Car Valeting by Auto Shine UK

Not long after i had bought my G220 D/A machine polisher i soon realised that there was going to be a issue as i couldnt access the smaller and narrow areas.
This is where the Spot Pad came in ok i needed to buy a new 3.5″ backing plate but this makes doing narrow areas alot easyier.
I have also found working major defects alot quicker with my Spot Pad because you can apply more pressure.
Removing light scratches on rear and front lights is also rewarding work using a Spot Pad as you can really tell the difference when you have corrected them.
I bought my Sonus SFX 2 from Cleanyourcar.co.uk it cost about £7 inc postage

Sonus Spot Pad

Following up from yesterdays Autobright post.
Today I managed to apply all the samples to different areas of my bonnet.

Autobright Polish & Wax Test

The Chemical Guys Jetseal 109 has been on my bonnet now for about for about 2 months now and is still looking very glossy and still has a lot of depth to it.
As you can see I separated my bonnet into four separate areas. I applied the Purple Haze High Gloss Hand Glaze with a microfibre towel, it was easy to apply to my bonnet but it did haze off quite quickly.

I then moved on to applying Very Cherry – Premium Carnauba Wax. I did find this slightly easier to get out of the bottle than the Purple Haze High Gloss, it also seems to have a better work time.

The EZ Carnauba was the best product to apply as it freely came out of the bottle on to my the microfibre cloth, and it worked very well and soon covered my test area with little product needed.

Ok so the buffing and removal of products since I applied the Purple Haze High Gloss Hand Glaze first I thought I’d remove it first, umm maybe a wipe on wipe off product I found it quite stubborn to remove.
Both Very Cherry and EZ Carnauba where very easy to buff off, you could almost just wipe the microfibre over the area and the product came off.

I applied all the products twice and tried a wipe on wipe off approach with Purple Haze High Gloss Hand Glaze but I still found it hard to buff off

Overall View
Very Cherry and EZ Carnauba had both left there test areas very smooth  and glass like to touch where as Purple Haze High Gloss Hand Glaze was still smooth but no where near Very Cherry and EZ Carnauba.
Only time will tell how well these products will stand up to the weather and aging.

UPDATE

26/11/08

Ok there was quite a bit of rain last night so I thought it was ideal to have a look at my Autobright test on my bonnet.
All the Autobright products have now been on for just short of a week. Whereas the Chemical Guys Jetseal 109 has been on now for about 2 months.

Beading wise there’s not a lot of difference between any of the 3 products from Autobright.  When I was stood at the side of the bonnet I could see that the area that had been treated with Very Cherry Wax was a slightly different shade of blue.
I would guess this is going to be down to it stripping the jetseal off and with it been a polish it has polished and cleansed the surface too.

Very Cherry Wax has very tight beading with no run off where as the Purple Haze had good beading but it was nowhere near as tight as Very Cherry Wax.
EZ Carnauba was pretty much if not a little better than Very Cherry Wax in the beading contest.
Jetseal is still holding its own 2 months on and beading tightly.

I was recently sent some sample products this week after I contacted Autobright. When I had been trawling through some forum posts over at cleanyourcar.co.uk

I noticed that autobright was getting a lot of products reviewed, and I was astonished by some of the results that where achieved.
I was really impressed by there Purple Haze High Gloss Hand Glaze.
So to cut a long story short I managed to get a few samples from them and whats even better is that they arrived next day. With a letter explaining a little bit more about each product.
If you want to check out there products pop over to autobright.uk.com

Purple Haze High Gloss Hand Glaze

Firstly it smells of blueberrys ok its not in the league of sonus polishes where you be happy to taste it as it smells that good but its still better than pure chemicals and it makes a product that bit more appealing if your working with it for hours.
Purple Haze is quite runny so I’m hoping that you’ll get a good work time out of it and wont need a lot.

Heres what Autobright said

An easy to use non silicon finishing step that will enhance the gloss  of newly painted and buffed surfaces. Produces a mirror-like, show room finish. Dries dust free. Will not streak, swirl or smear. Leaves a non oily brilliant sheen Pleasant fragrance.
Directions
Apply a thin uniform film to a soft cloth or wax applicator. Allow to haze, wipe off with a soft cloth. Use product sparingly for best results

I have spoke to autobright about applying via machine and they advise not to and are working on a machine version

EZ Carnauba – Easy to use liquid wax

Well it smells slightly of bananas and is very runny. Out of my sample bottle I think you could squeeze a small car possibly maybe Vauxhall Corsa or Ford.
I am only basing this on how much of the Dodo Juice Need For Speed I have used recently on a Ford Focus.

