Today I did some detailing...

Curran

The Chemical Guy's Pro-Polish 3n wouldnt be a regular polish for use with a machine, although they will tell you that it can be. They describe it as "a true one-step Superior Paint Correction Polish & Final Gloss Enhancer". Its designed more for hand, for adding gloss & depth, with a bit of correction in one step.
Anything that is going to give good correction, isnt going to be something that is one-step...in the sense that you can walk away being happy with the finish it leaves. Getting any correction that leaves a dramatic difference will almost always require refining/jeweling. Compounding will leave the appearance quite a bit duller than is possible to achieve and often will leave its own defects as a result of the work done; such as holograms....although these might not be as aggressive as those that a rotary would leave. Another thing to consider is that the oils in the polish itself, may be hiding these defects.

See here, while swirling for the most part has been removed, but trails of where the polisher passed over the surface, remain - or holograms.


All that said, Im surprised that Meg's 105 hasnt given you some sort of decent correction. It is one of Meg's highest cutting compound. The DAS-6 isnt the most powerful, so when lots of pressure is applied, it will bog down...so there's a balance that needs to be found between no pressure and way too much pressure. Another thing to consider is that a DA is unlikely to give you really amazing correction in one pass (you'd need a rotary for that), so perhaps try another one or two sets/passes on the area you have already done....then compare it to a surface that you havent touched yet!

MetzgerMeister

Deleted User wrote: »

If it takes the paint off, I'll just continue on anyway with my polishing, glazing and waxing. I have the tub of paint still there for whenever I want it, so I can re-apply it after I'm finished (or a few days or weeks or such down the line).

It won't be the end of the world, and I don't think it'll end up looking much worse than it was, anyway. Besides, it's a practice car for the sole purpose of making these mistakes :P may aswell be a bit adventurous.

Well in that case, why bother doing it now at all???

MetzgerMeister

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Well in that case, why bother doing it now at all???

For the learnz.

T'is all a bit of craic and a laugh at the end of the day. It's not my car and if I give it back to my brother with a bit of paint peeled (that was already gone, anyway) he probably won't care or notice.

But it didn't all come off in the end, anyway... It did start to peel, though...



So, regarding my underwhelming polishing efforts, maybe it's practice makes perfect, or maybe it's built up 'I'll show them!' aggression, but I've gotten to grips a bit better with the polisher today.

As you were saying above, Curran, it's a lot to do with judging the power. If you put too much pressure on the DAS it pretty much just stops twirling and instead sits there twitching and not doing an enormous amount. If you go too light, it flies, but it's not quite doing anything more than spreading the polish. It's not really working it in.


So today, I played with it for a while and eventually started to get the hang of it. Could be just that I had a fresher head on my shoulders also. Yesterday when I was polishing I was knackered. A fresh start was beneficial. Also, walking in on the car this morning, I could appreciate the areas that had been polished more. I kinda felt like it was doing feck all, yesterday (Thursday.. I'm writing this at 2am Friday night).

So today, I didn't forget to bring my camera home, and I have some before and afters. I used a tripod, but I ended up kicking the legs on it here and there, so the placement of the photos isn't the exact same on all shots (unfortunately).


I'll go with what I consider to be the most impressive one first - the badly scuffed side of the car:






I decided the best thing to do was to try using the sandpaper first. My reasoning for this was because I paid for sandpaper and I'll be damned if I'm not using it somewhere along the way!






And then I went at it with the DAS and prayed...





(the noticeable circular white scratch that's there in all the photos, is actually a reflection of the roof, not a scratch at all).



So as you can imagine, my eyes lit up with that effort and a whole new wave of energy and enthusiasm ensued! (I'll use slightly smaller pictures for handiness sake, but if you click them you should be able to view the full sized shots on Pix.ie)


Weird smeary thumbnaily mark:







Scuffs on driver side door:










Roof scratched a lot:









Then the door of death came a'calling. I had 2 coats of paint on it (and I never took care of the paint brush, so it was rock hard, and I couldn't put a third coat on).

