Getting Started

[Brocky]

So, to help pass the time waiting for my car to be built, I've been looking into how best to look after it once it's here.




I've joined DW and have been looking into the myriad of products and techniques available.

So, after looking for info on how to keep my new baby looking good, I now realise that it's mainly about doing things the right way in an attempt to keep your pride and joy in the best possible condition and looking the business....and not about being an obsessive nutter with too much time on their hands. Well, not for most people, anyway...

Now, I don't aspire to be a detailer in any way. I do, however, want to keep my shiny new pride and joy in as good a condition as time and finances will allow. Ideally, I'd like to have a situation where I can do a quick wash once a week, a wax every month or two and then a big clean every three or four months or so. I'm also looking for as deep and rich a finish from the Indium Grey, as is possible.

So, I've done some digging around and have come up with a list of what I think is a good place to start for me. Here is what I have so far but I'd appreciate some input on the stuff I haven't made a decision on as well as the stuff I have and also anything I've missed or that I maybe don't need;

Pressure washer - Nilfisk C110
Snowfoam lance - AutoBrite (DW group buy)
2x buckets - Wickes?
2x Grit guards - ?
1x Lamb's wool wash mit - ?
Lots of MF cloths - (How many? Different makes for different jobs?)
2x MF drying towel - ?
Brushes - Envy Valeting brushes
2x Wax applicators - Autofinesse - Wax Mate

1x Snowfoam - 5L Magifoam
1x DeTar - Tardis
1x Shampoo - Angel Wax Superior Automotive Shampoo
2x Clay bar - Bilthamber medium
1x Wheel cleaner - Iron X
1x Wheel sealant - Gtechniq C5
1x Paint cleaner / Polish / Glaze - (Needed for new car?)
1x LSP sealant - (Necessary? Only for winter? Wax for summer?)
1x LSP wax - Poorboys Natty's Paste Blue
1x QD spray - Angel Wax QED
1x Emergency bird poo remover - ?
1x Tyre dressing - ?
1x Glass cleaner - Angelwax Superior Automotive Glass Cleaner
1x Glass sealant - Angelwax H2Go
1x Rubber protection - Gummi Pflege Rubber Care
1x Leather cleaner / sealant - ?
1x Interior trim cleaner - ?
1x All purpose cleaner - ?

*Damn! That list just kept on growing!

So that's what I have so far. I'm sure there are hundreds of products, thingymadoojits and whatchamacallits that people would recommend, but as I said, I'm pretty much looking at the novice essentials for the time being.

I'm really liking the look of the Angel Wax stuff. I'm reading a lot of really good things about lots of their products.

Also, any advice on dealing with the vinyl stripes when it comes to using products? Anything I definitely should or shouldn't be using on them?

Polish and/or Glaze: This is the part I'm having most difficulty getting my head around. Are they essentially the same thing or completely different? Are they only needed for correction work or essential for getting a deep glossy look? Even on a brand new car? I am aware that even brand new cars can have swirls, but given the car will be new and my novice status, is it worth it?

Overkill: I know some of the hardcore guys love to buy and try products like crazy and have garages full of stuff....but my list is getting longer and cost (I've not even drawn up the courage to get an estimated total yet, lol) is rising along with it. So, are there some things on my list that I probably don't necesarily need, due to another product on the list being able to do as good a job. ie: Multi-purpose cleaner covering a few different jobs, tyre cleaners that would also do interior trim, etc..

MF Cloths: I presume I'll need four or five different ones each dedicated to specific jobs. I'll get a bunch of the Costco ones, but should I have a few 'quality' ones for certain jobs?

Thanks in advance for help and suggestions!

[Brocky]

So, after lots of reasearch and some A1 help from James at Remyroc Detailing, I have my list pretty much complete. I reckon my new baby is going to be spoiled rotten!

Pressure washer - Nilfisk C110 - £59.99
2x buckets - Ultimate Finish Two Bucket Set With Scratch Shields - £25.90
1x Lamb's wool wash mit - Autobrite Polar Woolen Wash Mitt - £14.00
Lots of MF cloths - Eurow range (EBay)
1x MF drying towel - Chemical Guys - Wooly Mammoth - £17.95
Brushes - Envy Valeting brushes - £6.99
1x Wax applicators - Autofinesse - Wax Mate - £3.45
1x Wheel brush - Wheel Woolies - £39.95
1x Polish applicator - Flexipads Tri-Foam Oval Applicator Pad - £3.95

