Really. I'm only 34 (in July) but full of arthritis and crippled with kidney disease. I have hundreds of pounds worth of decontamination, cleaning, stripping, and sealant kit (WetCoat, BSD, C2v3, etc) in boxes under the stairs. Not to mention all the brushes, clay, 5 litre bottles of BH snow foam / wheel cleaner / whatnot and the portable hoovers. BUT, I have no facilities for washing at home. As such I've been doing the best second-best thing I could think of. That is, weekly trips to the local garage's jet wash and taking two buckets, a grit guard, lambswool mitt and a box of goodies (PH neutral shampoo, fallout remover, wheel cleaner, Gyeon Tar etc). It's costing £10+ a time and I'm absolutely knackered after it, only for the car to look dirty by the time I'm home.

 

I'm constantly chasing water marks and dirt around the car at home, dreading the fact it means another long, expensive (and physically painful) trip to the garage. The only up side is that 'just finished' look (while it lasts) and seeing the immense water behaviour BSD and C2 provide.  Thing is though, because I have no car garage at home I can't apply a 'hard' ceramic style sealant, and I refuse to pay hundreds for someone else to just because they have an indoor space and/or heat lamps. The car is thus picking up swirls from normal life (it's a family daily), and every single one constantly catches my eye and plays on my mind.

 

So, I give up. Why bother detailing when I could be driving the thing? I'm sick of working so hard to clean the car only for it to not be perfect. 

 

With that in mind, there was only one solution. I've ordered a Kärcher K2 compact pressure washer, which arrived today. I am also ordering a DA polisher (Shine Mate ERO600 from CYC seems good at the price), orange and white chemical guys hex pads, and some Poor Boys SSR 2.5 swirl remover (because it can be used in the sun without issue).

 

It seemed the obvious solution, and I don't know why it didn't occur to me earlier. The pressure washer just plugged straight into our outdoor tap, I ran the hose round to the front to the washer on the driveway, and less than five minutes later the car was sparkling. I didn't even need to physically touch it (yay sealants). It didn't cost a penny, I'm not knackered, and I can spend as long as I like getting it 'just so' without the machine beeping for more pound coins. I can let it dry fully before I drive it, and can detail it to my heart's content without leaving the comfort of my own home (plus the wife supplies brews).  I even tried the washer plugged into a water butt (perched on a wheelie bin for good gravity feeding) and again it worked perfectly.

 

I don't know why I didn't do this sooner tbh. It just seemed to be a step 'up' that wasn't for me. Pressure washers and polishers were things people who knew what they were doing had, so buying them didn't actually even occur to me for some reason. I was just a 'posh' garage washer sort - too stupid to know what to do with real detailing but too under the grip of 'The Bug' to let the auto washer touch it... 

 

Now I'm happy, and it didn't hurt a bit - so long as you don't ask my wallet anyway.  When the polisher arrives I'll be grabbing a black bonnet from the local scrappy and having at it to practice before I attack my S3's light swirls, but according to JunkMan2000's tutorials you can't go wrong or ever harm your car with a DA + hexlogic pads + taking your time. AFAIK black shows up swirls more and is harder to get 'right' apparently, so I figure the best 'training' colour. 

 

So, I've gone from being completely oblivious with a heavily swirled car (last year) to getting The Bug then getting frustrated, to being the guy who has almost a grand's worth of detailing kit, a proper washer, snow foam kit, more sealants than a bathroom fitter, and a polisher so my paint will finally have that immaculate mirror shine.

 

Tomorrow will be a full proper wash, followed by a spritz of WetCoat and a rinse. That'll keep things safely ticking over until my polisher is ready to go and another REAL decontamination, detail and protection can take place. I have litres and litres of BSD and C2, but I have a low boredom threshold and fancied a change. WetCoat is just something different to play with for this time around lol.

 

Yep. I'm giving up detailing... Am I doing it right??