So I said, feck it, I'll do something with it. So I figured, as my paint level was higher than the factory paint, I'd sand it down. I accidentally went down to the steel again in some parts (to be expected, I suppose) but the steel itself is so dented and such, that I'd never get a smooth surface.


But I fired away with the DAS anyway. Sure why not!

Put a little pressure on it and nothing was happening. In the end I had to pretty much sit the DAS on a single spot and push very hard on it (just enough so it was spinning but had a lot of pressure on it). I stayed on the same spot for a while (the door was boiling hot when I touched it afterwards).

The paint (that I applied, not the factory paint) began to peel in a small section, but ultimately it didn't come off. It did look better though (in my personal opinion - but I've only seen it under the shed lights so far, and not in sunlight).


Original:





Touched up:





After beating it to death with the DAS:





It's not perfect, and if I paid someone to fix it and that's what they came back with, I'd not accept it, but for my own personal efforts, I'm quite pleased with it. In a little while (few weeks, probably) I'll break out the paint tub again and apply a few coats over a few days and let them build up, then try again.

After my polishing efforts, I decided I'd try out one of the more obscure things I'd heard. I have bumper/trim products, but felt like a bit of peanut butter would do no harm (as it's only 99c in tesco for a giant jar of it that'd do a pro detailer about a year!).


And... it works! Relatively.

On the grey/silver trim, it did nothing at all. However, on the black areas (wing mirror area, rubber sealing around windscreen, wipers, etc.) it did a decent job, to be fair to it. I'm sure it's less than temporary, and if anything it will probably just cause hassle when i use the proper products tomorrow, but sure I felt like i had to try it out.


Peanut butter jelly time on the Mirror (on the flat part that the mirror is connected to on the car, and on the matte trim around the front of the mirror's edge)








(there's a pretty big area on the trim on the mirrors edge that looks completely whited out. It's just the way the ceiling lights came up on it in the photos. It's actually matte grey all the way around).



I also went nuts (geddit!?) on the grill at the front of the car:








On the first day, some of you will remember I complained about the fabric interior not being clean enough, but also saying I forgot to take my camera home with me to upload photos. Here are two before and afters. There's an improvement, but in reality it's not as good as I feel it should be. So I'll be giving a round 2 on this before handing the car back.


(these weren't taken with a tripod, so they don't line up too well, at all, unfortunately).

Passenger Seat:









Driver Seat:








I think there's a significant room for improvement there! I've no decent photos of the back seats, but I'll get some.




So all in all, she's coming along nicely. Tomorrow is day 4, so hopefully the last day (but I doubt it, as I want to re-do the interior). I finished polishing today, messed with the peanut butter and glitz'ed the tyres, but I didn't take the car out of the shed, as the weather was poor and it was too dark by the time i wanted to.

The car is destroyed in dust from hex-logic pads, masking tape, etc. so it needs a 2BM, rinse and dry before I can do anything else. Next steps are glazing and waxing. Re-apply tyre shine (hopefully give a bit of extra pop to the tyre sidewall appearance) and do the interior are optionals that I'll likely do anyway. Glass needs to be done, too.


But, in-person, it's looking a **** lot better than it did a week ago.





And a quick self-portrait to show the reflection (not to self; If already obese - don't take photo in wide panel that further stretches you!)

Sorry for spreading that out. Originally had it as a single post, but it wouldn't post as you're only allowed 15 images per post (I have 23 in total above).


Also wanted to make a separate post anyway, just to say, again, thanks a lot to everyone helping me out along the way here. It's a great (though tiring) experience trying this stuff out.

Curran

The more experience that you are gaining, the closer you are getting to the full potential of the products that you are using. On certain things like fabric interiors, they do need 2 or sometimes 3 attempts to get them looking very well, especially if you dont have access to the likes of a wet vac. Doing them by hand will sometimes result in tide lines; where a wet section meets a dry section and leaves a light white mark; and these areas will need a light going over again!

The job is progressing well; dont be too hard on yourself - its clear to see in the pictures that there is a massive improvement!