1x Snowfoam - 5L Magifoam with lance - £61.00
1x DeTar - Tardis - £21.00
1x DeIron - CarPro Iron X - £9.95
1x Shampoo - Angel Wax Superior Automotive Shampoo - £5.99
1x Clay bar - Bilthamber medium - £10.95
1x Wheel cleaner - Valet Pro Bilberry - £8.95
1x Wheel sealant - Gtechniq C5 - £22.95
1x Paint cleaner / Polish / Glaze - Auto Finesse Tripple - £7.95
1x LSP sealant - GTechniq c2v3 (Winter) - £5.95
1x LSP wax - Angel Wax Desirable - £45.00
1x QD spray - Angel Wax QED - £5.99
1x Tyre dressing - Tuf Shine Tire Appearance Kit -
1x Glass cleaner - Angelwax Superior Automotive Glass Cleaner - £5.99
1x Glass sealant - Angelwax H2Go - £4.95
1x Leather cleaner - Angelwax Heaven for Leather - £5.95
1x Leather sealant - Gtechniq L1 - £5.95
1x All purpose / Interior trim cleaner - Autobrite FAB - £9.00

TOTAL - £409.70

Ouch!

The majority of the stuff I can get from CleanYourCar, a fair chunk from Angel Wax and then four or five remaining items from individual websites or EBay.

It's a good thing it's coming up to Christmas....I can cover some of this by putting it on my letter to Santa!

[skyblues11]

Man Brocky! You might as well detail your neighbors' cars as well and get paid in the process.

Polish / Glaze - i have Dodo juice Lime prime lite. Its a non-abrasive cleaner. I understand what you mean by swirl marks but i think those that contain abrasives maybe too aggressive. As a new car i would let the chemical do the work without any additional cutting. If you do get bad swirl marks, then deal with this later.

Dodo juice does some waxes that are color specific. worth looking at.

Clay - fine would be better i think, rather than medium.

Carpro antifog for the interior - i know you don't have this, but beware. its tricky to put on and its not as clear as one might expect. Good for the summer when you are using the aircon after a wet day, but have to put up with a slight haze.

IPA - Isoprophyl alcohol - when mixed 1/2 with distilled water, this makes a good degreaser and for removing glass sealant after a certain period.

disposable Nitrile gloves - must be powderless and keeps your hand clear of those nasty chemicals. They usually comes in a box of 100.

MF cloths - i;d say longhair ones for removing wax, drying car and collect dust in the interior. waffle ones for the glass.

anyway, off to bed now. http://www.waxamomo.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; are having a 20% off this weekend. worth checking out.

[Brocky]

Man Brocky! You might as well detail your neighbors' cars as well and get paid in the process.

Once they see me out front, rocking the snowfoam and then once they see the end result, I'm sure one or two of them will ask.

Polish / Glaze - i have Dodo juice Lime prime lite. Its a non-abrasive cleaner. I understand what you mean by swirl marks but i think those that contain abrasives maybe too aggressive. As a new car i would let the chemical do the work without any additional cutting. If you do get bad swirl marks, then deal with this later.

The AF Tripple is abrasive, but it's basically as gentle a cut as you can get. Polished Bliss give it a 1 out of 10 cut level, it's also suitable for soft paints and it's only applied by hand....so it shouldn't be a problem if I go easy....and I'll know that I'm getting the very best from the Indium Grey once I apply the LSP.

What I do need to figure out, though, is how to deal with the GTS' vinyl stripes when using each of the different products. Any advice?

Dodo juice does some waxes that are color specific. worth looking at.

I've looked at many waxes and I've settled on Angel Wax Desirable as it's a wax that seemingly punches well above it's price-tag (If you know the back-story, it's basically Auto Finesse Desire at half the price!) and strikes a nice balance between great looks and durability. The LSP is only 5-10 percent of the overall finish, however. I will likely try a range of waxes & sealants, over time, though.

Clay - fine would be better i think, rather than medium.

The grading is; Regular, Soft & Medium and is only relative to how plyable the clay is, it seems.

Auto-clay is available in regular, medium and soft grades. Regular for intensive cleaning of moderate to heavy contamination and / or summer use, soft clay is designed for more frequent and / or winter use and medium clay is suitable for all round use. All grades contain exactly the same particle size and low moh's hardness pure mineral filler.

Bilt Hamber Auto-clay Soft was specially formulated to compliment the original Bilt Hamber clay bar. This softer, easier to mould formulation makes claying intricate areas of modern panel folds much easier. Folding the bar to reveal clean clay is easier too, speeding up the whole process. The soft bar allows regular detailer's to maintain silky smooth paintwork with the minimum of effort and fuss.

I only intend to clay once every 4-6 months (early spring and just before winter) so I thought that Medium would be the way forward.

IPA - Isoprophyl alcohol - when mixed 1/2 with distilled water, this makes a good degreaser and for removing glass sealant after a certain period.

