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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-490.html)

I don't like to paint it because anytime and everytime we will be bothered with smaill scratches on the cladding too. Right now, on the bare plastic cladding small nicks, scratches don't look bad at all.
Also if for any reason a cladding piece is to be replaced, you first get it colored, and the cost of painting it is sometimes more than the cost of cladding itself.
I am really happy with the unpainted plastic cladding for these reasons.

I will live with this if there is not way to close the mismatch in colors.

Styler

In That Case You Can use protectents like STP Sun of gun , Formula 1 , Armor All , Eagle One to make the cadding Dark :)

A couple of months ago, a new Car Care Company company started it's operations in C9 Vasant Kunj. Their website is http://www.carbathe.com
Their website says they do professional polishing too, and I will get more details from them.

It is a nice initiative and a good business somebody has thought of.
They have about 50 cars in my pocket for a daily car wash package for min Rs 399. I just spoke to them and they tell me that the monthly charges are Rs 499 for a Camry and 599 for a Scorpio. In this they wash the car 6 days a week, clean interiors twice a week, Vacum the interiors twice a month and shampoo & polish the car with Formula 1 polish once a Month. They roll a trolly with a Water tank to your car, with all the other brushes etc to wash your car.

Right now I am continuing with my existing cleaner (Rs 350 per month for each car) but I am really tempted to try these people.


I asked them if they do a one time complete exterior detailing (Rubbing , Polishing) and for that too they charge Rs 500 one time. If you take a Rs 500 monthly package this comes free once a month anyways.

Ideally I want that I get all the products that I have narrowed down to from all the gyan in this thread, and call somebody to just do the job according to what I tell them to :).

Styler

Styler,
For 500 they are not doing Detailing rather Hack Detailing. Save your cars from that and avoid such cheap solutions which are detrimental for your cars paint finish over the long run.

Speak to Notorious in person, he'll be able to give you proper guidance on how to go about maintaining your cars properly.

Styler, The whole idea of detailing a car is to keep the car clean easily. A detailed car is easier to dust off and clean as compared to a non detailed car which might require a wash. You do not need a package where they come and clean the car every month. Instead get the car detailing done from a good professional ( read as the person who knows what he is doing) once in a year, and he will give you tips to maintain the car in prime condition everyday. A properly detailed car requires a maximum of 10-15 minutes of your time every day with the right tools in place ( ONR, Duster.. etc).

As you are placed in Delhi, check with @NOTORIOUS. I have seen some of his works elsewhere and I honestly don't think many can match his quality.

I will definitely agree with linuxmanju. Though i am a first time car owner, i made it a point to learn how to detail and take care of it because in the long run, it'll reduce the effort and cash i might need to put in to keep it looking pristine. Once you wax the car, you will notice the dust just glides over the surface and using a good duster can make it look like new. I will recommend visiting a good detailer in an event that one doesn't feel like doing it himself/herself. Its a lovely job though, fruits of your efforts are rewarding when you see your dirty car shine like a gem because of your efforts! Thanks in no less amounts to Partha and other members for having educated me on how to go about with the processes.

I too agree. A car that is regularly looked after or detailed makes it an easy job. Once a detailing and waxing has been done, then the daily routine becomes less of a chore. I use a Jopasu duster, spray the car after that with ONR solution and just wipe down. ONR by itself give it a sheen and once a week, you can use a quick detailer spray. I sometimes, use Megs ultimate quick wax spray. It is easy to do, just a spray on wipe off business. Nothing like a dazzle on your paintwork, as reward for your hard work.

Well, the addiction to detailing continues or rather purchasing detailing products. So as usual met up with Mr. Nirmal today and got myself some more of SuperDegreaser, Hyperwash and Glass cleaner concentrate. Now Im good to go for 2 more months.

Also, purchased 2 sonax glass towels.

Finally purchased my first set of CarPro products. P.E.R.L and TarX. Now Mr. Nirmal is the dealer for CarPro and Mr. Hari is the official distributor of Car Pro products for India. His website is www.greenzcarcare.in. Thankfully now we have CarPro officially available in India and this makes life easier for folks like me who don't have people to carry over stuff from US and UK. Had spoken to Mr. Hari earlier this month and he too was a very friendly person and kind enough to clarify all my doubts regarding the usage of the CarPro products. These two gentlemen are never pushy about the products and this makes me much more comfortable to interact with them personally and never have a bad buying experience. As always, Mr. Nirmal has been kind enough to supply me with products whenever I have needed.

Surprisingly we had a mini meet today with another BHPian also present. @Sajands. Had a nice little chat with him. He had come to get an in depth knowledge of the entire process from Mr. Nirmal. It was nice meeting you Sajands. Hope to catch up with you again.

I've recently bought a Karcher 3 series pressure washer and washed my car once with it. This thing makes the washing process much more easier. Have even got the foam nozzle and used it to snow foam my car. The process I followed was :-

1. Car was lying dusty for a few days. So didn't bother with the duster. Got the washer and a bucket downstairs. I think about 25 litres of water might have been used for the whole process. It would have been even lesser had I not used the shampoo later. The Hyperwash was enough to clean the car.

