Jack
12-02-07, 11:38 PM
Made a few haphazard posts on this subject, so thought a complete thread might be in order :D
First; thanks to Johny and Al from CCUK for advice on said Celica forum. I'm far from their expertise, but shows that a little knowledge and some good products can give great results.
Ok, the products I use are primarily Megs items; they're expensive, but quality costs and you only need to use a small amount of each product. They should last you a long time, and can be purchased from a wide range of high street stores (including Halfrauds), and online retaillers. Feel free to use alternate products, but I would recommend using at least the Megs cut, polish and wax, as well as the Lambswool Wash Mitt.
You may not need every product listed below unless you fancy following every stage in this guide - and spending a lot of money too! However, the products used are thus:
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif
Scratch-X
Quik Clay
Quick Detailler Mist Spray
NXT Generation Car Wash
Stage 1 Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner (Cut)
Stage 2 Deep Crystal Polish (Polish)
Stage 3 Deep Crystal Carnuba Wax (Wax)
NXT Glass Cleaner - windows
Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner
Hotshine Tyre Spray
NXT Generation? All Metal Polysh
Gold Class trim detailler
...and these are the tools used:
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif
Two buckets
Watering Can - avoid using a pressure washer
Gold Class Even Coat Applicator Pads - You'll need at least three, one for each stage of cut/polish/wax
Leather Chamois
Microfibre Cloths - get these from Tesco. You'll need a few!
Lambswool Wash Mitt - I highly recommend the Megs one!
Ultrasafe Wheel Spokebrush
Ok, you've got some products, and some tools, so lets get started.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Preparation
NEVER wash a hot car. Not only will you damage the paint, you could run the risk of damaging the engine - cold water on hot engine = not wise! Also choose your location and day wisely, you don't want your car being rained on whilst you're cleaning it, conversely you shouldn't be washing it in direct sunlight either. If you have a garage, or somewhere undercover then put the car in there to dry after the initial washing stages.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Stage 1 - Clean
First you need to remove surface contaminants from your car's paintwork. In the winter this will be mostly mud, grime, and road salt. In the summer you'll be looking to chisel off tar spots, dust, and bugs. Contaminants are best removed quickly before they have time to set, harden and eat into your paintwork; its always a better to spend five minutes each summer evening rinsing dead bugs off your car than spend an hour each weekend trying to chisel them off.
You may wish to rinse the car over to remove loose dirt and dust before beginning - a watering can is ideal for this, rather than a pressure washer. Excess mud and dirt should be left to the wash stage (using the Lambswool Wash Mitt), you can always clay-bar again afterwards this stage.
For heavy contamination the clay bar will work wonders and bring your car up to a good shine (you can also use a Bug & Tar Remover spray, but this won't bring the paint up as well as the clay bar). Break the clay bar into thirds, you don't need to use all of it - also if you drop a piece you can chuck it out and use one of the remaining thirds. Mould the clay bar in your hands to warm it up and make it pliable, then spray a liberal amount of Quik Detailler on the paintwork and rub the clay bar across the panel. Regularly fold the clay bar back on itself, so you're not scraping any attracted contaminants across the paint. If the clay bar starts dragging on the surface, spray on more Quik Detailler to keep it lubed up! Once done, buff the treated surfaces with a Microfibre cloth.
Next, treat any scratches or minor scrapes with Scratch-X. Apply a little of the paste to a lint free cloth and work into the scratch, then again buff off with a Microfibre cloth.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Stage 2 - Wash & Rinse
Once the contaminants have been treated, you can begin to wash the car. Fill up your watering can and one of the two buckets with plain water. The second bucket, pour in a little of the NXT Generation Car Wash (2-3 capfulls should suffice), and fill with lukewarm water. The idea is you use the watering can to rinse the car over, making sure it gets a good soaking - refill and use a few times if required - then apply the soapy water with the Lambswool Wash Mitt. The mitt should pick up any excess contaminants, the rear of the mitt also has a mesh which is excellent for scrubbing particular areas. Use the first bucket, with the plain water in, to periodically rinse the mitt off in, thus releasing any dirt its collected. General rule of thumb is to begin at the top of the car, and work your way down.
Once the car has had a good going over, rinse thoroughly with more plain water from the watering can. Be sure to remove all the soapy residue. In hot weather you may find it better to keep rinsing both washed and unwashed panels as you apply the soapy water, so the car doesn't dry out in the sun.
