Cleaning Help

[Azzuri]

I picked up my Royal Blue ES friday just gone and it's allready really dirty thanks to our lovely weather - I know there are several other threads allready open about cleaning the civic but most of them seem to assume some level of knowledge about cleaning cars, which I lack and I am some somewhat anxious about not wanting to wreck the paintwork on my new car!

As I've posted elsewhere - I'm a relativley new driver as i only passed my test in September and the only other car I've driven is an old fiat punto which I just bunged through a car wash to clean when I couldn't bear to look at the dirt anymore! Needless to say I don't want to take my civic anywhere near a carwash but I'm not really sure about the equipment I need to do a good job.

I've come across many posts each with their own recomendations on how to wash the car and I've read the guides on polishedbliss but would just like some further adivice.

I should probably also mention that I took the dealers offer of smartcover paint protection. I've no idea how good this is although it appears to be doing something as rain just beads up and runs off of the car.

The smartcover came with an aftercare kit that inclujdes "nanodry wash & shield 3" which it reccomends be reapplied every 4 weeks but I don't really know what it does - I'm guessing it is supposed to do the same as wax as the application instructions appear similar. With that in mind should I bother with waxing the car at all?

I've also seen a few posts mention snow foam and using a foaming lance to do part of the wash (I allready have a presure washer). I like the look of this as it seems quite a fun way to wash my car - is it a good way to get the dirt off of the car or would I be better using the bucket & mitt method?

Sorry for the rather long post, I'm just rather concerned that my none existant knowledge of car maintanence is going to do horrible things to my car

[PJS]

Christ, where to start!

Okay, from another forum:

Proper paint care on Hondas, although Lexus and other marques suffer the same issue as well, is mandatory.
Your choice of products to clean the paint, and your technique needs to be spot on, if you are to minimise the amount of swirls induced.

1: Steer clear of ALL Swirl-o-matics - those brushes KILL your paint!

2: Steer clear of the £5-10 supermarket hand wash beggars - those guys KILL your paint with their gritty sponges and dirty water!

3: Same goes for the Albanians/Polish/other foreign nationals doing hand washes.

4: Buy 2 buckets from B&Q - one for shampoo (warm water) the other for rinsing (same warm water)

5: Buy a good highly concentrated shampoo, and sheepskin wash mitt.

6: Buy a good long fibre microfiber towel to dry the paintwork with.

7: Rinse car with hosepipe and strong jet of water to remove loose grime - even better if you've a pressure washer.

8: Do one panel at a time with the shampoo solution and your mitt, starting with the roof, and working round and down. The dirtiest parts are the lower sections, you do not want to transfer any grit there on to the other panels, causing swirls/scratches.

9: Rinse mitt in rinse bucket after each panel, thoroughly agitating the fibres to release any trapped grit, which it's designed to draw up and away from the paintwork.

10: Buy a Flash unit (Poundstretcher/InStore) for £5-6, and a couple of spare filters (2 for a £1), and after rinsing the car off with it or the hosepipe, turn the knob to AutoDry, and rinse again with the filtered water. This'll prevent/reduce water spots if you live in a medium/hard water area.

11: Dry paintwork with MF towel, using patting motion initially, then wipe gently to remove the remaining droplets.

12: Break out a good swirl hiding wax/sealant and apply to the paintwork. Buff off with another MF towel/cloth to a lustrous shine.


That's just the paintwork (and I haven't touched on pre-wash foam to remove a good chunk of the grime before putting a wash mitt near the paintwork) - don't forget the wheels, using a wheel brush. Do these last with the shampoo solution that's left.

Products to use:
Bilt Hamber - Auto Wash, and Auto Balm.

See link in this thread - http://www.phpbber.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1559


Now, if you decide to invest in the foam aspect, then you're going to need a lance for your machine - www.autobritedirect.com - let Mark know which brand you have for the correct adapter.
Whilst I recommend Bilt Hamber, and they have a pre-wash Auto Foam imminent, ABD's SSF is non-caustic and works well - but it'll not be as good as the new AF they had me trial recently.

You can also use the lance to apply the Auto Wash as well, but you'll want to make sure it's a bit wetter than the foam to aid the wash mitt being dragged over the paintwork.

Those 4 products, the foam lance, and a good sheepskin mitt, and MF towels will see you right from the off.
The key to minimising swirls is to remove as much grime as possible before touching the car with the mitt, and not to apply any real pressure with it.
You will still get the odd one here and there - soft clearcoats tend to do that on you, but the AB will hide the swirls very effectively, especially if you apply a second layer 30 mins or so after the first one's been buffed.