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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-433.html)

Great to see the response to my doubt I asked, thanks everyone. By the way there are lots of passionate car detailers in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. Anyone in Pune? Would like to see the process personally and gain some experience related to getting right products and their application.

Thanks in advance...

I do not think using ONR as lubricant over Meguiar's quick detailer will affect picking contaminates. Claybar should pick dirt and contaminates if you use even shampoo mixed in water as a lubricant. Since your claybar did not pick much dirt, I wanted to know, if you used lubricant or just water while rubbing claybar.

If you just need casual maintenance: First you can a Jopasu Car Duster to clean dust and buy good Car Shampoo (Amway/Meguiars NXT carwash/Sonax) Then any Carnauba Wax like Sonax, Meguiar's Yellow wax etc. Then Dashboard polish for Dashboard and other exterior/interior plastic trims (Meguiar's Natural Shine/Sonax/Autoglym dashboard cleaners) For Tyre maintenance, you can use Tyre Dressers like (Meguir's Hotshine high gloss) For good visibility and Glass shine, you can use Glass cleaners (Sonax Glass Cleaner/Meguiar's NXT glass cleaner) For washing, use "Wash Mitt" and for cleaning, use Micro Fiber Cloths for different needs.

If you just need very express maintenance: Optimum No rinse (ONR) mixed with water, spray all over and wipe with MF Cloth.

If you seriously want to detail the car: All the above products + If your car is 8-10 months old, get a Claybar (Meguiars/Mother's). In case, if there are any Swirls on the paint, you can use swirl remover (Meguiars SwirlX/Meguiars Ultimate compound) If paint is bit dull you can use (Meguiars Ultimate Polish) After this, you can buy Paint Sealants (Blackfire Wet Diamond/Wolfgang deep gloss) then you can Wax which is optional (Collinte 845/Meguiars NXT tech wax/Any Carnauba based wax) Then applicator pads to apply Polish, Sealents/Wax, You can get Dual Action Polisher for ease of use to apply above products.

For product availability in Mumbai and for more expert details, please take help from bhpian el lobo 6061

The least time could be 10 minutes cleaning entire car with ONR in a early morning Office Rush Hurry. But the best method is like spraying ONR from Top of the car & then Glass, then wipe with wet MF Cloth, then immediately wipe with dry MF cloth(dark blue MF cloth of good quality shown in attached picture). After this move to Bonnet & Side panels, do same as above, then Doors etc..... like this panel by panel cleaning is best method without hurry, which takes 20-30minutes.

I use this method shown in below video, but use wet MF cloth instead of sponge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15cMH...eature=related

I am using ArmourAll Wheel & Tire cleaner, the tires are sprayed first & cleaned with Yellow brush shown in below picture and then sprayed on Alloy wheels and cleaned with blue brush & tooth brush for reaching through Alloy wheel holes. I felt it makes up my requirement. And right now, I am using 3M tire dresser which is of poor quality which lasts for a week and need to buy Meguiar's Hot Shine High Gloss Tire Spray

I haven't used the above product. From whatever knowledge I have gained I did recommended following products.
1. Interior Plastic Trim : Meguiars Natural Shine Spray
2. Tires : Meguiars Hot Shine High Gloss Tire Spray

Both the products are best in class. Use Megs Applicator pad for applying Natural Shine.

Depends on how time you wish to devote. Regular dusting with Jopasu and quick detailing with ONR, should be the start. Later, if you make it a hobby, its very vast. ONR can be bought from either Eco Car Care Banglore or BringingBest Impex, Delhi. Price is Rs. 600 including shipping.

How much did you dilute ONR in what ratio with water?

There are lots of bhpians in every city. I did suggest, have detailing party at least once or twice in a month and share each others product and learn from one another.

Wow, you summed it all in a small gist, giving pretty much a holistic view.clap:

Armorall Wheel and Tyre is superb. It is my favourite kind of car-care product: the lazy-man's product :). Spray it on, leave it for a few minutes, use a brush and rinse off. Probably the result would be fairly good even without the brush. All dirt gone! All that disc-brake-pad deposit lifted away!

That's exactly what I am looking at - a lazy man's product.

Thanks for your reply.

Can anyone tell me where to get this product? Also, I do not see it listed in the AmorAll website. May be I am missing something?

If still you couldn't find ArmourAll, you could give Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner a try. Would be same as ArmourAll or even better given its Megs.

Link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJKkL...hannel&list=UL

I had a look at it..is this a wheel cleaner only or a tire and wheel cleaner ?

In Reliance Autozone, You will get all products of Armour All, Sonax, Eagle one, Jopasu, STP & Formula1. IMO, STP & Formula1 are not that good. Meguair's products are available in 3M Car care outlets.

Otherwise, you need to source through online like Bringingbest.com, autofresh.com, vicky.in etc.

Even if its a wheel cleaner, I brush both Alloys and Tires with a Wheel Cleaning Spray.

