Hi everyone

My desire to share with you, some of my automotive detailing/refinishing knowledge is able to become a reality thanks to this site

Here is the first of many hints and tips, everyone feel free to chime in with any tips you have, there is no way I could know everything
My knowledge comes from years of discussion with america's and europe's best professional detailers and the owner/proprietor of small-medium sized companies who manufacturer today's cutting edge technology products and my own research and development of the latest products from USA, Germany and other parts of Europe.



Tip #1

Washing & drying

To reduce or eliminate wash induced marring/swirl marks etc, use three buckets
Fill one with your chosen body shampoo/conditioner using at least two litres of purified or rain water and very warm tap water
The second with warm tap water and use the third for washing your wheels
Keep this one only for this purpose

Warm water acts as a wettening agent and sure is handy on cold mornings
Today's shampoo's act as conditioners as well and some even add a protective layer or polymer sealant.

Do a really good pre wash rinse on your wheels and arches(use a high pressure gun if you have it)
Keep it moving when doing wheel arches, you can strip the black protective coating off if you hold in one spot for long enough.

Use a sea sponge, microfibre or sheepskin wash mitt to shampoo your wheels, dunking into warm water bucket to quickly clean it a couple times with each wheel

Don't wet the body before doing wheels, paint is porous and it will open, absorb the water and then if not dried, will leave water spots which can etch into paintwork and this requires machine buffing in most cases to get out.

Hose off the shampoo from the wheels and then do pre wash rinse of body
Use vertical and horizontal angles with the gun or hose, do not aim straight at the paint as this can cause impact scratches or marks

If your door jambs are greasy/dirty, spray a paint safe degreaser or citrus cleaner (lanotec citra force comes to mind) in them and spray high pressure to clean, remember to do short sharp sprays, you don't want your interior to be saturated.

You can bathe your car in shampoo solution/suds by soaking your wash mitt/sponge in shampoo and then use low pressure and aim it at the mitt which should be vertical to nearest panel
Do this a couple times and then there is no need to use a foaming gun or shampoo tank of karcher etc which always seems to clog up even when I diluted the product.

To remove bugs, soak the affected areas with low pressure water for a few moments and leave to soak in.
Then finish off pre wash rinse with a high pressure blast from side on

Dunk the mitt/sponge in shampoo bucket and apply a 6 inch line of shampoo to a microfibre mitt (if using that)
Then start washing the roof first, followed by front windscreen,bonnet, rear windscreen and then boot
To prevent marring paint, clean the mitt/sponge in bucket of water after each panel or every second if car is reasonably clean
You may need to apply shampoo to the mitt a few times before it lathers up
They do not create lathery suds like a conventional sponge but are far safer

After the boot, do the left or right side of the car and then the opposite and front bumper
Make sure you wash in the shade, water spots are a higher risk in the sun

Once finished washing, rinse off the shampoo using a hose with no nozzle or trigger gun attached. Rinse the body in the same fashion as washing
Roof-fr screen-bonnet, rear screen,boot etc
Doing it this way allows you to use less water to remove shampoo and leaves less water on the surface which saves drying time
A hose with trigger gun or a pressure gun on high or low pressure creates more suds and leaves thousands of water beads sitting on the surface

With this completed, it's time to dry
When using a chamois, clean after each use as it will absorb more water and to make new ones thirstier, blast them with high pressure for a few minutes to take the slick feeling out of them.

Keep it flat and fully open and glide over all panels
Dry the windows first as this stops water spots, even bigger problem on glass
Then do the panels in same process as washing

Always dry your door jambs, engine bay, fuel filler area as well ,using a separate chamois if you have one
This keeps everything clean, dry and stops rust in it's tracks

You can also use microfibre chamois which you can wring out or in my opinion, for best results -an ultra microfibre waffle weave 60 x 90cm drying towel
Some of these have silk binding and can dry most cars by itself and will outlast a chamois by years

You fold twice or more if you wish and simply wipe in one direction, each panel
I fold twice and hold one corner and wipe from left to right
When that section gets pretty damp, I re fold to a dry section and can do this many times due to it's size

I hate wringing chamois out
Best of all these drying towels don't leave lines or streaks and are safer for your paint, they are almost impossible to scratch your paint and will not reduce slickness or strip your wax or sealant protective coatings

The smoother your paint is, the easier they will dry the paint

To add slickness and top up your protectants, use a quick detail spray after each wash
Make sure to use one that actually adds protection, not just removes finger prints and dust

Happy washing.
More tips tomorrow

Matty

hey buddy some great tips i have read some pages but not all so not sure if you have answered this ....

quick qs how do you keep the metallic paint in check mine always seems to fade very quickly...

hey, just wondering what u recommend for my ef's black seals around the car. They are badly faded, but when using mequires trim detailer makes them look 100% better. This however only last 7 days or so then its back to normal..especially after rain

hey, just wondering what u recommend for my ef's black seals around the car. They are badly faded, but when using mequires trim detailer makes them look 100% better. This however only last 7 days or so then its back to normal..especially after rain