Hope someone can help.

 

For the past few years I have taken my cars to a local hand car wash at Tesco once a month and they do a good job.

Now I have my new Karoq I want to do it myself but am unsure which products they use. I don't want to spend hours 'detailing' it .... just get it clean with a decent shine.

 

I know the carwash guys spray something onto the wheels before starting the body work. 

The guy who ran the carwash told me they use Autoglym products but wouldn't tell me any more than that i.e. which ones, what dilutions, which product goes on wheels and which on bodywork etc.

 

So ..... any help would be appreciated.

I have a Karcher powerwasher which I can use.

 

Thanks

 

Steve

I find water from a hose and a sponge/bucket with a blob of cheap Triplewax car shampoo in lukewarm water works for me.

 

And asking myself, "do I really need to wash it?” helps a lot with my anxiety on this issue.

Let's start with things you DON'T want to be using when washing cars.......

 

Sponges, chamois leathers, drying blades, washing up liquid and wonder wheels.  The first 3 will scratch your paintwork (badly) and leave you with swirl marks, washing up liquid will strip any wax/sealant protection and wonder wheels (OK for the odd deep clean) but will damage wheels over time.

 

The safest way to wash a car is to use the two bucket method where you have a bucket with your car shampoo in and a bucket of clean water (ideally with a grit guard in it).  You load your washmitt up with shampoo, clean a panel and then rinse it in the clean water bucket.  That way all the dirt you've just cleaned off doesn't go into the shampoo and back on your car.  Also, use cold water and don't wash your car when the paintwork is warm/hot.  Warm/hot paintwork is softer which makes it easier to scratch when you wash it.

 

Once washed, spray off the shampoo and do a final rinse with an open hose.  If there's wax/sealant protection on the car, the water will sheet off leaving little on the paintwork so there's less to dry off.

 

When you dry the car, used a microfibre drying towel to blot up the water rather than rubbing the paintwork.

 

So, for a basic wash kit....

 

2 buckets

Grit Guard

Wash mitt (can be microfibre or lambswool)

Car shampoo/wash & wax (currently using simoniz wash & wax from halfords)

Microfibre drying towel

Turtlewax wax it wet is a good product to use in between waxes, helps you dry the car and adds to the protection

 

You will need to apply wax periodically, colinite is a good make that lasts AGES.  You can go 3-4 months between applications, I've had the same tin for 10 years!!!  Currently using Fusso Dark Coat 99 which is lasting a little longer.  Both are really easy to apply.

 

For your wheels, Bilberry wheel cleaner is really good and relatively inexpensive.  A microfibre sponge works well on the wheels but you may need a little trial and error between sponge/brushes depending on your style of wheels.

 

Edited 15 February, 20197 yr by Russ77

Strange that my Alhambra survived 20 years of sponge/cheap car shampoo and still managed to look showroom fit, with no damaged paintwork.

 

I find Billberries are better eaten as a desert rather than applied to alloy wheels.

 

If anything scratches, microfibre will.

1 minute ago, xman said:

Strange that my Alhambra survived 20 years of sponge/cheap car shampoo and still managed to look showroom fit, with no damaged paintwork.

 

I find Billberries are better eaten as a desert rather than applied to alloy wheels.

 

If anything scratches, microfibre will.

 

Your paintwork may have "survived" but I will almost guarantee that when there's sunlight on your car you see swirlmarks/scratches all over it.  Fair enough it that's acceptable to you, I'm a little more obsessive about the definition of "shiny"

People that tell me their local car wash do a great job and their car always looks shiny..... well yes it does look shiny until you look a little closer.

Microfibre cloths do have the potential to scratch paintwork but so does anything you use but they are less likely to inflict damage and if they do it's less than a sponge.

Anything with a pile is better to use as it gives dirt/grit the opportunity to be removed and not sit their between the washing surface and the paintwork acting as an abrasive.  The same applies to a chamois leather.

Id also recommend getting a quick detailer to help with drying after washes, meguiars do a good one

As helpful as people are on Briskoda in all things Skoda, this is where I get most of my information from when it comes to all things car cleaning;

 

https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/

I was in exactly the same boat as the OP when I picked up my new-to-me Superb Mk3 in January last year (and I freely admit to being a complete amateur at this). I had hammered the previous Superb through the local machine wash on a weekly basis and while it looked great from six feet away, you could see the damage that had been done when looking closely from a foot away. I also didn't want to go down the "detailing" route due to lack of time and (at the time) interest. So I bought a basic set of kit (I like what I have, but every reputable company will do a decent alternative):

- Decent microfibre cloths (Polished Bliss)

- Cheapest microfibre towels I could find for the wheels (Halfords)

- Wheel brush (Halfords)

- Drying towel (Woolly Mammoth)

- Paint Cleanser (Bilt Hamber)

- Tar remover (Oblitarate)

- Metallic deposit remover (Bilt Hamber Korrosol)

- Wheel cleaner (Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner - I have diamond-cut wheels so needed something gentle)

- Wheel wax (Mint Rims)

- Protectant Wax (Fusso Dark)

- Top up wax (Meguiars Ultimate)

- Tyre gel (Autoglym)

 

It sounds like a huge list and a lot of work, but in reality it isn't. When I first got the car I used the Paint Cleanser, Tar remover, Metallic Deposit remover and wheel cleaner to get the car back to the bare bones. It is possible to also do polishing etc at this point, but on a new car you shouldn't need to. Then I added two coats of Fusso Dark to the paintwork and three coats of Mint Rims to the wheels. I actually did this over two weekends, splitting it between bodywork as one session and wheels as the second. I then put all of that stuff away for six months.

 

On a fortnightly basis I wash the car using a garage jet-wash (purists will say two buckets and a decent wash mitt - I agree but sadly have no water where I park my car), dry it using the woolly mammoth and add a top up of Meguiar's Ultimate Wax or Quik-Wax. Then I put a rub of tyre gel on. Takes a couple of hours at most. 

 

Every six months I strip it back to the bare paint and start again.

 

Try something like that to start with - you will be minimising the amount of damage you are doing and getting a lot of satisfaction from the results. If you want to go further into it, then you can explore snow-foam, home pressure-washers, exotic waxes etc. I've gone from seeing it as a pain that has to be got through to being a really enjoyable couple of hours of "me-time" with massive satisfaction at the end of it. I certainly won't be going back to my local machine wash ever again...

Thanks for all the replies to my question