, I used Iron Cleanse on the alloys at max dilution (1:1). While that was doing it's thing I gave the inside a quick hoover. then the alloys got some agitation with a wheel brush. I mixed some snow foam solution in a spray bottle at 5:1 dilution and sprayed that all over the car (a tip I'd read about on the Valet Pro website). I got one bucket of water (no time to fill two!) and a mitt and gave the body a once over.

Out came the Nilfisk and I rinsed the wheels - took seconds and the wheels were absolutely perfect (the rears had some weird red fallout on them - all gone!). They have chrome rims and they came up with a mirror finish. Then I rinsed the rest of the car and the advantages of polishing and waxing became apparent - nice and shiny, even a bit of beading on the bonnet. Nice.







I didn't want to risk my microfiber towel as the car may not have been 100% clean, so I gave it a spray of Demon Shine (in the garage for when I'm feeling lazy) and took it for a spin. Result. The last pic here was taken as the light was fading. They're not water spots - just grain from the low light.



Time taken, start to finish - 50 minutes

But the new owner posted this on cr-x.org last week:

It fits! It fits!

Well, I knew it would fit, but I didn't think there'd actually be any space to move around it (and there's a crappy home gym set up in front of it with another 6-7 feet to move forward if i compacted it down a bit... but it was the width i was concerned about, really).


Take that, Nature: You ignorant, car hating, motherfu... Well actually, maybe that's not the Christmas spirit!

:pac:

CianRyan

Excellent for detailing, you lucky fecker!

You gonna keep it in at night?

BillJ

Deadly set up you have there. Except now we'll be expecting daily updates regardless of rain snow or sleet :P

JAMES VTI S

Nice N Cosy

Mc Love

No more leaving it out in the rain now!

Paddy@CIRL

I think it has taken me the best part of two years to find products that I can work with on my own car (also black). Needless to say, I'll never buy another black car. Ever.

discombobulate

Here's me doing a bit of Detailing over the weekend



I mentioned earlier in this thread that the missus thinks i'm obsessed with cleaning it. Here's the proof!

MetzgerMeister

That is CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

discombobulate

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

That is CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was made up. Wouldn't let anyone cut it! Was going to varnish over it but someone got at the wing mirrors and cut off the boot the next morning!

Scortho

That looks unreal....photo sent to the missus to know what I'm expecting in 9 years time!:pac:



If she'll stick the cars that is...she's not impressed with me spending holiday money on the gtv!

Curran

discombobulate wrote: »

Here's me doing a bit of Detailing over the weekend

TUT TUT!! :mad:

Zippy up hoody, jeans and leaning up against the car, when detailing....you should be ashamed of yourself!! :mad:

Only kidding....that is brilliant!! :cool:

MetzgerMeister

Curran wrote: »

TUT TUT!! :mad:

Zippy up hoody, jeans and leaning up against the car, when detailing....you should be ashamed of yourself!! :mad:

There's no zip on that hoodie and I think it's surgical pants he has on him, not jeans :P

BillJ

And she knew not to use a sponge, she's a keeper!

discombobulate

BillJ wrote: »

And she knew not to use a sponge, she's a keeper!

Haha. Yeah i've gotten her to stop attacking her own car with a sponge and fairy liquid! (Problem is I got stuck with hers now as well!)

randy hickey

Fair play to Mrs discombobulate for the thought and effort that went into that cake.

discombobulate

discombobulate wrote: »

I was made up. Wouldn't let anyone cut it! Was going to varnish over it but someone got at the wing mirrors and cut off the boot the next morning!

No tax disc... hmm... :P


Fantastic cake! Should be delighted with it

Today I did some detailing.. almost.

I got the snowfoam lance from Detailing Shed, but I'm not 100% sure if I know what I'm doing with it or not.

I was talking to Dave from Detailing Shed and he suggested about an inch of Cotton Candy Snowfoam solution in the bottom of the bottle, filled up the rest of the way with warm water.

I did that and after a little messing around, i got it to come out, thicker than before when using the detergent bottle, but not as thick as I think I'd like/its supposed to be? It's still quite runny?

So I ran out fairly swiftly (my bottle didn't cover the whole car? Is that the norm? I got about 3/4 of the way around the car before I had an empty bottle), so I tried again, this time with about 2 - 2.5 inches of Cotton Candy Solution and topped up with warm water. That's when I shot this on my phone (excuse the poor quality and shakiness, difficult to hold and play with the lance while recording)

(also apologies if the video is sideways, I've changed that on Youtube, but it takes a while to apply the changes, apparently)

So I'm not sure if I'm missing something, or if that's all pretty much spot on?

