Detailing experts required

Stu08

Hello,

I've always thought I take good care of my cars with regards to the body work. However, I have been on a couple of detailing sites and now I want to get a bit more into the detailing scene. I have always used the whole meguiars range. Is anyone into the detailing scene, what would you recommend for a starter with regards to car shampoo, polishes & waxes etc. Car is red also!

Thanks for any advice. :thumbup:

Sjdickso

To start with read a few guides.

Detailing can get expensive esp if you get the bug.

Start with using two buckets. One for wash and one for rinse your mitt, a grit guard is also a good buy.
Then a decent shampoo i normaly use snow foam but thats due to me having a large 5ltr bottle, chemical guys stuff is very good.
I decent wool mitt or shcmitt (no sponges)
Then i would get some quick detailer with a nice drying towel
A nice glaze ( again lots on the market just read the reviews)
Possibly as sealant
then a good wax ( Dodo Juice / poorboys nattys / p21) for a starter wax, or even NXT paste wax for a all in one product (again some good applicators and MF cloths are big help)

Hope this helps a bit?

Stu08

Cheers for that mate. :thumbup:

Went through my cupboard last night and found I have the following which I forgot about!!

Meguiars Next Gen Car Wash - 2 bottles!!
Meguiars Next Gen Tech Wax - 2 bottles!!
Hot Rims
Tyre Endurance

Also found a machine polisher which I bought a couple of weeks back......these long days at work must be messing with my head! Don't know how I forgot I had that. :crazy:

Had a look online last night and did some reading on the 2 bucket method you mentioned, going to buy 2 tomorrow. Also read up on glazes, sealants and waxes. Reading on the site it points to Meguiars NXT Gen Tech Wax as being a sealant. I have a question on this, if I was to buy glaze and wax (Will look at Meguiars range) Would I apply the following order:

Meguiars Glaze such as #7
Next Gen Tech Wax (Brings the red up nicely)
Meguiars Wax such as #26? (Extra protection)

Still confused by all these different glazes etc!

Stu08

The polisher I have is the halfords 12v one, bought a convertor so I can plug it into the mains. I have been reading up on these today and alot of people are saying they are bad due to having no power. Have just switched it on and the damn thing seems to have more than enough power to apply polish to a car, it may not be the best out there but surely it will do a better job than I can do by hand? Does anyone know if this polisher could potentially damage my paint with it being red?

Sjdickso

Stu,

If you plan on using tech wax after #7 you are prob going to waste most of your time applying the #7 as the tech wax will remove most of it.

#26 is quite a good wax.

As for the polisher i wouldnt really bother, might be ok for applying wax but thats about it, also wouldnt apply polish with it as you will possibly inflict marring and swirling to paint as it wont be powerful enough to breakdown the product.

Stu08

Thanks for the info again mate :thumbup:

Going to bin the polisher, only cost £20. When you say that it won't have enough power to break down the polish, surely polishing by hand would be even less effective at breaking the polish down? Sorry if that sounds like a daft question, i'm still learning notsure.gif

Going to buy some micro fibre towels and detailer tomorrow as I have also just found a sealed meguiars clay bar in it's black box. Amazed by what I have found :lol:

Stu08

Wow! All I can say is I won't be going back to the 1 bucket method of washing a car ever again! Used 2 bucket method today and while the rinse bucket water was very dirty the wash bucket solution stayed clear. Never realised just how much dirt and grit I used to put back onto the car when I washed it, must of inflicted soooooooooooooooooo many swirl marks. :oops:

Thanks for the advice sjdickso. cheers..

Sjdickso

No problem at all. Simple methods can really save your car inflicated swirls.

As said a good lambs wool mitt or schmitt for washing as well :thumbup:

Sorry i should have been a bit clearer on the machine polishing your polisher will be ok for applying waxs and non abrasive polishes like Autoglym SRP. Any kind of de-swirler polish like poorboys SSR / 3M etc will have issues as it would not break down the product enough. You are right you would never use these types of polish by hand anyway :thumbup:

Some good shops as well.

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/
http://www.motorgeek.co.uk/
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/

I really rate these

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-a ... d_302.html

and for drying

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-a ... d_362.html

with some quick detailer.

I think Matt has tried this before a similar product to megs #7 i believe
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/glazes/ez ... d_145.html

Never used it myslef but this is meant to be a mean wax on RED

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wax/victo ... d_312.html

But not sure how durable it will be coming up to these winter period.

Stu08

Cheers again sjdickso, that is exactly the kind of direction I was needing to be pointed in. Will definately have a look at that Victoria Concours wax.

On another note I have also found another wax made by dodo juice. It's called Orange crush and seems ideal. Is this a very durable wax? Does anyone have any experience with dodo juice?

Matt

Sjdickso said:
I think Matt has tried this before a similar product to megs #7 i believe
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/glazes/ez ... d_145.html

Yep, it's quite good as well. Works well when being layered with the wet mirror finish
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sealants/ ... d_339.html

foxy8045

dodo juice any of their products completley natural you can buy them from my friends company he supplies all of their range, you are going down an expensive road here buddy lol ive spent thousands on detailing gear and been paid thousands for applying it 😃

http://superveloce.net/ the guys name is Mark robbins always up for a chat and talk you through detailing you can even go and pick up your products and he will give you a demonstration