@el lobo 6061: Have you tried Optimum's Paint Sealant? Eco car care has them and was telling me that the product is excellent.

6 Month Old Leather Steering wheel,has started showing signs of slight wear and tear,and the car is sparingly used.What products can i use to take care and reduce wear and tear of the leather steering?

I'm assuming it's company fitted leather. Two things are main enemy here. Sweat from your palm and heat from strong sunlight.

1. Always wipe steering after your drive (especially if your palms are sweaty). I know it's easier said than done but you have to do this to maintain that leather.

2. You should get leather cleaner from the market. ArmorAll has good product.

Only ensure to wipe the steering properly after applying that. It tends to get slippery otherwise.

Hmm...somehow I don't trust sealant does a better job than wax...may be I'm little old fashioned or been educated that way :confused:

Optiseal

MRP 14K + tax

3 bucket; I use Sun of Gun on tires; I'm planning to switch to Sonax next time. Sun of Gun is easy peasy Japaneasy :D

Yes, have been using this on plastics outside; I'd rate about 4.5/5 on excellent product to do the job; it gives a wet shine finish on EXTERIOR plastics

Considering the price, I'm scared to use on tires :(

YES with eyes closed!!!

I used it on the plastics on my CBR 250R (just tried on the car) & it lasted about 2 weeks with unbelievable amount of dust & dirt (from the Neelam cyclone in Chennai)

Spray on the applicator & wipe on the plastic/rubber surface

Thanks again,mate!
I am aware of the sources you mentioned. But I was confused between 'wheel cleaner' and 'wheel and tire cleaner'. Is there no difference between the two? Or may be not any significant difference? I am able to find both Meguiars and ArmorAll Wheel cleaner but not Wheel and Tire Cleaner.
Also, what brush to use for alloys? I am not comfortable using any hard brush for alloys.

Also, any suggestions to pick up good quality and cheap microfiber towels?
I have run out of stock on those... the old ones are past their prime.

Friends, I have purchased following product, "Formula1 Car Carnauba Wash And Wax". How is this product? If I use it once in a week or two week, will it harm the paint job? If the product is not a recommeded one, what could be the alternate?

Please have a close look at the Meguair's Container, it says "Meguair's Hot Rims & Tire Cleaner" So you can clean the tires as well. If you can get a soft round shaped cylindrical brush (used to clean Thermos Flask) from super market, it is so easy to insert into Alloys Wheels and clean. For Tires, use hard brush which is used to clean jeans cloths.

I found Jopasu Microfiber cloth is the best of all and I am using two for different purposes. 3M's MF cloth is very smooth and seems to be bit delicate and I am using one for glass cleaning and one for interiors cleaning & its cheap price wise. Also, for wet wipes, I am using Scotch brite's MF cloth which is of very poor quality. There is Sonax MF Cloth which is of medium quality and it is cheap in price. I have not seen imported Cobra Gold MF cloth and hence do not know its quality.

You can also use Chamios for wiping car after wash and branded one is costly (Rs.500+) So try getting Local Chamios in semi-urban market or rural market, people sell these to jewelery shops to wipe jewels. Long ago I had bough one such from Shivajinagar Galli Market in Bangalore.

I think you have bought Wax based Car Shampoo and I think you may get a bit shine after wash. But using this once in 2 weeks does not harm paint.

Instead of using F1 wash n wax or Eagle one Nano wash, you could have bought plain car shampoo (Amway/Sonax/Meguiar's Nxt wash) and wash the car and then Wax the car with Wax paste like Sonax Easy shine(easy to apply)/ Sonax Xtreme wax/ Meguiar's Yellow wax/Meguiar's NXT tech wax(bit costly)/Collinte 845(best) These wax add thin glossy layer to car which protects paint. The car wash with wax may not add thin wax layer to the car.

Only rim cleaner. You could use left over Amway shampoo or any other to clean the tires.

No. When I was looking for it, it wasn't available, so later bought BlackFire Combo.

Seems bhpian @aargee uses it. He would give you the correct opinion.

Using Meguiars Gold Class Leather Cleaner & Conditioner on my Vento leather clad steering & on leatherette seats. Does a fab job of cleaning & conditioning it. You would easily get it in any 3M Car Care Center. Apply it using a applicator pad and wipe off using a microfiber cloth.

Request you to please give your feedback about it for our fellow bhpian @HighOctance & others as well.

That's expensive considering its just a orbital polisher and not a DA. Why not a Megs G220V2 for Rs 14,288?

Eurow Brand Ultra Soft Microfiber Towels. Those are the cheapest I have come across with very good quality. 16X16 inch, 350GSM.

Link.

As HighOctance stated, I would recommend Amway, Sonax or Megs. I did stay away from Formula 1 since there are a lot of fakes of it & quality is not comparable to former ones. Washing your car with shampoo doesn't harm the car.