Just on a side note; and I think you know it yourself; preparation of surfaces is key to getting good results.....so on areas such as the wing mirror mounting plates, the peanut butter will prevent any product from doing its job. If you plan to use something on that area, Glitz for example, be sure to give it a good clean down with APC to remove the oils, otherwise you'll be pi$$ing into the wind!

Keep it up, and keep the pics coming!

west cork lad

On the fabric side. Bottle of water leaked on passenger seat during the week and when it dried it left a stain, which is really bugging me.:(. As I cant get near the outside without being tied on to something, with this wind :eek:, I ordered a rug doctor machine for next Sat, Have to do stairs carpet anyway. Hope fully will get it looking new again.

west cork lad

[/QUOTE]
I thought you had a pint of Guinness there to celebrate for a sec:rolleyes:

JAMES VTI S

The_Pretender

I thought it was an Irish Coffee in your hand

Jaysus lads, I'm not that proud of myself that I'm getting locked in the shed with the car and having a sing song!

Although if I were to be so happy, it would be because of my new snow foam lance. It's the only creamy goodness in town! :P

I snow foamed it today when I was washing it to get the polish residue off it. I didn't really have to foam it, but i just wanted to, to ensure the new lance was still up to scratch.

This video may be upside down (I thought my phone would automatically correct it) but youtube is flipping it for me. If it's upside down then they just haven't applied my 'changes' yet.

And a photo incase the video's assways;






Here's a quick beading show after I washed it (so this is just the polish, there's no wax on the car just yet)



(not bad for just the polish, in my opinion. I haven't really seen anything from the wax yet, but im curious to see if it improves at all).



The result of me trying to get rid of a scratch on the wheel arch.. it got caught when I put too much pressure on it. May it Rest In Peace.






And a quick question for ye (answer below):

Which side of the bonnet was given a good 'ol glazing? And which side wasn't?














Answer: ... The side that was glazed was the left side. That was all the glazing I did. It made no difference whatsoever. It only looks cleaner in the photos because of the dust on the right side. I expected more, but Im not sure why (I don't really know how you'd improve on how it looks at the moment).



And to end, a few random photos:










(A classic boards 'water shot'! :pac: )






I still have to do the glass and re-do the interior, but i;ll leave them until tuesday. Wont see my brother until then, and i'll only end up destroying them in the mean time if i do them now (again).

vectra

You should be proud of yourself with that result.

Curran

Using a glaze after correction work isnt going to havr a hugely dramatic effect...the polishing has done that...but it should give an extra bit of wet look to the appearance...which itself will be difficult to notice indoors.
Have you wax it yet?? Be sure to do so or your glazing will be in vain!

MetzgerMeister

Great work KKV! I hope your brother appreciates it

vectra

vectra wrote: »

You should be proud of yourself with that result.

I actually am, to be honest. Well not so much proud of myself, as much as I'm just happy with the progress (which is mostly due to the constant opinions and advice on here).

It really looks a lot better, but the plan now is to do it to a non-black car and see how I get on. Apparently black cars are the worst for showing up stuff.

Then after a non-black car, when I'm feeling more comfortable with the DAS and such, I'll tackle my own car again.

Curran wrote: »

Using a glaze after correction work isnt going to havr a hugely dramatic effect...the polishing has done that...but it should give an extra bit of wet look to the appearance...which itself will be difficult to notice indoors.
Have you wax it yet?? Be sure to do so or your glazing will be in vain!

I have it waxed, yeah. It's waxed in the photos of it above (the close-ups and outdoor shots).

The wax, again, didn't really add any extra shine at all. Though to be fair, ever since the polishing, it's been crystal clear anyway. I won't lie; I would have liked a slightly 'wetter' look to it (and was hoping the glaze would do this) but all in all, I'm very happy with it.



Everything has kinda went a bit better than I anticipated.

Can I ask; how many cars would you get out of a hex-logic pad? I notice they wear down a fair bit over the course of a car (or half a car, as the yellow one tore half way through and then I used the orange from that point on)?

Is one go usually all she wrote, or can you expect multiple polishes/glazes per pad?

