Cleaning your pride & joy - Page 4

CivPilot · 13th August 2006, 10:16

Just a quick note about microfibre towels.....

If your washing them after use do NOT use fabric softener in the wash. The fabric softener does not work with the microfibre strands and will actually disolve them over time waking the cloth go from "Micro fibre" to just "fibre" (and scratchy fibre at that). Most car care sites will tell you this. Wash the cloth by hand in warm water and dry on a line (A hot tumble dryer can easily melt the micro fibres of the cloth).

You dont even need to by an expensive cloth from Halfords, go to tesco's, they sell car product micro fibre cloths for about £1.50 (for 2, small blue cardboard box with the blue towel exposed) and these are the same grade and quality as the Meg's ones. I do this and every 3 or 4 washes just buy a new set of towels.

Good finisher to Meg's is a proper natural hard Carnuba wax (One I have is yellow mainly but 40% pure white, Very good stuff), applied by hand not cloth. Was going to do mine this weekend and post results but its pouring with rain outside

jerseybean0 · 13th August 2006, 20:00

www.overclockers.co.uk do a lot of the meguiar cleaning gear,at a reasonable price.
look at the site map it's at the bottom.

Fedorov · 13th August 2006, 22:54

Thanks for reminding me about Overclocker were incidentally me and most of my mates buy and build most of our PC's from - good prices, good delivery and good technical support which I had to use a couple of times over the last few months with the odd faulty PC component.

richierich · 14th August 2006, 10:48

[quote="CivPilot"]Just a quick note about microfibre towels.....

If your washing them after use do NOT use fabric softener in the wash. The fabric softener does not work with the microfibre strands and will actually disolve them over time waking the cloth go from "Micro fibre" to just "fibre" (and scratchy fibre at that). Most car care sites will tell you this. Wash the cloth by hand in warm water and dry on a line (A hot tumble dryer can easily melt the micro fibres of the cloth).

quote]

That would explain why my car looks a right mess having just washed it, full of swirls. I washed the microfibre cloths, didn't think anything of it, didn't add conditioner as warned on the package, just noticed we use Bold 2 in 1, so, I have one Water Magnet Towel and 3 Microfibre polishing cloths which are unuseable, off to Halfords to buy more, then get outside with the Meguiars and see if the 3 step polish thing can get rid of them, didn't do a bad job last time in some swirls that were there from day one.

johnd · 14th August 2006, 15:17

Rich before you go to Halfrauds try here;http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/ i get most of my stuff from here, good on price and next day delivery.For the masking of swirls on dark and reds try Clearkote Red Moose Glaze which will give you an excellent base for a sealant. Or if you want to go the whole hog try the Sonus Swirlbuster polish first which is another excellent product.

richierich · 14th August 2006, 16:05

John, thanks for the reply, i have already bought the Meguiars 3 step thing (but will check out the site for new microfibre cloths), do you think the red moose stuff would be okay to use instead of the cleaner part of the Meg's and then polish and Carnauba wax as per step 2 & 3 of the Megs?

johnd · 14th August 2006, 16:47

I would leave the cleaner step out as i'm guessing you have done this recently, or you could clay the bodywork for a glass like finish, use the polish (step 2) for a good clean base , then use the Red Moose as the glaze / filler then get yourself a good sealant. The Poorboys EX-P is very durable and easy to use or if your in halfords try the ag extra gloss protection. Then use you step 3 wax , you should then only need to top up your wax every wash as the sealant should be ok for about 3-4 months. Hope this helps.

richierich · 14th August 2006, 17:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnd

I would leave the cleaner step out as i'm guessing you have done this recently, or you could clay the bodywork for a glass like finish, use the polish (step 2) for a good clean base , then use the Red Moose as the glaze / filler then get yourself a good sealant. The Poorboys EX-P is very durable and easy to use or if your in halfords try the ag extra gloss protection. Then use you step 3 wax , you should then only need to top up your wax every wash as the sealant should be ok for about 3-4 months. Hope this helps.

