Hi all

 

Just wanted to ask some advice / opinion on a small setup for cleaning my newly acquired MK1 Octvy VRS.

 

Car is Corrida Red, and for a 10year old, she is looking good other than some slight fade on the rear boot spolier.

 

So advice then, 

I admit i have never been a big cleaner / detailer of my previous vehicles, and other than clay bar and wax / polishing once before am a complete newbie when it comes to this and all the various types of wax / sealers to protect paint and make cleaning easier in future.

 

But....im determined to start now, and the VRS is really tidy and i would like to keep it that way.

 

I currently have at home, 

 

Bucket

Karcher with various nozzle attachments

Sponges

Turtle wax shampoo

Clay bar (unopened)

1 microfiber cloth

Assortment of small spray products such as, back to black, dash shine, bumper strip shine etc etc

 

Can people advise on a small and not too costly setup, listing bits and bobs i need to gather together to give myself a ready made, go to box of products i need to pop outside and wash and protect my car well at a moments notice.

 

I have read the wash / polish guide, very interesting, and from that info i think i will want to protect the car with a tougher longer lasting wax rather than something like Canuba that evaporates and needs reapplying more often.

 

Car is on a driveway but not garaged at all. 

I want to prep the car as best i can for winter now, especially with all the road salt that will inevitably get sprayed soon.

 

I have no idea of good places to pick up any more specialist products, all i have used before is halfords & Euro Car Parts as they are both local to me in Portsmouth.

 

Thanks in advance.

High4

OK...

Best tool you can buy is a Snow Foam lance and Snow Foam (Prewash prior to Two bucket wash)

Read here:  http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/car-care-advice.html

Also...Use this website to buy...They are brilliant:

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/

Any more questions?

Just ask...Here to be as helpful as possible

This might help:

Have a read of at a 'detail' I did on a mates' MX5...It will illustrate what products and methods to use...maybe not at once though...LOL

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/278522-mx5-detail/

Don't use sponges buy yourself a decent lambswool wash mit and get yourself another bucket so that you can rinse the mit out before you put it back into the wash bucket again for more soap solution (Known as the 2-buckect method). Also buy yourself a good microfibre drying towel such as the "Uber Drying Towel" lay it on the surface pat it over and lift off you'll be surpried that you can dry the whole car with on towel without wringing it out!. 

 

If you can go for it use a different wash mit for the wheels than the one used for the body work and look at Grit Guards for the bucket!

 

As ChrisRs said as you already have a karcher the snow foam lance is a good investment something like £40 with a snow foam sample on the group buy if my memory serves me right.

 

Don't rush the job and you'll be surprised and pleased with the results.

Agree that a good washmitts and a couple of buckets is a must.

 

One of the cheapest and best investments is a great big stock of microfibre towels (large and small) some for washing dirty bits of the car so as to save your good mitts, some for drying some for buffing.

 

The more you have the more often you can switch out the active MF for a fresh clean one one, helps stop grit transfer and at the protection stage stops the mf gettign overly clogged with wax or quick detailer when buffing.  It also removes any temptation to use the same MF for multiple tasks because you ran out.

 

I just keep a plastic bag handy and ditch all the used ones in there ready for a wash.  It takes a mountain of MF to fill a washing machine so it's not anymore work really to look after them.

 

Non-bio wash liquid and no softener.

Some great advice and tips, thank you all.

 

I will look to invest in a snow foam lance and the relevant foam.

 

Then its onto clay bar (have one of these new and wrapped still)

 

Then polish?

 

Then sealant?

 

Then wax?

 

Think thats the correct order.

 

Also found a website called Polished Bliss that seem to have a very good / comprehensive write of of step by step procedure and also recommendations on products to use with varying budgets?

What do you guys and girls think?

Have you read my Post #2?

Have you read my Post #2?

Ha ha, boy do i feel like the fool!!

 

Sorry Chris, yes i had looked at your post and clicked the link for both the clean your car and your impressive MX5 detail, but hadnt clicked the link for the polished bliss web.

 

Anyway, having now found it, it does appear to be well detailed for info.

Thanks

Follow Chris's advice

 

P.s. sponges are only to be used by you on your other half in the bath/shower or vice versa or to apply tyre dressing (but don't use the same one for both)! They are probs the biggest single factor in producing swirl marks on your car unless you use a car wash!

