Hi guys, I'm not normally a person for washing my cars, I normally just replace the panels when they are rotten, however my felicia was resprayed about 3 months ago so the paint is in tip top condition, I do try and keep it clean too despite what I said above...

Anyway I'm digressing, I've purchased some turtle wax in a dark green bottle for metallic finishes, it was in the reduced bin at the local petrol station for £2, me being a cheapskate it appealed to my working class sensibility! what's the best way to get the best results from this stuff? Is there any other process I should use to keep the thing clean? Previously I've tried using various waxes from auto-glym which I had kicking about in the garage at home and it works out pretty well, when the sun shines it damn nearly burns your eyeballs out looking at it

it's a pearlescent colour if that makes any difference. Maybe I'm being too OCD about it?

So you spend probably a fair bit of money

(EDIT. Or your time in this instance) on getting the paint done

and you wish to protect it with a £2 product....?

Seriously Tom, can't you blag a free mini detail/valet from a helpful member 

while you are on your travels?

I've just returned from Grays where I did just that for a pal of mine who has been using 

Simoniz wash and wax and that bloody orrible Mer stuff. He literally didn't realise 

there was anything better product wise out there. Nor had he ever put a pressure

washer over his car in the 3 years he's owned it. A nice A4 3.0TDI S-line.  

 

All in it took about 4 hours with us both working on it with him helping me.

I gave his car a prewash/rinse then snowfoam/rinse, hand wash/rinse, claymitt/rinse,

handwash/rinse dry and then a good dollop of Black hole show glaze all over the paint.

Then we cleaned, and ironx'd his wheels then re cleaned and sprayed with tar remover

then washed dried and sealed up with a good hard wax. 

Then we buffed up the bodywork and then waxed it with Nattys blue paste. 

A bit of tyre dressing and we were done. 

My pal was flabbergasted, he's never seen anything like it before!!

He's 50 and quite set in his ways so to see how well things like 

clay bar, Blackhole, Soft car wax, and snowfoam work all in the same day

was a bit much for him tbh. I may have converted another one :p

As soon as we were finished he was snapping away with his camera 

almost straight away and wants me to set him up with a list of stuff to get 

to make his car cleaning regime a bit more up to date. 

It would probably take me longer to do all that than it would for ME to respray it again. I think you are missing the point a bit, it's not a grotty old 10 year old audi, the paint is concourse condition probably better than when it left the factory.

Come on Tom, there's no need to have a pop at what car my mate drives

is there? I'm only trying to help here. I assume that's why you asked the

question in the first place. 

 

There's a very good reason turtle wax stuff isn't widely sold by proper

detailing suppliers. That reason is that they make more money selling their stuff 

to people who don't know any better so you're more likely to find it in either a Supermarket 

or Halfords (Still a supermarket really although they have started stocking better stuff lately)

or a petrol station (Also in essence a supermarket these days)  

 

I'm not trying to dig you out here Tom, but if you want quality protection

then quality products are better. 

If you want to keep it (not grotty) and concourse then maybe you should consider a clear

vinyl wrap, and then you can wash and wax that in the same way you would paint

and it would provide much more of a physical barrier between your paint and the elements.

 

EDITED to add some phone pics my mate took of our days efforts. 

(Mine was already clean except for a driving it down to London so we only did the A4)

 

 

 

 

 

Come on Tom, there's no need to have a pop at what car my mate drives

is there? I'm only trying to help here. I assume that's why you asked the

question in the first place. 

 

There's a very good reason turtle wax stuff isn't widely sold by proper

detailing suppliers. That reason is that they make more money selling their stuff 

to people who don't know any better so you're more likely to find it in either a Supermarket 

or Halfords (Still a supermarket really although they have started stocking better stuff lately)

or a petrol station (Also in essence a supermarket these days)  

 

I'm not trying to dig you out here Tom, but if you want quality protection

then quality products are better. 

If you want to keep it (not grotty) and concourse then maybe you should consider a clear

vinyl wrap, and then you can wash and wax that in the same way you would paint

and it would provide much more of a physical barrier between your paint and the elements.

+1

Concourse standard paintwork demands concours standard products

Throw it away Tom

+1

Concourse standard paintwork demands concours standard products

Throw it away Tom

The car or the turtle wax?