Yeah, good shout. I'll get some of this. I read that whilst AW H2Go is an amazing product, it can be a bitch to remove. It is a water repellant, after all!

MF cloths - i;d say longhair ones for removing wax, drying car and collect dust in the interior. waffle ones for the glass.

Ordered the Chemical Guys Wooly Mammoth for drying. I'll get a pack of 36 EuroW ones from Costco (£15) for general work and then maybe a couple of 'special' ones for finishing.

[skyblues11]

For the vinyl stripes, i would consider products you would use for dressing plastic bumpers, or this specific one;

Prima Nero - Rubber/Vinyl protectant

i am no expert on vinyls but it must behave differently to paint on metal and therefore needs a different type of protection.

don't forget this: Sonax Gummi Pfleger Rubber Care

you apply this around the door rubber to prevent the window glass from sticking to the rubber in winter. If you don't use it, sometimes the door won't open after a hard night of frost.

[dstill]

In regards to clay I would invest in a clay mitt. I've used standard clay bars for a few years and although they do a fantastic job it is a very labour intensive decontamination process.

I've just started using a clay mitt and I would never go back to a clay bar, probably does the same job in 1/10th of the time and is much easier to use. The drawback is they are around £40 but can be used multiple times, not sure how many yet.

[murdoch]

All good stuff but at this time of year if the temp is to low its a hard old slog plus the moment you move its covered again the winter months are best kept to washing and keeping the grit off the paint as much as possible id leave the detailing to the spring its just heartbreaking to see your hard work undone by a passing double Decker

[Brocky]

Just ordered a few more things for my collection.

The items in green are what I've ordered so far. Not much more left to get now.

Pressure washer - Nilfisk C110 - £53.98
2x buckets - Ultimate Finish Two Bucket Set With Scratch Shields - £25.90
1x Wash mit - Microfiber Madness Incredimitt - £14.00
Lots of MF cloths - Costco range
1x MF drying towel - Chemical Guys - Wooly Mammoth - £17.95
Brushes - Envy Valeting brushes - £6.99
1x Wax applicators - Autofinesse - Wax Mate - £3.50
1x Wheel brush - Wheel Woolies - £33.00
1x Polish applicator - Flexipads Tri-Foam Oval Applicator Pad - £3.50

1x Snowfoam - 5L Magifoam with lance - £61.00
1x DeTar - Tardis - £21.00
1x DeIron - CarPro Iron X - £9.95
1x Shampoo - Angel Wax Superior Automotive Shampoo - £5.99
1x Clay bar - Bilthamber medium - £10.95
1x Wheel cleaner - Valet Pro Bilberry - £7.46
1x Wheel sealant - Gtechniq C5 - £22.95
1x Paint cleaner / Polish / Glaze - Auto Finesse Tripple - £7.95
1x LSP sealant - GTechniq c2v3 (Winter) - £5.95
1x LSP wax - Angel Wax Desirable - £45.00
1x QD spray - Angel Wax QED - £6.49
1x Tyre dressing - Tuf Shine Tire Appearance Kit -
1x Glass cleaner - Angelwax Superior Automotive Glass Cleaner - £5.99
1x Glass sealant - Angelwax H2Go - £4.95
1x Leather cleaner - Angelwax Heaven for Leather - £5.75
1x Leather sealant - Gtechniq L1 - £5.95
1x All purpose / Interior trim cleaner - Autobrite FAB - £9.00

Ended up going for the Microfiber Madness Increditmitt, instead of the AutoBrite Merino mitt. It seems to be getting rave reviews at the moment and should be easier to take care of.

[Brocky]

Still more to be delivered this week.

[uklee]

I Have to say Brocky , your 'Getting started' post inspired me to think seriously about dipping my toes into the world of detailing & taking proper care of my brand new GTS . I've been a petrol head for years , and had the usual motley collection of Tcut , turtle wax , and a few other bits & bobs scattered about in my garage - the kinda stuff that came out once in a blue moon. Whilst a cheap sponge , plus a bucket and a hose once every 3 weeks was my normal 'regime' .

