Cleaning your pride & joy

[Big ARG]

When i had my Milano CTR the Meguairs was awsome. I don't think it does it justice on Galaxy grey though.

[generationgav]

What's the best way to clean the car given the fact that I don't have a driveway, I have a shared garage with no way I could use water in there due to room & lack of drain and the nearest place to park is a good way down the road.

[sco77harris]

i went to halfords today looking for the products recomended by auto express and the pace was awful no logical order and many products not to be seen so i dropped my basket and walked out lol.

anyway i recomend this site which sells all the top products as tested by auto express in one package and as i have used many of the products already i would highly rrecomend it.

http://www.autobestbuy.co.uk/

[basegreen]

Got some bits for washing the car. Never washed my own car before in my entire life

Got:

Meguiars Applicator Pads
Meguiars Microfibre towels (x3)
Wonderwheels Alloy Cleaning Kit
Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo/Conditioner
Meguiars Liquid Polish
Lambswool Mitt
Bug/insect remover thing
Rain-X Glass Cleaner
Rain-X Glass treatment

I'll do a before and after, and finally post those bloody exhaust pics

[Fedorov]

Wow that even beats my shopping list!

Which Bug/Insect remover did you get, I got the Turtlewax Platinum Sap remover spray, doesn't seem to do a lot with bugs/blood splats...

[basegreen]

It's a brush thing specially for getting bugs off lights.

[richierich]

Basegreen, did you get the Rain X for the rear window in particular or for all of them. I was considering it for the rear window, can you let us know how you get on with it?

[basegreen]

Yeah, do a search on here for rain-x. Actually been using it for a while and it's so good, I reckon every dealer should give a free bottle with the car.

[elfa7]

Just a reminder to all the "junior" members re. cleaning. Only use slightly warm water on the bodywork. Never hot !!

[basegreen]

Well, here you go - clean car!

[Fedorov]

Nice, worth the effort when it comes up shiny isn't it

Alloys, I presume there is some sort of lacquer coating on the alloys (I've got 17's) one of my mates was a bit concerned that these alloy cleaning products could cause more damage in the long-term because you would be taking that protective lacquer off.
He mentioned some stuff you can get that lets you add more protective layers to them...

[basegreen]

I think my plan with the alloys is to only use the special cleaning stuff when the brake dust was caked on like it was yesterday. If I give them a clean every now and then with normal shampoo and water they should stay fairly clean.

[johnd]

Hi i've just found this site, been looking for a non Type-R forum for ages.
Top site by the way, sold a 1.9dci Megane and got a 1.8EX in black in March, had a load of problems with paint faults but it now looks like it's finally sorted.
Managed to get the 5 years service package out of them in the end for all the hassle i had, back on topic gave the Civic the a full detail with the following;
Washed with Meg's gold class
Clayed the Sonus green clay / lubed with Sonus glide
Polished with Sonus SFX2 then followed with Sonus SFX3
Glazed with Clearkote red moose machine glaze
Sealed with Poorboy EX-P
Waxed with Harly wax and the finished results








Nice shot of the Honda special orange peel



And a reflection shot off the bonnet

[Fedorov]

Welcome to the site and that's a great shine!

[pikkumies]

To clean the dashboard without causing scracthing i use pressurized air which i use first to get the dust off the dashboard. Then to wipe i use a wet microfibercloath soaked in plain water (used to clean eyeglasses for example). This cleans out the dash fine and leaves no scratches.

[basegreen]

I used a dry microfibre cloth (Meguiars) to clean the dash displays, worked fine with no scratching or products needed. The passenger side dash plastic is more rubbery and it didn't like the cloth - are you saying a wet microfibre cloth would work there?

