WASH POLISH WAX , WASH POLISH WAX
Discussion
There seems to have been alot of discussion recently about cleaning cars and although I'm not sure I'll be buying Zymol anytime soon, I appreciate there are some very well-informed contributors on here.
Perhaps for the benefit of myself and other 'less-detailing inclined' owners, someone could recommend a good (and reasonably priced):
1) Washing solution
2) Wax
3) Polish
And also, what is the difference between a polish and a wax? And when should you use each?
PS: Currently, I wash my car with Fairy Liquid. After drying with a tea towel I usually use standard black shoe polish as my car is black.
(joke).
Perhaps for the benefit of myself and other 'less-detailing inclined' owners, someone could recommend a good (and reasonably priced):
1) Washing solution
2) Wax
3) Polish
And also, what is the difference between a polish and a wax? And when should you use each?
PS: Currently, I wash my car with Fairy Liquid. After drying with a tea towel I usually use standard black shoe polish as my car is black.
(joke).
Buy a standard detergent (I would go for wax free).
Wash car, dry car.
Get Meguiars Quik Clay. Follow instructions on pack. Use lots of quik detailer.
Polish car using a reasonable polish (Auto Glym Super Resin would do) - the Elise has such hard paint that any polish is unlikely to cut into the surface too much. This does not, however, mean it is immune from swirls. (essentially, polish is an abrasive, a wax is a sealant)
After polishing, apply a wax. Meguiars NXT wax is easy to use and quick with reasonable results. Their Cleaner Wax is also very easy. Alternatively, buy the off the shelf Zymol (you get it in Halfords)
Use an applicator pad (you'll need a couple) and buff off with a microfibre cloth
These are all reasonable products for what they are - not too professional, but you should be happy with the results. They are all off the shelf items.
Always be gentle, keep cloths clean and you should get on fine. If you clean the car like this, it'll last longer between washes.
Wash car, dry car.
Get Meguiars Quik Clay. Follow instructions on pack. Use lots of quik detailer.
Polish car using a reasonable polish (Auto Glym Super Resin would do) - the Elise has such hard paint that any polish is unlikely to cut into the surface too much. This does not, however, mean it is immune from swirls. (essentially, polish is an abrasive, a wax is a sealant)
After polishing, apply a wax. Meguiars NXT wax is easy to use and quick with reasonable results. Their Cleaner Wax is also very easy. Alternatively, buy the off the shelf Zymol (you get it in Halfords)
Use an applicator pad (you'll need a couple) and buff off with a microfibre cloth
These are all reasonable products for what they are - not too professional, but you should be happy with the results. They are all off the shelf items.
Always be gentle, keep cloths clean and you should get on fine. If you clean the car like this, it'll last longer between washes.
Hi!
Before I start let me stress I don't consider myself one of the 'informed' contributors; I'm still learning an awful lot, but from the experience I have so far....
Far more important than the wash shampoo, I would say, is your wash process. I detailed some limited information last week (which I guess is the thread you saw) about what process to use. Namely, use a lambs wool wash mit with 2 buckets. Have one bucket with wash solution, the other with clean water. Load the mit, wash the car, then rinse the mit in the clean water. Then reload from soapy water etc. etc. This stops you transferring grit or dirt from the car, to the mit, to your wash bucket, and then reapplying it over your car.
Secondly is the drying process; this is a HUGE source of scratches - and it shows very badly on black cars especially. Use an ultra drying towel from cleanandshiny.co.uk = flipping fantastic things.
As for polishes and wax, well, these have been arguments for many years!!! The difference between the two is that polish actually has a cutting agent in it; i.e. it's abrasive, designed to ware away a very fine amount of lacquer on the top of the body work revealing new non-scratched lacquer beneath. Wax has no cutting agent at all and is a reflective sealent against crap and dirt etc on top of the bodywork. I personally just use Meguiars NXT wax - does the job very well, and is very easy to use.
Tony
Before I start let me stress I don't consider myself one of the 'informed' contributors; I'm still learning an awful lot, but from the experience I have so far....
Far more important than the wash shampoo, I would say, is your wash process. I detailed some limited information last week (which I guess is the thread you saw) about what process to use. Namely, use a lambs wool wash mit with 2 buckets. Have one bucket with wash solution, the other with clean water. Load the mit, wash the car, then rinse the mit in the clean water. Then reload from soapy water etc. etc. This stops you transferring grit or dirt from the car, to the mit, to your wash bucket, and then reapplying it over your car.
Secondly is the drying process; this is a HUGE source of scratches - and it shows very badly on black cars especially. Use an ultra drying towel from cleanandshiny.co.uk = flipping fantastic things.
As for polishes and wax, well, these have been arguments for many years!!! The difference between the two is that polish actually has a cutting agent in it; i.e. it's abrasive, designed to ware away a very fine amount of lacquer on the top of the body work revealing new non-scratched lacquer beneath. Wax has no cutting agent at all and is a reflective sealent against crap and dirt etc on top of the bodywork. I personally just use Meguiars NXT wax - does the job very well, and is very easy to use.
Tony
TonyHetherington said:
Hi!
Before I start let me stress I don't consider myself one of the 'informed' contributors; I'm still learning an awful lot, but from the experience I have so far....
Far more important than the wash shampoo, I would say, is your wash process. I detailed some limited information last week (which I guess is the thread you saw) about what process to use. Namely, use a lambs wool wash mit with 2 buckets. Have one bucket with wash solution, the other with clean water. Load the mit, wash the car, then rinse the mit in the clean water. Then reload from soapy water etc. etc. This stops you transferring grit or dirt from the car, to the mit, to your wash bucket, and then reapplying it over your car.
