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Help For Amatuer Trying To Look After His New Car!


ngreed86
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This is the first non company car I have had from new and I want to give it the care and attention it deserves. As a complete amateur to cleaning cars myself, can anyone give me any tips on which cleaning kits/products I should go for? I would prefer not to spend anymore than £40-50 on the lot and would prefer an all-in kit so I don't have to order separately! Is this even possible?

I'm looking for the essentials really, the nice to haves can come later once I'm up to professional valeter level!

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This was posted in the guides section - moved to Fiesta forum for you.

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Hi Nick,

£50 hmmm that’s not a lotta money to spend but it'll get you started I'd suggest the following....

Wash with a two bucket method, 1 Bucket clean soapy water, 1 with clear water, wash one section at a time rinsing the mitt in the clear water before moving to the
next panel try and wash in straight lines too it'll help to minimise swirl marks.


Therefore for basics I’d recommend a nice soft wash mitt, a basic wash and wax kit from Autoglym or Megiuar's would be ok, the meg's gold class is ok, if you have a power hose rinse the car
first to get loose grime/grit off. Mer also do a reasonable priced wax and Autoglym's alloy wheel cleaner is ok. All can be bought from Halfords it'll give you a good wash and minimise scratching and leave you with a nice shiny surface for a couple of years!


This for me however is trying to be reserved as I buy a lot of the more American detailing products online at Cleanyourcar.co.uk


I'm working past that professinal valeter level at a more detailer level, for me to start off from scratch would set me back a few hundred quid!

I've listed my basic wash routine below with prices "£" and {estimated longevity} and also provided a little detail about clay/polish waxing...


My wash cycle involves Apply Chemical Guys Diablo Gel wheel cleaner £9.95 {6 months} to dry wheels and lightly agitate with EZ detail brush £20.95,

Rinse with power hose and apply snow foam (Lance £45, Bilt Hamber Auto foam £16.95 {12 Months[multiple cars]}) I agitate the snow foam more roughly and rinse)

I then apply snow foam to the whole car and let it dwell for five to ten minutes before rinsing off <with a properly waxed car this will remove over 50% of the surface contaminants>.

I fill one bucket with a squirt of the snowfoam and a drop of Mer Shampoo + warm water and another with just warm water and use a Dodo Juice - Supernatural Wash Mitt £19.95

to wash the car following the two bucket method mentioned earlier, I then rise with the power hose and dry with a CleanYourCar Huge 'Fluffy' Drying Towel £8.95.

If I polish the car then it gets clay barred first the Autoglym Kits not bad £24.95 {2-3 Cars},

I polish with a orbital polishing machine circa £150-£180 for a kit, it'll give you all the polish/pads etc you will need {6-10 Cars for polish and pads}.

I then apply a glaze which hides small scratches and swirls etc- poorboys white diamond would be good for you £12.95 {10 cars}

I then apply a sealant which goes over the glaze and locks in the finish poorboys exp £13.95 {10 cars}.

I finally add a wax usually Collonite 845 £15.95 {15-20 cars - beading lasts 6-9months}.

I normally use numerous mirofibers throughout this process so i'd recommend at least a dozen or so of those...

I sealed my wheels on day 1 with G-techniq £22.95 {1 Car - beading lasts 9-12months} and ValetPro Tyre shine £20 {2-3 years}.

I also apply rainex to the windscreen £7 {bottle lasts a couple of years 1 treatment lasts a month or two}.

To be fair my car does look newer than the day I picked it up from the ford showroom, infact I revived my mums hot magenta 58 plate titanuim fez last week and other than mine its the shiniest car in the street. but we all have to have some hobby.... I'd probably do this for a job if I could earn enough from it....

I know the list above comes to £420 ish and to be fair I have other products but I have slowly aquired them over the last 2-3 years and things therefore run out at different points, I think the next think i'll need is Chemical Guys Diablo Gel wheel cleaner as i'm down to my last mix of it.

It is amazing how different some products can make your car look but its the collection of things together that make the biggest impact.

Hope that has given you some food for thought and if you have any questions about specific products don't hesitate to ask about them!

Stephen

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Thanks for the help Stephen! That was quite the response and I won't lie I got a little confused half way down!

I have just seen this on the Halfords website http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&productId=821139&categoryId=165671&langId=-1 would this do the job? It's got some of the products you mentioned above but some others and the applicators.

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Yeah I saw that and thought it wasn't a bad little starter pack, just grab a really soft wash mitt too and you got yourself a starters kit!

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Thanks for the help Stephen! That was quite the response and I won't lie I got a little confused half way down!

I have just seen this on the halfords website http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&productId=821139&categoryId=165671&langId=-1 would this do the job? It's got some of the products you mentioned above but some others and the applicators.

you can buy the kit for 39£ on eBay george

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