Polishing a car is the one step that can truly make the paintwork shine like new. When you clean your car you remove all the dirt from the surface, but you leave behind all the little scratches (also known as swirls) that are marked in the paint. These have generally appeared as a result of …
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Clay bar theory Following on from the guide to removing bug splatter and tar using chemicals, we will look to using car specific clay bars to clean the final bits of dirt off of the paintwork. We will therefore pick up after a treatment with Tardis, with few contaminants left: A clay bar is used …
Assuming you have followed all the previous cleaning guides and are now at this stage you should have very clean paint – congratulations! The next step is to apply a suitable layer of protection to lock the fresh paint away from the dirt and grime of the road. This will make future cleaning sessions a …
After two bucket method has been done you should be left with largely clean bodywork. Inevitably however there are going to be bits of resilient dirt. Commonly these include tar from the road and bugs that have sealed themselves to your car that are too ingrained to be removed with a mitt. The easiest and …
Intermediate cleaning – removing tar and bug splatter with chemicals Read More »
Quick detailing is essentially a waterless wash process. A spray of cleaner is liberally applied to the bodywork then this is wiped down with a microfiber towel. As you will hopefully have identified this is a ‘high risk’ method of cleaning a car as there is no rinse process and no deep woolen pile mitt …
Best practice dictates that wheels should be cleaned first as this means any splatter on to the body from when rinsing with the hose can be mopped up and cleaned as part of the regular two bucket approach to bodywork. My approach is to power hose them as part of the rinse stage and then …
Intermediate cleaning – caring for wheels and tires Read More »
Plastic trim is identifiable as the textured black/gray plastic which is often present on the exterior of cars. This can fade and become tired looking naturally over time in the sun and exposed to the elements. If this is the case there are a number of products that can be used to rejuvenate the areas. …
As part of the two bucket overall clean I perform a quick wash down of the windows with the bodywork shampoo. I find this removes any smears and surface dirt effectively and acts as a pre-cleaning process for a proper glass cleaning session. I currently own a selection of glass cleaning products including Autoglym and …
I’m going to cover the famous two bucket method of cleaning a car now. This is the basic wash technique and will be used as a base point for virtually all intermediate and advanced car cleaning tasks. Assuming you take good care of your car, most washes will only involve a rinse/two bucket wash/dry cycle …
Rinsing Before stating the process of wiping the car with the wash medium it’s best to remove as much dirt and dust as possible with a rinse and, if possible, a pre-wash. When rinsing the car it is advisable to try and blast off dirt and grime at acute angles so as not to hammer …