I'd say the glaze will come out better on the Rav. I know both cars are black, but the Rav seems to be a deeper black or something. Not sure how to describe it. Megane seems a bit glossier or greyer in appearance when say next to the Rav4.

I did the front of the interior again and i used CG's Fabric Clean at a dilution ratio of about 1:1. I let it sit for a while, too, and then i rubbed it in with a microfibre cloth.

I didn't really pass any remarks to it, as it still all looked a bit hazy when I was rubbing it in, but on the drive home I looked over at the passenger seat and footwell and it just kinda hit me: All the upholstery looked brand new. Maybe I just wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been but it took me off guard for some reason.

But it's enthused me enough to want to re-do the entire interior again before handing it back, just to see if it makes as much of a difference as I hope it will (and practice makes perfect and all that).

The only 'sore thumb' of it all are the marks on the side of the car, on the trim piece that seperates the doors.

This piece here (photo from before i started doing anything to it)




Can't think what to do with it. The really white piece near the top of the sreatches (the second one down) can be felt and is dug into the trim, but the rest aren't able to be felt, so I thought maybe a polishing but... to no avail.

Oh, actually, I do have another question!

Is there anything I can do with this:





Obviously not curbing or such as it's the centre of the wheel. But I can't seem to get it off. Any suggestions of a product or technique? I've no idea what it is, but it's a sign of alloys that weren't cared for, and it's on every wheel!

MetzgerMeister

That's like whiteworm on GTI alloys. The lacquer coating on the polished face was damaged and water ingress destroyed the wheel. only solution is a refurb.

Mc Love

Well done KKV that is stunning work - really pleased that you finally experienced some actual snow!

MetzgerMeister

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

That's like whiteworm on GTI alloys. The lacquer coating on the polished face was damaged and water ingress destroyed the wheel. only solution is a refurb.

Ah... well I'm not going that in depth with it (though at some stage in future I'd like to learn how to do alloys wheel refurbishment, for my own car/s down the line).

Mc Love wrote: »

Well done KKV that is stunning work - really pleased that you finally experienced some actual snow!

Cheers!

And I have to say it is actually really satisfying getting proper 'sit on the car' snow foam. I didn't realise how pleasurable it would actually be spreading a thick white creamy coating all over the car.


I plan to go a bit further with it the next time and try and make it really thick by doing a 1:1 dilution ratio or something. Just to see how it comes out (assuming it doesnt get too thick and just jam up the lance?! )

cena

The main question is what was your brother like when he seen the car after

cena

cena wrote: »

The main question is what was your brother like when he seen the car after

Yet to see it. I won't see him around until Tuesday (hence holding off on re-doing the interior as I'll only have it destroyed in the meantime anyway!).

I'll do the interior and glass tomorrow, along with another snow foam, 2BM, rinse and dry.


My Dad has my old Focus. I only drove it for about two months (was my first car) before falling in love with a Black Rav4 that drove past me one day, and I decided i needed to own one (aww... the memories... brings a tear to my eye).


But the bonnet on the Focus is in bits. So, although I'm fairly confident that a good claying, polishing and waxing will do it absolutely no good whatsoever (and may actually do damage!), I have plans to do it tomorrow anyway.

I'm assuming the bonnet was changed at some point, or someone vandalised it by pouring something on it or such, because it looks like the paint is just stripped off it in parts altogether.

Respraying it would be a sensible thing to do, but not something I'd justify.








The paint on the rest of the car isn't bad at all, though. Lots of scratches and scuffs, but nothing you wouldn't expect from a 00 that looks like it had several owners who never really cared too much about it.

stimpson

So I finally got around to addressing this:



€120 and a spin down to Limerick last weekend netted me a complete leather interior and a few other bits.

I stripped out the seats and went down with just a drivers seat in the car then I fitted the new seats down there. Today I got around to finishing the job off with the door cards. Volvo code the front window switches to the car so I ended up having to do those twice. Anyway, here's the result;



Before:


After:



Before:


After:



Seats:





I got a Gliptone Leather cleaning and conditioning kit during the week, but ran out of time. I'll do a post on it next week if I get the chance to try it out.

