What do you wash your car with?

[Jhonno]

where can i get some from?!

[dazleeds]

where do you get then??

how much??

cheers D

[320Touring]

unfortunately my car and I dont have enough time for 3 washes a week, or hand drying etc.

jetwash then soap/sponge and a wax every 3rd wash suits me. It just gets dirty again when i use it

[c76jon]

ok
they are available in uk
differing qualities

i get mine from america from a guy that is very very particular
to the point that he tests all cloths on surface of a blank cd to check for any marks left at all

he even does this on the edges of the cloths where they are stitched together to make sure these wont mark or sratch either

would people like me to get a kinda group buy together
id be happy to ship it all in from usa and then pass them onto anyone thats interested

i could get images and sizes/uses etc together

price would depend on amounts reference bulk purchase and shipping costs but if there is enough interest i would do it

i have got some for billgates/chris and he is using them at present iam sure he is happy with them
perhaps he will comment

what do you think

john

[Jhonno]

Good plan Batman

[billgatese30]

ok
i have got some for billgates/chris and he is using them at present iam sure he is happy with them
perhaps he will comment

and i will comment

the cloths that john gets from wayne in the states are absolutly top notch. i find that they are exellent quality and don't leave any marks. (hard to tell when they are there already but after using swirl remover, no more have appeared.

they are reasonably cheap, considering the have an excellent life span compared to sponges/chamios as well as the added protection the provide.

i would also choose to trust him as far as advice goes to, as his paintwork is certainly better than most....good enough to win show and shine at gaydon anyway.

infact, i can see me buying a couple more.

[peejay]

recently discovered Zymol...... and I like it a lot !! both shampoo and wax very easy to apply and bang on results !!



Peejay

[mancs_joker]

ok id be interested in these micro fibre cloth thingis so count me in if ya doin a group buy

[Cotty]

No, I don't mean "a sponge"... what do you put in the water? I've always used a handful of washing machine detergent, or a squirt of Fairy Liquid, but that's probably not the best, and can be difficult to rinse off...

Dont use fairy liquid it contains salt , do you want you r car to rust?

I use Autoglym shampoo

[placey]

if the car is wetted with clean water properly before sponging and chamoising then trapping grit etc is not a problem. i've been sponging and chamoising for years and have yet to scratch or mark a car during a wash process.

personally i use mer - applied with (soft) stockinette much to jon's distaste i'm sure - and a capful in a bucket for washing duties. it works out cheap once a local market stockist is found and halfords prices thoroughly discredited. it lasts well too.

try asking your local window cleaner where they buy their chamois and other stuff from - they'll never pay much for their consumables for sure...

paul

[c76jon]

its horses for courses really
you get out what you put in and i guaruntee you put marks on your paint surface every time you use your sponge/chamois
not real noticeable in ya face ones but stand in sunlight get sun on panel and look at panel at different angles and you will see swirls and "spider webs"

wetting the car down is way to go but this does not remove all the dirt because if it did there would be no need to touch it any further

the more contact you have with the cars surface the more chance you have of marking paint/laquer.

depends what finish you want and what levels you want to take it

the effort in using a cloth that does not mark your paint at all and the effort using a sponge THAT WILL mark your paint is the same

john

[Demlotcrew]

Jon, i would like some of these cloths, i have some microfiber ones that i got from california and they are great! but they are yellow and now looking a little tired! so if you could get some i would be up for a few!

Andrew

[placey]

the effort in using a cloth that does not mark your paint at all and the effort using a sponge THAT WILL mark your paint is the same

furry muff. i'll try some microfibre cloth when i find some...

[ingham]

Meguairs Gold Class shampoo

Don't rate Autoglym any more used it for years till i tryied Meguairs(nxt gen polish)
dont let jet wash near my car or tfr(tfr is for wagons)

[pomebastard]

Thanks to everyone on this post. I for one have learnt a great deal here.

I will never again use washing up liquid, a spong or a shamy!

BTW, re-bird poo stains. I used a body colured wax polish plus a body coloured wax crayon.

The results are extremely good. The wax crayon does a great job of hiding small scratches and masks the bird poo stains very well.

I'm sure it'll be an on going job to keep nice but worth it and cheaper than a complete respay. Will continue with the body cloured polish for the next couple of weeks to build up the colour then use Mer or Meguirs.

Cheers all.