Don't worry. I'll give you a crisp twenty for the lot :P

Don't worry. I'll give you a crisp twenty for the lot :p

 

You'll take the wife and the kids, so I have more time to spend on the car... and you'll pay me? Sold!

I'm glad you've a way that works for you mate!!! I think it's safe to say you've got all the kit now. Haha.

Let us know how you get on with the DA. And you're right, it would be pretty difficult to damage the car with a DA. The secret is patience, and the longer you spend on it, the better the finish. Especially when it comes to the refining stage. That's where the deep wet look comes from mostly. I feel your pain with black cars, I have two. The swirls come back, it is inevitable. But with the gear you have, they won't come back as quick or drastic.

Looking forward to the results mate! Enjoy!!

I used to try and keep the car clean all the time but it just takes too much effort! It's a car, a big metal box that gets driven around on the roads at the end of the day... it's going to get mucky!

 

I still like to look after it and won't let a sponge near it. Then every now and then I'll give it a quick once over with my cheap Halfords 240v polisher and some Poorboys black hole then a quick wax over then every other-ish wash (usually only get round to washing every month these days) I apply some quick wax/detailer.

 

It keeps the paint looking good but without the perfectionistic "zero swirl marks under bright light and a microscope" effect.

 

As much as I'd love to get all the gear like you and spend the time doing it (i'm sure the car would look amazing)... I just can't be bothered and would much rather be sat in the garden with a beer!

I've just started with a da on black magic with hexlogic pads and megs 205 and you can't go wrong. You have to put the effort in as its pretty mild but you can make it amazing. I spent an hour on the bonnet last week. Just keep your back straight and have fun!

Well as planned I spent a couple of hours this afternoon, though 22oC sun didn't help things along. I had to work in small sections as products were flashing really quick, but I managed to get to where I wanted to be soon enough:

• Wet down
• Bilt Hamber auto wheels soak
• Rinse
• Bilt Hamber snow foam soak (couple of mins, with a second application as it was starting to dry before running off)
• Rinse
• Gyeon Q2M WetCoat (one panel / windows / wheel at a time due to the heat)
• Rinse
• Hand application of homebrew LSP (Sonax BSD : Gtechniq C2v3 : distilled water at 1:1:2) with 2x Costco MFs
• 30% IPA scrub of the front and rear windscreens (badly waterspotted, full of bugs)
• Final all round paint buff with a new dry MF
• Interior cockpit clean (Sonax cockpit cleaner)
• Brush alcantara/leather seats
• Scrub cills with APC and treat with Sonax cockpit cleaner
• Wipe down interior glass with 30% IPA
• Final buff and seal of the alloys with LSP (on top of the WetCoat)
• Wipe tyre faces over with Meguiars Endurance Tyre Gel (first time using it, it's great stuff!)

And finally a rest! The paint really needs a full decontamination and claying (so does the windscreen), and a polish. I'll save that until later in the summer when it's really bad though. So far only a detailer would notice the difference, so "it'll do" for now. The paint has a few bonded contaminants on feeling it, and has quite a few 'greasy' feeling patches that wouldn't budge under light 'scrubbing' with BSD/C2v3. I managed to spread them out enough to be basically invisible but I know they're there. The body shop really messed the paint up and added tons of swirls, but it's only apparent if you really look so I'm not fussed until I get my DA. 

 

We went out for a carvery afterwards, but I did remember to grab you a couple of phone snaps as requested when I got there. Sorry the sun's nearly gone down, so no amazing reflective bright shine. You can see the depth of the wet look on the paint under the evening high contrast light, so it's not all bad. Can't wait to see it after a polish! The petrol blue paint is great, it really pops in bright light and varies between deep blue and light sparkly green depending on ambient conditions. I know a couple of people above assumed I had a black car, but I only said I'd buy a black bonnet to practice on because it's a hard colour to work with (i.e. will let me learn easier / better) so I know I'm safe to go nuts on my own car afterwards.

 

Sorry for the long message, I hope you like it.

 

http://imgur.com/a/oN0GJ

Edited 2 June, 201610 yr by Derv