BillJ

looks class! For €120 that is a fantastic upgrade

Hareton

Hi guys. Been following this thread and forum for a while. My second time posting i believe.

Anyay picked up the new motor 2 weeks ago and got around to cleaning the interior today.


It wasn't too bad(not noticeably anyway) and had been cleaned before i bought it. I apologise for the lack of pics, the weather wasnt with me and wanted to get her done as quick as.

This is my routine for the interior.

First i hoover everything.
Next i clean all surfaces and trim using apc, various brushes and mircofibres.
As its a new car(to me) I like to remove any trim I can so that i can get all the dirt out of the seams.
Next using a carpet brush and apc i scrub any heavy soiling.
Then i spray all fabric surfaces with a quick interior valet spray from dealz and let it dwell while i set up my good friend George. It took 4 fills and 2 empties of George before the water ran clear on all surfaces.
To finish i wipe down any over spray from george from the surfaces and let her running with heaters on to dry.

This came out of the mats alone.


A few pics of the finished result



Tommorow then ill do the glass, and give it a final hoover.

Still have to do the exterior but I'm waiting till I pick up a few more products before i tackle that. I wont be going into to much detail with that as she needs a respray anyway. Lots of peeling clear coat and bubbling paint.

vectra

stimpson wrote: »

I got a Gliptone Leather cleaning and conditioning kit during the week, but ran out of time. I'll do a post on it next week if I get the chance to try it out.

I got the Gliptone twins based on the raves here about how good it was.
Threw it in the bin last week.
Revolting smell off it after a couple of weeks.:(

Ded_Zebra

vectra wrote: »

I got the Gliptone twins based on the raves here about how good it was.
Threw it in the bin last week.
Revolting smell off it after a couple of weeks.:(

Have your bins been collected yet? :pac:

vectra

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

Have your bins been collected yet? :pac:

Yes :P

Ded_Zebra

vectra wrote: »

Yes :P

Ahhh you should have known that there was some cheap bastards on here that would have taken them!:D

stimpson

Yeah, the Gliptone smell is a bit marmite it seems. I had a whiff and it didn't seem too bad. Beats the smell of stale smoke any day.

vectra

It is grnd when freshly used. It is after a week or so it stinks

I really don't believe my fcuking luck!

Brother decided to come home early from a weekend away and an hour before giving the car back tonight, i was rushing to just do the interior and glass, so in a rush to bring it into the shed - I catch the fcuking side of the bumper against the wall!!! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:


Some lovely new scratches added to it. Paintwork I can handle but I've no idea if the scratches on the bumper part (just on the curve of the rear wheel arch, deep enough to feel) will be as easy to get rid of.

Of all the jocking cnuting luck!!


My own fault, I know but... AAARGH!

challengemaster

Deleted User wrote: »

But the bonnet on the Focus is in bits. So, although I'm fairly confident that a good claying, polishing and waxing will do it absolutely no good whatsoever (and may actually do damage!), I have plans to do it tomorrow anyway.

I'm assuming the bonnet was changed at some point, or someone vandalised it by pouring something on it or such, because it looks like the paint is just stripped off it in parts altogether.

Respraying it would be a sensible thing to do, but not something I'd justify.

That looks like it was sporadically belt sanded for a laugh.... :eek:

I wouldn't bother re-spraying. Get a replacement from a scrappie probably cheap enough.

MetzgerMeister

vectra wrote: »

I got the Gliptone twins based on the raves here about how good it was.
Threw it in the bin last week.
Revolting smell off it after a couple of weeks.:(

There must be something dead in your car sir or else the smell is coming from you :P

I used the Gliptone twins about a month and a half ago and it's smelled like nothing but lovely leather

vectra

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

There must be something dead in your car sir or else the smell is coming from you :P

I used the Gliptone twins about a month and a half ago and it's smelled like nothing but lovely leather

But you have Leather.
I have Pleather so maybe a reaction to it or something

MetzgerMeister

vectra wrote: »

But you have Leather.
I have Pleather so maybe a reaction to it or something

Ah yes, good point, so it's got nothing to do with the products!






