Polishes/wax

[NISSAN GTR]

any opinion on a synthetic chamois?

my leather ones been working great, works better than all the MF cloths i have at home, but ill see how the waffle weave ones go ..

atm ive been using the leather shammy to get the bulk of the water off and a MF cloth to get any leftover spots of water

i tried maybe 20 different synthetic chamois over the years , synthetic chamois cant hold the water as well as leather also

synthetic feels abrasive in comparison , stick to leather . MF cloths are great as well

[SS8_Gohan]

me = me

if you have rain tanks at home, or live in an area with not so strict water restrictions... get a big bottle of water or a hose with just a normal trigger, and put it on the 'stream' setting.

Basically the idea is dry your car with water. If your paint is in good condition, this will be possible. And when you come to actually drying the remainder with the MF, you'll barely have to do anything.

Limit the amount of paint contact as much as possible.

It's not my fault that the FI products generally speaking are the best in class. Just the way it is.

[DTSNR32]

I use a microfibre waffle weave clothe works a treat. If that is getting cleaned i use a microfiber chamois which is pressed onto the paint not rubbed back and forth.

[SS8_Gohan]

yes, you can 'blot' dry to a certain extent, which is something i generally do if i don't dry with water. And after blotting, you usually don't have to do too much to dry the car, certainly less wipes of the panels.

[NISMO]

me = me

if you have rain tanks at home, or live in an area with not so strict water restrictions... get a big bottle of water or a hose with just a normal trigger, and put it on the 'stream' setting.

Basically the idea is dry your car with water. If your paint is in good condition, this will be possible. And when you come to actually drying the remainder with the MF, you'll barely have to do anything.

Limit the amount of paint contact as much as possible.

It's not my fault that the FI products generally speaking are the best in class. Just the way it is.

WooHoo, I'm not the only freak who use water to dry their car

all i do though is just remove ALL connections off the end of the hose, and just let the water stream.

Its actually a good guide as to when i need to repolish the car, cause it stops "slipping" off as easy.

[Mayuri Krab]

WooHoo, I'm not the only freak who use water to dry their car

I'm trying this tomorrow!

So basically I just take off the spray gun off from the hose & just run water down the car using the pipe?

[SS8_Gohan]

as i said, works best when your paint/LSP are in good nick - otherwise considering where we live and how much water is available, i wouldn't recommend unless the car is pretty slick already (or if you've got your own water)

[bozodos]

daniel, can you give me a complete breakdown of your car washing process to get that finish please! That's simply awesome. Not sure if my paint would ever look that good, but it's worth a try given the results you have gotten!

[Motoquipewa33]

Meguires next gen wash wax and detailers are the best I've used. An I can get em cheap from work

[dan_the_man]

a problem i have is that I wash the car. i go to dry it but it dries too quickly and suddenly the dirt is back on there. so if i do dry it in time with the chamois, I am only wiping the dirt around/scratching it

que pasa?

[NISMO]

dan, can you wash and dry it in the shade?

If you're washing in the sun, the panels heat up and there's not much you can do about it, as the heat is there.

Generally when i wash, I'll do a section at a time, but soak the whole car to keep it wet each time i wash the suds off a section.

Sounds like wasting a lot of water, but thats the best part about having a decent sixe rain tank

[Hibino]

What wheel cleaners does everyone use?

I've recently got some white CR Kai's and was wondering what I should use to clean them?

[sympozium7]

Ive been using fw1 car cleaning sprays for over the past year.. best thing i've ever used on my car. Clean in the shade, always comes up nice and shiny. As my R33 has 'clear red metallic' (the dark red marone colour) and is a pain to keep clean, when it gets dusty/dirty just give it a quick spray and its back to normal. Also use micro fibre cloth's, never leaves any streaks and is a wash and wax all in one.

Alternatively, waterless wash spray bottles from Autobarn etc. work just as good.. on wheels, windows and panels as well.

Just to show results..

