So seeing as i have some time off work over the holidays i've been looking forward to giving the car a good wash, i usually wash it 2-3 times a week due to the roads i drive to work being pretty dirty. Lately haven't been able to much as the weather has just consisted of rain, rain and more rain Last wash was almost a week ago :think: So i got up the other day with a day off and, the best bit, NOTHING TO DO!! I though great, i can wash the car today. looked out the window...pouring thankfully my friend runs a garage so a quick call to him and i was sorted to go down and clean away!

I'm not a photographer in any shape or form so pics are quite poor but you get the point

So here it is in all its glory straight from the rain

So as you can see it was pretty grubby haha, so got the cleaning arsenal out the boot

Didn't need my trusty wee halfords 1400 pressure washer tho, i had this badboy to play with

So started with a jet down, then used a wee pressure sprayer to apply prewash to the body and inside wheel arched, then applied bilberry wheel cleaner mixed at a 3 parts water to 1 part chemical ratio and left everything to do the buisness

Then i applied some as g101 into the wheel arches and got ready to blast it all off

Heres the results after prewash and wheel cleaned jet washed off, bear in mind at this point i still haven't touched the car

Then went onto wash it

Used a much lighter mix of wheel cleaner this time round 20:1

All done Terrible picture, makes the paintwork look a riot but its not, i think its the reflection off the floor that makes it seem worse, but its the only one i've got

Ontto the interior, very mucky not been done in a few weeks and the wee mans been in a lot lately

So out come the products

plastics done

Leather cleaner applied

The camera ran out of battery at this point and i gave up on trying to get a photo of the finished interior but its a Huge improvement haha, next up, maybe tomorrow if the rain stays away i'll be doing the engine. It needs a clean and dress the plastics then i think i'll run round all the door and boot checks with anothe coat of wax for them. Thanks for reading, hope i've not bored you all to much!

This one shows still a bit of dirt on the plastics, use the g101 onto a towel and wipe all the plastics down then dress them. (valeter for 8 years)

Other than it looks awesome.

Looks good, one thing I wish with my race blue vRS, is that it was a black magic one!

Looking good Ian I did mine as well then left it in work will take some pics tomorrow here is the before shot though :( dirtiest its been.

That's a handy place you have to wash it in do you have to pay by the hour to use it etc?

Cheers guys cheers for the tips grizzle, was fighting the camera while doin it haha

Nope Fubar just a good friend of mines, makes a big differance in situations like that, it works two ways if he needs help or anythin while im there i lend a hand. Lookin forward to seeing ur pics now

Matty the colours nice but hard to keep clean :(

Cheers guys cheers for the tips grizzle, was fighting the camera while doin it haha

Nope Fubar just a good friend of mines, makes a big differance in situations like that, it works two ways if he needs help or anythin while im there i lend a hand. Lookin forward to seeing ur pics now

Matty the colours nice but hard to keep clean :(

Looks good, one thing I wish with my race blue vRS, is that it was a black magic one!

Ian's certainly done a great job cleaning his vRS. only probs with the pearl black magic is you have to be a bit of a magician to keep it looking clean IMO, but a good one is difficult to beat. I did think about PBM for by BL, but thought black paint on black wheels on black leather might just be a bit too ... well ....black! The kids give me enough stick as it is having RBM

Fubar,

As someone who's obviously in the know have you posted your cleaning regime anywhere or know of any good ones already on the site? Tips on how to including products used and alternatives would be nice! :sun: :sun:

Cheers

Looks good, what do you use for the plastics? Mine are always getting muddy, normally use cockpit cleaner but its not get into the ingrained dirt well.

Ill have to do a proper thread of when i wash mine and clay bar

Ian's certainly done a great job cleaning his vRS. only probs with the pearl black magic is you have to be a bit of a magician to keep it looking clean IMO, but a good one is difficult to beat. I did think about PBM for by BL, but thought black paint on black wheels on black leather might just be a bit too ... well ....black! The kids give me enough stick as it is having RBM

My old Fabia vRS was black magic, was a bugger to keep that clean but soooooo nice when it was!

Great pictures and except for the number plate that could be my car, including the dirt and mud and having older kids (13, 12 and 9) does not mean it stays any cleaner in the back.