[Deemon]

Hi all,

Just found this site and have to say it's great.
I got my new Civic in March, A nice shiny Black 1.8 EX and after a few weeks thought I would give it a good clean n wax.
So off I went to my local Motoparts and the guy their recommended Meguiars 3 Step system. It consist of Step 1 - Paint Cleaner, Step 2 - Polish and Step 3 - Wax. I wasn’t too sure at first, but the sales guy convinced me to hand over my cash and give it a go….
After a good wash (with Meguiars Gold Clas) and dry I gave the Step 1 a go, I wasn't expecting any major difference but after doing half the wing the untouched part looked as if there was a blue haze on the paint. Feeling confident the Paint Cleaner was taking all this crap off my car I continued on and finished the rest.....Step 2 time, the paint cleaner had done a good job of getting rid of the haze so I was expecting good things from Polish. I was not disappointed, the polish really brought out the shine and was easy to use, none of that white powdery crap u get with some polish. Step 3, The wax went on and polished up with ease (again like the polish no powder) and it added the final shine (Sooooo Shiny Now!) and protection from all the nasty stuff that normally dulls the paint.....When I was finished, I stood back an had a look. I was amazed at the finish, it was like a shiny black pool of water, I was very happy and some what relived that the four and a half hours I had just spent on my car did not go to waste...…..I have used a lot of different car products over the years but Meguiars is the best I have used so far.

Sry I didn’t get any pics of my car when I was finished, but I will post some up next time I wash it

[lazarus]

Hi All,

As someone who has never properly cleaned their car manually, can you give me some tips ?

I've got the gear to do it, but where do you start ?

I guess you go from top of car working down ?

Any help appreciated.

[Pudd]

Got the Meguiars gold class shampoo and conditioner today from halfords. They didn't have the wheel cleaner so picked up Turtle wax wheel cleaner instead. Will get the meguiars version and compare the two. They also had a 3 pack offer on rain-x which included the rain repellent, glass cleaner and an anti fog cloth. Will let you know how i get on with them.

[Deemon]

How to clean a car.....that all depends on how good a job u want to do.....

This is what I do,

TIP: Don't clean the car on a hot sunny day, best to wait for the evening or you will have smears all over the body work as the water dries.

1. I always use two buckets of water, one for soap (Meguiars Gold Class) n one with clean water for cleaning the dirt from the my wash mitt (or sponge) to help stop scratches by contaminating my soapy water with dirt....

2. Power wash as much dirt n grime off the car as possible.

3. It's good practice to clean your wheels at this point, (I use Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner) this will help later on to reduce water marks, If you clean the wheels last the car will have dried by the time your finished, then its more difficult to remove those pesky water marks....

4. Start washing, But ALWAYS start at the top and work your way down, most of the dirt will be at the bottom of the car and you don't what to scratch your paintwork by dragging all that dirt onto the roof Use plenty of soapy water, it not only takes the dirt off but also acts as a lubricant between your sponge and the paint to help stop scratches... work on small sections at a time and rinse off the soap ** moving on. I usually do ,roof / windows / bonnet n wings / drivers side / passenger side / boot then front bit under the lights...I use a separate sponge to clean the plastic trim at the bottom of the car as the can be a lot of grit there. Don't forget the door sills

5. After the wash it's time to dry the car. I know it's a pain but if u don't water marks will waste the look and all your hard work will have gone to waste. I like to use a Chamois to dry but there are quite a few alternatives out there if you don't like Chamois.

5a. If you have never polished / waxed your car now's the time, If you can be bothered Meguiars 3 Step system is brilliant (see my thread above) if not a good wax will make the world of difference, Meguiars Gold Class Clear Coat Liquid Wax is very good and will provide protection for your paint, a good waxing every 2 months is all it will need......LOL, I should get a job for Meguiars as their advertising manager after this....Oh and give Rain-X a try on the windows especially the back one.

6. As the last step (in between waxings) I like to use a Quick Detailer spray (from u guest it, Meguiars ) it removes any little water marks and give better shine than just drying on it own...

7. For that finishing touch, I use a tyre gel to give that showroom finish, makes all the difference. (lol, I won't bother telling u who's product)

Well that's about it, hope this helps and doesn’t make me sound to analey retentive I just like a nice clean car is all