[SS8_Gohan]

fw1 is basically a swear word, and the first pic you put up looks pretty dull, pretty much what you'd expect from fw1 - dude, this is the crap they push at service stations

enjoy your plastics and exterior trim whilst you still have them, and also your clear coat for that matter as well...

one of THE harshest things you can use on your car and FULL of fillers. Please, or all our sakes in this thread that are remotely interesting in looking after our cars, dispose of the can properly (recycle if possible) and follow the advice in this thread.

And so close to Final Inspection as well...

no real need for waterless systems if you're in Melb, the only semi-decent one is QEW and i'm pretty sure not available at autobarn- but otherwise just save water from the shower heating up and you'll have a stack of water for weekly washes.

Hibino, you're after PWC - Power Wheel Cleaner - fantastic product and i believe based on citrus extracts so at least relatively friendly.

http://www.finalinspection.com.au/store/pr...;products_id=46

[Hibino]

Thanks mate I'll check it out!

[Ryanpace]

F1 seems the go

[mxfly]

The PWC is an awesome wheel cleaner and use it on all my jobs. Combined with a high pressure hose, you can't go wrong

[double overhead sun visors]

I've used and still own a heap of car cleaning products and for cars with a good paint job I personally can't tell too much of a difference between the high end stuff.

I keep coming back to what is easy and quick. As much as I like touching my car and seeing it all nice and clean - don't we all? I an;t got time to waste on drawn out washing procedures.

So here's what works for me -

1. short once a week type wash...

Spray the car with a light jet hose gun to remove surface dirt and get it all nice and wet.

put 1 cap Meguiars soft gel wash (comes in bulk 4l) with half a cap of truck/4X4 wash (called something '10', CBF going the garage and looking), in standard bucket and wash with wash micro fibre mitt.

Then take the gun off the hose, turn to low pressure and just wash off soap, let the water pane off the car, no splashes. This rinse technique alone will stop most of the water marks when drying.

chamois if you wish, well at least do the widows...

2. longer detail... do no.1 then

just apply Meguiars NXT Generation Tech Wax - wax on wax off. Easy no orbital buffer required.

3. Quick detail in between wax jobs..

no.1 then just use Eagle 1, that's right the stuff from K-Mart spray on detailer. Can't remember the name comes in a blue bottle. This stuff works as well, if not better (as it is easier to apply and doesn't need any curing time) than Mequiars spray detailer.

These is the quickest and cheapest way to get your car to show standard... Obviously clay bar bits that are really dirty, but if you wash it regularly enough it should be fine.

Scratches - Mequiars scratch remover - black tube or this amazing 3M stuff for boats, fibreglass - expensive but great, again CBF going to garage to look at the name.

NOTE: don't use any of the above on carbon fibre. Just use water and chamois on c/f. Meguiars do have a gel wash made for boats which I've found OK for c/f

FW1 is good for removing carbon build up on bar around exhaust or rims or clearing plastic head light covers - wouldn't use it on anything else. Thou it does a great job of cleaning soap scum off of glass in the shower and keeping it clean. A little too harsh for paint work IMO.

[Touge Kyousou]

Didn't realise there were some anal line owners hah!

If you're super fussed, get the gear to do foam washes and then learn to sheet the water off your car to dry and blot dry with a waffle weave MF towel. Complete contact-less wash though you'll still need a good detail every year or so to get rid of tar spots etc which will involve contact via a clay bar then you'll likely follow up with machine correction/polish.

There are many great products out there besides FI products too.

For several posts up mentioning not being able to dry the car quick enough, if your paint is in good nick (i.e. doesn't have much surface contaminants like road tar, tree sap etc and there is a good layer of sealant/wax on it), you will be able to use water to dry 90% of the car. Simply youtube search for how to do it (here's one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myG7hcb09KE). Then for the 10% of water remaining, just use a good absorbent towel to blot dry (i.e. do not apply wiping action, just keep blotting the water).

[SS8_Gohan]

you should always have a pre-rinse stage when washing, but unfortunately a 'foam' wash/rinse is not going to be enough to remove all dirt from the paint. You certainly wouldn't want to be drying after just a foam wash.

pre-rinse is one of the main things have helped me keep the black car relatively swirl free even after 6-7months since the last detail.