So thats

Wash
Dry
Polish
Red Moose
Seal
Wax

Bloody nora, thats a lot of rubbing. I don't fancy the clay stuff, will the red moose help reduce the swirls I currently have, or do I need to clay it?

Fedorov · 14th August 2006, 23:08

"Wax on, wax off Daniel son..."

Copycat · 15th August 2006, 05:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedorov

"Wax on, wax off Daniel son..."

CivPilot · 15th August 2006, 08:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by richierich

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnd

I would leave the cleaner step out as i'm guessing you have done this recently, or you could clay the bodywork for a glass like finish, use the polish (step 2) for a good clean base , then use the Red Moose as the glaze / filler then get yourself a good sealant. The Poorboys EX-P is very durable and easy to use or if your in halfords try the ag extra gloss protection. Then use you step 3 wax , you should then only need to top up your wax every wash as the sealant should be ok for about 3-4 months. Hope this helps.

So thats

Wash
Dry
Polish
Red Moose
Seal
Wax

Bloody nora, thats a lot of rubbing. I don't fancy the clay stuff, will the red moose help reduce the swirls I currently have, or do I need to clay it?

The clay bar will not reduse swirl marks, but it will lift any small particles you cant get of with a normal clean. After clay baring the car the paint will not look alot different, but it will feel amazingly smooth to the touch. You have to use loads of quick detailer (use the megs stuff

) but it is worth the effort.

To remove swirl marks you need to use somthing like the Red Moose or Meg's scratch-X. (3m also do a great chemical cleanser). The thing to remember is that once youve done the de-swirl you must then wax the car to protect the cleansed paint.

Popping to the bank today but this afternoon I will be giving the car a proper hard wax after a de-swirl. Got some 50/50 wax* and wanna try it out, saw my mates Porsche done with the same stuff and the results were

*50/50 is a Natural (45% pure white, rest yellow) Carnuba wax that really seals things in. Its a minimum 6monthly treatment, but do a couple of coats and it will last the whole of the winter. You get funny looks applying it as the best way is to rub it into the skin of your hands (to warm it) then smooth your hands over the paint. Rubbing off takes 5 seconds and absolutely no effort (and more importantly, no residue).

johnd · 15th August 2006, 09:54

As Civpilot say's the clay bar will only smooth the paint, but it's well worth it. Meg's do a clay bar set that should be in Halfords for about £13. If you find you are using a lot of the quick detailer you can get a bodyshop version called Meg's last touch which comes in a US 1 gal ( which is just under 4l ) from here www.cleanandshiny.co.uk
The Red Moose will mask the swirls where scratch X will remove some of the lighter marks, but by hand the scratch X will be hard work to do the whole car. As for wax the choice is endless, for a mid priced quality wax i would go for either P21s,Poorboys natty paste wax blue or the Chemical guys XXX hardcore paste wax which all are under £20 and are available from any of the approved traders on www.detailingworld.co.uk.
Rich it may look like a lot of work to start with but once you have a good base all you will need to do is just top up your wax after every wash as the sealant should give you a few months protection.
Best of luck as it looks like you are entering the world of obsessive car cleaning disorder, which there is no return.

richierich · 15th August 2006, 10:12

Sounds like I am entering the twilight zone, thing that gauls me is I just spent £40+ on the Meguiars stuff, I guess if I buy this lot than that is all but redundant.

johnd · 15th August 2006, 10:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by richierich

Sounds like I am entering the twilight zone, thing that gauls me is I just spent £40+ on the Meguiars stuff, I guess if I buy this lot than that is all but redundant.

You got it, you will soon have half used bottles of every brand of car cleaning gear whilst on the search of the holy grail of finishes for your paint work. If you on the slippery slope why not order yourself one of these;http://www.autopia-carcare.com/son-sfxpol-kit.html as the exchange rate is very good at the moment.

richierich · 15th August 2006, 11:45

I was bought a Halfrauds one a while ago, but I am not sure about the lambswool applicators, they always seem a little scratchy, also it makes a right mess to apply it with the polisher, or am I missing the point, apply by hnad remove mechanically.

