Neil

"If a jobs worth doing its worth..........."

Why mask when you can remove

I havent used the new AGSRP but a mate has and he sees little difference apart from slightly less chalky residue.

Have you tried Gtechnik P1?

I understand the saying, but masking is far easier than removal. "Run before you can walk"

I haven't used it, I understand it's a decent product, but as I said before, it would take you ages to do, you can give a car a coat of SRP in about 30 minutes, and from 2 yards away, it will look exactly the same as a car that has been hand polished with any abrasive polish (providing the paintwork isn't in a dire condition), but would take at least 5 hours to do. Put it under and intensive beam light and you would possibly see the difference, depending on how it was applied. But for someone starting out brand new, I wouldn't advise them to go and buy P1 and IPA, because I wouldn't have had the skills required to make the most out of those products when I fisrt started. And I am not exactly stupid when it comes to this type of thing (before anyone says it).

The new SRP results are a little better looks-wise, but it is much easier to work with and has much better durability, results are much better than werkstat/ Carlack 68 NSC, which is saying something for me, as I am a big fan of those products. All in my opinion of course!

Edited 23 December, 201213 yr by Hunty278

For what its worth - bit late in seeing this thread - my comments below:-

As stated - Dooka Woolie pads+mitts are the way to go. So durable and simply awesome.

Drying towel; i've moved away from the waffle weave style to settle on the Wooly Mammoth or fluffy style towels instead.

Chris is essentially right - but i always have SRP handy and its a great starting point for sure.

Good luck and enjoy your detailing!

It depends on what you want to do and your priorities

For me removal and subsequent prevention is far better than a temporary solution

I would always advocate this to a 'newbie' too.

P1 was made with the hand polisher in mind and it deminishes as its worked..so you know when to refill the applicator pad

It really isnt difficult, just requires more time and effort

I'm not a big fan of AIO products..... They tend to be a part solution rather than a complete one

Each to their own

If confidence is a problem..use it..It does what it says on the tin

BUT

These products are no replacement for the stand alone ones..Polish..Sealer..Wax....IMHO

Totally agree, if Dan comes back and says he would like a more "Concourse" look, then he would have to look at that process, it's the way i go with my Octavia, but I couldn't do it to my volvo too, like you say, time and priorities.

I'm mainly using the SRP for 2 reasons:

1. Seen it mentioned on a few detailing threads in various places.
   
2. Sounds fairly easy to use.
   
3. My mum has already bought me it for Christmas!
   

I'll take what you've all said onboard though. As I say I'm completely new to this so I'm just trying to figure out a process that works for me. That does mean I am open to suggestions though!

AGSRP on its own does not offer enough protection in the winter months

Get some wax and apply over it

Collinite is a great starter/durable wax and will see you through till March at the least

So after Christmas, my wishlist is pretty much complete!

Autoglym Super Resin Polish (and Shampoo bought as part of a gift set), random MF and spray bottle!

Also bought the Bilt Hamber clay bar (medium grade) and a bottle of Collinite 845, with 5 MFs and 2 foam applicators. Also got a Valet Pro detailing brush for the niggly bits!

Still waiting on the Bilberry wheel cleaner, which was supposed to come with the random spray bottle! Still can't wait to get around to using all of these, unfortunately the weather and work are getting in the way. I'll be sure to get plenty of pictures when I get the chance, watch this space!

Nice one :sun:

Bilberry wheel cleaner has arrived!

I was going to try a snow foam, 2BM wash and wheel clean today, but unfortunately I am minus one very important ingredient, a car! It's still in a garage getting a new front spring, typical!

if it's not the weather, it's something else! You'll satisfy your urge to try everything out eventually buddy!

Certainly hope so! Been spending time with the family most of this week too so not had any time to do the car. Got it back today though so hopefully this weekend I'll get the chance.

Edited 3 January, 201313 yr by dan4291

I've got a question regarding applying wax to wheels. Is it advisable to apply wax or wheel sealant to the entire wheel rather than just the face and spokes? If so the wheels will have to come off won't they?

You can just apply it to the faces, but the whole lot is preferable. Have you got something like this?

http://www.cleanyour...h/prod_480.html

Clean to the back of the wheels with the brush, I don't know if you can fit your hands behind the spokes? If you can clean behind them with an old wash mitt. Then wax them all. I remove them once a year or so for a proper good going over.