[bootyman]

Ha, ha . I read the 1st page and i thought "Ho no. You lot better not let Jon see this thread" then i cliked on the 2nd page and there he was tearing his hair out at the thought of folks using fairy liquid and the sort to wash their car

I was heavily into the Maguires stuff before (Mainly cause i have 4 bags of the stuff from verious shows i did ths year), but now i've been converted by Jon to the light of The Zaino Power shinning through the night sky. (He very kindly wrote me a book on what to get and how to use it) I havent ordered my million pack yet cause i'm a bit skint after buying my brakes and new wheels, but i'll be hitting the net at the end of the month to get me mine, and who can argue with a man whos car is more shiny than all my bling

[E30BeemerLad]

I had always been an Auto-Glym fan and still am really. Just bought some Meguairs Gold Class shampoo and the wax paste in the tin, with applicators and Auto Glym finishing cloth.

Frankly can not tell any difference to products used previously. But you can only polish a turd so much can't you!

[c76jon]

i just try to help as i have tried 1000's of pounds of products and 98% of them are wank
a wonder all in one product for paintwork does not exist!!!

imho good paintwork is all down to prep

the longer and more effort that goes into that will pay off massive dividends

i was lucky to meet a guy about ten years ago who had one more trophies in america showing hot rods than you can imagine, and who i still use as my levels to attain .he said this to me

imagine paint surface on car as a wall in your front room

you decide to renew the wallpaper and go and buy some 100 pound a roll stuff

now if you were to place the new paper on top of the old paper no matter how good the new was you would never get the 100 pound a roll finish

the old needs stripping off and wall needs prepping until u have mint surface and then you will get the finish you want and have paid for
same with paint whether its solid colour or metallic

remove all old polish/wax.then remove all defects that are there in surface ie swirl marks,light scratches,spider webs,micro marring and once that surface is clean and mark free then the easy bit
apply the polish/wax of your choice and allow it to work to its full potential

and if the product is good then washing and topping the surface off again is so so easy as all the hard work is done

john

[bootyman]

Amen to that Master Jon

[e30bmlover]

i put (turtlewax) zipwax in the water, and i polish her with autoglym super resin polish, use wonderwheels to get the tar off the alloys, as for the interior, hoover it out once a week and use autoglym interior shine as and when.

[H-M3]

Swear by autoglym products.

Autoglym shampoo
Autoglym ultra deep shine polish
Autoglym wax

Car gets a general was/dry 3 times a week
Use all 3 on a weekly basis.
and t-cut every month.

Tempted to send it in for a proffessional buff/polish/wax soon though, when funds allow

me tooo! but dont wash it 3 times a week!!!!

[Simon13]

who does a good swirl remover? as my car has light swirls in it, but no where near as bad as other cars i've had

I'll be up for some micro fibre wrongness!

I would just re-plaster the wall! but that defeats the object of this explanation. Wall paper is council!

[c76jon]

brillo would be good simon!!!
john

[Simon13]

I have a brillo pad for hair at the moment but i don't get your joke Jon? please help me?

[lee30]

alrite dudes
just stickin in my two penith like!!

i use farcela "black top" handglaze
just before washing any motor!!
1)wet car
2)wipe on said "black top"(dont worry about it smearing and wotnot)
3)get a bucket of COLD water!! with about a teaspoon of ANY CAR shampoo!!
4)wash car lightly- let the sponge do the work and wash off the black top glaze!!
5)rinse straight away with COLD water again!!
6)dry with leather(a proper chamios in a large size)
thats clean and damp(start on the roof and work ya way down) and just lightley sqeeze the water off making sure that i sqeeze out the leather after every panel
HEY PRESTO 1 shiny'ass motor
i know it seems like alot to do- but i've got this down to a tee and it can be done in 'alf hour
once a week and it's sweet as!!!!
and you can use "black top" on everything (de-chrome,rubber mouldings,etc ecxetaraaa!!!

ohhh weell lecture over (sorry i'll get me coat)

[lee30]

OHH OHH OHH OOOoooOOOO
i forgot to say that BLACK TOP HAND GLAZE is NOT a wax!!!!!!
but a GLAZE

over and out!!!!

[jigjags]

I have had my car for 2 years now and its been washed twice ...alpine white with a greyish tint when i bought it ...alpine white with a greyish tint now...feckin shampoo and autospuink not for me ...an IMO if i'm feelin flush or a bucket of water and bit of soapy stuff if i'm bored and its warm out..!