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A simple guide to car detailing


Dave

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I used Turtle Wax soft top cleaner and conditioner on my MR2 Roadster. Seemed ok. Its pretty expensive at around £16 from Halfords, but only bought it when they had Turtle Wax products buy one get one free... believe that they have got this offer on at the moment...

 

I also recall another soft top cleaner by Auto glym. Never tried it though.

 

THe MR2 owners manual said to use hand soap on the soft top. But i never tried this. Most of the time it was just clean water and a sponge, with the occasional use of the Turtle Wax product.

 

 

I have the Auto glym cleaner and protector for my roof and is really good and water just runs off :thumbs:

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 11 months later...

I know this is an old thread but I found it really useful, so I've created the PDF attached. I found this thread hugely informative and thought someone else might also want to have a printer friendly hard copy.

 

Detailing Starter Guide.pdf

 

 

I dropped images to save on ink and also size, to squeeze it in as an attachment.

 

I knocked up this PDF purely as I wanted something handy printed out when I got down to the job at the car, and I didn’t think leaving my iPad lying around as I splashed water and products all over the place was such a swell idea.

 

Thanks to the OPs for the useful info, hope you don't mind me roughly pulling it together like this. I'll remove if anyone has any serious objections.

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  • 9 months later...

Was a awesome read up - Just one question, couldn't see it covered in the OP and in the 1st 3 pages,

 

- What's the best products to use to APPLY the Wax/Polish? In the past with my Meg's Clay kit, it came with to round sponge type (might me microfibre, no idea) to apply and to remove.

Going to be doing an order soon, so be good to be able to order everything I need.

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Personal preference with regards to wax - foam applicators (like the yellow Megs ones), microfibre applicators, finishing pad, fingers, whatever works for you. Personally I like the Dodo Juice Supernatural Finger Mitts.

 

Polish should be applied with the pad with the required level of cut.

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Was a awesome read up - Just one question, couldn't see it covered in the OP and in the 1st 3 pages,

 

- What's the best products to use to APPLY the Wax/Polish? In the past with my Meg's Clay kit, it came with to round sponge type (might me microfibre, no idea) to apply and to remove.

Going to be doing an order soon, so be good to be able to order everything I need.

 

Personal taste, but generally something of as soft and dense foam as possible for me. I really like the puck style as they're nice and easy to keep hold of. This style, http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/scholl-concepts/black-hand-puck-applicator-pad.aspx

 

I also like the finger ones for a bit more precision, especially on wheels. http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/accessories/dodo-juice-basics-of-bling-finger-wax-applicator/prod_977.html

 

I just tried the microfibre covered oblong ones this weekend, we didn't get on :( too grabby.

 

It's what feels good to you, fortunately they're not super expensive so you can try a few. In the more traditional disc shape I liked the really dense foam ones that came in waxybox, not been impressed by the yellow ones you sometimes get free with stuff, always feels a bit rough to my delicate skin :lol:

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Personal preference with regards to wax - foam applicators (like the yellow Megs ones), microfibre applicators, finishing pad, fingers, whatever works for you. Personally I like the Dodo Juice Supernatural Finger Mitts.

 

Polish should be applied with the pad with the required level of cut.

 

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/microfibre-towels-and-applicators.html

 

So these sorts of things?

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Another quick Question - How do you go about applying the Polish/Wax - Do you blob a few spots on the panel, or apply to mitt and then to car?

 

Polish - 2 or 3 pea sized blobs on the pad, spread on the panel then work.

 

Wax - a swipe with the applicator and then apply to the car.

 

Sealants - depends on the sealant; some I apply like a polish but spray sealants either get sprayed onto the panel then spread or sprayed onto a microfibre cloth and spread onto the panel. It's trial and error that determines which.

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Another quick Question - How do you go about applying the Polish/Wax - Do you blob a few spots on the panel, or apply to mitt and then to car?

 

Polish - 2 or 3 pea sized blobs on the pad, spread on the panel then work.

 

Wax - a swipe with the applicator and then apply to the car.

 

Sealants - depends on the sealant; some I apply like a polish but spray sealants either get sprayed onto the panel then spread or sprayed onto a microfibre cloth and spread onto the panel. It's trial and error that determines which.

Great advice, thaaaaank you. :teeth:
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  • 1 month later...

Guys, the other day I washed, polished and waxed my car, (Waxed with Dodo Juice Purple Haze.) The car although shiny is a bit dirty so I want to wash it again tomorrow.

 

Question: Do I just need to wash it and use Megs NXT spray wax?

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

 

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A maintenance two bucket wash with a shampoo that's not aggressive, then a spritz with NXT spray wax should be fine.

 

Not sure if you might want to add a quick detailer on top or not? The Others will be here soon... :)

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Just a TBM wash should do, if you waxed it properly :)

 

You can too it up with something else if you want, like the spray wax or a QD, but there should be no real need assuming you use a mild shampoo that won't strip the wax protection.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

So much really great info on here.

I have read a lot. so to summarise what I think I've learned:

1. Soak (to loosen dirt)

2. Wash with shampoo and a long pile noodley mitt.

3. Remove tar spots and bug splats.

4. Clay bar with shampoo water for lube. (only every 6 months).

do I need to shampoo wash again after clay or tar removal?

5. Polish (abrasive) if necessary for swirl removal. If not, use Glaze (non abrasive) I'd like to use Poorboys glaze but my car is Sunset/Orange so do I use Poorboys Black hole(for dark colours) or white diamond(for light colours)?

6. Then use a Sealant or a Wax. I thought it was either or, but some use both? can you explain? I was going to use Poorboys Ex-P Sealant (for metallic colours). But i'm confused, do I need to wax after that?

 

 

I have 5L of wash n wax (free and large quantity available) (how can it wash AND wax?) which I was going to use as the shampoo step. or is this combined product poor for the shampoo step? do I need a single shampoo product?

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