Edited 4 January, 201313 yr by Hunty278

I've got a question regarding applying wax to wheels. Is it advisable to apply wax or wheel sealant to the entire wheel rather than just the face and spokes? If so the wheels will have to come off won't they?

If it were me I would invest in a wheel sealant as opposed to a wax, I have found that waxes attract dirt whereas sealants are better repellents and also withstand the higher temperatures seen on wheels.

For me if you want to do a proper job then removing them is best as its really the wheel barrels you want to protect to clean them easier

We had some sun in Lincolnshire today !!!!!!

So I washed the car and then used some Coll` 845 for the first time. Now, it said on the bottle to wait for it to `haze` before removing with a microfibre. Trouble was it never did `haze`...so I just removed it anyway. Could that have been because it was getting late in the afternoon and the air could have been a little damp. Do you think I could have done any damage to the paint...being as it didn't `haze`.

It sure looks good!

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll just clean them for now, then take them off and wax them when I've got plenty spare time. Should the process for the wheels be the following: -

Rinse with pressure washer

Clean with Bilberry Wheel Cleaner, wait for a few minutes and agitate with wheel brush

Rinse again

Clay?

Rinse again

Apply wheel sealant/wax

We had some sun in Lincolnshire today !!!!!!

So I washed the car and then used some Coll` 845 for the first time. Now, it said on the bottle to wait for it to `haze` before removing with a microfibre. Trouble was it never did `haze`...so I just removed it anyway. Could that have been because it was getting late in the afternoon and the air could have been a little damp. Do you think I could have done any damage to the paint...being as it didn't `haze`.

It sure looks good!

No harm whatsoever. Wax cannot harm the paint even if you put it on with trowel!

It wont haze readily in the high humidity conditions we are experiencing at the moment

Apply it as thinly as possible..Leave for 15 mins, then buff off

I do the wholecar and then buff off when finished

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll just clean them for now, then take them off and wax them when I've got plenty spare time. Should the process for the wheels be the following: -

Rinse with pressure washer

Clean with Bilberry Wheel Cleaner, wait for a few minutes and agitate with wheel brush

Rinse again

Clay?

Rinse again

Apply wheel sealant/wax

With the products that you have, that would be the way I go.

If you're giving them a proper going over later in the year, can I recommend a product?

I don't normally but I think it is pretty essential to wheels and a great idea on the whole car.

It's called Carpro Iron X. it basically disolves any iron particles that are imbedded in the paintwork on your car.

Here it is in action on my friends Scirocco I did last year.

Wheels before

You can just see the purple streaks as it starts to work

And a closer look, see in the barrel of the wheel. This rocco was driven hard and the barrels never cleaned.

And they came up lovely.

Clean all the way through. Protected all the way through.

I just Cleaned with Bilberry,

Removed the tar with Autosmart Tardis,

removed iron particled with Carpro Iron X

Protected with Permanon Aircraft.

Job was a good 'un!!!

You can use it on Paintwork too. Here it is on the Octy doing it's thing.

As said before though, if you have the time, take them off. I apply some copper slip where the Hub and wheel meet to prevent it getting stuck and to prevent "Dissimilar Metal Corrosion".

Hope this clears a few things up and gives you some Ideas.

Edited 5 January, 201313 yr by Hunty278

No harm whatsoever. Wax cannot harm the paint even if you put it on with trowel!

It wont haze readily in the high humidity conditions we are experiencing at the moment

Apply it as thinly as possible..Leave for 15 mins, then buff off

I do the wholecar and then buff off when finished

Thank you so much, Chris. Thats put my mind at rest.

Regards.

Mike.

Ah yes I've read a lot about Iron X. Lots of people on Detailing World use it. I think it even won an award for the best wheel product on DW. Will definitely invest in some, after payday!

Finally, the wait is over. I have finally given the car a wash and used some of the products on my list! Didn't take any before pictures of the car itself, but suffice to say it was pretty dirty, quite a bit of dry mud near the wheels and other dirt at the front and back of the car.

I started with the wheels, which have always been a bit of a mess! Started on one wheel, gave it and the wheel arch a rinse with the pressure washer, and sprayed Bilberry wheel cleaner neat on the wheel, and Meguiars APC diluted 10:1 on the wheel arch and tyre sidewall.