After reading your posts , and others from more hardened detailers ,i've started building up my own little 'collection' . I have a friend who works at Halfords , who started me off with a (very heavily discounted) AutoGlym car care kit , and it's sort of 'grown' form there . I was getting good results with the autoglym products , and whilst browsing ebay i came across another AG kit - but this time branded as VW Lifeshine . (like this one in the pic below) It came in a really nice kit bag and contained a bunch different products from the AG range that weren't in the kit i got from my Halfords friend



Best of all , it only cost me £16 for the lot ! , it was one of those odd auctions that finished at 1.30am , and i just put a bid on it and went to bed. Once unpacked this is what my haul looks like so far





Upon checking my 'haul' and comparing it to you list , there were obviously some glaring gaps . Particularly the '2 bucket wash method' stuff . I'd never heard of this before , but after reading about it , it makes perfect sense . Although i didn't get the stuff in the next picture stupidly cheap , i was able to pick most of it up in the January sales



That's , about where I'm up to at the moment - the missus thinks I'm mad , and i get some very odd looks from the neighbours when every Friday afternoon , i come home from work and give my rocco a 'super clean' , irrespective of the fact that its less than 5 degree's outside - lol

Lee

[whiteDevil_170]

Fair play lee. It soon becomes very addictive and also expensive. That lifeshine kit is the exact same as what dealers offer on new cars for the cost of £300-£500!!!!.

[robb]

I'm sorry but all that strikes me as absolutely mad haha ...

[Brocky]

WOW! Unbelievable find on that kit, mate! You'd probably pay £16 for just the brushes, clay bar, wash mitt and towels!

I would ditch the sponges, tbh. Or, if they are sturdy enough and don't crumble, cut them up and use them as tyre shine applicators. I'd also get a better washmitt and then use that AG one for just your wheels.

It's also kinda fitting that my post inspired you. Seeing your car in your build thread inspired me to get a GTS.

I'm sorry but all that strikes me as absolutely mad haha ...

Even moreso than spending thirty grand on a car and then scratching it's paint every single time that you wash it?

[robb]

Yeah but do you actually scratch it, it all seems a bit anal to me, like, it's a car ; it's gonna get weathered ... Fair enough for people who love puttin all their time into it but I pay £4 for a hand wash and the car looks perfect ?

[whiteDevil_170]

Perfect in your eyes. But if your using car washs I guarantee they are causing swirls and scratches. So then in my eyes and 'detailers' eyes it wont be perfect

[Brocky]

Yeah but do you actually scratch it, it all seems a bit anal to me, like, it's a car ; it's gonna get weathered ... Fair enough for people who love puttin all their time into it but I pay £4 for a hand wash and the car looks perfect ?

Yes, you scratch it. Even moreso if you take it to the local hand-wash guys.

Take a bright torch and shine it directly on your paint. I guarantee that it looks like this;

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Those marks dull the finish and look of your paint. Also, the type of shampoos and other product they use at local car wash places is cheap industrial type cleaners. Not good for your paint at all! I've also seen the employees at those kinds of places throw their washmitts on a wall, when there are no cars in and they are taking a break for 5 minutes. They then pick it up and use it on the next car that comes along

To some, detailing is uber OCD and some would say borderline madness. For me, it's not that extreme. It's about using the best methods, techniques and products to get the best look from your paint in the safest possible manor and then protecting it in such a way that cleaning it in the future is much, much easier.

Madness is spending grands on a car and then paying £4 to someone to ruin what it looks like.

[robb]

Well fair enough then but no ones ever gonna go up to my car with a torch and I don't think anyone in thee everyday world actually looks long enough to notice paint imperfections

[whiteDevil_170]

Well fair enough then but no ones ever gonna go up to my car with a torch and I don't think anyone in thee everyday world actually looks long enough to notice paint imperfections

I think U should have a read over on detailing world. Some members spend days just cleaning a car. Professional detailers can spend a day just cleaning the car then hours just inspecting the paint with paint thickness gauges and sun guns (torch for checking swirl marks etc)

[robb]

I'd have many enemy's on a car cleaning forum haha! Maybe it's just one of those things some people are into and some aren't

[Brocky]

Well fair enough then but no ones ever gonna go up to my car with a torch and I don't think anyone in thee everyday world actually looks long enough to notice paint imperfections

Of course not. The swirls and scratches are difficult to see if you aren't specifically looking for them....but the point is that they dull the overall look of your car's paint....and every time you don't use proper techniques and products....or worse still, take it to the local hand-wash place....you make those swirls and scratches worse.

Oh, and you don't need a torch to see swirls and scratches. You can see them when the sun comes out.

Think about this; How many times have you taken your car to a place like that or washed it yourself, over the years?

Now look at this.

http://www.miglior.co.uk/audi-a5-full-c ... d-new-car/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's a brand-new car, not even left the dealership before going to the detailer. If those kinds of marks can be inflicted on a car by bad maintainance techniques BEFORE it's even had an owner, then just imagine how bad the marks on your car are after multiple washes. It's kinda scary.

As I said; there's extreme OCD detailing and there's using good methods to keep your car looking the best it can. I know that I'd rather not scratch my paint every time I wash it....or, worse still, pay someone to scratch it for me.