[SaurabhSaran]

Originally Posted by deveshshukla53

I have been searching for "the most effective way of removing bird dropping"

Spray Quick Detailer on the bird dropping, wait for 5 minutes and wipe off gently with clean microfiber cloth (add few spray on it as well). Repeat the process if it is not removed completely.

Also don't let bird dropping stay for too long on the paint.

[d_himan]

Originally Posted by deveshshukla53

I have been searching for "the most effective way of removing bird dropping" on our forum for about half an hour now and clearly I have no idea how to reach that piece of information.

I am sure others would have answered this question somewhere here, so please either redirect me there or show/tell me how to do it? I am a little less fortunate in the owning a garage section and these dropping irritate me to the core. help.

For overnight dried poo, my favorite is poorboys bird sh*t remover - by far the most effective I've used. My ONR, in concentrated dilution (1:4) is a distant second.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

HOW TO DO ENGINE BAY CLEANING

Engine bay is one part of the car which most of us neglect to take care of regularly (including me ]) for various reasons, (1) it is comparatively difficult to do engine bay cleaning than any other part of the car, (2) it is risky as well, (3) and most important reason we neglect it because, there is nobody to peep into your engine compartment and appreciate your hard work .

Till now, I had not even cleaned my engine bay once and my itch to clean the engine bay took off after seeing the dirt accumulated under the hood.

Still, I was quite skeptical of doing it, since the engine bay has lots of sensitive inlets and electrical parts and I had read some horror stories on the after effects of engine bay cleaning using power wash. So, I was in search of a waterless and an effective way of engine bay cleaning with minimal effort, and there is none other than Mike Phillips to help in these circumstances.

I came across two threads (and much more infact) in AGO forum written by Mike Phillips on the engine bay cleaning.

More detailed and traditional way of engine cleaning here:

How to clean an engine compartment

Quick, refined and effortless way of engine cleaning here: - This is called Cosmetic Engine Detailing:

How to do cosmetic engine detailing

I was actually interested in following the Cosmetic Engine Detailing method with some small modifications, given the products what I have. Below is what I did:

1. Dust off using a big brush and using toothbrush for areas where big brush cannot reach - In this step, I was able to dust off most of the fine dust and engine was looking quite good after the 1st step itself.

2. Using the toothbrush applied and agitated the parts with Autofresh APC (I did not spray diluted APC directly on the engine bay, but sprayed on the toothbrush and applied). Note that, APC generates more foam even in the diluted form compared to any of the waterless wash products, hence I preferred using APC. One may even try with waterless wash also.

In this step, while cleaning with the toothbrush using APC I also simultaneously wiped off the APC concentrate so as to take out the dust. If you only use brush continuously without wiping it off with a cloth, the APC may get dried on the surface and would be difficult to clean later.

3. Clean with another clean cloth / MF cloth and use APC if required as a lubricant. This step would help in further removing the dust using a new cloth.

4. Once I felt that the compartment is clean enough, I applied Vista Dash Board Polish on the plastic parts (I did not spray directly on the parts, but sprayed on a MF cloth and spread even on the plastic parts). One may even use any Tire & Trip Polish / Protectant for this purpose.

5. After leaving to haze for 5 mins, buffed the dash board polish to give a shine.

Note that, my intention was not to clean the engine compartment to make it as new (this is only possible in a detailed way of engine bay cleaning using engine degreasers, power wash, where you have to be extra careful of covering all the parts where you do not want the water to enter). My intention was only to clean wherever the brush / cloth / hand can reach and aim was to clean 70% of the compartment with minimal effort. Guess I took around half hour to do this exercise and may be even less the next time around.

I would be happy if anybody can highlight what best can be done to clean the balance portion of the compartment without using power wash.

Here comes the most important part of the post, the Before and After pics:

Pics here - Hope you can easily identify the before and after ones.

Regards,
KK

[Epic]

A shout out to the members in Delhi!!!

I have come across many ads on Facebook regarding this new detailing store called Always Dry. Apparently they use modern nano technology and the out come looks mind blowing. They are currently located in Delhi and supposedly opening a store in Mumbai soon.

Any of our Delhi members tried this out yet? If yes, what are the reviews?

Here is the link to their website http://www.alwaysdry.co.in/

[KkVaidya]

Originally Posted by Epic

Any of our Delhi members tried this out yet? If yes, what are the reviews?

Here is the link to their website http://www.alwaysdry.co.in/

Not impressive. Also I can see swirl marks on the brown S-Cross they have put in the gallery images. The wheels & tires are also not up to the mark.

Detailing is not only about the shine of the paint but the attention given to all areas of the car as far as cleaning is concerned.