Tomorrow I've a day of nothingness, so I'll finally get around to doing my A-Z of cleaning and not having to stop halfway through (if it rains I'll go feckin' mental!)

randy hickey

An inch of the snowfoam that I use will do two mid-size saloon cars, so yes, something is not quite right there.
From looking at your vid, the pressure running through your lance seems a bit high for a SF lance.

The lance uses the venturi effect to pick up the foam solution in the bottle and mix it with the clean pressured water - so if the pressured water is running too high, you'll get more water and less foam solution.

I take it you've played around with the control dial on the top of the lance?

Curran

The fan at the start was way to direct, just you made that adjustment straight away.
Did you try winding the knob at the top all the way to one extreme and work your way back to the other? You'll see the foam turning more watery or thicker as you turn it.

An inch or just a wee bit more, of solution can easily do two large family saloons, with a good spread on the fan and if you move your feet quick enough...there's no major advantage to overlapping a lot or trying to get a heap on in one place, as it will build up and fall off in large lumps....a generous coating is enough, no point wasting it!

I did play with the knob on top, and the video is showing it at the thickest side (well, not entirely at the thickest side, back a slight bit, as I find the pressure died a good bit when i turned it the whole way).

When I move the knob all the way the other direction, it's essentially just water. What I filmed was the thickest i could get it. What I filmed was also the gut of half a bottle gone.

Is it just snowfoam solution and water? There's nothing else I'm supposed to be putting in or anything else im supposed to do (mixing or shaking or anything like that?). Foam solution goes into the bottle first, water on top of it?

I feel disappointed, now.

Curran

Yes, snow foam solution in the bottle first, topped up with water. When topping it up with water, should be enough to mix the solution, but perhaps put your thumb over the top and turn it upside down a few times or a little shake.
There is nothing else to be added.

On a windy, misty rain November day, this is how it looked, and how it should last on the car, and what you should be left with if you use a reasonably wide fan, and move about the car quickly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSz9lxS71jI

Strangely enough, I actually just watched that video on Youtube before you posted it.

I notice the bottle in the video still has lots left in it after doing a round of the car. It's much thicker, too (you can see in my video where already dripping off after I re-spray the same place twice).

Obviously there's something wrong somewhere. Hmm. Will just have to play it by ear and see what happens tomorrow. I generally give it a little shake, and when it's on the power washer, between spraying it, i'd be shaking it a bit, too, in the hopes of it all coming to life a bit better.

Just have to try again I suppose. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, though.

Curran

Shouldnt make a whole lot of difference, but did you give the car a rinse down first of all. Its best applied straight onto a dry car.
Have another mess about with it, and if you cant get results, give me a shout...there's something not right if you cant get thick foam from one of those lances and Cotton Candy!

Well from speed reading this: http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=303561 (having found it via google)

It would appear I might be okay to try again with a half-filled bottle of water, rather than actually filling it. I'll give it a shot.


In the video, that was the second coat of snow foam the car had gotten. It had already been foamed and rinsed by the time that (second coat) went on (for the video, as after doing the first round, which was pretty much identical, i realised there was something probably amiss, and figured i may aswell record a second coating while i have all the gear out).

I'll let you know how i get on, tomorrow.

Does it matter what tap im using? (i've changed location for cleaning, so now im just using a regular everyday kitchen tap).

(Also, in reference to other posts, unfortunately my car will still be out in the cold and rain, as that shed is at my old house/dad's house - I don't live there any more, but can use the place if i wish).

Curran

No, tap shouldnt make a difference once you've got enough water pressure so that the power washer isnt cutting out, and you dont appear to have that problem.

Most of the time people will wash the car when its reasonably dry out....snowfoam will dwell better, but not drastically differently.

No, no issues with it cutting out, thankfully (well, it does initially, so i just leave it on and tap running for a couple of minutes before using it.#

I'll try half filling the bottle tomorrow and giving it a good shake. See if it makes any difference. Wish me luck. Hopefully i'll be posting back here tomorrow with a freshly clayed, polished and waxed car.

Ded_Zebra

Deleted User wrote: »

No, no issues with it cutting out, thankfully (well, it does initially, so i just leave it on and tap running for a couple of minutes before using it.#

I'll try half filling the bottle tomorrow and giving it a good shake. See if it makes any difference. Wish me luck. Hopefully i'll be posting back here tomorrow with a freshly clayed, polished and waxed car.

Do you by any chance have very hard water where you live?

For me 1cm of cotton candy and 3/4 filled lance gives me a good thick foam, we have very soft water here

Ded_Zebra

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

Do you by any chance have very hard water where you live?

For me 1cm of cotton candy and 3/4 filled lance gives me a good thick foam, we have very soft water here

I really wouldn't have any idea. I live in Drogheda, near the town itself. The water is drinkable, if that means anything to you at all? (ie; no running out to buy bottled water all the time).

