Nissan 350z - best cleaning products ?

[ballyupnorth]

I’ve just bought an orange 350z after wanting one for a while and very pleased with my purchase.

Went to Halfords earlier and tried to get some advice on the best cleaning products / foam etc to use ( completely useless) so I thought I’d turn to you guys for some advice - should have come here first of course - apologies.

Looking for a foam start / wash / polish process please and the excellent products to buy … which I can probably get from Amazon a lot cheaper or other sites?

Many Thanks

[LankyFreak]

Demon Foam

Greased Lightning showroom shine

(I never wash my car)

[InitialDave]

It's very much a personal taste thing.

I use quite a bit of Meguiar's stuff, but Bilt Hamber snow foam, wheel cleaner, and Surfex all-purpose cleaner are all good. Autoglym stuff is generally good too.

Last major clean I did was:
Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel wheel cleaner
Autoglym snow foam, with a bit of Bilt Hamber Surfex added for extra kick.
Meguiar's Gold Glass shampoo to wash, 2 bucket method
Claybar with generic CleanYourCar medium clay bar, shampoo as above to lubricate
Compound and polish as required with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Polish (I use DAs, but they can be worked by hand)
Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Liquid Wax to seal (the spray version in the blue bottle is also good)
Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Detailer for minor wiping down between washes.

Tyre shine, I used Meguiar's endurance gel this time, but I'm partial to Armor All aerosol foam too.

Black plastic trim, this time I used Meguiar's Ultimate protectant, though they have a new Hybrid Ceramic one coming out soon I want to try.

Glass I used RainX glass cleaner.

[anonymous-user]

InitialDave said:

It's very much a personal taste thing.

I use quite a bit of Meguiar's stuff, but Bilt Hamber snow foam, wheel cleaner, and Surfex all-purpose cleaner are all good. Autoglym stuff is generally good too.

Last major clean I did was:
Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel wheel cleaner
Autoglym snow foam, with a bit of Bilt Hamber Surfex added for extra kick.
Meguiar's Gold Glass shampoo to wash, 2 bucket method
Claybar with generic CleanYourCar medium clay bar, shampoo as above to lubricate
Compound and polish as required with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Polish (I use DAs, but they can be worked by hand)
Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Liquid Wax to seal (the spray version in the blue bottle is also good)
Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Detailer for minor wiping down between washes.

Tyre shine, I used Meguiar's endurance gel this time, but I'm partial to Armor All aerosol foam too.

Black plastic trim, this time I used Meguiar's Ultimate protectant, though they have a new Hybrid Ceramic one coming out soon I want to try.

Glass I used RainX glass cleaner.

Great response. My two pence:

Work on your wash technique. Two bucket method. Ensure your lambs wool mitt is clean. Use a separate brush or mitt for your wheels. Don’t scrub too hard in circles with the mitt. Plenty of videos online for example, chemical guys YouTube channel.. so many other channels too.

[ballyupnorth]

Awesome response I shall take some of that on board … not sure I’ll do as detailed a wash but defo want to start using a good foam wash and the two bucket method

[InitialDave]

Island Hermit said:

Great response. My two pence:

Work on your wash technique. Two bucket method. Ensure your lambs wool mitt is clean. Use a separate brush or mitt for your wheels. Don’t scrub too hard in circles with the mitt. Plenty of videos online for example, chemical guys YouTube channel.. so many other channels too.

My personal preference is a microfibre noodle sponge, basically a noodle mitt with a sponge sewn into it to let you load it up with a load more suds.

Yes, pretty much straight lines with it, though "arm length arcs" on the roof etc are close enough to make no odds.

For wheels, I put any wheel cleaner I'm using on first (so the wheels are dry), then give it a brush, then include the wheels in my snowfoaming. Then brush/wash again. All wheel tools kept in a separate bucket of shampoo mix from the bodywork stuff.

[InitialDave]

ballyupnorth said:

Awesome response I shall take some of that on board … not sure I’ll do as detailed a wash but defo want to start using a good foam wash and the two bucket method

Bear in mind this was a very neglected car belonging to a friend, which hadn't been washed at all in at least a year.

[Belle427]

To be honest as a keen amateur the Autoglym range is pretty good.
May be worth looking at the polar series of products.
Super resin polish is still good too.

[ballyupnorth]

Thanks for the advice and I also watched a great YouTube by Meguiar which I followed to the tee and very pleased with the result tbh …. Purchased from Halfords c£120

Never again will I question what a decent car valet charges .. wheel cleaner / rinse / pre wash / rinse / foam / rinse / two bucket usage wash / rinse / spray wax / rinse / spray wax / rinse / dry …… and then die

[Belle427]

Looks great, love a nice Z.

[InitialDave]

Looks like you've done a good job there.

Fortunately, now you've done it once, it should be a lot easier to keep clean going forward.

[Ruskie]

Detailing world is a great resource. In particular look up the chemical guys guide that lists the various stages. Great car and a great colour.

[gweaver]

Autoglym is a good shout if you're shopping in Halfords, especially when they have deals. The Meguiars stuff is pricey, as you've found!

If starting out and buying online, the AutoGlanz car cleaning kit contains a lot of different potions for £80 (it's been on sale for ages). Some of the products are really good, a few are a bit superflous/redundant, but on the whole it's a cracking deal.

Bilt Hamber stuff as mentioned is also really good. Many of the scene brands are white label products produced by a handful of chemical companies, so I try to ignore those.

Then there's the tools. The cheap noodle/chenille wash mitts are great, and you'll need some brushes and decent microfibres (anything Korean made is good - see CarPro/Garage Therapy/Carbon Collective/In2detailing). A garden pump sprayer is also handy for the pre-wash.