Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products use?

[ladykb]

So my regime is as follows, if anyone has any suggestions or alternatives please comments

1 - Jet Wash (Halfords Jet Washer)
2 - Hand Wash (Meguiars NXT Generation Car Wash Shampoo, Lambs Wool Mitt, and Meguiars Hot Rims wheel cleaner )
3 - Clay step 3 is only done twice per year (Meguiars Smooth Clay Kit)
4 - Remove Swirls and small Scratches (Meguiars ScratchX)
5 - Polish (AutoGlym Super Resin Polish)
6 - Sealant (AutoGlym Extra Gloss Protection)
7 - Wax (Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0 Liquid or AutoGlym HD Wax) 1st time use of HD 2 weeks ago before that was using NXT
8 - Wheel Dressing (Meguiars Endurance Tyre Gloss)
9 - Glass (Meguiars NXT Glass Cleaner)
10 - Interior (Meguiars Quik Interior Detailer)
11 - Maintenance between washes (Meguiars Speed Detailer)

Thats about it, was thinking of trying the poor boys black hole next time instead of super resin

Comments welcome

 

[blueguy]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

Looks good
If you want to be OCD about the decontamination stage (the key to maximising the potential of your finishing steps) you could use before claying:

1 - Tar remover
2 - and if you want to take it to another level, use iron x pro to remove embedded metal filings. This stuff is amazing and really does leave the paint looking brighter and smoother.

Both of these steps will reduce the work required with a clay bar and reduce the amount you physically touch the paint. The Iron x in particular adds a level of decontamination you can't really achieve with a clay bar.

Also, do you seal your alloys? Sealing them will make them easier to clean in subsequent washes negating the use of dedicated wheel cleaners (to an extent).

 

[PORTHOS]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

Comments welcome

Thats a typical "Woman's" cleaning list..... :lol:

Super thorough! =D>

My regular one is:

1. Hose down
2. Ultimate Wash and Wax with wash mitt
3. Hose down
3. Water Magnet drying cloth on car
4. Wash wheels with Ultimate Wash and Wax and a wheel brush & sponge
5. Hose down
6. Water Magnet drying cloth on wheels
7. Wax with NXT/NaviWax/Carnauba using applicator pad
8. Removal of wax with Microfibers
9. Glass cleaner all over, removal with Microfibers
10. Collapse on sofa! :lol:

Once a year I do the Clay Bar thing and any paint restoration that needs doing 8) oh and give the exhaust a good polish along with the engine bay for shows etc.

 

[C&S Evo7]

Lady,
Skip steps 5 & 6

Nxt , will give you both without the dust / residue from superresin

 

[Coldfuse]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

Its odd, generally i stay away from autoglym when it comes to the shampoos/waxes/polishes but i like them for the fiddly things such as Tar Remover, which i like alot, and the Interior Shampoo which i use on the Recaros and it works a treat.

For most of the washing and major cleaning stages i tend to stick to meg's stuff.

Talking of which i may take the time to do my Twinloop with megs metal polish as its certainly getting grubby. It will probably never be clean again though.

 

[larz]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

A typical clean for me is simple..

2 buckets, one with cold water, another with hot water with 2 capfulls of turtlewax wash and wax.

1. Wash one side at a time with a microfibre mitt and hot water, then pour the cold water over to rinse the suds.
2. Turtle wax wheel cleaner for the wheels and exhaust. Let it stick for a minute, then give the wheels a good scrub, followed by a cold water rinse.
3. If i'm feeling energetic i give it a quick once over with meg's super resin polish.

Do that once a week at least and the car stays gleaming

 

[ladykb]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

.
3. If i'm feeling energetic i give it a quick once over with meg's super resin polish.

Megs super resin polish? didn't realise they did one?

 

[larz]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

don't mind me i'm half drunk... i mean auto glym super resin polish... was debating whether to put down my megs tyre shine... but i do that once in a blue moon...

 

[Stoo]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

Tomorrow, mine is getting the following

1. Hose down
2. Wash with Dodo Juice Born 2 Be Mild, Megs lambswool mit
3. Hose Down
4. Remove Tar with AG Tar remover
5. Clay with Megs Clay and Megs QD
6. Hose Down
7. Dry with Megs Water Magnet
8. Polish with AG SRP
9. Seal with AG EGP
10. Wax x 3 layers with AG HD Wax
11. Side/Rear Glass with Megs NXT Glass cleaner
12. Front screen with vinegar to degrease, Megs NXT, then Rain X
13. Wheels with DJ B2BM and an older lambswool mit, rinse off, dry with old water magnet.
14. Dress Tyres with AG Spray Tyre Dressing
15. Hoover inside, Inside windows with Megs NXT Glass cleaner.
16. Dress Interior Plastics with AG Bumper Care
17. Stand back, admire, take pictures, curse the rain, have a brew.......