To be honest I was more than happy with the improvement on the surface after one application of the Megs stuff, might just get some new cloths and some detergent without conditioner.

johnd · 15th August 2006, 13:29

The Halfords one is only really any good for removing wax / buffing as it hasn't got the power or speed to break down polish and as it has no speed settings it will just fling whatever product you try to apply. So as you said apply by hand and remove with your buffer. And lose the fabric conditioner.

allan40alt · 2nd September 2006, 19:38

Not sure if this has been mentioned but I've just checked the Auto Express product test site for synthetic chamois leathers and I was surprised that Halfords Easy Glide Extra Large (£6.99 at time of test) came out top with 5 stars.

Two that I thought would have been higher were Meguiars Water Magnet (£12.00) 3 stars and Autoglym Aqua-Dry (£7.99) 3 stars.

I use the Autoglym at present and was going to treat my new NHB to a Meguiars but it looks like a trip to Halfords instead. Glad I had a quick check.

WoolyCiv · 2nd September 2006, 22:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by allan40alt

Not sure if this has been mentioned but I've just checked the Auto Express product test site for synthetic chamois leathers and I was surprised that Halfords Easy Glide Extra Large (£6.99 at time of test) came out top with 5 stars.

Two that I thought would have been higher were Meguiars Water Magnet (£12.00) 3 stars and Autoglym Aqua-Dry (£7.99) 3 stars.

I use the Autoglym at present and was going to treat my new NHB to a Meguiars but it looks like a trip to Halfords instead. Glad I had a quick check.

Alan if the Autoglym on is the one that comes with their 'Care kit' then the Meguiars Water Magnet is definately better. I have both and use the Autoglym first then the meguiars towel. I only do it this way then I am sure that the Meguiars towel still has a dry part to finish off the last part of the car.

JB75 · 3rd September 2006, 15:52

I'd like to add my name to the Meguiar's fan club.

I took my grubby Civic to the local Halfords this morning and spent just short of £50 on the Meguiar's range; picking up the wax, glass cleaner, water magnet towel and microfibre cloth. I wouldn't have touched the Meguiar's range had it not been for the recommendations on here, as it's priced considerably higher than equivalent products from other brands. I haven't bothered with the wax yet but the spray on glass cleaner, which smells delightful by the way, left the windows shiny in no time: it was easy to apply and rubbed dry in seconds with the microfibre cloth. I was impressed with the water magnet too, the car went from soaked to bone dry in little over 5 minutes.

Probably won't be visiting my local Halfords again though: I had to pay cash as their card machines were offline, then I was told they had no bags, leaving me a 5 minute walk back to the car clutching two bottles and two cloths...

Bassa · 3rd September 2006, 15:57

Anyone tried P21S Concours Carnauba Wax - seems to get much praise?

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This thread is about: Cleaning your pride & joy, it's in Cleaning at the Honda Civic forum Civinfo; Just a quick note about microfibre towels..... If your washing them after use do NOT use fabric softener in the wash. The fabric softener does ...

13th August 2006, 10:16	#61 (permalink)
CivPilot 您看了 Triangular Exhaust Join Date: 1st May 2006 Location: Surrey/Hants Posts: 447 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Just a quick note about microfibre towels..... If your washing them after use do NOT use fabric softener in the wash. The fabric softener does not work with the microfibre strands and will actually disolve them over time waking the cloth go from "Micro fibre" to just "fibre" (and scratchy fibre at that). Most car care sites will tell you this. Wash the cloth by hand in warm water and dry on a line (A hot tumble dryer can easily melt the micro fibres of the cloth). You dont even need to by an expensive cloth from Halfords, go to tesco's, they sell car product micro fibre cloths for about £1.50 (for 2, small blue cardboard box with the blue towel exposed) and these are the same grade and quality as the Meg's ones. I do this and every 3 or 4 washes just buy a new set of towels. Good finisher to Meg's is a proper natural hard Carnuba wax (One I have is yellow mainly but 40% pure white, Very good stuff), applied by hand not cloth. Was going to do mine this weekend and post results but its pouring with rain outside