Once the car is rinsed off, turn your attention to the wheels - similar process to the rest of the car (rinse, wash, rinse) although don't use the Lambswool Wash Mitt for this as it can pick up corrosive brake dust which can damage your paint in the future. A basic sponge and/or Ultrasafe Wheel Spokebrush will suffice. To remove excess brake dust and contaminants from the wheel, use the Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner with the brush - this is safe for use on all wheels, and does not contain harmful acids such as cleaners like wonder wheels. Once cleaned, rinse the wheels and the bodywork surrounding the arches in case any brake dust was splashed up onto the car in the process.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Stage 3 - Dry
After final rinsing, I prefer to use a large leather Chamois. Meguiars do offer a "water magnet drying towel" although I've never found this to be as good as a decent chamois for removing water.
As with the washing stage, begin at the top and work your way down with the chamois; my order is roof, bonnet, spoiler (in a Nova's case, bootlid or tailgate), then front bumper, sides and rear bumper. Make sure to get all the water out of the gaps between panels where possible - open the bonnet and doors, and give the tops of the wings and inside/round the doors a wipe down with a cloth to remove any trapped water, then chamois if required.
If its not already, put the car undercover, in a garage, etc. You need to leave it a while for the bodywork to dry out properly, so go make a cup of tea or four. Ideally, the car will need as much as 24 hours to dry out, but if you don't have all day to hang around you can wait for an hour or two.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Stage 4 - Detail
Detailling is where you clean small details of the car - trim, windows, hard to access areas, tyres etc.
To begin with, most car washes (and Megs is no exception) contain some form of wax. This, and the chamois, can leave windows with a greasy sheen. To remove, spray on a small amount of NXT Glass Cleaner (being careful not to spray it all over the clean paint work) and wipe in with a Microfibre cloth. Fold the cloth over to the dry side and buff off to a smooth finish. Shine up the rubber window surrounds with some Gold Class Trim Detailler to help preserve the life of the rubber.
If you have plastic bumpers, and the car has had time to fully dry, now you can apply some back to black bumper treatment. As my Celica doesn't have any external bumper trim, I've not yet used a Megs product for this, although I used to use Simoniz Back To Black on my old Nova with good results.
Treat the tyres with some Hotshine Tyre Spray, being careful to keep the mist away from the car's bodywork and brake discs/pads. Spray closely and fairly liberally, wipe round with a cloth to get even coverage on the tyres, and wipe any dribbles or overspray off the alloys. Might seem a bit obvious, but only use this on the sidewall of the tyre, not the tread section (yes, one of the local kroooze site members did his entire tyre).
First; thanks to Johny and Al from CCUK for advice on said Celica forum. I'm far from their expertise, but shows that a little knowledge and some good products can give great results.
Ok, the products I use are primarily Megs items; they're expensive, but quality costs and you only need to use a small amount of each product. They should last you a long time, and can be purchased from a wide range of high street stores (including Halfrauds), and online retaillers. Feel free to use alternate products, but I would recommend using at least the Megs cut, polish and wax, as well as the Lambswool Wash Mitt.
You may not need every product listed below unless you fancy following every stage in this guide - and spending a lot of money too! However, the products used are thus:
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif
Scratch-X
Quik Clay
Quick Detailler Mist Spray
NXT Generation Car Wash
Stage 1 Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner (Cut)
Stage 2 Deep Crystal Polish (Polish)
Stage 3 Deep Crystal Carnuba Wax (Wax)
NXT Glass Cleaner - windows
Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner
Hotshine Tyre Spray
NXT Generation? All Metal Polysh
Gold Class trim detailler
...and these are the tools used:
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif
Two buckets
Watering Can - avoid using a pressure washer
Gold Class Even Coat Applicator Pads - You'll need at least three, one for each stage of cut/polish/wax
Leather Chamois
Microfibre Cloths - get these from Tesco. You'll need a few!
Lambswool Wash Mitt - I highly recommend the Megs one!
Ultrasafe Wheel Spokebrush
Ok, you've got some products, and some tools, so lets get started.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Preparation
NEVER wash a hot car. Not only will you damage the paint, you could run the risk of damaging the engine - cold water on hot engine = not wise! Also choose your location and day wisely, you don't want your car being rained on whilst you're cleaning it, conversely you shouldn't be washing it in direct sunlight either. If you have a garage, or somewhere undercover then put the car in there to dry after the initial washing stages.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Stage 1 - Clean
First you need to remove surface contaminants from your car's paintwork. In the winter this will be mostly mud, grime, and road salt. In the summer you'll be looking to chisel off tar spots, dust, and bugs. Contaminants are best removed quickly before they have time to set, harden and eat into your paintwork; its always a better to spend five minutes each summer evening rinsing dead bugs off your car than spend an hour each weekend trying to chisel them off.