Kidding

How very dare you, it's my baby, I've spent over £600 on parts this week just to make it drive exactly as it did before.. Crazy.. What a money pit.. I'm not having a pop at your mates audi, I'm a massive audi fanboy myself here too, I've got a tuned up s4 making silly power but it only comes out a handful of times a year...

right ok, so what do I need to properly protect this car then? It seems that every time I drive it it needs cleaning, what are these snow foam things all about then? I don't think I've ever seen one? Might I add that when it does get driven it doesn't have a sheltered life, it's driven like it's stolen too.

How very dare you, it's my baby, I've spent over £600 on parts this week just to make it drive exactly as it did before.. Crazy.. What a money pit.. I'm not having a pop at your mates audi, I'm a massive audi fanboy myself here too, I've got a tuned up s4 making silly power but it only comes out a handful of times a year...

right ok, so what do I need to properly protect this car then? It seems that every time I drive it it needs cleaning, what are these snow foam things all about then? I don't think I've ever seen one? Might I add that when it does get driven it doesn't have a sheltered life, it's driven like it's stolen too.

Tom, please PM me your address and when I get chance I will post you some samples.

Only if you promise to please throw that green bottle of discount bin turtle wax back in the discount bin.

I suggest if everyone on here who really doesn't want to see concourse standard paint ever meet turtle wax polish in a dark alley, offers to do the same, we might just be able to turn Tom to the darkside of detailing. What do we think guys?

I'm up for donating some waxybox samples etc

Waxy box for free did you say??? Over here son!!!

I'm going to be taking the car off the road for a few months when the tax runs out at the end of the month, so ideally I need to clean it properly before in goes in, there's going to be a long series of mechanical repairs and a bit if re-engineering of the engine/gearbox mountings, new turbo, shallow sump, replace the cam chain tensioner, and fabricate a new 2.5" exhaust system from downpipe back while it's away, thing is I've found is that when the thing is layed up for ages it gets really dirty and dusty.

Something else I noticed, you wouldn't believe the places you will find overspray if you look hard enough, I need to do something about the glass too, it's a bit ropey, after the car had been in my unit for nearly 2 years there wa lots of grinding and weld debris on the windscreen, I spend hours with a Stanley knife blade scraping it off.

the thing I always struggle with is getting car properly dry after washing, I bought some microfiber towels from b&q for... Ahem... Wait for it... £2 each

Waxy box for free did you say??? Over here son!!!

Errm that would be no!

And WHAT THE FXXX is wrong with turtle wax? Turtle wax on this, on body and on tyres?

And WHAT THE FXXX is wrong with turtle wax? Turtle wax on this, on body and on tyres?

And the lesson kids, is don't drink and forum!

And the lesson kids, is don't drink and forum!

No drink here, tea total last 12 years. That is what having 'kids' and being grown up does to you. Roflmao at assumptions.

The car above is a skoda, not a Porsche? If I could afford super waxes do you think I would be driving a skoda?

For the non kids here, that car is waxed with obviously not goood enough turtle wax ice.

Looks ok to me, and I'm not viewing through beer goggles....

Decent wax can be very affordable. 

Of course the sky is the limit, and others may prefer using other products,

But I've found you needn't spend bundles to get some quality protection

I use the blue version of this in summer as I tend to favour black cars.

I use this for wheels (and on bodywork in winter) as it's bulletproof. 

 

(Can be used on Porsches and also Skodas)

Decent wax can be very affordable.

I use the blue version of this as I tend to favour black cars.

Nice link. Great input. Thumbs up

Nice link. Great input. Thumbs up

This is a great alternative in my opinion and a better choice.

It's cheap enough will give you all the shine you could want, very easy to apply as it's a liquid wax, it's tried and tested and loved by lots of us, and your biggest saving factor is it's durability.

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wax/collinite-no-845-insulator-wax/prod_208.html

^^^

Have yet to try that, but will order a bottle on my next stockup.

Was also going to give the liquid version of Nattys blue a try first 

as I love the paste version dearly, especially the smell :love: .  

No drink here, tea total last 12 years. That is what having 'kids' and being grown up does to you. Roflmao at assumptions.

The car above is a skoda, not a Porsche? If I could afford super waxes do you think I would be driving a skoda?

For the non kids here, that car is waxed with obviously not goood enough turtle wax ice.

Looks ok to me, and I'm not viewing through beer goggles....