Heres what Autobright said

Easily applied liquefied paste wax formulated with premium grade carnauba wax. Creates a deep, long lasting gloss. Easy and dries fast, cuts down on time and labour.
Directions
Products seperates. Shake well before use and during use. Spray or hand apply a thin coating on new or pre cleaned finishes. Allow EZ Carnauba to dry to a haze then remove with a clean soft cloth or orbital polisher.

Very Cherry – Premium Carnauba Wax

Yes it smells of Cherrys. Its very polish like in look and texture. Its really thick and would appear to have a light to medium cut to it to remove light oxerdisation. After reading what autobright say it reminds me of Auto Gylms Super Resin Polish

Heres what Autobright said

Leaves a showroom finish on new or used paint. Restores colour and gloss to lightly oxidised finishes, as well as pre cleaned surfaces. Eliminates streaks and haze. Contains premium grade carnauba wax and detergent resistant polymers for a wet look shine.
Directions
Shake well.
Hand use – spread with polish sponge using circular motion. Let dry completely. Buff to a shine with polishing cloth, soft clean towel or orbital polisher.
Orbital use – Apply to bonnet. With orbital on, spread evenly over entire surface. Let dry completely . With a cleanbonnet, buff to a high gloss.
High Speed Buffer – Use a clear coat polishing pad or foam pad. Buff while wet using medium to high presuure. Gradually reduce pressure as polish disappears. Burnish to high glosh finish

Autobright Polish & Wax

Up until recently I have never really come across green algae on a car. But this problem does occur from time to time and needs sorting
Since I had nothing to had to sort this I took a trip to our local car shop and found that Auto Glym Caravan & Motorhome Cleaner aims to be bit of a all purpose cleaner.
Since I have only had chance to use  Auto Glym Caravan & Motorhome Cleaner on green algae I cant comment on other areas that it cleans, but if it anything like its algae removing abilitys then it’s a very good all purpose cleaner although it is slightly expensive compare to other bulk products you can purchase such as Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner which is slightly more at around £15 on the net but you so get about 5 litres of it and it can be diluted to 10:1 although 4:1 is the recommend from Meguiars.
I soaked the areas in Caravan & Motorhome Cleaner for around 5 minutes to allow the product to fully break down the algae, and then set to work with a small brush, re spraying with Auto Glym Caravan & Motorhome Cleaner when needed. I then rinsed off and then repeated again to make sure all the algae had been removed.

Before

Green Algae 3rd Brake Light

Ford Focus Green Algae Contamination

Ford Focus Green Algae Roof Drains

During Cleaning

Ford Focus Cleaning 3rd Brake Light for Green Algae

Ford Focus Cleaning Roof Drain For Green Algae

After

Ford Focus Window Rubber Cleaned

Ford Focus 3RD Brake Light Cleaned

Auto Glym Caravan & Motorhome Cleaner

Auto Glym Caravan & Motorhome Cleaner

Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener is a powerful acidic based alloy wheel cleaner.
Previoulsy I have only used Bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner on alloys and yes that does an excellent job on alloys that are maintained weekly or that are sealed with a product like Chemical Guys Wheel Guard.

Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener is the ideal next step for heavily contaminated alloy wheels that either haven’t been cleaned in years or just to get rid of brake dust build up that other cleaners just wont shift.
I recently used Wheel Brightener at 3:1 which is slightly stronger dilution than the 4:1 that Meguiar’s recommend but I knew I had 2 sets of alloys that where heavily soiled.

Firstly I had mad my solution of Wheel Brightener made up in a Handi-Hold Bottle which hold just short of 1 pint. Which doesn’t really sound like a lot but I was really surprised that cleaned one very heavily soiled set of alloys with 2 passes (2 passes due to not removing alloy). And  BMW 1 Series which hadn’t been cleaned in about 1 year which got the same regime and I still had about ¼ of the bottle left.
Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener will not remove tar but does an amazing job with built up brake dust.
The best way I found to use Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener was
1: Spray on to alloy wheel (make sure there cold) and on to a brush
2: Agitate the the alloy wheel face with a soft brush
3: Now work on the inner rim and make sure you clean the backs of the legs aswell
4: Rinse of with hose

This can be quite a dirty job and you’ll more than likely end up covered in dirt so be aware

Meguiars Wheel Brightener

Dodo Juice Need For Speed (Cleaner Wax)

If you shop around you’ll see Dodo Juice Need For Speed comes in two different sizes.
250ml £9.95

