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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-592.html)

My suggestions as follows:

You can try Sonus Gloss Shampoo. It can be purchased from Detailed Clean India.

Autogeek Link.

The best out there is Ultima Waterless Wash. Superb product for giving car a waterless wash and even you can make clay bar lubricant as well. Ultimate Detailerz, Bangalore retails, you can purchase it from them.

Autogeek link.

Why not move over to Ultima Elastrofoam Glass and paint prep sponge. Much easier to work. No kneading needed and if chance dropped, no issues whatsoever.

Autogeek Link.

Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection is I would say VFM sealant. Better than Blackfire Wet Diamond. I believe Reload is used over a sealant to revive the finish after a period of time, just as its name suggests. Can be purchased from UD, Bangalore.

Autogeek Link.

Try if you could get Scholls All Purpose Cleaner(APC) or Meguiars APC. Both of them are good, especially Scholls. UD should have Scholls APC.

1. Megs wash and wax is not at all worth. Used one bottle before coming to conclusion. Get sonax gloss shampoo. It does its job well at a lesser price than megs

2. Pro klear is getting good reviews. Other options are Ultima waterless wash plus and optimum no rinse wash and wax. The latter two are tried and tested products

3. Get Ultima elastrofoam. You will love the ease of using it. Clay bars are a passe now.

4. If you want to use collinite on top of sealant then the sealant has to be a proper one and not a spray type. Currently one of the best sealant available is UPGP which is wipe on walk away. A 4oz bottle lasts nearly 50 application. Very strong sealant. Reload is a waste of money. It won't last more than a month in our conditions. UPGP is as easy to use as any spray sealant.

5. Get Megs, Sonus, auto finesse or Scholl APC. Whichever suits your budget. all of them do the job you want to accomplish

I used Reload last month, and it seems to doing quite brilliantly. On my bike too, Reload brought about a luster on my 15 year old bike that does seem new-like. The new 2014 Reload is supposedly much better going by the youtube reviews.

I haven't used UPGP, but I believe that would be pretty good too.

Waxing definitely seems too old-school and cumbersome once you try these spray sealants.

I have been megs. rightly said not worth. you need a lot of shampoo for one wash.

Try the Amway car wash. Its cheaper and does the work very well. Lasts long, good lather and clean the surface effectively.

My choice would be amway. havent tried sonax though.

Experts,

A very basic query.

Background: The guy who washes my car has been liberal enough to produce a few scratches on the car during his daily routine. Getting the car detailed once a quarter costs around 2.5k which means I spend around 10K annually on the washing guys ignorance. I had a look at chap's cleaning aids and it was miserable piece of rags - one dry and one wet, a dirty bucket. Decided to educate him about the daily cleaning process since he washes around 15 odd cars in the society complex.

Query:
1) What are the basic washing/cleaning aids I should be providing him for the daily washes? A cost breakup of products with brands will be great if possible. I am not asking for the products generally used by professionla detailers but those which I can pick up from supermarkets and give it to the cleaning guy.
2) What basic steps need to be followed by the chap to ensure that ? If somebody has a ppt which explains in simple layman's language the better.

To do the regular washing effectively, I will be providing him the materials + an increase in his remuneration (subject to satisfaction). Once he does it on my car, I will recommend my fellow society member to follow suit (a few are already ready for the change).

Pls provide your comments (going through this technical strong thread is labourious task).

Mods: If this post doesnt suit here, pls move to any related appropriate thread.

If you want to retain the gloss on your paint in the long run, never wash the car daily. This may make the car neat and clean but on a microscopic level, each wash is a torture on the paint work and the strain will show up over a period of time. For daily cleaning a duster is the best option. Wash the car only if you have dirt which the duster cannot pull out particularly in rainy season.

- The best way to reduce swirl marks is to reduce the washing cycle, may be once in 3 or 4 days (even once in a week depending on the condition of the car). A good detailed car doesnt need a daily washing, a wipe with Jopasu Duster will be enough.

- 2 x Wash mitts ~100/- each from any automotive store or super market or eBay. One for the upper body and one for the other portion, better use different colored mitts.