You may wish to rinse the car over to remove loose dirt and dust before beginning - a watering can is ideal for this, rather than a pressure washer. Excess mud and dirt should be left to the wash stage (using the Lambswool Wash Mitt), you can always clay-bar again afterwards this stage.
For heavy contamination the clay bar will work wonders and bring your car up to a good shine (you can also use a Bug & Tar Remover spray, but this won't bring the paint up as well as the clay bar). Break the clay bar into thirds, you don't need to use all of it - also if you drop a piece you can chuck it out and use one of the remaining thirds. Mould the clay bar in your hands to warm it up and make it pliable, then spray a liberal amount of Quik Detailler on the paintwork and rub the clay bar across the panel. Regularly fold the clay bar back on itself, so you're not scraping any attracted contaminants across the paint. If the clay bar starts dragging on the surface, spray on more Quik Detailler to keep it lubed up! Once done, buff the treated surfaces with a Microfibre cloth.
Next, treat any scratches or minor scrapes with Scratch-X. Apply a little of the paste to a lint free cloth and work into the scratch, then again buff off with a Microfibre cloth.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Stage 2 - Wash & Rinse
Once the contaminants have been treated, you can begin to wash the car. Fill up your watering can and one of the two buckets with plain water. The second bucket, pour in a little of the NXT Generation Car Wash (2-3 capfulls should suffice), and fill with lukewarm water. The idea is you use the watering can to rinse the car over, making sure it gets a good soaking - refill and use a few times if required - then apply the soapy water with the Lambswool Wash Mitt. The mitt should pick up any excess contaminants, the rear of the mitt also has a mesh which is excellent for scrubbing particular areas. Use the first bucket, with the plain water in, to periodically rinse the mitt off in, thus releasing any dirt its collected. General rule of thumb is to begin at the top of the car, and work your way down.
Once the car has had a good going over, rinse thoroughly with more plain water from the watering can. Be sure to remove all the soapy residue. In hot weather you may find it better to keep rinsing both washed and unwashed panels as you apply the soapy water, so the car doesn't dry out in the sun.
Once the car is rinsed off, turn your attention to the wheels - similar process to the rest of the car (rinse, wash, rinse) although don't use the Lambswool Wash Mitt for this as it can pick up corrosive brake dust which can damage your paint in the future. A basic sponge and/or Ultrasafe Wheel Spokebrush will suffice. To remove excess brake dust and contaminants from the wheel, use the Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner with the brush - this is safe for use on all wheels, and does not contain harmful acids such as cleaners like wonder wheels. Once cleaned, rinse the wheels and the bodywork surrounding the arches in case any brake dust was splashed up onto the car in the process.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Stage 3 - Dry
After final rinsing, I prefer to use a large leather Chamois. Meguiars do offer a "water magnet drying towel" although I've never found this to be as good as a decent chamois for removing water.
As with the washing stage, begin at the top and work your way down with the chamois; my order is roof, bonnet, spoiler (in a Nova's case, bootlid or tailgate), then front bumper, sides and rear bumper. Make sure to get all the water out of the gaps between panels where possible - open the bonnet and doors, and give the tops of the wings and inside/round the doors a wipe down with a cloth to remove any trapped water, then chamois if required.
If its not already, put the car undercover, in a garage, etc. You need to leave it a while for the bodywork to dry out properly, so go make a cup of tea or four. Ideally, the car will need as much as 24 hours to dry out, but if you don't have all day to hang around you can wait for an hour or two.
http://forums.futura-sciences.com/images/smilies/icon_arrow.gif Stage 4 - Detail
Detailling is where you clean small details of the car - trim, windows, hard to access areas, tyres etc.
To begin with, most car washes (and Megs is no exception) contain some form of wax. This, and the chamois, can leave windows with a greasy sheen. To remove, spray on a small amount of NXT Glass Cleaner (being careful not to spray it all over the clean paint work) and wipe in with a Microfibre cloth. Fold the cloth over to the dry side and buff off to a smooth finish. Shine up the rubber window surrounds with some Gold Class Trim Detailler to help preserve the life of the rubber.
If you have plastic bumpers, and the car has had time to fully dry, now you can apply some back to black bumper treatment. As my Celica doesn't have any external bumper trim, I've not yet used a Megs product for this, although I used to use Simoniz Back To Black on my old Nova with good results.
Treat the tyres with some Hotshine Tyre Spray, being careful to keep the mist away from the car's bodywork and brake discs/pads. Spray closely and fairly liberally, wipe round with a cloth to get even coverage on the tyres, and wipe any dribbles or overspray off the alloys. Might seem a bit obvious, but only use this on the sidewall of the tyre, not the tread section (yes, one of the local kroooze site members did his entire tyre).