How to do a full car detail by hand!

A

alan_d

Lifer
rep added for an excellent post. I keep meaning to write something like this, but have never had the time, and always wondered how much detail people wanted to go into.

what snow gun do use? im on the Gilmour foam master, but struggle to get good pressure to it. Your not wrong on the maxi suds, its my favourite wash, zero surfactants = happy al!
Have you tried the new maxi suds with extra lubricant?
 
Rick

Rick

Trader
How to do a full car detail by hand

Right guys, I've never noticed any real information on how to look after your paintwork on here so I thought I'd share what I do and hopefully it might be helpful to others:

So here is my routine when she gets a REALLY good clean:

Wash - This is done with Meguires NXT car shampoo, a Meguires microfibre wash mitt and I also use the 2 bucket method which means I have warm water with the shampoo in one, then another bucket with clean water in the other to rinse the mitt before i put it back into the shampoo, this help to get rid of the grit. I also use a hosepipe for rinsing. Then to dry I use the Flash auto dry wash system which works really well.

Clay Bar - If nobody knows what this is, it basically a small bar of clay which takes off all of the road contamination that washing can't get rid of. I personally use the Meguires one but there are loads on the market.

Rinse again - Just with clean water from the hosepipe.

Dry

Then I use Meguires NXT polish and use poorboys microfibre cloths to remove.

Then I use R222 wax to seal it and again a Poorboys microfibre towel to remove. The R222 is awesome stuff and makes the paint finish really smooth and a really good wet look.

Hope this helps guys.:)
 
G

GTdan

In The Closet
there is already something on the forum uinder the completed ones about detailing the car, which is good - but doesnt mention about any products.

I prefer the meguirs gold class shampoo, but prior to this i snow foam the car to remove the majority of the dirt.

Then onced cleaned - using the 2 bucket method (wash mitts are better than sponges! sheep hair one is best!) i tend to clay (only do this once a month), then wash again.

Dry off with microfibre towels - use meguirs water magnet towel - leaves smeer free.

Polishing - Autoglym super resin polish is the best polish to use, it leaves the bodywork shiny and wet, but also it containes "fillers" which will fill in swirl marks on the bodywork - i tend to do 2-4 applications of this, just to make sure ive got everwhere.

I then seal the polish with poorboys sealent, this seals and protects and prelongs the finish - 2 coats of this and leave for more than 6 hours.

i then top off with poorboys nattys paste wax - again 2 coats.

i then just tend to top up the wax every 4-6 weeks when beeding starts to fade.
 
GTnomez

GTnomez

Member +
there is already a sticky on this isnt there? anyway good write up, ive seen your evo after its been and my god does the paitwork look lush!!!
 
J

John757

Member +
Well it's in my favourites now. Once I get your GT Rick she'll have the same procedure done to her so she feels at home. Good guide :)
 
A

alan_d

Lifer
Jay said:
Where's Mr D?

Our local clean freak should be along shortly Rick..:)
Click to expand...

lol excellent thread, I always meant to type one but I never get 5minutes let alone half an hour to type one.

its interested seeing 'best' mentioned constantly at the given persons preferred 'polish' or chosen chemical.

its important to bear in mind that the use of best should be followed up with 'used with the other chemicals I have', the reason I say this is that not one chemical will react the same on EVERY paintwork.

I have different compounds that will eat soft paint like butter, yet wont dent a resprayed car's paint.

Never resign yourself to one polish, as the more in your arsenal the better, for removing different defects. Buy the dearest you can, buy often, and buy as many different polishes you can. At a guess, I have £400 of polish, £800 of waxes, and about £150 of sealant, and about £200 of washing chemicals.
Before someone says it, im skint, but very happy, safe in the knowledge that whatever turns up, I can deal with it.

has anyone else here used prima amigo or klasse all in one?
they make a kick ass alternative to megs or autoglym, and are very reasonably priced, yet offer months more protection.

its really good to see how many here have touchless wash gear in there list!
hi-5!
 
G

GTdan

In The Closet
ive used klasse before - got some sample pots, and was quite impressed - ive only got around 4-5 more applications left in my poorboys nattys left, so will be on look out for a new wax.

a friend has just started using one of the dodo hard waxes, and i must say they look pretty impressive - so i think i will try theres.

but then you have all the swissvax ranges too - so many too choose from, and thats just waxes, not sealents or polishes, can understand why you have alot of cleaning stuff alan - all soon adds up.
 
A

andybill

Member +
i use klasse AIO on my glanza and other white cars, it containts cleaners aswell so it brings out the best in white. I then top this with either autoglym SRP if im doing the car by hand, or meguiars 80 if by machine to add some oils to the paint.

Would recommend klasse AIO to anyone with soft paint, doesnt work so well on harder paints such as VAG paint.
 
A

andybill

Member +
GTdan said:
ive used klasse before - got some sample pots, and was quite impressed - ive only got around 4-5 more applications left in my poorboys nattys left, so will be on look out for a new wax.
.
Click to expand...


Klasse AIO is more of a cleanser / polish not a wax m8. No matter what it says on the bottle, protection doesnt really last more than a few days
 
A

andybill

Member +
have you tried collinite 915 ? its what i use as my wax and i have used swissvax BOS to Dodo juice etc etc and for the price you cannot beat collinites protection and durability. With good prep the finish is hard to beat too !
 
G

GTdan

In The Closet
andybill said:
have you tried collinite 915 ? its what i use as my wax and i have used swissvax BOS to Dodo juice etc etc and for the price you cannot beat collinites protection and durability. With good prep the finish is hard to beat too !
Click to expand...

never used, but again heard good things about them, will add them to the short list too.
 
A

alan_d

Lifer
i've had an mr2 that stood in the elements for 6 months with nothing but klasse AIO on it, and it washed up a treat when it came back from salvage.
Ive found that it works best with machine application, and needs to be broken right down by the heat on the pad for it to bind correctly, multiplied by a minimum of five coats.

wax
I'm quite keen to try dodo supernatural, and with it now available in plastic containers, its even better value.

Another wax im keen to try is Paul Daltons new CrystalRock, obviously in the plastic container as I dont have £10k spare lol. Though i'll be first to admit, im not 100% certain I could prep a surface to quite the same standards given his pictorials lol!

A lot has to be said for cutting the crap, going all out on the menz, and just using swissol paint rubber, then swissol paint cleaner followed by your choice of swissol (sorry swissvax!) wax. I reserve BOS for leannes car now adays, and havnt got a vehicle im proud enough to use on.
My folks car gets maintained with Victoriawax Concours, and hats off to it, its a great wax, particularly for dress if not uber protection.
 
P

Petrolhead

Member +
nice write up m8, many thx, was going to polish and clean my car myself and didn't really know enough details to do it well :)
 
J

Jules-B

Member +
Detailing..probably one for Alan_d!

Hi all

Me and a friend are wanting to get into detailing a bit more, we were both looking into getting our cars detailed, and found it would cost around 400 quid to get both done.

We decided that we could do it ourselves, and so i have been reading up ALOT on the subject.

We are going to buy a meguiars machine polisher, on top of alot of other stuff.

My questions are this.

What product should i use to ''snow foam'' the car? and at what temp through the pressure washer?.

Im led to belive we then clay bar the car, and start with polishing and then the glazing.

What pads and products should i get. There are so many out there and i am a bit lost. I understand that i probably dont want a pad that is too hard to start off with.

after the polishing you use the glaze?

Thanks for any help!
 
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