Sparkly

Hi Rob, was that the tropical? I had a Dodo Red Mist and it used to near as make no difference strip the LSP underneath? I think Tropical was better. Obviously Soft99 is an unusual LSP anyway so not sure what effect it would have.

Gilmour Foamaster II or lookalikeys will be far better than the options above in my opinion http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-and-drying/cleanyourcar-foam-cannon/prod_1349.html There is this gun on ebay for under £20.00 delivered from China atm. I have been looking at investing as I hate getting the pressure washer out of the shed and am no longer a great believer in the need to snow foam. The alternative to snow foam for me is a pump action sprayer with a citrus based cleaner or even low dilution snow foam chem, coat the car and rinse, keep the dilution such so that it is not too strong so it wont attack rubbers etc and wet enough that it wont dry out too quickly. Blast off at an angle after a few minutes with a hose. I can get as good a results as snow foam in a lot less time.

It does read a little bit like advertising - but I'm sure Chris won't complain! :p Glad you are sorted, however the initial question to @Yorkshire Detailers was unlikely to get a response as nobody on here I am aware of is running a commercial detailing business as a site sponsor anymore (Chubbs opportunity?) Like others, scratch removals and enhancement polishes are things that I have done many times on my own cars and at the request of friends as a favour, no payment expected no takeaway meal+beers declined when offered I think there is a good amount of this happening on the site and I dare say by some very competent people and if you were in luck and the wind was blowing in the right direction then you might take your car away wearing some very expensive LSP too. But just like others I am time poor so don't jump to offer my 'services' as weather + life commitment often = hard to organise. Interested to see before and after pics of the work or a nice 50/50 during, it's always good to show others what can be achieved. Chubbs - a detailer specialising in scratch removal service and headlight polishing as a business could be targeted enough to drive some nice work.

Hi Chubbs, can I ask a question. Given that you are considering this as a business - what is your current experience level as a detailer, I assume you went to Chris as a beginner/inexperienced? how many cars have you conducted a multi-stage full correction polish detail on? A lot of people I know who have built up as 'second income' detailers spent a long time as hobbyist enthusiasts and had many many cars under their belt before they even thought to ask for £50 beer money for a full day detail with a one step polish. How much time can you realistically set aside to invest in building up before you will need to earn. Some 'second income' detailers go on to be competent people a fellow detailing enthusiast will trust to hand their car to, others get lazy and go down the route of charging less educated customers £200-300 for a one day 1 step polish, laziness creeps in around things like taping up a car properly, interest in proper correction vs cosmetic enhancement, reputation isn't built and the business fizzles to being an occasional boost to weekend beer money. Personally I suspect it's because actually when you look at what the very best in the business can charge for 3 days work (people with their own indoor facilities and established name) and the fact that many of these pro's still substitute their income day to day by 'valeting' cars, the effort/reward ratio isn't fantastic for a beginner. Very few break through to having an established business and from those who do, even fewer sustain it. I think I am just a little bit in agreement that this is tought work, there are a lot of have a go harry's who buy a DA for personal use and think they can set up a detailing business. Sadly if you are serious about this, bad jobs done by these people are every bit as much your competition/issue as breaking through against established local detailers. For this reason you may well need to do a large number of cars for free before you can even get to a point of charging. Their is a lot of investment for modest returns. This isn't intended to be a negative post.

Hey Ally, Hope you are well mate, it can be a bit stressful, you will need patience, but it will in all likelihood be absolutely fine so remember that if you get frustrated ever. It might be worth finding out which solicitors the seller is using, often a pitfall of housebuying is bad communication between solicitors. A good solicitors will hold your hand through most of the process. My 2nd recommendation would be not to scrimp on your survey - I know too many people that got stiffed on a house with "issues" because they only took a basic survey. If you find a problem, it doesn't mean you wont proceed with the purchase but you can offset the cost of fixing it by requesting the vendor drop the price in light of the findings. Will keep an eye on the thread and if you have any specific questions, I'm happy to take a PM. Best of luck with it all. Mark

Sorry for the slight OT nature of this post. I keep seeing a lot of threads about people claying cars and not much mention of polishing afterwards. This is just my opinion/experience but I would never clay a car that I don't intend to polish afterwards. I have always seen claying as a fundamental pre-polish process for ensuring the paint is clear of every last possible particle that a DA/Rotary will drag around the paint. It is not a "catch all" solution to prepping the paint for an LSP, yes you can make the paint feel smooth as glass but it can also inflict damage. No matter how gently/lightly/softly/smoothly I have seen a car clayed using an ocean of clay lube I always see evidence of marring (even if it is light), particularly if you shine an inspection light on the paintwork. This is after all a relatively hard block of material that you are running over the paint to in turn remove relatively hard particles from the paint which are carried in the surface of the clay until it is folded. I have said this before on here - claying entirely has it's place within a full detail and is a hugely useful tool but I do feel people get a bit obsessed about claying without ever mentioning the draw backs. Derv's routine above is great because it shows a full chemical decon before claying which will hugely reduce particle to be removed by the claying but I would suggest an inspection and then appropriate polishing of the paint (this may only need to be a single stage finishing polish via DA.) If you don't have the time/kit to polish, I might limit the routine to the chemical decon only and then carefully work around the car with a quality paint cleanser. What I see a fair amount with people who clay and then go straight to wax is the wax fills and hides the marring so people think the paint is perfect but after a few repeats of the routine when the wax breaks down the marring starts to show quite badly. Once again, I am a big advocate for claying, I just worry that people aren't explaining where it sits within a full detail. I would certainly advise: Claying is a slow job - if you aren't at least a little bored you are probably going too fast Fold clay regularly to keep the clay face in contact with the paintwork as clean as possible Apply lots of lube - chortle If the face of your clay is filthy after a few passes, you need to stop and go back a step to chemical decon, you do not want to drag that across your paint. A great way to examine the effectiveness of your claying is to put your hand into a plastic sandwich bag and run it along the paintwork, this amplifies any roughness. If you clay - take a detailing light to the paint and examine for marring afterwards. As above, this is just my opinion.

SOLD

I still haven't had the weather/opportunity to detail the Tiguan. I have however realised that I am not actually tall enough to wash the car without using a stool. I used to love having a Fabia because it was a relatively small area of paint to look after.

Nice Van, one of our neighbours has one. ...............always fancied a van.

For cleaning and conditioning the RaceGlaze leather cleaner and balm are good products that I rate. I have to say I haven't got much experience of redyeing leather. Once done though - Dr Leather have a product which if I remember is supposed to stop dye transfer. Might be worth looking into.

That would work, yes. I haven't got a Milltek and I haven't tried it, but if I did then I would. Guinea Pig please

you too

I had an email through from Wax Addict about this launch as I was a previous subscriber to the Waxybox sets. I haven't tried these but I am curious. Even more curious that quite a seemingly niche company(Wax Addict/Waxybox) has A) Gotten their products into Halfords Has chosen Halfords as the platform to launch what I assume is a product for detailing savvy consumers. To be clear I have no snobbery about Autoglym and similar products however I don't tend to use Halfords as my shop of choice for detailing kit.

I use Just the Tonic because bought in bulk during Autobrite Xmas Sale, I wouldn't say it was any better than Tardis. The best I have used was a green slime Tar and Glue remover from Imperial Wax received in a Waxybox sample, ultra thick green snot without that solvent stench and worked a treat due to huge cling time. Dont think it made full production though.

The Sonax although labelled a Quick Detailer is essentially a Nano Polymer Spray Sealant that is very easy to use. As you say protection doesn't last forever, as a general rule of thumb if you pick from the good ones (because there will always be examples to contradict this statement) then a Hybrid Wax (has synthetic parts to it's formula alongside Carnauba or pure synthetic formula) and Synthetic Sealants will outlast traditional Carnauba waxes, Silica based coatings and other advanced formula products last the longest. On your last comment I truly believe my advice on Sonax will stand you in really good stead, don't wax over the top as this will effectively act as contamination when you later wash and replenish the protection. If you wash and then apply the same product everytime your top layer should look something like: Sonax: Sonax: Sonax GOOD If you Wax after then you could potentially after a couple of washes have a top layer protection of Sonax: Wax: Sonax BAD The layer of slightly broken down wax between the layers of sealant will stop the newest layer of sealant bonding as well as it could leading to shorter life of your protection. The car will still be protected but it will likely not bead well and dirt may accumulate quicker meaning more frequent washing. Sonax is the most forgiving sealant I know in respect of this but it should be understood that you will lower durability. Now given that Wax creates a weaker bond with the surface beneath and breaks down quicker over time, this is the usual reason for putting your sealant closest to the paint and why Wax is the outer sacrificial layer that you reapply each time meaning if you wax after each wash you get. Sonax: Wax: Wax GOOD But this is more labour intensive

Yes, I think of detailing in terms of "full" or "maintenance" Once I have a car protected after a "full" detail I would for "maintenance" only snowfoam,rinse, wash, dry and then refresh the LSP with a quick detail spray unless I had a specific reason to add another coat of wax or sealant such as the particular LSP requiring 2-3 coats each applied at 24 hour intervals