2. Sprayed Super Degreaser on the dirty wheel wells which had accumulated lot of mud due to the rains and this had dried up. Hence the degreaser.

3. Gave a pre rinse of the entire car with normal water via the Vario Lance of the Karcher. After 45 seconds, I sprayed the wheel wells and all the mud came off easily.

4. Next used Hyperwash (as guided by El lobo) along with the foam nozzle to snow foam the car. This being my first time, I kinda used less of the Hyperwash and thus snow foaming effect wasn;t that great, nonetheless, this was enough to remove all the dirt on the car.

5. Let the foam some time to dwell and then washed with the vario lance. All the dirt was gone. Impressive little product this hyperwash.

6. Now time to try the detergent inlet on the machine. Used my old Car wash shampoo in 1:3 ratio via the detergent inlet. The machine sucks in a lot of detergent, but after the wash, the car was left with a fresh waxed feeling due to the wax in the shampoo.

Overall I was happy with the end result. For the first time in the car's life I was able to make out the actual color of the rear shocks lol: After drying though, the wheel wells looked whitish due to the plastic parts. Then Mr. Nirmal guided me to use Hyper Dressing which I sprayed on liberally the next day. Now there's a nice satiny finish to the tyres and the wheel wells.

Looking forward to try out the P.E.R.L soon.

Thank you for the kind words. Well my inspiration has been all the good folks here at TBHP who have been kind enough to clarify each and everyone of my doubts till date. Its good to see that many new car buyers have actively taken up an interest in detailing their cars. Detailing a new car, simply makes life a lot more easier and not just that, the paint finish remains great for many more years to come. :thumbs up to all of you.

Gave another wash to my car today. This time I didnt use the car shampoo. Used only hyperwash and foam nozzle and im just amazed at the ability of hyperwash to remove dirt so easily as i wasnt using much pressure from the machine.

My car was covered with dirt from the rains and hyperwash removed every single particle without a hitch. Proof? My drying towel was still clean after wiping down the entire car.

Also tried out the Glass cleaner concentrate. It dilutes in 1:10 ratio and very little of the product is needed. Used Sonax glass towel that I bought from Mr. Nirmal yesterday and Wiped down all the glass of the windshield, windows and rear and now its crystal clear. That towel + glass cleaner combo is amazing. Id go so far as to say throw out all the colin and other chemicals, and use this Glass cleaner all over the house and your car. Its eco friendly as well.

Planning to do a glass treatment after my exams so as to reduce the cleaning effort.

Came across this bangalore based company which is offering a variety of detailing products.

http://greenzcarcare.in/index.php?se...=greenzcarcare

Has anyone tried them?

Yes my previous post has mentioned about them. Mr. Hari is the owner and official distributor for CarPro in India.

Ive spoken to Mr. Hari personally and he was very helpful regarding all the products. Ive purchased tarX and perl from him via Mr. Nirmal who is the dealer for CarPro and also have a list of other purchases planned once my exams finish.

You can contact either of them directly for the products you require.

Dear Experts on Car Detailing,

Notourious was kind enough to come and have a look at my cars yesterday. He seems a person with complete expert knowledge about car detailing. I will at some point take his services to get a complete permanent protection done on my car. But being a do-it yourself person first I want to learn and try out detailing with all the information gathered here myself.
I have got a rough idea of the steps to do and the products to use. I want the experts here to have a look and suggest any changes.

1. Wash
2. Dry (Buy Microfibre Cloth from Megs or Euro MF)
3. Clay (Claybar : ClayMagic /Mother Claybar or something)
4. Polish (I guess this is what is called Rubbing in our local dialect) Meguiar's ultimate Compound
5. Sealant : Collinate 476
Then after this every 3 months I can plan
6. LSP (I know know what it means :) ) Reload Spray / Colinate 915/845 periodically.

Apart from this I would need Spray bottle.
I might call the local rubbing polishing guy if we need a motorised machine for these products. I will tell him the steps to do.

Please add your inputs, I plan to do this over once I get all the things required

Styler

Nice watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmEhsuO2cKY

part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5QAjWbx03s

Use either C845 or C476. Both of them are unnecessary. If you plan to use Relaod it is better to avoid C845 or C476 entirely. Both of these are extremely tough sealant. Reload over this will reduce the durability of Reload. It will be better if you use reload after Meg's UP.

You can use C845/C476 every 3 months (they give you more than 6 month durability alone). For regular maintenance you can use a quick detailer like Optimum No Rinse or Ultima Waterless Wash.

You can also skip C845/476 and use Optimum Car wax which is a spray wax/sealant. It produces some fantastic result. Google for review on OCW.

Does pressure washing every weekend, with less frequent application of Eagle One liquid nano-wax, deteriorate the paint layers?

Before I spend money on one, I wanted to know how often could I safely use the pressure washer without much waxing and almost nil polishing/sealing? Why I ask because, when it rains in Kerala, every other outing is going to stick muck on to the car.