I put a thread on here recently about washing a car and then asked about pressure washers and got loads of tips and good responses. As a result I have a pressure washer being delivered this coming week and a load more cleaning stuff as the black takes a load more looking after than the dark grey of my previous Vrs.

To improve things even more the garage is being cleared out today and tomorrow a shelving system is being delivered and put in, so my Vrs will not only be cleaned to within an inch of its life but it will then live in the garage.

I can't wait to get stuck in to cleaning the beast as the dreadful weather has meant it has not been touched for 2 weeks.

Not washed the car since xmas eve, still the 3 coats of collinite are holding up really well, then come the summer (use that term loosely) i will use the blackfire wet diamond.

Cheers for the nice comments guys Ema for the plastics i use angel wax "AnGel" works great and leaves a nice fragrance! Also, like grizzle said a light mixture of autosmart g101 beforehand to remove excess or engrained dirt!

Littleaid have you ever lookd at the detailingworld forum, its a site all about car cleaning and its great iv joined a couple months now and learned soooo much just reading many topics

Stu, Sound like your goimg to have a great wee setup ,really wish i had a garage myself :( what pressure washer you gettting?

Fubar,

As someone who's obviously in the know have you posted your cleaning regime anywhere or know of any good ones already on the site? Tips on how to including products used and alternatives would be nice! :sun: :sun:

Cheers

I know nothing to be honest. Car was professionally detailed just after I got it about 18 months ago with Gtechniq products and was amazing, since then I have only really needed to hose it down and dry it off. If washing I just use lambs wool mitt etc and in straight lines the normal basics. I have big micro fibre towels to blot dry the excess and a heated blower to get in all seals corners etc thats about it.

Cheers guys cheers for the tips grizzle, was fighting the camera while doin it haha

Nope Fubar just a good friend of mines, makes a big differance in situations like that, it works two ways if he needs help or anythin while im there i lend a hand. Lookin forward to seeing ur pics now

Matty the colours nice but hard to keep clean :(

Here you go

This is the product of driving to a petrol stations jet wash as the one at work is broken again :( used the water jet wash hosed it off and drive back, hosed it again with a good pressure garden hose to remove any stuff I picked up on way back while still loose then parked in garage to dry its got little dry droplets all over it but race blue is awesome at not showing it especially in pics. Totally contactless wash. I do have Gtechniq stuff here but didn't use it this time and no point until it gets the full works again and I wouldn't attempt at moment. I normally use an EZ Detail wheel brush on alloys but winters were pretty clean so just blasted them like rest of car this time.

Interior I hoover only as normal I use for dash an attachment with a circular soft long bristled brush around its edges so it lifts any dust from dash itself. It is kept fairly clean all the time so its a 2 minute job no kids etc to make it more difficult. For plastics if I have ever had dirt on them it gets wiped off with a damp cloth like a proper pikey.

I forgot to take pic under bonnet but this pic is from May I can assure you it looks just the same today I did clean it yesterday.

All pics taken on my mobile (Samsung Galaxy SII) pics always make it look so much cleaner than it is, it really needs a proper cleaning again paint is getting rough to the touch so clay bar etc but I have never used it and am afraid :(

Ian,

I ordered a Nilfisk C120 after lots of advice and experiences of other forum members.

I am a bit of an Autoglym man so most of the products I use come from AG.

Nice one gents some tidy looking motors. How are you finding the Angel wax products Iain? Their glass cleaner is the best I've used to date. I wrote them an email to congratulate them on their well-prices and no nonsense does what it should do products and they sent me a free sample of their Ag wax for silver cars. Which I will get round to using in the spring I hope. I know what you mean about the kids in the back. My eldest is only 3 and uses the grey suade seat as a step up to his seat. Filthy! Just given it a 2 hour going over and used auto finesse leather conditioner for the first time. Nice satin finish! Keep the pics coming buddy and nice work!