13th August 2006, 20:00	#62 (permalink)
jerseybean0 Supporter Valve Cap Join Date: 2nd May 2006 Location: Jersey Posts: 24 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	www.overclockers.co.uk do a lot of the meguiar cleaning gear,at a reasonable price. look at the site map it's at the bottom.

13th August 2006, 22:54	#63 (permalink)
Fedorov Supporter Magic Rear Seat Join Date: 15th April 2006 Posts: 783 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Thanks for reminding me about Overclocker were incidentally me and most of my mates buy and build most of our PC's from - good prices, good delivery and good technical support which I had to use a couple of times over the last few months with the odd faulty PC component.

14th August 2006, 10:48	#64 (permalink)
richierich Smell My Cheese! Rocketship door handle Join Date: 17th May 2006 Location: Bicester, Oxfordshire Posts: 1,847 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader: (0)	[quote="CivPilot"]Just a quick note about microfibre towels..... If your washing them after use do NOT use fabric softener in the wash. The fabric softener does not work with the microfibre strands and will actually disolve them over time waking the cloth go from "Micro fibre" to just "fibre" (and scratchy fibre at that). Most car care sites will tell you this. Wash the cloth by hand in warm water and dry on a line (A hot tumble dryer can easily melt the micro fibres of the cloth). quote] That would explain why my car looks a right mess having just washed it, full of swirls. I washed the microfibre cloths, didn't think anything of it, didn't add conditioner as warned on the package, just noticed we use Bold 2 in 1, so, I have one Water Magnet Towel and 3 Microfibre polishing cloths which are unuseable, off to Halfords to buy more, then get outside with the Meguiars and see if the 3 step polish thing can get rid of them, didn't do a bad job last time in some swirls that were there from day one.

14th August 2006, 15:17	#65 (permalink)
johnd Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 27th June 2006 Location: Bath Posts: 143 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Rich before you go to Halfrauds try here;http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/ i get most of my stuff from here, good on price and next day delivery.For the masking of swirls on dark and reds try Clearkote Red Moose Glaze which will give you an excellent base for a sealant. Or if you want to go the whole hog try the Sonus Swirlbuster polish first which is another excellent product.

14th August 2006, 16:05	#66 (permalink)
richierich Smell My Cheese! Rocketship door handle Join Date: 17th May 2006 Location: Bicester, Oxfordshire Posts: 1,847 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader: (0)	John, thanks for the reply, i have already bought the Meguiars 3 step thing (but will check out the site for new microfibre cloths), do you think the red moose stuff would be okay to use instead of the cleaner part of the Meg's and then polish and Carnauba wax as per step 2 & 3 of the Megs?

14th August 2006, 16:47	#67 (permalink)
johnd Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 27th June 2006 Location: Bath Posts: 143 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	I would leave the cleaner step out as i'm guessing you have done this recently, or you could clay the bodywork for a glass like finish, use the polish (step 2) for a good clean base , then use the Red Moose as the glaze / filler then get yourself a good sealant. The Poorboys EX-P is very durable and easy to use or if your in halfords try the ag extra gloss protection. Then use you step 3 wax , you should then only need to top up your wax every wash as the sealant should be ok for about 3-4 months. Hope this helps.