Secondly is the drying process; this is a HUGE source of scratches - and it shows very badly on black cars especially. Use an ultra drying towel from cleanandshiny.co.uk = flipping fantastic things.
As for polishes and wax, well, these have been arguments for many years!!! The difference between the two is that polish actually has a cutting agent in it; i.e. it's abrasive, designed to ware away a very fine amount of lacquer on the top of the body work revealing new non-scratched lacquer beneath. Wax has no cutting agent at all and is a reflective sealent against crap and dirt etc on top of the bodywork. I personally just use Meguiars NXT wax - does the job very well, and is very easy to use.
Tony
Before I start let me stress I don't consider myself one of the 'informed' contributors; I'm still learning an awful lot, but from the experience I have so far....
Far more important than the wash shampoo, I would say, is your wash process. I detailed some limited information last week (which I guess is the thread you saw) about what process to use. Namely, use a lambs wool wash mit with 2 buckets. Have one bucket with wash solution, the other with clean water. Load the mit, wash the car, then rinse the mit in the clean water. Then reload from soapy water etc. etc. This stops you transferring grit or dirt from the car, to the mit, to your wash bucket, and then reapplying it over your car.
Secondly is the drying process; this is a HUGE source of scratches - and it shows very badly on black cars especially. Use an ultra drying towel from cleanandshiny.co.uk = flipping fantastic things.
As for polishes and wax, well, these have been arguments for many years!!! The difference between the two is that polish actually has a cutting agent in it; i.e. it's abrasive, designed to ware away a very fine amount of lacquer on the top of the body work revealing new non-scratched lacquer beneath. Wax has no cutting agent at all and is a reflective sealent against crap and dirt etc on top of the bodywork. I personally just use Meguiars NXT wax - does the job very well, and is very easy to use.
Tony
Meguiars NXT is very, very good stuff, used some over a week ago and driven through some nice heavy rain since, car still shines nicely after a gently wash off yesterday. I can also highly recomend the Meg's clay bar treatment, this makes a huge difference to the "feel" of the paint and improves the shine no end (Amazing how much stuff the bar picks up off an apparently clean car. I personally rate the Meguiars products far beyond that of Autoglym and the like.
If you want a good hard natural wax (the kind you lovingly smooth on with your fingers) then also look for "50/50" by the Chemical guys. It comes quite highly recomended from several people on these boards. Got a tub myself the other day and will be putting it to the test this coming weekend hopefully. I've used Zymol Titanium on my car about 6 months ago so I will have a pretty good idea if this stuff is as good (as rumoured to be). Its not expensive either.
One of the guys on s2ki has put together a really good step by step guide on detailing. With two methods one easy one more in depth.
Take a look here:
www.rsharma.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=15&Itemid=38
Take a look here:
www.rsharma.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=15&Itemid=38
This could help your query - have used this, in conjunction with Mothers products, to great effect. Takes time, but well worth it.
www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/shop/guides/i_5.html
www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/shop/guides/i_5.html
I've finally worked down to a few bits. I was bored of the silly long processes and super expensive products (have bought enough different ones).
I use Autoglym car wash.
Then any good clay bar will do, usually best with a detailer spray which breaks down deposits (Meguiars for me)
Then Meguiars stage 1 and 2 polishes
Then Full Molecular Jacket for the final wax/protectant.
Sure you can shinier and all that, but for the cost vs effort vs longevity I've found the above works really well, easy to use and results are good enough for me (15k miles a year, like to keep a tidy car but not obsessive and with £££ budget etc).
Dave
I use Autoglym car wash.
Then any good clay bar will do, usually best with a detailer spray which breaks down deposits (Meguiars for me)
Then Meguiars stage 1 and 2 polishes
Then Full Molecular Jacket for the final wax/protectant.
Sure you can shinier and all that, but for the cost vs effort vs longevity I've found the above works really well, easy to use and results are good enough for me (15k miles a year, like to keep a tidy car but not obsessive and with £££ budget etc).
Dave
I think Tony's comments about HOW you go about cleaning the car are probably some of the most important!
That said, I am a big fan of P21S products, shampoo, paint cleaner (polish) and wax. I started with these before I got in to more serious detailing, and I still use them for regular washes.
The whole stripping back, swirl removal, polish and re-seal activities shouldn't be done too often unless you have professional guidance on paint thicknesses and so on. It is possible to remove clearcoat and even paint if you are heavy handed with the wrong products. Most recommend only doing this part every two or three times ayear.
That said, I am a big fan of P21S products, shampoo, paint cleaner (polish) and wax. I started with these before I got in to more serious detailing, and I still use them for regular washes.
The whole stripping back, swirl removal, polish and re-seal activities shouldn't be done too often unless you have professional guidance on paint thicknesses and so on. It is possible to remove clearcoat and even paint if you are heavy handed with the wrong products. Most recommend only doing this part every two or three times ayear.
Reference some of the comments above............
I've used 'Autoglym shampoo' and the 'Halfrauds advanced car wash' and both never seem to foam up enough to actually get some suds on the car, has anyone else found this?
I've been using Meguiers NXT wax for a while and i'd recommend it, seems good, but is there a time period where I should not wash the car after applying cos it seems to go 'off'
I've used 'Autoglym shampoo' and the 'Halfrauds advanced car wash' and both never seem to foam up enough to actually get some suds on the car, has anyone else found this?
I've been using Meguiers NXT wax for a while and i'd recommend it, seems good, but is there a time period where I should not wash the car after applying cos it seems to go 'off'
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