Or it's coming from you.......

vectra

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Ah yes, good point, so it's got nothing to do with the products!






Or it's coming from you.......

Hardly coming from me because I take a bath once a year. wether I need it or not :pac:

Seriously though.
I hate the stuff.
Tried it in my sons e46 as wel. Rotten smell there as well.

Seen as this is more of a general thread, I figured I'd put this up as it may help someone out.

Homestore and more have a sale on, on clothes storage.

I've got two of THESEplastic storage units in black, which I picked up in Homebase for €22 each. They're grand and handy (as they're in a shed and will get cold/wet, etc.) and store a fair few bits.

But in HomestoreandMore yesterday, I came across THIS WARDROBE for €25 and took a punt (as i needed another one of the above units, so decided i'd try this instead).

And it's surprisingly sturdy and has lots of space for all my crap.

Just thought I'd mention it incase anyones looking for a cheap and cheerful way of organising their detailing or general shed/garage stuff. For €25 I think it's a bargain, and, as I say, it's sturdier than I'd have expected, too.


Like i say, it's not really detailing gear, but might help someone. Makes me wish I'd never bothered with the homebase plastic storage (they're now pretty much redundant, I think).

Mc Love

A break in the god awful weather allowed me to manage a vacuum and wash today - very happy!

Vacuumed the interior, washed the rubber mats although the driver one is still faded but it does the job! Used the cockpit spray to keep the dust at bay. Before moving on I used the AG Glass Polish on the interior windows and sprayed some CG Stripper Scent - my car now smells like a strip club!

As my snow foam lance is fecked, I decided against spray the car with milk! Decided to start with Bilt Hamber wheel clean (this stuff is brilliant) and my wheels bled


Then I power washed, used my CG Mr Pink which I now love with my new Microfiber Madness Incredimitt that I got on the boards group by, there is such a difference between this mitt and the meguiars one that I own, its much heavier and feels like a way better quality!

Finally got around to getting an extra bucket and washed using the 2BM!! I unfortunately didnt have time to do a wax so I used TW Wax it Wet with a microfiber drying towel (didnt want to use the Microfiber Madness Dry Me Crazy towel on the wax it wet)

Used the OAC Hydrophobe too - so so amazing, cant wait to see what its like next time I'm driving in the rain

All in all a good day!

JAMES VTI S

Nice work Eoin.

Tomorrow the weather is going to be f***ed so today i started yet another detail on my van.



Washed, De-tarred, clayed and the underside was washed also because of the amount of salt on the roads.
Removed the wheels to wash, de-tarr and wax them, the arches ware also cleaned.





Next week i will be polishing and sealing it

HJL

Mc Love wrote: »

I used TW Wax it Wet with a microfiber drying towel

Nice work, the ST is looking great.

I got Wax it Wet one time in the halfords clearance/bargain bin for €2 thinking it wouldnt be much cop, but after using it i thought it was a very good product for those times were you dont have the time for a wax. Adds a nice gloss back into the car and can be done in a matter of minutes. I use it this time of year also because it is too cold for a regular wax to buff off easily and also because I dont like standing out in the cold for very long!

Mc Love

HJL wrote: »

Nice work, the ST is looking great.

I got Wax it Wet one time in the halfords clearance/bargain bin for €2 thinking it wouldnt be much cop, but after using it i thought it was a very good product for those times were you dont have the time for a wax. Adds a nice gloss back into the car and can be done in a matter of minutes. I use it this time of year also because it is too cold for a regular wax to buff off easily and also because I dont like standing out in the cold for very long!

If only it was an ST

Did a quick clean today, myself:





Looks like someone custom sprayed them purple/gold:








I'm assuming the goldish colour is down to the brake dust (as it didn't appear on the back wheels).

Has anyone tried Armour All Wheel Shield before?

Brother got me two of them at christmas, and I gave it a go. Have to say it's actually not too bad. After using it you can see the brake dust and such forming on it and it kind of hardens and breaks off the wheel. It's not too shabby.


