Right at the moment I wash the car with water/shampoo, dry it off with a shamy, then wax it, she looks good but I realise it could be better, what do you suggest?

please bear in mind i am a beginner

 

Join up here www.detailingworld.co.uk (put me down as your reference if you do - same username as here).

There's a mountain of information for newbies to detailing from the basics right up to pro level stuff, so you're bound to find out plenty of info.

There's nothing like a good machine polishing session to really bring out the gloss and remove years of swirls / scratches etc. and it only really needs doing once properly, so you might get one of our members close to you to do it for you, or even one of the pros?

 

cool, thanks for you help, I had the car machine polished back in Jan as I had to have a new wing fitted, i will take a look on detailing world

 

Just because the car has been machine polished, it doesnt mean its a good job of correcting ( not saying it wasnt done right ).

The amount of cars ive had to detail after they have been machine polished by a garage after having work done, or as a delivery clean is huge. when not done properly it leaves bad marring and hologram like markings all over the car often making it look worse than when it started


Im not slating the work that was done to your car as it may be perfect, just giving my tupence worth

 

Make sure you behave yourself though as I'm a Moderator over there (I'm only messing, mate - it's a great site)

Totally agree with that ^^^ the amount of corrections the pro detailers on DW have to do after a car has been 'machined' by a garage after some repair work is sometimes staggering, and 9 times out of 10 the garage would have been best to not bother as they've made it look worse!

There is an art to proper machine polishing and understanding what polishes and pads work well together and what's best for different manufacturer paint types etc. not to mention the correct techniques. These 'bad' machining cases are often a result of not knowing about any of the above and just sticking any old pad on with whatever product they have to hand at the garage and quickly running it over the bodywork. Result? As stated in the above post, horrendous holograms and marring and the car then requiring the attention of someone who knows what they're doing.

 

any ideas of how much it would cost to have it pro detailed?

 

paintwork correction or exterior detail. or full detail ?

 

erm....... how do i know if it needs paintwork correction? just exterior detailed

 

If you've been washing it with one bucket, or heaven forbid an automatic car wash, it'll probably need correction. Look for fine scratches and swirl marks.

Having said that I don't know much they show up on flat paint, ie white not metallic, but my Cossie is being reshelled into a white shell so I guess I'm gonna have to quite soon LOL

Even chamois is frowned upon over at DW

 

An exterior detail would involve correction, but correction only would be just that, paintowork only.

So if you happy doing all the other bits, and just want the paint looking good then a paintwork correction would be for you

 

My mate was round mine today and i was washing my car.I was just about to get the shammy out and he shouted at me and said dont use that.He is into his detailing too.

 

I would shout at you too lol

 

Was that me then Glen heheh if my works van had more psi i would of used the RO water to finnish it off for you matey.

 

Use a dryng cloth not a chamois lol horrible things!

 

How much is a machine polish then?