Scortho

Do you get really thick line scale on your kettle etc.

Not particularly, no.. Not that I've noticed. There's definitely some, but nothing I'd concern myself with.

Curran

My area has water that is pretty hard - no issues!

Ded_Zebra

Curran wrote: »

My area has water that is pretty hard - no issues!

Just trying to get to the cause. Hard water does have a bad effect on a soaps foaming ability.

Could it be a bad batch?

Supergurrier

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

Just trying to get to the cause. Hard water does have a bad effect on a soaps foaming ability.

Could it be a bad batch?

Cold water will also affect this and it's no harm to put some water in the container (a wee bit) ahead of the soap/shampoo

10 hours today at it. 10 hours...

Although, to be fair - it flew past!

I took these photos just as I said goodbye to it after a long day. Look how clean it is!









... I started off today with high snow foaming hopes. But alas, despite trying only half filling a bottle with water, putting water in first and shaking the life out of it (and also not shaking it at all), it's still the same as before, and it's still taking me two bottles to get around the Rav4.

I think my snowfoaming days ended before they'd even begun. Not overly impressed with it, but I'm not sure what troubleshooting I can do with it. And I'm almost out of cotton candy, so not sure how much more i can try it out. I think I'll buy more snowfoam, but go with a different brand and if still no better then I'll just call it a day. Would like to get it working properly but it doesn't seem to be happening for me, for whatever reason.

After a snowfoaming effort, I rinsed with the power washer and then I went into some two bucket mayhem and I washed the car with the microfibre mitts i have (I use two - one for the body, one for the wheels/wheel wells).

I used the wheel cleanse here. Used it by letting it sit for 2-3 minutes on the wheels, then using the wash mitt and a some cold water left over from the wash, I aggitated it and washed it off.

Then I gave the tar cleanse a run for it's money and let it sit for a little while. Then I rinsed, and I iron cleansed it.

After applying the iron cleanse, I went and got something to eat and read the newspaper. 25 minutes or so later, I returned, and this is the result (this was the 'pinkest' wheel)





I rinsed that off, and then I went into 2 bucket madness again. This time I dried the car. I meant to pick up a towel for cleaning from Detailingshed. Unfortunately, with time against me (knowing it'll be a while before i get a chance to clean the car again) I took a trip to Halfords and picked up a Meguiars towel for €20. Water Magnet or something to that effect it's called.

Dried it with that (it wasn't terrible, actually.. It's good, but just not sure if it's €20 good!). Then I used some everyday microfibre clothes (€5 for 12 in Homestore+More) and I went around it again (the Meguiars towel was good, but it didn't actually dry the car fully..).


Then it was time to spin the car around and bring her inside to the shed where the clay bar awaited.

I never thought I'd be the type to be frequenting clay bars, but life is full of twists and turns.


Anyway, the clay bar has surpassed TarCleanse as my favourite product now. Aside from the fact that I'm afraid to use a big piece of it, because I drop it every single fcuking time, it made a massive difference to the texture of the car. It's an amazing product. The rough, gritty surfaces are almost immediately as smooth as a baby's behind (not that I'm into that kind of thing).

It took me a long, long time to clay the car (is that the term? "claying" the car?), and I didn't do the roof, but the difference is astounding.


Unfortunately, there's an extra bit of work involved in the Rav, because the spare wheel is stored on the back door. I forgot about this initially, but after the first wash, I took the spare wheel off and it's cover, so I could iron cleanse and tar the car itself (Aswell as doing the wheel cover separately, against a wall). I also cleaned the spare tyre (talk about a rough surface when using the clay bar - I spent about 10 solid minutes on the spare wheel alone, and still haven't managed to clay all the crap off it).


Unfortunately, by this point it was about 10pm and I couldn't really rinse it off as the outside has no lights and is far too dark. So I figured I'd just leave it be for the moment. Afraid to take it out of the shed incase I destroy it and have to start again - I borrowed my dad's car to drive home in, and left the Rav locked up indoors for the night. Tomorrow I'll re-clay areas I think I may have missed and I'll use a foot stool to try and clay the roof.

I'll rinse off the dirt left by the clay (this is the dirt in the above pictures) and then I'll 2BM wash again, with a drying, and then take her indoors again to begin the polishing.

Lots done. More to do.

It's filthy here, but I love that my crappy phone makes it look brand new anyway! No wonder DoneDealers always use camera phones and never proper cameras!

As the above was wrote quickly, little bits I messed up:

I didn't go to halfords halfway through cleaning. I got the drying towel before I started. I didnt move the car at all, all day, except to bring it into the shed from outside.