 

Welcome to the sad world of keepyourcarclean.nutters.co.uk

Follow Chris's advice

 

P.s. sponges are only to be used by you on your other half in the bath/shower or vice versa or to apply tyre dressing (but don't use the same one for both)! They are probs the biggest single factor in producing swirl marks on your car unless you use a car wash!

 

Welcome to the sad world of keepyourcarclean.nutters.co.uk

HaHa, good point

 

Glad to be a part of it......i think

Best advice really is use a

 

2 bucket method

Buy a Dooka wash mit from http://dooka.co.uk/dooka-wash-pads

 

I wouldnt worry about snow foam in my opinion for the time being 

 

For the rest check out http://www.cleanandshiny.co.uk and have a look around...

 

z6 is a great quick detailer and also gives great gloss

z5 is a good polish/sealant and gives good protection would say 2-3 coats

z8 over the top

 

if you get anything of the site let me know before hand and pm me as i have a 10% code at the moment 

Dont worry about Snow Foam?

Sorry to disagree ..........

but absolutely essential..especially this time of year with salt and dirt on the roads

Ok guys, going back to the snow foam / lance thing for a minute...

ChrisRs I noticed you said you were using a Demon Shine snow foam product at the moment and you seem pleased enough with it.

In Halfords, yes I know, they have 5ltr bottles of these with the lance part as an attachment that fits directly to the bottle, hence you only need to attach hose etc.

thoughts?

Also they have a lance made by and for Karcher?

Would this do me?

It will work but it won't give lots of foam...it will just apply it to the car

So a stand alone lance system is best then!?

So a stand alone lance system is best then!?

 

Before you buy the Karcher Lance from Halfords check out the group buy that ChrisRs referred to I think it was £40 including 500ml of snow foam or magifoam.

Yeah I have looked at that. Looks like a reasonable deal for the money.

Its a great deal and a quality item...Don't hesitate...You wont look back

I will NEVER again wash a car without one.......Summer or Winter!!

HaHa, good point

 

Glad to be a part of it......i think

 

Be warned..... there is no known cure.....

 

as far as the snow foam lance is concerned have a look at this on youtube which shows the sort of lance you'll need. the important thing is that it's got the dial on the top to regulate the air mixture which is what makes it foam up similar to what trumpton use but on a smaller scale!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnHIdIAQcPs

 

Personally I think he's got his settings wrong as the valet pro ph neutral snow foam I use gives a much thicker foam than he gets but the bl00dy stuff stays on my drive for ages!

 

this is similar to the 1 I got off ebay but there's loads of choice

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nilfisk-Kew-Alto-A-R-Compatible-Snow-Foam-Lance-/271279835364?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item3f2989c8e4#ht_1044wt_1328

 

I've used ultimate snow foam too in the past but prefer valet pro

 

here's their vid if you want to take a look. I use 1" of valet pro snowfoam in the bottom and top the container up with hot water which gives a good foam

 

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/snow-foam/ultimate-snow-foam-5-litres.aspx

 

cheers

Always have the mixer dialled turned fully to (-) and you cant go wrong with the mix

Dont worry about Snow Foam?

Sorry to disagree ..........

but absolutely essential..especially this time of year with salt and dirt on the roads

 

nope your more than welcome to disagree... this time of year i use a decent citrus pre wash from a pump sprayer as it gets the grime etc on the car much better...

 

I find that snow foam is ok on maintance washes but i would class it as an essential bit of kit from the beginning 

I use a Citrus (Type) Pre Wash on the lower areas only and then after a quick rinse, snow foam the car

I use a Citrus (Type) Pre Wash on the lower areas only and then after a quick rinse, snow foam the car

 

Oh no...... something else to add to my weekly clean. At this rate it'll soon have more stages to it than the Tour de France!  . Just bought a load of stuff from cleanyourcar too... bugger

 

what dilution rate do you use Chris?

 

BTW if anyone is interested I've just been into wilkinsons and they have the 2L bottles of Demon shine snowfoam for £8.99

10:1

I use this in the Winter months ONLY due to the extra filth and salt

and not every wash..depends how dirty it is

Apply with a Garden Pressure sprayer...Cheap to buy

 

http://www.valetpro.co.uk/prepare/citrus-pre-wash.html