Here's a during shot of the first wheel I did: -

Left for 5 minutes then agitated it with the Meguiars wheel brush, which got very dirty very quickly! Rinsed off to leave this: -

So not that brilliant really, especially with these marks still on the wheel. Would Iron-X help remove these? : -

Tried the other front wheel. A before shot this time!

Same process again, during: -

After: -

It's definitely got off a lot more than what I used to use, but still not happy with the brown marks on the wheel. Very impressed with the APC however, the arch and tyre look great I think!

After a rinse with the pressure washer over the whole car, onto the snow foam! Used Magifoam, an inch or so in the bottle and filled up to just over halfway with warm water. Took me a bit to work out how the lance worked but once I got the hang of it I produced this (this was after dwelling for 2 minutes or so as I had to quickly fix my garden hose when it decided to pop off the connector at one end!): -

I did think the car would stay whiter for longer with the foam on. Does anyone have a clue as to why that might be?

Anyway while the foam was dwelling, I brushed the badges, grill, door handles and window linings with Megs APC and a Valet Pro detailing brush.

The snow foam definitely seemed to do its job, after a pressure washer rinse this is what the car looked like: -

That was the majority of the dirt off without touching the car, very impressed!

Next step was the two bucket wash, with the Dooka Woolie Wash Pad and Meguiars Gold Class shampoo. I did think beforehand that with it being a wash pad it might be a bit awkward to use, and I was always worried about dropping it! Far from it though, held loads of suds and glided over the paintwork like a dream, great product. The shampoo was impressive too, created loads of suds. I was initially surprised how thick the liquid was however, not used to that!

Also gave the Dooka Woolie wheel mitt a go on the wheels.

After that it was a rinse down with a hose, didn't have time really to do a clay, polish and wax so mixed some Demon Shine I had in the garage and poured it over the car, then dried with the Poorboys Waffle Weave drying towel. I did try pat drying it but found that hardly any water was getting removed, so instead I wiped it dry.

Some after shots: -

Overall I'm happy with my first attempt with the products I've bought and the process I've used, any improvements you can suggest though will be more than welcome. The main issues I have now are with the brown marks on the wheels, and also with caked on bird droppings on the roof (have quite a few of these). What would be effective against these?

Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. Much appreciated.

Reckon you've done brilliantly so far.

You will, I'm sure, get better and better at it, as you learn more, and be delighted by the results.

Well Done.

The wheels came out a lot better! They are pretty bad though! Iron X would go some way to improving them. Not sure if it would bring them totally back to life. It looks like, on the close up photo, that the paint is broken. That will only get worse I'm afraid and they would need a refurb.

Sometimes you need an acidic wheel cleaner. I saw a post the other day on DW that amazed me!

http://detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=290436&highlight=Autobrite&page=2

The product is called Autobrite Extreme Clean. It isn't for everyday use, I would say more like twice a year use. This, for me, looks Ideal. Bearing in mind the OP on detailing world washed with bilberry then put this on without agitation, rinsed off and the caked on brake dust was gone. Pretty good.

As you have probably been told before though, it's a minefield and you can end up spending an absolute fortune on products. But this was worth a mention. HTH

The furby looks good though buddy. That is a good deep clean!!! Getting into all the intricate areas that you need to. Nice one. Don't worry too much about how much foam is produced. If it did the job, then you've done it right! My bilt-hamber autofoam is the same. At the end of that day, only the bubbles at the bottom are in contact with the dirt and therefore doing the work, the rest is just waste. If it removes the dirt, it has "clinged" for long enough.

Has the bird etching removed the clear coat? You could try to bring it back a little with some SRP but if the clearcoat has flaked it would need sorting professionally.

Thanks for the post mate. Nice to see how you got on!

You car looks like it needs a good machine polishing with a medium cut pad and something lile Scholl S3 and refined with S17+

Some Glaze and a good wax will result in a great finish and protection for many months

Your wheels need some strong wheel cleaner

The only way to do this properly is to remove them (one by one) and clean with something like Wonderwheels and resealed with a dedicated wheel sealer

They should come up like new if you take your time

I can do it for you if you wish:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/253800-chrisrss-detailing-service-in-aid-of-world-challenge/