Ok, ive always been very anal about keeping my cars clean,do it 3 times a week in winter and i go to town on it every week when i wash it, but after having a nose around on here i cant help but feel my car could be even better if i were to use some of the products that you all use.

Ok this is what i use at moment....

meguiars gold class shampoo with one of their wash mits

dry with auto glym blade then excess water is dried up with microfibre towel.

auto glym super resin polish

Car in question is a colarado red 2007 fez st.

Thing is a few weeks back i meguiars 3 stage polished it, alot of swirls went, hardly any left infact, but then they've returned (maybe my wash mit needs to be ut in washig machine. I would polish the car once a fortnight with auto glym super resin and the paintwork feels great for few days after but then where he car has to live outside i find couple washes and or even t just sitting there for a week and the next time i wash it the painworks lost its gloss silk touch.

So where am i going wrong? Do i need to find some sort of carnubra (spelling, sorry), wax to put on after the polish to seal it as such??

The swirl bands, very slight haze, is this caused by dirty wash mits etc?

So, any little tips please, its coming up to winter and i want to protect the paint as good as possible from the elements. Be interesting to hear from people who are as fanatical but also their car has to live outside and get used in all conditions.

Cheers, Mike

 

Hi Mike,
the swirls are more likely caused by the use of a drying blade tbh. a nice, soft drying towel like this will be much kinder to the paintwork;

http://www.seriousperformance.co.uk/...oView_554.html

(got four of them myself).
do you have a pressure washer, or do any sort of pre-wash before touching the car (snow foam with a foam lance)? if not, this is a worth while step to reduce the risk of swirls being inflicted and it'll also help shift the crap that'll be on the roads in the coming months. claying the car is also a worth while step IMO, and only needs doing twice a year really. the meguiars three step range is good but the wax isn't very durable, if it's a durable wax you want I'd look at collinite 476 (which is detergent proof so it'll withstand many washes)
with careful washing, you should only need to polish a few times a year really

kev

 

Hi Kev,

thanks for the quick reply. I dont have a pressure washer, just a hose with a gun on it that i make sure i give the car a good wash down with first of all each time, spend about 5-10mins hosing it down and inside the arches etc.

I had always been dubious about using a blade admitdly but after giving it a go i personally found providing the car had only been rinsed down and so plenty of water on there, it wasnt scratching it, the scratches i have now are in circular swirl patterns.

Can i get snow foam tool to go onto my normal hozelock fitting?

I have clay barred the car yeah, using meguiars clay bar and quick detailer, i found this helped alot.

I'll have a look at the link u put there and also look into that wax then.

Do you machine wash your polishing clothes each time after use? i wonder also how often i should machine wash my wash mit as giving it a good rinse under the hose each time probably isnt enough hey?

Mike

 

could be your washmitt - is it very old? are you using the two bucket method (one bucket of soapy water, one of plain water to rinse the dirt from the mitt after each panel or two). foam lances are designed for pressure washers really. you can use one of these;

http://www.autojoy.co.uk/hose-end-sp...495-p-376.html

on a normal hose, foam won't be as thick but it'll help with dirt removal

 

Its probably about 4months old. I must admit i havent entertained the 2 bucket mthod yet no, worth trying then yeah? I had thought about investing in a grit guard.

 

yep, definatley as your just dragging the dirt around the car. grit guards aren't really needed tbh, gravity will keep the heavy dirt in the bottom of the rinse bucket

 

cheers for the advice mate, really appreciated. I'll give the 2 bucket method a go then. Thanks, Mike

 

no worries

 

top advice above,id also stop using megs 3 step as its not really good in terms of whats available these days.i found the megs stuff gave a great shine but wasnt very durable.get some dodo juice supernatural,no need to polish every other week if your washing technique is spot on,2bm,dry with a towel and then apply some quick detailer will keep that just polished look.

 

You need a power washer mate to make sure all the shit is lifted from the paint work before you start to shampoo the car down, thats what is causing the swirl marks your basically just rubbing all the grit and shate on your paint work.

Dont want to sound like am telling you how to suck eggs mate, but the snow foam with the correct lance is awesome for lifting the shate off your paint before you shampoo.

 

AMEN !!!!!!!!!!

 

Amen

 

Oh right, i might also think about this snow foam then. I do normally give the car a huge rinse down to begin with, spend a good while going round with the hose which has a hozelock gun on the end, washing it down in the hope that its getting rid of the worst of it.

 

a pressure washer would make rinsing quicker too, as well as shifting the crap this time of year - you'd need one for snow foaming anyway

 

Your totally right mate, but there is a snow foam gun now that you can plug to a normal hose pipe with just your normal hose to tap fixing, its only 10quid off detailingworld.com but it aint as good as a proper lance though.

 

Using a hose with a hozelock gun on the end will not move any dirt or grit from the paint there aint enough pressure mate, with the car being wet its looks cleaner than it is making you think its ok to wash down.