Cheers, I'll have to have a gander. Spent some time on mine last week, gave it a good clean and put some effort in, looks alright for a old girl. Thinking I might invest in some wax, never used any before.

Poorboys black hole show glaze and Nattys blue are my chosen weapons too. 

30quid should see you with one of each and a few microfibre cloths.

I applied the nattys to my paint directly with my fingertips last weekend.

But a foam applicator is less messy, you'll need one for the nattys and another

for the black hole, 

You'll also need a couple of buckets, a drying towel or two, a half decent mitt

(Noodle mitts are cheap and okay) and some decent shampoo,

Meguiars gold class is superb.  

That's the bare basics

clean mine every 7-10 days, even during winter, if anything more so during winter because of the grit etc :(

 

here she was last weekend:

 

 

Cleaned well

BUT

Some pretty bad swirls in picture two

You need it machine polishing

Winter be gone after lastweeks machind polish topped off with kleenfreaks standard wax.

Winter be gone after lastweeks machind polish topped off with kleenfreaks standard wax.

 

that reflection's so clear it looks a bit like a ghost car, parked between two houses. Nice work

that reflection's so clear it looks a bit like a ghost car, parked between two houses. Nice work

Haha thanks. . .loooong process to get it that shiney but well worth the effort.

I was always under the impression you wax then polish? Is it the other way round? N00b error by me. Srp then megs wax?

And yeh a machine polish and some stone chip removal is on the cards in the coming months

Cleaned well

BUT

Some pretty bad swirls in picture two

You need it machine polishing

glade I'm not the only one that noticed this!

I was always under the impression you wax then polish? Is it the other way round? N00b error by me. Srp then megs wax?

And yeh a machine polish and some stone chip removal is on the cards in the coming months

No.....Wax is for protection only

Autoglym Super Resin Polish (AGSRP) is a sort of All in One Product...Its has mild abrasives to clean the paint surface, fillers to fill swirls and a small amount of sealer to protect the paintwork.

This protection is not very durable, so it essential to add a wax or sealer over the AGSRP unless you want to use the Autoglym again

Aaaahh ok. Well every day is a school day

I enjoy cleaning my car so learning to do it properly is good

Anything I can do apart from machine polish to remove swirls? What products are there?

Masking them is only a temporary fix

AGSRP will mask them partially

You really do need to get it polished

Shame youre so far away..I'd do it for you

Aaaahh ok. Well every day is a school day

I enjoy cleaning my car so learning to do it properly is good

Anything I can do apart from machine polish to remove swirls? What products are there?

Make sure to de tar and remove iron before machine polishing. . Tar-x and iron-x for those jobs. . I use auto finesse iron out. . Smells like crap but you wouldnt believe what it brings out of the paint.

Give it a rinse, then clay all the surfaces to be polished. . .

I use menzerna polishes with my da, there really good. .

Theres lots of different grade polishes (the menzerna polishes are numbered like sand paper) and cutting pads are also a factor (compounding, polishing, finishing etc), dont use any that are too agressive

CWizzle knows nothing about the tasks you describe. I suggest a read of this:

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