500ml £18.95

This was my first hurdle as with any product, will the small bottle be enough to finish one car, as I hate been left with a big bottle of a product I don’t like, as it then gets left on the back of the shelf.
I took a gamble on the small 250ml Bottle of Need For Speed when it arrived I was instantly having second thoughts as the product was quite runny, but it smelt so nice a orange/apple smell. I did think at worst I would use the entire bottle on one car.
I was applying the Dodo Juice Need For Speed using my Meguiar’s G220, I decided to use a spot pad as I thought it would hold less of the product inside the pad.
I found working in small areas better as the workability time of Need For Speed was then greatly improved over working in a slightly larger area where the solvents get a chance to evaporate quicker.
Need For Speed is pretty much like Dodo Juice Lime Prime in formulation but leaves behind a wax residue hence it been a all in one product. 
Dodo Juice Need For Speed leaves a great slick finish on paintwork I would guess the wax might not hold up that long so layering it off with a slightly better last stage protection would be advisable, some carnauba wax like Collinite 476 would aid the life span of Need For Speed.
Need For Speed is great to use if your doing a job for a friend and aiming to give the car a quick once over and don’t have a lot of time but still want to polish and wax.
There are no optical fillers on Dodo Juice Need For Speed but of course the wax will mask some but this isn’t what this product is used for.
I’ll definitely be using Dodo Juice Need For Speed again and will be interested to use other Dodo Juice product such as there soft waxes.
As you can see from the picture i didnt use much, and still i applied one full coat to a Ford Focus, so you could easily apply Need For Speed to six cars from a 250ML bottle.

The Dodo Site is really an experience in its self so head over to DodoJuice.com

Dodo Juice Need For Speed

Car Detailing Vs Car Valeting

To me car valeting is just that extra slight step from washing your car and giving a hoover inside, mainly giving your car that clean and tidy look taking around maybe 2 hours. Car Detailing can be a lengthy process and can take up to one week to complete, the length of time it takes to complete will vary from the condition on your car and how you want it to look when the detail is complete.

Personally I always think you can judge how well a car is been looked after by how clean the owner gets the alloy wheels. If the inner rims are spotless then the car owner has really taken the effort to do the best job they can.

Wheel Cleaning
The best way to clean your alloys is to take 1 alloy at a time completely of the car, as this makes the cleaning process so much easier for access and you’re highly unlikely to miss any areas. Firstly give them a quick rinse off to remove the worst of the dirt and then decide your best route for cleaning.
If they are new then a quick wash with a dedicated alloy wheel brush and using a non acidic based wheel cleaner will more than likely suffice, don’t forget an alloy wheel sealent such as Chemical Guys Wheel Guard or Poorboys Wheel Sealant
If they haven’t been cleaned properly in months or even years then you will probably find that a non acidic based cleaner might not cut through years of brake dust, so you will want to use a acid based alloy wheel cleaner such as Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener diluted to 4:1.
I’d give the wheels a good spray and then agitate with a brush leave to dwell for a few minutes and then rinse off, it might take 2 attempts but your alloy wheels will look ten times better. Your next step is to seal them to aid future cleaning and this should also help protect them against corrosion and pitting.

Body Wash
Firstly rinse the majority of the dirt off if you have a pressure washer then invest in a snow foam lance and some snow foam, on of the cheapest place I have found is cleanyourcar.co.uk The snow foam should be left on your car for around 4/5 minutes so help remove small contaminants. Once you have rinsed all the snow foam off fully, you can proceed to the two bucket wash method starting on the roof and working down don’t be afraid to use more than one bucket of warm water ands shampoo or even two mitts one for the top half and one for the lower half of your car.

Claying / Claybar’s
Just because you’ve washed your car it doesn’t mean that it’s fully clean a clay bar process will remove bonded contaminants from the paintwork.
If after washing your body work still feels rough in areas this is due to dirt been bonded to the paintwork and claying will remove this and leave the panel with a very smooth finish. And I would again recommend claying your entire car. 

Paintwork Correction.
Paintwork correction is done by using a machine polisher and usually fixes common paintwork issues such as oxidisation (paint fading), swirl marks and random deep scratches this is normally best left to a professional detailer as paintwork and be made worse as quickly as it can be made better.

Waxing
This is the final step, Carnauba waxes are really durable but its not always the cast that most expensive is best some  Carnauba waxes have come from different industry’s that have more harsh environments and have been slightly altered so they can be used on car paintwork.
Waxing is a LSP (Last Stage Protection) and can be layered so you can put more than one coat on which will enhance the depth and gloss. If you’re going to use more than one coat then you should buff your first coat off and then leave the car for about 1 hour before applying another coat.

