Proposed cleaning regime – feedback appreciated

[mrbojangles]

All,

Ahead of delivery of my Rising Blue Scirocco, I’ve been looking into a more serious cleaning regime (my last car just went through a machine wash every few months )

Initially, I’d be starting as below, then get more advanced if my interest/desire sparks enough. Realistically, I think I’d be dedicating time every two weeks

As I'm new to this, feedback and any suggestions for the parts in red text appreciated

1) Pre-wash whole car using pressure washer with snow foam
2) Rinse off foam with pressure washer
3) Clean alloys by spraying Billberry wheel cleaner and brushing with suitable wheel brush. I was going to do this as the first step, but it seemed more logical doing it after the foam had been sprayed everywhere and cleaned off?!!!
4) Two bucket method hand wash using Luso autobathe and wash mit
5) Rinse bodywork with pressure washer
6) Dry with drying towel
7) Polish bodywork - Apply DoDo Juice Need for Speed. What sort of cloth is best for this, microfiber?
8 ) Seal alloys - poor boys wheel sealant, using microfiber cloth?
9) Tyres – Tyre & Trim dressing spray
10) Only as needed: Interior windows cleaned using Luso Glass Polish and microfiber cloth
11) Interior trim (dash etc) using ?????? and microfiber cloth
12) Only as needed: Upholstery (Merlin cloth) clean using ?????


Thanks

[trix]

that doesn't strike me as a non advanced regimen bojangles!

notes:
- sealing alloys with poorboys only needs to be done once every 3-6 months, make sure you apply with one & polish off with another (they will get dirty as there are always nooks & crannies that you won't get all the dirt out of when washing)
- tyre & trim dressing spray not necessarily needed, i only occassionally use trim cleaner/spray on mine & never tyre dressing as some people have found it can run in the rain & stain the wheelnut covers white
- wheels may be best cleaned after bodywork otherwise the bodywork dirt will run down onto them
- yes to using microfibres for polishing & cleaning interior (again interior won't really need doing very often)
- upholstry I would recommend you treat liberally with scotchguard spray or similar when you get the car (leave to air as its abit pongy/overwhelming) then it will just require vacuuming occassionally or sponging any stains off, the cloth is very robust & doesn't mark or attract dirt particularly

other than that go for it

S

[quality reflects]

I like your regime, the only suggestion I would make is, perhaps first get a good paint cleaner and top it off with a good quality wax. Autoglym Super Resin polish and their Hi-Def wax would work well.

Then your regime as above less the polish stage.

Hope that makes sense. The key to a great finish is the prep.

FW.

[mrbojangles]

Trix -

Ha, yeah, on reflection I think I may be a little ambitious.
The foam pre wash with pressure washer is going to be the fun part, so it's just making the rest fun as well. I'll just have to see which stage I find most labouring and try and be positive about it. There may be reductions if I keep up the 'every two weeks' plan
Thanks for the tips

Quality Reflects -

Thanks. I'll look into this down the line as well

[autoperfection]

Hi Bo Jangles,

I’ve just typed this all out once and lost it just before I went to hit “Submit”... argh!!! Here goes for a second time!!!

The regime you’ve got planned looks great and very in-depth! We would probably just make a couple of alterations if it were us, but to be honest if you wanted to stick to what you’ve got planned you won’t really go wrong.

The first suggestion we’d make would be to clean the wheels first. I can see the logic in doing the snow foam stage first, however, we recommend to clean the wheels to start off with because it removes any dust, dirt and brake dust that could otherwise get splashed onto the paint work. Also, it means that if you splash any wheel cleaner onto the paintwork it gets washed off thoroughly when you snow foam it (not that it will do any harm even if you do, as Bilberry is a great wheel cleaner and won’t affect the paint work – it just means it gets removed thoroughly before you hand wash the car).

The regime then looks great up until the “protection” stage, which is where we’d probably make the second change. Dodo Juice Need for Speed is an excellent product if you’re pushed for time, or if you don’t enjoy spending hours cleaning the car, however, from the sounds of it you’re going to be quite dedicated to the upkeep of your car and personally, I think you’d get better (and be more satisfied with) results if you applied a pre-wax cleanser followed by a Carnauba wax rather than using an all-in-one product.
Our recommendation would be to either go with a Lusso combination of Revitalising Creme followed by Oro (which would be our number one choice) or you could go with a Dodo combination of Lime Prime Lite followed by either Blue Velvet of Purple Haze, which would also achieve excellent results on Rising Blue.
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Luss ... ories.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - this picture is a little out of date and needs updating as we’ve changed the applicators to these... http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Auto ... cator.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Dodo ... 250ml.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Dodo ... elvet.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Dodo ... -Haze.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If, however, you did want to stick with the Need for Speed we would recommend applying it with a microfibre applicator because we’ve found that these work better with this product than a foam one does. You could go for something like the AutoGlym Perfect Palm Applicator (although not ideal if you have huge hands!!!) or the RaceGlaze Pocket Applicator.
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Auto ... fibre.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Race ... cator.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With regards to the wheel sealant, you could use a microfibre for this, but you would probably find it easier using a foam applicator. We have some small foam wedges that are excellent and we’ll happily throw one of them in with your order for you.

With the Tyre and Trim Dressing I know Trix has mentioned that there’s been people who have had issues with using a dressing, but from our own experience, we’ve never had any issues. We’ve always used our own, which we just spray on and leave (or apply using an applicator and leave if it’s a windy day) and we’ve never had any issues.
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Auto ... 250ml.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For the interior we’d recommend going for something like the Poorboys Natural Look Dressing. It does exactly what it says it does, and gives a natural look, rather than a slick glossy finish, which I think looks much better than it being shiny. You could just simply wipe over the dash using a damp microfibre, but we recommend using this product as it has a UV absorber, which helps to protect the interior as well as making it look great. One of our standard yellow microfibres would be excellent for this, as they’re great for all-round general purpose use.
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Poor ... -16oz.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Auto ... fibre.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And finally for the interior we have a Fabric Cleaner that can be diluted to different ratios depending on how dirty the seats are, but to be honest, if you’re cleaning the car every couple of weeks and you hoover them out regularly you should only really need to look at cleaning them if you end up spilling something on them.
http://www.autoperfection.com/shop/Auto ... Clean.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think that just about covers everything you asked, but if there’s anything else you think of or there’s something I’ve missed, just let me know!

Hope this helps

All the best

Taryn and Jim

[autoperfection]

Trix -

Ha, yeah, on reflection I think I may be a little ambitious.
The foam pre wash with pressure washer is going to be the fun part, so it's just making the rest fun as well. I'll just have to see which stage I find most labouring and try and be positive about it. There may be reductions if I keep up the 'every two weeks' plan
Thanks for the tips

Quality Reflects -

Thanks. I'll look into this down the line as well

If you're doing it every two weeks there's definitely stages you can miss out, for instance, you'd only need to pre-wax cleanse the car once every six months or so and the wheels would only need doing every couple of months.

The wax you could definitely get away with doing once a month, as this would still get excellent results and would save a bit of time every other clean.

All the best

Taryn

[mrbojangles]

Hi Bo Jangles,

Hope this helps

All the best

Taryn and Jim

Brilliant, really, really helpful. Likewise, for your other posts on the forum as well

I think it is safe to say you have secured some business from me
I've got a bit to wait before delivery, so should give me time to finalise how I'll be going about cleaning and what I'll need. I'll be in touch down the road thou

Thanks again

[trix]

don't forget to use the sponsor code when you do order http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... f=8&t=4527" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

S