Couple of points to answer here.

That was some light hearted humour aimed at your use of capitals and to my mind unnecessary swearing. Only real point to make was that no one should get that het up about Turtlewax. I'm not on here to upset anyone.

My car is a Skoda too, that's why I'm on here. If I could afford a Porsche I would still own a Skoda but live in a bigger house

Lastly look back at some of your previous threads, you will see I've been nothing but complimentary about the cleaning you've done. Look back at some of my threads and you'll see I really rate Turtle Wax Ice as a budget synthetic wax and I have championed a lot of products you would find for £2.00 in Asda.

If I could afford a Porsche I would still own a Skoda but live in a bigger house

Haha +1

Sent using my right thumb

And WHAT THE FXXX is wrong with turtle wax? Turtle wax on this, on body and on tyres?

Nothing!

BUT

Many of us replying to the post have used better products

As already said..you don't need expensive products to get a good finish/durability.

I have used Swissvax waxes and they are overpriced with no apparent improvement in finish and reflectivity

IME Turtle wax Ice gives short term satisfaction, but poor durability.

It really depends what you want...Do you want to reapply it every 3 to 4 weeks or 3 to 4 months?

 

If I were you, I would carry on with your TW Ice ...now you have it, but apply some Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer after every 3 to 4 washes

Rather than hear it from those of us who are perhaps in the eyes of many, a bit OTT when it comes to these things.

 

If this is the stuff Tom, ask Matty (Slotty), he did a recent detail with this as his last stage protection and final results aside, I don't think he would recommend it as apart from anything else it was horrendous stuff to work with.  I have PM'd him.

 

It's also worth noting that from the description, the original wax is a cleaner wax, which may not be what you are after.

We have also only focused on one part of your question, which LSP - Last Stage Protection), which is important.

However equally important in keeping your nice paint to a good standard will most likely be your wash procedure. Going overly cheap here is a false economy because hand washing is one of the biggest causes of swirl marks in paint. Pre-washing, two bucket method washing with good wash material like a lambswool mitt and then drying off with a Quick Detail Spray and Soft Microfibre drying towel are just as important, if not more so than which wax you use.

I would suggest looking at

Demon Shine Rapid Dirt Shifter (from Asda)

Some Autoglym Body Conditioner Shampoo or Meguiars Gold Class

Two 15l buckets, one for clean wash water and one for rinsing out your mitt's dirty water in.

A Meguiars Lambswool Washmitt

A quick detail spray like Autoglym Rapid Detailer

And a couple of Microfibre Drying Towels with deep pile (Also available from Asda for £2.00 each)

Pre-washing removes a lot of dirt before you touch the car

Two bucket method stops grit and dirt being dragged across the paint as much, reducing swirling

A deep lambswool mitt or washpad, carries dirt off the paint rather than holds it against it

Spray your quick detailer on the car as a drying aid, it will cause water to run off the more easily, lubricate the drying towel to stop it marring the paint and most will leave a pleasing shine behind. Quick detailers can also be used to clean up any water spotting left by the wash process.

Microfibre drying towels are more effective dryers and also are kind to paint.

I see you're in Posting Mode today Mark!!

Good advice there..as always

I see you're in Posting Mode today Mark!!

Good advice there..as always

 

 

Haha it comes and goes, largely dependant on whether i am interested in the work I've got on my desk that day.

 

I do what I can

 

thanks Chris

Please don't use the Turtle Wax. Waste of time, money and very difficult to work with...I bought one of those mentioned by Sparkly cos it was on offer. I wasn't really into cleaning the cars and thought that will do...I was wrong and wasted soo much time trying to buff this off, it left plenty of white marks on my trims which meant I had to use the decent  quick detailer (Megs) to get rid of it (with Sparkly's Help).

I the decided to purchase some decent wax and other products which might costs more but will be much easier to work with and will also last much longer.

I purchased some Dodo Waxes and used it on wife car week after I did my car and results were great. Really impressed with it. Soo much easier to work with, smells great and lasts much longer.

I did my car two weeks ago using the turtle wax and even tho it looked nice once done, it needs doing again even tho I used Sonax on the top of the wax. I can see some white marks here and there and I'm not happy with it.

I know it's cheap but please don't waste your money and LOTS OF TIME as it's not worth it. I used it once and won't use I again for sure.

Matty aka Slotty