15th August 2006, 09:54	#72 (permalink)
johnd Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 27th June 2006 Location: Bath Posts: 143 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	As Civpilot say's the clay bar will only smooth the paint, but it's well worth it. Meg's do a clay bar set that should be in Halfords for about £13. If you find you are using a lot of the quick detailer you can get a bodyshop version called Meg's last touch which comes in a US 1 gal ( which is just under 4l ) from here www.cleanandshiny.co.uk The Red Moose will mask the swirls where scratch X will remove some of the lighter marks, but by hand the scratch X will be hard work to do the whole car. As for wax the choice is endless, for a mid priced quality wax i would go for either P21s,Poorboys natty paste wax blue or the Chemical guys XXX hardcore paste wax which all are under £20 and are available from any of the approved traders on www.detailingworld.co.uk. Rich it may look like a lot of work to start with but once you have a good base all you will need to do is just top up your wax after every wash as the sealant should give you a few months protection. Best of luck as it looks like you are entering the world of obsessive car cleaning disorder, which there is no return.

15th August 2006, 10:12	#73 (permalink)
richierich Smell My Cheese! Rocketship door handle Join Date: 17th May 2006 Location: Bicester, Oxfordshire Posts: 1,847 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader: (0)	Sounds like I am entering the twilight zone, thing that gauls me is I just spent £40+ on the Meguiars stuff, I guess if I buy this lot than that is all but redundant.

15th August 2006, 11:45	#75 (permalink)
richierich Smell My Cheese! Rocketship door handle Join Date: 17th May 2006 Location: Bicester, Oxfordshire Posts: 1,847 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader: (0)	I was bought a Halfrauds one a while ago, but I am not sure about the lambswool applicators, they always seem a little scratchy, also it makes a right mess to apply it with the polisher, or am I missing the point, apply by hnad remove mechanically. To be honest I was more than happy with the improvement on the surface after one application of the Megs stuff, might just get some new cloths and some detergent without conditioner.

15th August 2006, 13:29	#76 (permalink)
johnd Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 27th June 2006 Location: Bath Posts: 143 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	The Halfords one is only really any good for removing wax / buffing as it hasn't got the power or speed to break down polish and as it has no speed settings it will just fling whatever product you try to apply. So as you said apply by hand and remove with your buffer. And lose the fabric conditioner.

2nd September 2006, 19:38	#77 (permalink)
allan40alt Supporter Civinfo guru Join Date: 6th August 2006 Location: England Posts: 2,253 Thanks: 13 Thanked 33 Times in 31 Posts iTrader: (0)	Not sure if this has been mentioned but I've just checked the Auto Express product test site for synthetic chamois leathers and I was surprised that Halfords Easy Glide Extra Large (£6.99 at time of test) came out top with 5 stars. Two that I thought would have been higher were Meguiars Water Magnet (£12.00) 3 stars and Autoglym Aqua-Dry (£7.99) 3 stars. I use the Autoglym at present and was going to treat my new NHB to a Meguiars but it looks like a trip to Halfords instead. Glad I had a quick check.

3rd September 2006, 15:52	#79 (permalink)
JB75 Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 18th August 2006 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 178 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	I'd like to add my name to the Meguiar's fan club. I took my grubby Civic to the local Halfords this morning and spent just short of £50 on the Meguiar's range; picking up the wax, glass cleaner, water magnet towel and microfibre cloth. I wouldn't have touched the Meguiar's range had it not been for the recommendations on here, as it's priced considerably higher than equivalent products from other brands. I haven't bothered with the wax yet but the spray on glass cleaner, which smells delightful by the way, left the windows shiny in no time: it was easy to apply and rubbed dry in seconds with the microfibre cloth. I was impressed with the water magnet too, the car went from soaked to bone dry in little over 5 minutes. Probably won't be visiting my local Halfords again though: I had to pay cash as their card machines were offline, then I was told they had no bags, leaving me a 5 minute walk back to the car clutching two bottles and two cloths...

3rd September 2006, 15:57	#80 (permalink)
Bassa Triangular Exhaust Join Date: 19th August 2006 Location: Lincs Posts: 339 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Anyone tried P21S Concours Carnauba Wax - seems to get much praise?