doggy
New member
The June Bank Holiday was a cracker of a weekend so this is how I spent Sunday to keep the Scooby clean....
(Apologies for the photo quality, I used my phone rather than risk sending the Nikon for a bath)
First the wheels, these have been given a good going over in March (http://www.isdc.ie/discussion/index.php?topic=7272.0) so they just needed a bit of protection to keep em looking sweet. Mild solution (so as not to strip previous protection on wheels) of Flash APC diluted with water in a garden sprayer to eat into the grime.
Left to soak for a minute before a wash down with AutoGlym Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner, an old microfibre wash mitt and rinse. At this stage I also gave the mudflaps and wheel arches a rub.
Next the door/boot/engine/fuel tank shuts. Skilled people at this can rinse using a hose with the doors open, the last time I tried that on my old car I got the interior wet so I content myself with using a microfibre wash mitt and the AG Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner to clean, before 'rinsing' with a wet Halfords valeting cloth. Here's the shuts before....
...and after
With the dirty work done, the bucket was rinsed and the Zymol shampoo came out. I used the 2 bucket method, one with suds to wash and one with plain water to rinse the wash mitts. When I first heard of this method I thought it was a bit over the top, but when you do it the first time and see the crap that comes out of the rinse bucket that would usually be scraped all over the car , you'll never go back.
I was too busy to take photos as I washed, especially since the suds were drying off in a matter of minutes. Next step was to get rid of pesky water spots since it was so hot I couldn't get the car dried off properly without the water spots. The offending items were removed with a Tesco MF cloth and Megs Quik Detailer.
Here's the before picture to show what I needed to get rid of
This step was important since if I neglected it I ran the risk of sealing the spots in with the wax. My wax of choice is Poorboys Nattys Blue Paste Wax, applied using a Meguiars applicator pad and buffed off with an Autoglym Perfect Polishing Cloth.
Now back to the wheels. Using the MF cloth and Meguiars Quik Detailer gets rid of the water spots, followed by Poorboys Wheel Sealant
Wheel sealant left to cure for about ten minutes....
....and wiped off with MF towel to bring up the shine (light in photo is a bit harsh so apologies for the poor quality)
The tyres were dressed with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care. The end result is this:

PS, based on the interest in this thread, I think there may be enough to merit a dedicated Car Care/Detailing forum :dunno: Maybe the likes of www.detailer.ie would do a club discount/group buy if we had enough interest?
(Apologies for the photo quality, I used my phone rather than risk sending the Nikon for a bath)
First the wheels, these have been given a good going over in March (http://www.isdc.ie/discussion/index.php?topic=7272.0) so they just needed a bit of protection to keep em looking sweet. Mild solution (so as not to strip previous protection on wheels) of Flash APC diluted with water in a garden sprayer to eat into the grime.

Left to soak for a minute before a wash down with AutoGlym Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner, an old microfibre wash mitt and rinse. At this stage I also gave the mudflaps and wheel arches a rub.

Next the door/boot/engine/fuel tank shuts. Skilled people at this can rinse using a hose with the doors open, the last time I tried that on my old car I got the interior wet so I content myself with using a microfibre wash mitt and the AG Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner to clean, before 'rinsing' with a wet Halfords valeting cloth. Here's the shuts before....

...and after

With the dirty work done, the bucket was rinsed and the Zymol shampoo came out. I used the 2 bucket method, one with suds to wash and one with plain water to rinse the wash mitts. When I first heard of this method I thought it was a bit over the top, but when you do it the first time and see the crap that comes out of the rinse bucket that would usually be scraped all over the car , you'll never go back.

I was too busy to take photos as I washed, especially since the suds were drying off in a matter of minutes. Next step was to get rid of pesky water spots since it was so hot I couldn't get the car dried off properly without the water spots. The offending items were removed with a Tesco MF cloth and Megs Quik Detailer.

Here's the before picture to show what I needed to get rid of

This step was important since if I neglected it I ran the risk of sealing the spots in with the wax. My wax of choice is Poorboys Nattys Blue Paste Wax, applied using a Meguiars applicator pad and buffed off with an Autoglym Perfect Polishing Cloth.

Now back to the wheels. Using the MF cloth and Meguiars Quik Detailer gets rid of the water spots, followed by Poorboys Wheel Sealant

Wheel sealant left to cure for about ten minutes....

....and wiped off with MF towel to bring up the shine (light in photo is a bit harsh so apologies for the poor quality)

The tyres were dressed with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care. The end result is this:



PS, based on the interest in this thread, I think there may be enough to merit a dedicated Car Care/Detailing forum :dunno: Maybe the likes of www.detailer.ie would do a club discount/group buy if we had enough interest?