I want to get all the wheels off and do the inner arches properly, all the underside and engine bay in the next few weeks too

 

[kingston]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

Heres mine;
1. Jet wash car including underneath/arches with water - the attachment ive got sucks in air and so the pressures not that bad
2. Jet wash car using Megs Snow Foam (only use half a bottle)
3. Mix a real dilute bit of Wonder Wheels and go around rims/brake calipers
4. Jet wash off the snow suds if theyve not dripped off already,
5. Reapply snow foam (using other half), cake everything inc wheels
6. Using 2 bucket method (though no shampoo), run a wash mit over the car to remove loose dirt but no pressure applied
7. Rinse car down
8. 2 bucket wash method with NXT wash but using a new wash mit, at the end open up the bonnet/boot and give the shut lines a quick going over
9. Rinse down
10. Dry with either a leaf blower or drag lightly across a squeegy thing
11. Finish drying process with the micro-fibre towel

The above will take around an hour to do.

If its going to be waxed then ignore stage 10/11 above;
10. Megs clay bar
11. Got some Megs Scratch X to try and get rid of some light scuff marks and see if it gets rid of some of the swirls
12. If the Scratch X wont get rid of the swirls then ill be purchasing the stuff Porthos used before
13. Polish with AG SRP or Mers Polish (ill use whichever one is close to running out)
14. Seal with AG EGP (leave on for an hour)
15. Wax with Megs NXT wax though now have some Megs Gold Class to use as well (not sure which one ill go with)
16. Use P21S to seal in the NXT Wax (this does work)
17. Use Autosol on the exhaust

I dont bother dressing the tyres as i know its going to get used/driven. As i change rims round every 6 months, as they come off there given a proper clean ie diluted wonder wheels, clayed and then re washed/clayed and polished before going back on the car.

Interior:
1.Wash the windows with normal household window cleaner - gets rid of any stains you have from drinks and dis-infects the interior
2. Run over the plastic with a Dettol Multi-Action surface wipe
3. Hoover everything inc tilting the upper part of the seat forward to get rid of the dust/dirt that accumulates under the here

 

[leejw87]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

My Regime is as Follows on a Monthly Basis & Will Take About 6-8 Hours
Inbetween this time it has just a simple Wash a Hoover and 1 Wax a week :

Interior

1. Clean Dash & all Interior Trims (Meguiars Ultimate Dash Protector & Trim Restorer)
2. Remove all Floor Mats - Hoover Carpet + Mats and Clean (Meguiars Interior Cleaner + Guard X Protector)
3. Shine Door Seals and Apperture Seals With Silicone.
4. Clean Recaros (Meguiars Interior Cleaner + Guard X Protector)
5. Clean Glass + Rear view Mirror Glass (Meguiars NXT Glass Cleaner)
6. Clean all Door & Boot Shuts.

Exterior

1. Rinse Bodywork
2. Wash + Removal Of Wheels (Meguiars Gold Class)
3. Dry (Meguiars Water Magnet)
4. Claybar (Meguiars)
5. Guard X Stage 1 & 2
6. WAX (Dodo Juice Light Fantastic)
7. Clean Glass + Wing mirror Glass + Headlamps & Rear Lamps (Meguiars NXT Glass Cleaner)

Engine Bay

1. Silicone Spray on all Plastic
2. Guard X Stage 1 & 2 on All Painted Areas (Rocker Cover, AEM Etc)
3. Metal Polish & Blackfire Metal Sealant (Manifold, PAS Pump, Steering Arms Etc)

Underside

1. Wheels Removed
2. Brake Calipers (Guard X Stage 1 & 2)
3. All Suspension Components Front & Rear (Springs, Struts, ARB, Etc) (Silicon Spray)
4. Subframe (Silicone Spray)
5. Sump, Gearbox & Driveshafts (Wonder-Wheels & Silicone on CV Gaiters)
6. Fuel Tanks (Silicone Spray)
7. Exhaust System (Metal Polish & Blackfire Metal Sealant)

I Only ever do the Underside if its nice Weather and can be bothered to put it on the Ramp
but seeing as i havent Undersealed it yet i do like to keep it clean even if it does get rot again when it rains :lol:

 

[eXceed]

Re: Whats your cleaning/detailing regime including products

Can I just add that anything prior to SRP will be removed as you reply it as it's actually a cleanser as well. The beauty of SRP is that it is a filler and a cleanser. So it helps mask swirls and makes the paintwork look more uniform. One of the reasons for all the dust is the excess filler, you'll notice that it also stains plastics/trim for that very same reason.
Brilliant if you don't have access/can't be bothered to use a machine polisher. Some good info in this thread though!