Was also wondering if anyone had used Orchard Auto Care's Tyre Glitz before, either? I find a lot of the OAC products (that I've used, anyway) are pretty good, but I'm feeling a bit let down with this one.

I parked in the town today, beside a red VW Golf (or Polo.. one of the two, anyway) and it was obviously just after being detailed or serviced or whatever, but it was very clean and very shiny, and so were the tyres. Noticeably shiny. Sunglasses shiny.

Now, admittedly, the tyres did look a bit Fisher Price as it was probably too shiny, but I liked it overall and prefer it to the look I've gotten from a fair dose of Glitz (which seems to wear off rapidly fast, even when using a lot of it). But I wonder is it just my tyres not being clean enough or such before applying it? I cleaned the car today and I dried the tyres off before applying two coats of Glitz, but still the tyres look a bit dull (this is about an hour later).

HJL

Mc Love wrote: »

If only it was an ST

Ooops , I mixed you up with another poster on here that has a ST. For some reason when I was looking at it first I thought I seen the different coloured fog light surrounds.

Deleted User wrote: »

Did a quick clean today, myself:
But I wonder is it just my tyres not being clean enough or such before applying it? I cleaned the car today and I dried the tyres off before applying two coats of Glitz, but still the tyres look a bit dull (this is about an hour later).

I haven't used this product, I was between Orchard Auto Car Glitz and GTechniq T1, in the end I went with T1 as I wanted C2v3 and just got them both from their website.

A quick rub of the tyre wont get much of the grease etc off the tyre which is the main reason that tyre dressing doesnt last as long as it should. Here is a post from DW where the guy used a scrubbing brush type thing to clean his tyres, and as you can see from the bucket after two tyres the water is pure black, also the tyres afterwards look really clean and grease free.
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=4312184&postcount=10

hoodie6029

I've used the armourall wheel shield before. Found it excellent at keeping the wheels clean. I got it after it was recommended on here before.

Curran

KKV; did you prepare the tyres well before applying the coat of Glitz. Strong APC mixture and a stiff bristle scrubbing brush is needed to get the tyres prep'd. If there is any previous product on the tyres or dirt, then it will never live up to expectations!
Some people love a really glossy shine off their tyres, personally, I prefer a darker matt appearance....where the tyre looks black opposed to the sometimes grey/brown appearance of weathered tyres.
The big thing that Glitz offers over most of its competition is the non-sling! For example Meg's Endurance Gel is a favourite of a lot of people, but unless you apply it, let it dry and come back and buff some of the excess off, you get splashes all over the side of the car....admittedly, hard to see on darker colours, but you will see oily-like drops. Also its very durable.

Here are a few photos of how Glitz should look.....



Given a light rub straight after application to give a slightly more matt appearance.

Well I'll be honest and say that my prep work was pretty much nonexistant. A quick wipe of a wash mitt and dried off after.

But I did clean my brothers tyres off a good bit before using it on them and I didn't recall being startled at the result (though in all honesty, i can't really remember it). I'll go again and see if I improve my end result with more prep.

Curran

When you clean the tyres, as you scrub them, you should see the dirt instantly...such as the left of this photo!
Anything less, and the product wont bond.

vectra

Diluted Surfex HD and a scrubbing brush for the tyres before applying dressing is what does it for me.

stimpson

Mrs stimpson has the Volvo this week and I was asked to make it smell like something other than an old ashtray. So the Gliptone twins came out.

Passenger seat after a clean;


And after a coat of conditioner:


And a second coat:


I have to say, it's not a bad smell. Smells like a shoe shop - new leather smell (maybe a Little bit chemically). The leather is noticeably softer compared to the back sests. I've been told to give it a week and clean it again as the conditioner opens the pores of the leather and more of the ingrained dirt comes out. I was amazed at the dirt of the cloth when I rinsed it out - even after the second wipe down. Filthy.

I got some of this just incase the smell of Gliptone was too much... It's a formidable smell - really stings the nostrils

BillJ

Noticeable dip in activity in this forum, coinciding with this bloody weather no doubt!:mad: