Come on everyone lets not fall out, Chris is a very experienced guy when it comes to Detailing. He knows what he is talking about. Just may be a little blunt at times. Don't mistake this for hostility though. He is a top bloke!

:sun:

SWMBO's parent's have a 2 year old Fiat 500 that's been done with similar stuff lots of times... the paintwork is horrific :(

I have used Greased Lightning and Pro Shine over the last few years on my Yeti,Octy vrs, Renault Wind, Smart car, on my sons Fabia vr.s , Abarth 500, Twingo and his new Fabia Monte Carlo with no problems. THe main thing to remember when using these products is to follow the instructions ie use high quality microfiber cloths.

These products have been developed in the US, and do you think they would have come to market if they didn't live up to expectations in the litigation happy USA ? They would have been slaughtered in the US courts and the companies making them wouldn't have survived. I have to admit that I was extremely dubious at first but I ordered some and tried it and was pleasantly surprised. I have used it when the cars have been covered in salt in the winter with no problems, but to be honest I usually hose the car down in the winter to get the thick of the dirt off, not because it scratches the paintwork, because it shags the microfiber cloths up when there are excessive amounts of dirt on the car.

Furthermore, I work on a chemical complex where we have occasional atmospheric non hazardous fall outs which leave deposits on the car and a large seagull population which frequently leave large alkali deposits on the paintwork. I have found since using these products that the protection provided by the polish is second to none. I simply spray some of the waterless polish on to the ****, leave it to soak and gently polish away with the microfiber cloth leaving NO mark in the lacquer or paintwork as has often happened in the past when using "super "products such as Autoglym.

Don't fall into the trap by thinking "this can' t be right,it must be ****e" because you can't get your head round it, just remember that

People in this country and others are on water meters or other water restrictions, and have to be careful with their water consumption( I use on average 40 m3 of water a quarter, that's 40 tonnes and I am charged for it coming in, going out and a standing charge, and we have that much f***ing water in our reservoirs we have sold it to Gibraltar and Saudi Arabia in the past) so a product like waterless wax/ clean/shine are a godsend.

Quite!!

What the valetting brigade need to realise is that the Yeti has brought a new membership element to the Skoda fraternity. People like me, who need a small good quality off-road equipped vehicle that can be driven well on road, and that can cope with all that poor qualitiy roads and tracks throw at that.

We may not be the type of people who are fanatical about the cleanliness of our vehicles, because we know that often as soon as we've washed them they will be dirty again in an hour. Often we will go for the quickest and easiest methods to keep our cars at least looking presentable, so if that means using a simple waterless product, then so be it. But to be rudely criticised, lambasted, and to have derogatory remarks made against us will put our backs up, and we will defend ourselves, hopefully politely. Now if those that are fanatical cleaners cannot accept our views, then tough!

So to all those who have had a go at me, just accept that I don't and can't accept your fanaticism. I have better things to do then spend days cleaning my car.

Good night

On a slightly different tack, has anyone experience of these after market paint sealers which are applied on a new car by "specialists" - cost £300 - £400. They are supposed to save you all the hard work of 'various' cleaning methods... Peter

Save your money.this topic has been covered on Briskoda and other car forums. The products can be had quite cheaply and the salesman will be on a big commission, my advice is to research the products available and do it yourself.

Quite!!

What the valetting brigade need to realise is that the Yeti has brought a new membership element to the Skoda fraternity. People like me, who need a small good quality off-road equipped vehicle that can be driven well on road, and that can cope with all that poor qualitiy roads and tracks throw at that.

We may not be the type of people who are fanatical about the cleanliness of our vehicles, because we know that often as soon as we've washed them they will be dirty again in an hour. Often we will go for the quickest and easiest methods to keep our cars at least looking presentable, so if that means using a simple waterless product, then so be it. But to be rudely criticised, lambasted, and to have derogatory remarks made against us will put our backs up, and we will defend ourselves, hopefully politely. Now if those that are fanatical cleaners cannot accept our views, then tough!

So to all those who have had a go at me, just accept that I don't and can't accept your fanaticism. I have better things to do then spend days cleaning my car.

Good night

Then a really good idea would be to accept that there are indeed many people in this forum that are 'fanatical' as you call it and shut up .......or at least, ...If its a car cleaning question..... dont bore the hell out of us stating how dirty your car is and how pointless you feel it is to clean it

Good night!

I have used Greased Lightning and Pro Shine over the last few years on my Yeti,Octy vrs, Renault Wind, Smart car, on my sons Fabia vr.s , Abarth 500, Twingo and his new Fabia Monte Carlo with no problems. THe main thing to remember when using these products is to follow the instructions ie use high quality microfiber cloths.

These products have been developed in the US, and do you think they would have come to market if they didn't live up to expectations in the litigation happy USA ? They would have been slaughtered in the US courts and the companies making them wouldn't have survived. I have to admit that I was extremely dubious at first but I ordered some and tried it and was pleasantly surprised. I have used it when the cars have been covered in salt in the winter with no problems, but to be honest I usually hose the car down in the winter to get the thick of the dirt off, not because it scratches the paintwork, because it shags the microfiber cloths up when there are excessive amounts of dirt on the car.

Furthermore, I work on a chemical complex where we have occasional atmospheric non hazardous fall outs which leave deposits on the car and a large seagull population which frequently leave large alkali deposits on the paintwork. I have found since using these products that the protection provided by the polish is second to none. I simply spray some of the waterless polish on to the ****, leave it to soak and gently polish away with the microfiber cloth leaving NO mark in the lacquer or paintwork as has often happened in the past when using "super "products such as Autoglym.

Don't fall into the trap by thinking "this can' t be right,it must be ****e" because you can't get your head round it, just remember that

People in this country and others are on water meters or other water restrictions, and have to be careful with their water consumption( I use on average 40 m3 of water a quarter, that's 40 tonnes and I am charged for it coming in, going out and a standing charge, and we have that much f***ing water in our reservoirs we have sold it to Gibraltar and Saudi Arabia in the past) so a product like waterless wax/ clean/shine are a godsend.

An alternative opinion/view:

A mate of mine is a Professional Car detailer in Altricham,Cheshire.

He earns good money removing swirls and scratches from car paintwork, most of which, have been inflicted by incorrect washing technique, and some by 'Waterless Wash products...I dont doubt that they have their place in the market, but 9 times out of 10, they are not used properly.

There is simply no substitute out there for water...So why not use it?

I'm sure the debate can go on and on.....So those that want to use it ...go ahead

BUT be warned...it requires a very precise technique to use it safely..Most people will inflict scratches

Luckily, Skoda paint is classed as 'medium' hardness.....I will NEVER use it on my car and will always actively discourage others too

On a slightly different tack, has anyone experience of these after market paint sealers which are applied on a new car by "specialists" - cost £300 - £400. They are supposed to save you all the hard work of 'various' cleaning methods... Peter

I think that modern cars are finished with a lacquer and this seals the paint - so the after market paint sealers are a waste of money - I bought some of an auction site but never got round to using it - anyway - if God had wanted me to wash my car he would not have invented rain :sun:

Regards

Mike

All cars have a lacquer/clear-cote finish

Any sealer, whether it be applied by a dealer, or by yourself, is adding protection to your car finish

Sealers contain UV filters and chemicals that form a barrier against acid rain and other pollutants

Red is particularly susceptible to UV damage, regardless of the lacquer coat.

Therefore its vitally important to have a sealer and/or wax on your paintwork or, inevitably, damage will be done

@ ChrisRs......I must admit I agree with your comments but would perhaps put them differently!

Now ,If I could ask for some advice please, If I may (it might be interesting for others as well?)

I use the two bucket method,with a lambs wool mit (Wookie's Fist!!) to wash.

I usually clay bi-annually (car in garage mostly)

I then go over with either Poorboys Black hole (for the moonlight blue R32) or Poorboys white diamond for the Silver yeti.

Then Collinite Marque 'd'elegance for a top coat.

Now my stocks need replenishing soon do I carry on or is there anything better on the market that's not silly money?

Edited 1 July, 201213 yr by carisbrook

As this is turning into a wash n wax master class, would it not be better posted in the car care section...?

As this is turning into a wash n wax master class, would it not be better posted in the car care section...?

As its Wash related thread then no it wouldnt!

If I knew how to, I'd inset a photo of my Jag, on which I only use `Showroom Shine` from Greased Lightning. Its so easy and I've done the `finger test` and can feel NO contaminants.

@ ChrisRs......I must admit I agree with your comments but would perhaps put them differently!

Now ,If I could ask for some advice please, If I may (it might be interesting for others as well?)

I use the two bucket method,with a lambs wool mit (Wookie's Fist!!) to wash.

I usually clay bi-annually (car in garage mostly)

I then go over with either Poorboys Black hole (for the moonlight blue R32) or Poorboys white diamond for the Silver yeti.

Then Collinite Marque 'd'elegance for a top coat.

Now my stocks need replenishing soon do I carry on or is there anything better on the market that's not silly money?