Also, i meant the spare wheel itself was rough with the claybar. Not the tyre. I know not to clay the tyres :P

And I also gave the exhaust another bit of autosol loving. It's shining up much better. Well, not actually shining (it's not one of those chrome effect fellows) but it's shinier than before.. you know what I mean! But it will still do no harm to do it again tomorrow.

Curran

On the Iron Cleanse, and the lack of purple/pink bleeding....you wont get a huge reaction as you had used it previously....it would have done most of the work before it started to bleed, when you rinsed it off.
Try it again...just a small amount on another wheel...one you know hasnt been done before - quick blast of the washer to take the heavy stuff off and then leave the Iron Cleanse on for about 10 minutes, and you should see lots of purple!

Should be something like this




Aside from that you seem to be doing a good job. I like that you are thinking ahead, by getting the towel first, and using your Dads car so you arent recontaminating the car. Sure sign that some one has gotten the bug, is when they are taking off bits and pieces to clean behind areas that cant be seen...such as the spare wheel!

On the drying towel...this the one?



The fibre pile on that isnt vey long; not really surprised that you werent too happy with it...doesnt look very absorbent (though often looks can be deceiving)

Good work though!

MetzgerMeister

IMO, the best way to use Iron Cleanse on wheels is to wash the wheels fully first and then dry them. It's important that you dry them as the IC will stick a lot better. Then let it do its job and hose it off.

Don't worry, a wheel that has never been IC'd before will have plenty of contamination that will turn it purple even though you may think it's perfectly clean

Mc Love

I have to say the same thing happens to me as it does to kkv when snow foaming. I'll admit its frustrating but i still use it even though it's runny, as i think it does do some good. Might try it before rinsing next time. I really have been falling behind, haven't washed her in ages

IK09

Just one piece of advice (i know, i know you didnt ask for it). The choice of clothes you were while claying, polishing and protecting are EXTREMELY important.

I have a friend who as in the last year become almost as OCD as me when cleaning his car...and he put a nice deep 6 inch scrape in the bonnet whole polishing...all because he wore a hoodie with a zip

No Zips, no buttons, death to zips and buttons.

Its looking great though well done...what sealant/wax/protection are you going to use?

Curran

Mc Love wrote: »

I have to say the same thing happens to me as it does to kkv when snow foaming. I'll admit its frustrating but i still use it even though it's runny, as i think it does do some good. Might try it before rinsing next time. I really have been falling behind, haven't washed her in ages

What lance / snowfoam combo are you using!?

IK09 wrote: »

Its looking great though well done...what sealant/wax/protection are you going to use?

Agree with you on the buttons / zips...and dont forget belt buckles....you dont need to be glam'd up when detailing, so trackies, t-shirt. I even try to say away from baggy jumpers and stick with a t-shirt and body armour!!

Judging by his post a while back...he's going for Chemical Guy's Pete's 53

Deleted User wrote: »

MetzgerMeister

To be honest lads, I don't know where ye're going wrong with the snowfoam. I use Meguiars Hyperwash and an older version of the AB SF bottle and I get lovely, thick, long-dwelling snowfoam. Cotton candy is a dedicated snowfoam solution whereas Hyperwash is a shampoo first and then snowfoam solution.

I have often used it as a shampoo but I mainly use it for SF and I use Meguiar's Shampoo Plus as a regular shampoo.

vectra

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

To be honest lads, I don't know where ye're going wrong with the snowfoam. I use Meguiars Hyperwash and an older version of the AB SF bottle and I get lovely, thick, long-dwelling snowfoam. Cotton candy is a dedicated snowfoam solution whereas Hyperwash is a shampoo first and then snowfoam solution.

I have often used it as a shampoo but I mainly use it for SF and I use Meguiar's Shampoo Plus as a regular shampoo.

Strangely enough I have the same problem with foaming.

Originally I bougt a foam lance from CC.ie along with a gallon of their own foam.
Was thrilled with it. But after a while things went downhill.
Stripped the gub several times
Cleaned it
Changed filter but foam would only dribble out of it.

Then threw it in a drawer and bought an AB one with the red tip.
Turn the knob on top for full foam and a creamy liquid flows out of it.
Turn it back and it does begin to "Foam" but again it is only creamy and has run off the first side of the car by the time I get the second side done.
Have a new filter just to try it again when I get a chance but not hoping for much.

Curran

Have to say, Im very surprised that people are having any issue with the AB lance.

KKV, if you were interested, some day suitable to both of us, we could do a wee test.
Either on my power washer or yours, as both are Nilfisk....
Hook my lance up use it, verify that we're getting good foam
Hook up yours, and see if the same issue continues
Get a brand new one, and try it...if the issue is your lance, you can take the brand new one knowing its a good one.

I pretty certain that the AB lance are bullet proof.

Sounds like a great