- 1 or 2 320gsm microfiber cloths

- any PH neutral shampoo (I use Meguiar's Nxt) for a thorough wash once or twice in a month.

- any good rinseless wash concentrate like UWW - Ultima Waterless Wash or PROKLEAR RAW or PROKLEAR Raw Extreme (I use this one) for a weekly rinseless wash.

- any good water guzzling cloth, I use Megs Water magnet.

Eventhough its a rinseless wash, I do it in a different way, 5ml mix in 500ml water and spray it panel by panel and allow it to soak for 1 or 2 mins. Using the 2 bucket method and wash mitt I wipe\rinse off the dirt. Once the panel is dry I apply the same proklear in a 5ml mix in 250ml of water for quick detailing (this keeps the dust away), you can use a dedicated QD from megs or any good brand. The same 2 bucket method is followed for shampoo wash also. You can get a lot of videos in youtube.

Once you start the proper washing method a basic detailing should be enough for the car to look new. As a starting point you need to remove the scratches either DIY or with the help of a professional. Once in 2 or 3 months, use a good paint cleanser or a polish and seal it with wax or a sealant. You can find a plenty of good polishes/cleansers/wax/sealants.

Note: Too much detailing will harm the paint / clearcoat and even the UV coating which comes by default.

Thanks guys for the advice.

I do agree that washing daily does have more negative effect than positive. If I want to do the washing once 3-4 days routine, I will have to do it myself coz the cleaner wont make himself available for the job. Now since Monsoons have receeded I can start washing the car once a week, use Jopasu duster for daily wiping. The fact that my car is outside any stilt parking and right under the trees & foliage it will be subjected to a lot of leaf falls, bird poo and other dusty stuff. Would keeping the bird poo say for a week without washing any effect on the car paint?

I must have made myself more clear.

Reload is a good product no doubt. But for someone who wants durability Reload is not good enough. Besides he wanted to apply collinite on top of sealant. So applying collinite on reload does no do good when the base layer does not last more than a month. It similar to building a house on a beach when the sea washes away the sand below

- Provide him a Jopasu duster, and ask him to dust on a daily basis
- Teach him "two bucket wash method", and get the car washed once in a week. For this you would need to provide two buckets, Micro Fiber cloth, washing mitt, car wash shampoo, glass cleaner liquid.

Note:
1) You could buy Jopasu Combo pack
2) You could buy Formula 1 shampoo and glass cleaners which are pretty cheap.

Most of the bird poo is acidic in nature and has to be removed at the earliest as it can leave permanent marks. The best option for you is to use a car cover than rectifying those marks using a compound.

You have to take the call. He will not come if you reduce the compensation based on the washing cycle, you can give the same amount what you give now to save your car from scratches or ask him to do the daily Duster wiping. Also if others are joining, you can ask him to wash only one car in a day so that the other cars get the 1 week washing interval. But the savings on the correction will be very significant.\\

Never use any cheap shampoo, always use good quality PH neutral shampoos. The cheap shampoos will strip the wax and your detailing effort and money will be wasted.

This can be disastrous. I just suffered irreversible damage to my car paint due to bird poo. This happened in Sabarimala and don't know which bird's poo did the damage. With in a day the entire exposed area got etched up similar to below picture.
http://g35driver.com/forums/attachme...ching-etch.jpg
I don't think cleaning with duster will work on a car parked in open.So better to continue with your daily car wash guy. But reduce the frequency to once in 3 days.

You cracked me up there buddy :uncontrol (Guess I'm gonna get an infraction for this)

I too had a similar experience while my Classic war parked at the workplace. I ignored the poo (of course the bird's) for a couple of days due to my hectic schedule and finally when I got the time to clean it off, the damage was already done.

So what's the next step after removing bird poo?? Say after its been there for a few hours, in a recently waxed car?

Use a quick detailer over that spot to preserve / restore the wax in that area?

:) I specially mentioned Sabarimala because I had experienced some bird droppings in the city areas which were not severe and got washed away just by plain water with out leaving any damage. But this was too acidic and almost instantly damaged the clear coat. May be some bird which is not common in city areas did the damage.