Fubar that looks loverrrly was actually having a look at the gtechnic range earlier on today as its so highly rated, may need to give it a try myself haha Your interior is immaculate, wish i could keep mines like that but having a 4 year old tornado whipping about doesn't help lolol Need to do my engine, what did u use to clean it? Im planning on some 101 and then angel wax plastics and rubber dressing, never actually done an engine believe it or not. Don't be afraid of clay bars, they're AMAZING, i love the results. its really weird how paint can look clean but the clay shows up loads of contaminants As long as the panels clean and plenty of lube and keep working the clay you cant go wrong :love:

Stu i hear great stuff about the nilfisks, apparantly they come with meatl motors so are more reliable? Should be good! Theyr good fun to use haha we have a couple of nilfisks at work but theyr the big mega industrial things, some power tho!

Fubar that looks loverrrly was actually having a look at the gtechnic range earlier on today as its so highly rated, may need to give it a try myself haha Your interior is immaculate, wish i could keep mines like that but having a 4 year old tornado whipping about doesn't help lolol Need to do my engine, what did u use to clean it? Im planning on some 101 and then angel wax plastics and rubber dressing, never actually done an engine believe it or not. Don't be afraid of clay bars, they're AMAZING, i love the results. its really weird how paint can look clean but the clay shows up loads of contaminants As long as the panels clean and plenty of lube and keep working the clay you cant go wrong :love:

Stu i hear great stuff about the nilfisks, apparantly they come with meatl motors so are more reliable? Should be good! Theyr good fun to use haha we have a couple of nilfisks at work but theyr the big mega industrial things, some power tho!

I did engine ages ago and all its needed since is a wipe the odd time. I can't remember what I used tbh.

I'm using a Nilfisk my self have done for over a year use it every weekend and never missed a beat.

This is Blackfire Wet Diamond

According to Amazon tracking, my Nilfisk C120 should be with me tomorrow.

It's all Gtechniq for my car, even windscreen coating (needs done again)

Here was a little visit to Gtechniq HQ

Nice one gents some tidy looking motors. How are you finding the Angel wax products Iain? Their glass cleaner is the best I've used to date. I wrote them an email to congratulate them on their well-prices and no nonsense does what it should do products and they sent me a free sample of their Ag wax for silver cars. Which I will get round to using in the spring I hope. I know what you mean about the kids in the back. My eldest is only 3 and uses the grey suade seat as a step up to his seat. Filthy! Just given it a 2 hour going over and used auto finesse leather conditioner for the first time. Nice satin finish! Keep the pics coming buddy and nice work!

I love the angel wax stuff, its incredible. Its all made locally to me, like a mile or two from my house so when i discovered it existed i was straight down! I took one of near enough everything and the price was incredible, didn't know what to expect but was amazed, defo some of the best stuff i've ever used and when the price is taken into account its really unbeatable! The guys who run it are really nice aswell haha Cheers for the nice comments!

Grizzle thats stunning looking :love: never tried the blackdiamond stuff, whats the durability like? In my short time of driving in terms of wax/sealants i've only used megs carnuba wax, ag hd wax, simoniz liquid wax, angelwax choclate and the ag extra gloss sealant. Loved the ag hd wax and angelwax. Meguiars isn't bad for a quickie job and i HATED the simoniz liquid stuff :( like the extra gloss aswell, only sealant iv tried would like to try some more though! Its addictive isn't it

This is Gtechniq G1 window sealant stuff lasted 7 months from a single application.

Grizzle thats stunning looking :love: never tried the blackdiamond stuff, whats the durability like? In my short time of driving in terms of wax/sealants i've only used megs carnuba wax, ag hd wax, simoniz liquid wax, angelwax choclate and the ag extra gloss sealant. Loved the ag hd wax and angelwax. Meguiars isn't bad for a quickie job and i HATED the simoniz liquid stuff :( like the extra gloss aswell, only sealant iv tried would like to try some more though! Its addictive isn't it

Durability isnt the best thats why i use it for summer, winter i use Collinite 476s

Glass sealant i use angelwax's glass sealant H2GO, £30 for 5 litres sooooo easy to apply.

Maybe we should get a Briskoda detailing day organised for summer.

Maybe we should get a Briskoda detailing day organised for summer.

Do it! Why not make a nice little durability road trip out of it all drive to Holland and have the detailing day here then drive back see how it holds up