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-   -   A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/102011-superb-car-cleaning-polishing-detailing-guide-111.html)

@ Sohail :: Bhai your car is looking great.

@ tsk13 :: Any good font for my verna . (4442)

@ Nut Case :: Good work paaji .

To answer your question , mostly what these vinyl , plastic protectants do is give a superficial coating on the surface which wears away after a couple of washes . What needs to be done is to remove all the wax,grease,dirt etc which has built up on the surface before you apply the protectants.

The cleaning is best done before you wash your car. You will need a good degreaser solution. In my case i used regular Pril Dishwash Liquid diluted 1:1 with water( This is what i used without any effect on the plastic or the Paint. Use at your own discretion). First using some cotton apply the solution on the plastic thoroughly. Next using a toothbrush (You can use a larger brush for the bumpers) nicely scrub the surface making sure not to miss any part of it. Once done take a wet cloth and wipe away the foam and dirt. Repeat if needed. Once you have cleaned sufficiently, wash thoroughly, making sure no soap remains. The plastic should look clean and black( In case of old cars the plastic surface will be sun damaged and that will need different restoration).

After drying, apply a coat of any good quality plastic or vinyl protectant.

* Wax the paint surface around the plastic once you have finished.

303 Protectant is the best you can get . Use the protectant before you wash and wax the car. You can reapply the protectant after waxing . That way the wax is easier to clean from the plastic.

Another suggestion is to try Groundnut oil. First apply the oil on teh plastic and leave it on for some time(10 min). With the toothbrush nicely scrub the surface . Wipe off oil. Use a carwash solution to wash away the oil. Once dry apply the vinly protectant.

As for the glass stains, you can try and use a glass cleaner like Colin Spray.
Disclaimer - Use with caution. For harder water marks caused by calcification on glass ,you can try a Tile cleaner solution . Wear gloves . Take a ball of cotton and wet it with the tile cleaner solution . Carefully apply on the calcification marks . Leave for a minute and then wipe away . Wash thoroughly .

Sorry for being off this thread, was busy for a few days so couldnt post , it rained today, lets see what the wax does to my car :)

Anyway, just wanted to warn people about buying online from Xenos.co.in , I have made a purchase of Turtle Wax products from their site for 787 rupees, initially I got transaction declined but was shocked to see it went through via the bank site. Contacted them multiple times , no reply. Its better to stick to offline places.

Sometime back, I saw Fiesta (Platinum colour) with something like an Industrial tape, off white in colour and a grainy texture stuck where you place the sideskirts. Maybe this was to protect the bottom edges from road abrasions. But, is it worth it and do the dealers give them to us? It was the first time I saw it.

IMHO the best detailed online guide to the entire wash - clay - polish - protect - maintain cycle around. Only drawback is that it talks only in terms of Meguiar's own products...
Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle - Updated! - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online

Though I now have my hands on ONE of them - NXT Tech Wax 2.0 paste - straight from the US!

^Awesome product!!( I have the liquid one as its a lil' easier to work with)

Your car will definitely love it!

Do post pics before and after waxing/detailing :D

Email Waxpol. They should be having some dealer in your town.

I'm sorry as I don't have any personal experience of this issue but Janitha's reply (Down) seems to be the perfect answer to your query.

Thanks for the information Janitha.
Veere, come over to Lajpat Nagar and select what you feel is the best. Do let me know beforehand, I'll take you to one of the best in the business. Before you think about price, don't worry on that aspect.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks f1head, since you're in Delhi you can buy from Khan Market but unlike other parts of the city one major name there sells it at the MRP, not below it.

Moreover guys, 3M's Liquid Wax can be used for Bumpers provided they're Painted. Don't try Wax on Non-painted bumpers ever.

My Elantra had quite a bit of swirl marks on its windshield which made night driving a bit difficult. I were searching for ways to clear them out without having to replace the entire glass (i also had put ICECOOL Shield on them and so changing glass did not make much economical sense unless no other option). Car wash shampoos are not useful in this regard.
When i did a search on the net i hit across this link,
How to Remove Swirl Marks From a Windshield | eHow.com
which gave a simple DIY using Vinegar.
I gave that a try and found that this procedure really works. The swirl marks are all gone but there are a few smaller dots across the windshield now (probably i didn't clean the glass properly after applying the vinegar solution). And the best part is that the total cost of the solution is just Rs.70 (vinegar - 25, spray bottle - 45).
People who have similar issues do give this a try!

Very interesting indeed! I may try this sometime in the next few days. Is vinegar acidic enough to damage the paint? Also, since it is going to run down the windshield, could it damage something in the engine bay?

Well...vinegar is slightly acidic but
1) we are diluting vinegar with 2 parts water.
2) i don't think it is strong enough to cause paint damage but you have to dry the paint surfaces this solution got sprinkled into anyway.
3) By sprinkling using spray bottle we can ensure that we only use the bare minimal quantity of solution required to do this job. In my opinion the water that falls down the windshield doesn't really get-into the engine bay. It just files down by the sides of the bay so i did not worry about this. I will check out the inside areas of the bay in the morning and update you if i find anything fishy.

Recently I got a small spray paint job done on my car (white, n/m). The garage wala did a good enough job but did not protect the window glass. As a result I have some minuscule white spray paint marks on the glass.

Can anyone suggest a home grown remedy?

A can of thinner should help remove paint from the glass. Glass is not affected by thinner. Use a cloth or cotton to wipe away the paint spots from the glass.

You're lucky. I have overspray marks on 2 door handles. Been trying to get rid of them for the last 6 months. Thankfully, its mostly gone now.
But in your case, thinner should do the job beautifully.

hi folks
some pics of microfibers i got- cms like i am totally into microfibers- learning and exploring more.
The first pic is the set of cloths i got now
starting from the top left, orange is viking(from US),yellow is the 3m sold here, white is from MORE- some US brand, the blue at bottom left is from MORE- they are sold as a set of 4(2 blue and 2 white),the blue with 3M logo is the professional series from 3M which is vvv hard to get as not sold outside at all, and the last one is Meguiars.The next 2 pics are close ups of the brand sold in MORE. The blue is good to use completely wet and wipe a minor dirty car, if the car is waxed, the cleaning is fast and quick. Fingerprints, dirt marks etc are easiily wiped away. The white is useful for the same purpose but has a different texture- softer infact. Both are not good to use dry.
The viking is great to use for buffing, and if minor damp its great to wipe the car.

One thing i have found is that a good quality microfiber is BEST when its a little damp Ex: If you use a detailer like meguiars and wipe with a section of the cloth, the same damp section can be used all over the car and the cloth runs very smoothly indeed.
The same is the case if you put your hand in water and wipe with it to make it little damp. A dry cloth is mostly used just to lift dust- the best amongst those is the 3M yellow one. The 3M Blue is the most versatile, can do any job well. Meguiars are the best to detail and buff..

I got a friend who sent me Norton Cloth- a brand of Saint Gobain, from the US. Each cloth is about Rs 220.00 and its made in Korea. I used it- its quite good, not as good as 3M for sure, but really nice to do jobs like removing wax, wiping windows. Its micro fibers are not as plush,but have a tougher feel. Its better suited to clear off wax,drying and wipe than detailing jobs. I have some extra, PM me if you would like one( the last 4 PICS ARE OF THIS CLOTH). Its really useful for tough use and has a strong build quality- korean micro fibers are supposed to be the best infact.

So which is the best of the lot?

How do the MORE ones compare to Viking and Meguiars?