Hi

Yes...but depends on what you call cheaply

My premier products are from Bilt Hamber.......Their range is extensive and very very good (Medium Costs)

I use Poorboys Black Hole too..its an excellent glaze

I would get some BH Hydra Wax and some BH QD to keep up the bling..its all very durable as well

Here you go: http://www.bilthamber.com/

If you want to go better still, then the costs escalate ...so called boutique waxes like Swissvax (Cheapest is Onyx @ £60 a tub)

Read here:

http://www.shinearama.co.uk/

Is water really all that's needed with Bilt Hamber Clay...or would it be wise to use a little lube with it?

I use a little washing up liquid or car shampoo as a lube and it gets the paintwork really clean ready for polishing..An APC helps too at this stage

:zzz: :zzz: :zzz:

Fred

:zzz: :zzz: :zzz:

Fred

I dont understand

Why are you bored?...If thats what youre trying to convey.

I'm answering a question about car cleaning in a car cleaning thread

Please explain can you?

Well time came to give Betty her first proper wash at 5,00miles. Up to this point she had had 2 jet washes only (no brushes just jetted the muck off, so a cloth hadn't touched her paintwork).

I’d always wondered what waterless washes would be like and after some research I decided to give one ago, purely out of curiosity The product I’d chosen was “Spray’n’Shine” http://www.spraynshine.co.uk/ because reviews said it didn’t attack any previous wax etc. So I bought myself a ½ litre bottle from ebay £4.99 + £2.99 postage (the postage was much cheaper than from the other sites). to try it out on Betty. I already had a load of microfiber clothes so I was prepared to go.

This was a real change for me as I’ve always sworn by Autoglym products and was a little scared of doing a dry wash as to inducing scratches on the paintwork.

Well the bottle came. and it was a dry lunchtime and out I went to give Betty a clean. As she’d not been fully washed I knew this would be a good test of the product.

So after an hour, Betty was cleaned and shiny and I’m 98% happy with the results. In the heat it left a few white marks on the black pastic trim.

Pros

• Doing a dry wash there is no “wet” to hide muck and you can see straight away if the panel is clean.
  
• Only takes an hour to do a Yeti
  
• Leaves a lovely shine and no signs of scratching
  
• Panels feel clean
  
• Can do the whole car no other products required.
  
• Don’t need to get all my cleaning products out, pressure washer, mitts, cleaning products. Just 1 bottle and 3 microfiber cloths.
  
• The only water used is to wash the cloths.
  

Cons

• I found it a little harder than doing a wet wash
  
• Expensive!?!?!. I used ¾ of the bottle on one wash (This might have been because I used too much, or Betty was extremely dirty. I’ll see if I can do the whole wish next time with the remaining ¼ bottle)
  
• Definitely need to wear gloves. My hands where filthy at the end and I cannot get rid of the smell (yuck)
  

Would I use it again. YES. Although we are not in a hosepipe ban area, I'd recommend this to other users who are or who don't have access to outside taps etc.

Photos can be found on my flickr page here BTW it had started to rain when I finished hence some spots on the windscreen etc. ->

An hour?!

I can snowfoam, PW rinse, wash, PW rinse and dry including wheels and blacking tyres in 30mins and that includes setting up pressure washer!. I would say it would take me about 5mins longer to do a Yeti, if that due to the fact the wheels are easier to clean.

I would agree with Chris that under halogen or xenon light the paintwork will be covered in swirl marks similar to this (probably not as bad as this but keep going with waterless and it will be):

You may think that this isn't a biggy as 'i don't shine my car under light' but under bright sunlight you will have the same effect as in the photo above but a saving grace is that the colour of your car is probably slightly more forgiving than others!

If you aren't bothered about swirl marks then that is fine but it begs the question, if it is taking you an hour to do it and using around £5 of product everytime it would be cheaper in the long run to buy a cheap pressure washer (nilsfik are good and cheap) and some good shampoo (meguairs Gold Class) with a lambswool washmitt.

:zzz: :zzz: :zzz:

Fred

I dont understand

Why are you bored?...If thats what youre trying to convey.

I'm answering a question about car cleaning in a car cleaning thread

Please explain can you?

Careful Fred, you might upset Chris.

Chris,

This is the way of the Yetiist. You have to own one to understand!

I use a little washing up liquid or car shampoo as a lube and it gets the paintwork really clean ready for polishing..An APC helps too at this stage

What is `an APC`?

What is `an APC`?

All Purpose Cleaner. Tesco Daisy is one.

Thank you.

Maybe a daft question...but here goes, do you get it from Tesco?

Thank you.

Maybe a daft question...but here goes, do you get it from Tesco?

Yes it is a very cheap option for APC but highly regarded in detailing circles

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=265673183

I use Megs myself:

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/meguiars-all-purpose-cleaner-cat2.html

I have had the bottle about 2.5 years now and used just under half of it!