There is so much more to car detailing over a straight car valet, alot of the time areas just gets missed on a valet.

How to polish your car

Ok so every man and his dog will give you different techniques for polishing your car from putting the polish on the car body work and rubbing in a circular motion to pouring it on a cloth and rubbing in straight lines.
Firstly this is a how to polish your car by hand guide.
The range of polishes out there is immense from Auto Glym Super Resin polish and Menzerna Intensive Polish to awful cheap own supermarket brands for 99p.
I have always been a firm believer that you get what you pay for with most products, so I would personally stay well clear from cheap own brand polishes.
If you have new car its still worth polishing “well its new it doesn’t need polishing” wrong. It’s been given a quick wash at the dealership. Chances are though it’s been sat in a huge car park for a good few weeks.
Ok so you’ve washed it and I would now personally clay the car although the car looks clean there might be tiny bits of contamination still on the car from transportation or where its been parked.
Now all that’s done have a good look around the car for any imperfections if you haven’t got any congratulations your one of the lucky ones.

If this is the case you’re only going to need a very fine polish / glaze with a very light cut, something like Sonus SFX 3 Final Finish Polish or Chemical Guys EZ Glaze with Acrylic Shine II. Either of these will enhance the gloss and depth of your paint but will have little impact on defects.
I would use a Handi Grip Applicator and work on small areas at a time working the polish till its starts to dry to a haze or starts producing dust. Moving in a circular motion and buffing off with a Microfibre towel.
If your car does have some Random Deep Scratches (RDS)  you can remove these by hand by using a polish with slightly more cut to it, but be careful if in doubt have a look for a professional valeter or a car detailer as they will have a lot of experience in this area and will be able to offer advice or to remove them for you.

One of the safer ways would be to fill the RDS with a polish with filling ability’s, one of the best I have found is Auto Glym Super Resin polish commonly referred to as AG SRP. If you fill a RDS it hasn’t gone for ever it’s just a temporary solution that makes the RDS less noticeable to the eye, and make sure that you put a wax over the top of your freshly polished paint work to help seal in the gloss and depth and keep the look for longer.
When filling a RDS work over not along as it will fill quicker even small 2” RDS could take five to ten minutes to fill, with a few passes of Auto Glym Super Resin polish.
Each time you have worked the Super Resin polish buff with a microfiber and then check your work and just keep going until it’s less noticeable to the eye.

Ok polishing your car by hand is a long process even longer if you’re trying to take a lot of defects out. If you have a lot of RDS and swirls you may want to look at a machine polisher such as the Meguiars G220 you will remove defects a lot quicker and the overall finish will be of a higher standard than polishing your car by hand.

Today i was asked by a friend if i could do anything to remove the hazing affect on his mercedes headlights.
After my Astra T8 detail at the weekend i was sure i could improve the look on these headlights.
Firstly i gave the headlights a quick wipe down to make sure they where clean. 
I opted for Menzerna Intensive Polish (PO85RD 3.02) on a Sonus SFX-2 Spot Pad.
The spot pad allowed me to work on the smaller lights with ease.
With the headlights been plastic, the heat builds up quite quickly so i couldn’t focus on one spot for to long.
I worked on each lens for around 5 minutes from speed 3-5 varied on my Meguiars G220.
I then gave them a buff with my mircofibre and then repeated the process.
In all it took me around 25 minutes to complete the job.
 
Before

Mercedes Headlight Before Correction

During Polising

Mercedes Headlight During Correction

After

Mercedes Headlight After Correction

The Vikan Extra Long Wheel Brush comes in two parts the main red and green brush head and the extra Long Handle.
The main reason it is in two parts, is because the brush head is replaceable, but after a quick browse on the Internet I couldn’t find a replacement head, and also i cant see why you would need to replace the Vikan brush head either as the polyester filaments are fairly stiff.
The brush is great at aggitaing the dirt inside the alloy but i was worried at first about the flex in the shaft of the brush and after been used a few times, there is an apparent bend in the shaft.
The only problem with the Vikan brush head been replaceable is that i have found it working itself loose on a few occasions when been used behind brake calipers.
On the very tip of the brush head, the metal twist is exposed which is a slight worry as i have a few times hits suspension legs.
The major problem i have with the Vikan Extra Long Wheel Brush is that the polyester filaments are fairly stiff and i fear they could mark and scratch the faces of alloy wheels so if this is happening then its more than likely happening to the inside of the alloy wheel.
The Vikan Extra Long Wheel Brush will now probably be used as a wheel arch brush.

Vikan Extra Long Wheel Brush