[Epic]

Originally Posted by KkVaidya

Not impressive. Also I can see swirl marks on the brown S-Cross they have put in the gallery images. The wheels & tires are also not up to the mark.

Detailing is not only about the shine of the paint but the attention given to all areas of the car as far as cleaning is concerned.

Hi KkVaidya,

Have you experienced their services? I think you have just looked at the video and commented on the same. The video shows you before and after pictures and hence you have made your comments on seeing the paint with swirl marks and dirty tyres in the 'before' pictures. The video can be confusing as they have not marked the pictures as 'before' and a'after'.

I have hence asked for those in Delhi to comment or share their thoughts if they have experienced their services.

[Sheel]

Is it Sonax being sold at accessory outlet at Maruti dealerships? How are the products?

I am using Collinite 845 and while it is good, it is nothing exceptional, say when compared to Wurth or Amway.

I did get one car wash from Maruti, will update if it is better than the Amway I use. Formula 1 products are average (purchased from Spencer) so will give them a miss.

[nova9]

Hi Guys,

When you use a product like Ultima waterless wash plus concentrate or any other rinseless wash or quick detailing concentrate which needs to be diluted in water, can the mixed solution that remains after you use it on the car be stored and reused later some time?

Example if i make a 500ml solution with the appropriate quantity of the concentrate mixed with water and use up say 400 ml.

Can the 100 ml that remains be stored and reused say after 3 weeks?

Thanks

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by nova9

Hi Guys,

When you use a product like Ultima waterless wash plus concentrate or any other rinseless wash or quick detailing concentrate which needs to be diluted in water, can the mixed solution that remains after you use it on the car be stored and reused later some time?

Example if i make a 500ml solution with the appropriate quantity of the concentrate mixed with water and use up say 400 ml.

Can the 100 ml that remains be stored and reused say after 3 weeks?

Thanks

Even I have the same question and have not been able to get a reliable answer.

Somebody told me that any waterless wash concentrate cannot be saved in a diluted form which will attract bacteria and may affect performance. But some others say the exact opposite.

I have personally experienced a colour and odour change in Proklear and ONR, in which there was change in colours and it smelled only of chemicals and a bad smell indeed.

Incidentally, guys at Autogeek forum say that it can very well be used. See this thread

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...d.php?t=100394

Post Nos. 26 and 38 with name KK1 are my posts.

I would be glad if somebody can give answers.

KK

[Mortis]

Yes it can be reused, it doesnt go bad. I dont know about Ultima but ONR gradually loses its blue colour but still remains active.

[kkkkkaran]

I use the proklear extreme. I do have slight leftovers, which i mix with fresh and use, since i make the mixture in the same bottle.
There is a difference in odour, but i havent seen it cause a problem as such.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I use a 5-litre spray rather than a bucket. Probably I do it all wrong. Certainly, my method uses a lot less ONR!

I also have a hand spray for removing the bird excrement when it falls.

[kutts]

So after many days and months looking through the polishing and detailing forum, I jumped in to try my novice skills at it on my Polo. I had an opportunity to travel and collected a whole lot of goodies :-) Meguiars Ultimate Polish, Turtle Hard Shell wax and Sonax Spray and Clay. Sourced the Sonax gloss shampoo, wash mitts and MF locally. No DA polisher, only bare hands.



I was hard pressed of time and could only do the entire process of claying, polishing and washing at night. Started at 10 pm and ended at 3 am. I know that was not a brilliant idea, but no options and the kid in me just wanted to do it.

Did a full wash and wiped dry. Did light claying. Not much grit.Notice hard water stains, swirls.



Then came the polishing. I do not think I did a fair job at this, but I was worried I may spoil the paint trying too hard or doing it the wrong way.


Did a round of waxing and results were looking impressive.




Did one more round of waxing after a week and the final picture.



Overall, I am satisfied. Maybe its time I invested in a rotary polisher

[thoma]

Originally Posted by Sheel

I am using Collinite 845 and while it is good, it is nothing exceptional, say when compared to Wurth or Amway.

Sorry, but I really didn't get this. Does Wurth or Amway got better wax than the Collinite 845? Can you share which ones and the availability in India?

[nova9]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I use a 5-litre spray rather than a bucket. Probably I do it all wrong. Certainly, my method uses a lot less ONR!

I also have a hand spray for removing the bird excrement when it falls.

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

Somebody told me that any waterless wash concentrate cannot be saved in a diluted form which will attract bacteria and may affect performance.

I too plan to use it like a spray and not use it in a bucket, so technically if i use a clean bottle and distilled or aquaguard water there shouldnt be any contamination, and not sure how it would attract bacteria, and ideally with the chemicals in it, it shouldnt be a medium that bacteria would like to live in

KK, did you every try using the liquid that was left and had an adverse reaction on the paint of your car?

Thanks