For me its a very simple answer, no LSP lasts forever and it sounds like you want the most protection in the easiest and least time consuming fashion. If you want years of protection you really need an SiO2 (Quartz coating) which needs a highly skilled detailer to apply well and in indoor conditions ideally) Buy a bottle of Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer from Amazon and a pack of Microfibre cloths. On untreated paint simply wash and dry the car, spray on the Sonax and spread lightly with one microfibre cloth, then a few seconds after buff with a clean mf cloth. You need to be realistic about upkeep as most "accessible" waxes and sealants will not give more than three months unless applied as part of a FULL detail. If you are going to wash clay, decontaminate and polish at 6-12 month intervals then you have lots of options but this is an 8 hour day minimum working hard on the car. If on the other hand you want the very best protection/effort ratio I truly don't think an amateur enthusiast will do better than Sonax BSD straight to paint, it is almost impossible to get wrong and will give 2-3 months protection, it is not fussy as to bonding and it can be as simple as a quick walk around the car spraying and buffing to achieve a nice shine and good protection that assuming you wash your car every couple of months can be topped up indefinitely. Far better investment beyond the Sonax (or whatever wax/sealant you choose) is to go online to a site like Cleanyourcar and buy a high quality wash mitt a large quality microfiber drying towel and a couple of plush microfiber buffing cloths, these above all else will help you stop the introduction of washing produced swirls and marks. I hope this helps. (I am aware the Sonax BSD answer is a bit tiresome, in this case I think it fits)

As for dressings it is hard to beat Aerospace 303 and I am currently loving CarPro PERL.

That's where mine came from. Do you collect? Haven't the Fabia out and about in a while.

Carlack 68 NSC Complete, Carlack 68 Long Life Sealant, Optimum Spray Wax, Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer, 1 x Gyeon Q2M Mitt, 1 x CG Wooly Mammoth, 2 x Monster Microfiber Chinchilla Towels, Vikan Upholstery Brush, CG Fabric Guard, 1L Carpro Perl. The Monster MF Chinchillas are ace, just coated the missus Polo in Carlack and looking nice, I'll aim to top it with a wax at some point though as it is solid red, perhaps after a 2nd coat of LLS to lock in the protection. Carpro Perl is so good on tyres.

The smell comes from 'outgassing' - the release of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) Heat or humidity will speed up the release of VOC's - and we are talking about a kettle. Although the smell/outgassing will give hints to the formulation of the plastic it does not outright point to toxicity. In most plastic products low VOC emissions are seen as desirable, one of the weird exceptions being our love of the new car smell, which is also just VOC's escaping from the materials of the car's interior. In Gadgetman's link above we are told to keep PVC away from food, yet if you go into hospital for a transfusion all blood bags are made from PVC as they are proven to be inert and actually prolong the life of the stored blood. It just comes down to the formulation of the plastic. I work in an industry where manufacture of PVC products is a big part of the business, currently there is a trend of worry around plasticisers (the chemicals that make plastics flexy) containing Pthalates because when fed orally to rats they had slightly increased rates of cancer so now products that go on floors wall and ceilings can no longer contain these even though we don't eat these products we breathe in a few mcg of gas coming off them. So what did the manufacturers do, move to a product with a slightly different chemical make up pterapthalates in order to comply with the trend. These are plasticisers made from pthalates. In short you haven't got much chance of unravelling why your kettle smells. What I can say is that most dangerous plasticisers and toxic chemicals found in Chinese manufactured products make their way into a product because in China there is a high use of recycled PVC of unknown origin in manufacturing because it is hugely cheap. I highly doubt that these products would be imported by a British company in kitchen appliances for the simple fact many of these chemicals are on banned substance lists and/or would need to carry a toxic skull and cross bones emblem on the packaging which may affect consumer appetite.

Don't want to derail the thread but no I didn't. Getting ready for and subsequently having a new baby in the house has been my main reason for being so quiet. Same applies to detailing. I am also not sure if I am allowed back as pre-easter I swapped the Superb for a Tiguan so no longer rocking a Skoda. Keeping this slightly relevant I now have my white Tiguan and the wifes new red Polo to do new car protection details on. I will be using a mix of bulk bought products from mid range suppliers like Autobrite for their APC, Very Cherry non acid wheel cleaner and interior dressing, Meguiars shampoo and tyre dressing both retail size bottles inexpensive but good, I have a 5 litre of Wolfs Chemicals Iron remover for decon. I didn't pay more than 50% rrp on any of it. I am still debating what paint protection to use, favouring a full Sonax Brilliant Wax, NPT and BSD. The Tiguan probably something from my Obsession Wax collection

Price drop to £55.00 collected - want these gone.

Even better when they are a short drive from your house

Dr Beasleys Wheel Seal - great protection but critically very easy to apply/remove.