[silverblaze]

Before the summer arrives, decided to pamper my Creta this weekend. Did the following

1. Full wash including underbody at the local car wash
2. As my car was driven on a newly laid road near my house, there were tar spots that needed attention- Formula1 bug and tar remover did the job rather splendid!
3. One coat of Swirlx applied to remove those swirlys
4. After 24 hours of applying Swirlx, applied a coat of Collinite 845.
5. For the black cladding applied Chemical Guys VRP Protectant
6. Cleaned the seats with leather wipes and then finished with chemical guys leather protectant
7. Doors & dashboard prepped with a clean damp microfiber and finished with VRP.
8. Swirlx applied to the rims.
9. Formula1 glass cleaner applied to all the windows and windshields.

Enjoyed every bit of it and its totally worth the effort! I am planning to apply a second coat of Collinite next week so that it lasts the entire summer.

[prithm]

I m still not able to understand why is this happening to me ??

I wash my car once every 2-3 weeks due to water shortage & being little sensitive to water use per se.

After every wash it is only my car. My Car, that gets dirty within couple of days even if I don't take it out. It's like dust magnet in my apartment parking lot. Every other car looks great even after a week of standing still.

Location detail -

1. It's parked far away from windy location.
2. Boot is closer to a wall with no vents for air flow.
3. Parking floor is rarely cleaned.
4. Not much of traffic in parking lot to kick that much of dust.

The dust is almost lint like. Fine & Soft.

1. I wax with Collinite's, so its not wet type.
2. I don't leave my car moist after wash. Thorough wipe.
3. Cloth is almost lint free, but surely the lint type differ.

My mind is wandering & came up with this wild thought.

Is my battery leaking power to car body ?
Is it making it mildly charged to attract fine dust ?

Just lost thinking possible reasons.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by prithm

The dust is almost lint like. Fine & Soft. Is my battery leaking power to car body ? Is it making it mildly charged to attract fine dust ?

Quite simple actually. Dry weather and static electricity go together. Happens to any clean and dry surface including inside the home.

Ask me, living in a dry dust bowl like Pune coats my cars and household articles with dust (and artefacts from auto pollution) every single day.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by silverblaze

3. One coat of Swirlx applied to remove those swirlys

Excellent. From where did you get SwirlX?? I'm trying to source one since past couple of years.

[silverblaze]

I sourced the Swirlx about 2 years ago from Saudi through a friend. However you can buy it on amazon. The price is on the steeper side :(

[prithm]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Quite simple actually. Dry weather and static electricity go together. Happens to any clean and dry surface including inside the home.

I agree and I did overlook this point because of the fact that I did not clean with dry duster or any cloth when the both the surfaces are bone dry. In my case, both the surfaces are wet and I usually would be washing the car barefoot and on wet floor.

Even if we explore the possibility of car body to get electrically charged by dust particles blown by strong wind, the location where it stands is totally damp and dark with no up or downdraft.

It did not occur to me to click pics because I usually would be cursing my fate when I see my car all dust covered in matter of just few hours.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by prithm

I agree and I did overlook this point because of the fact that I did not clean with dry duster or any cloth when the both the surfaces are bone dry. In my case, both the surfaces are wet and I usually would be washing the car barefoot and on wet floor.

Even if we explore the possibility of car body to get electrically charged by dust particles blown by strong wind, the location where it stands is totally damp and dark with no up or downdraft.

It did not occur to me to click pics because I usually would be cursing my fate when I see my car all dust covered in matter of just few hours.

You can put it down to atmospheric dust. Every wonder why even a locked up home with all its doors/windows closed gets dusty over time? It's because of atmospheric dust which is present everywhere. The only way to be rid of this is a Clean Room and even those are not 100% free of particles.

And I'd expect such dust particles to settle down on your car regardless of how careful you are. A static charge on the paint will accelerate the dust accumulation but even without the charge dust particles just fall on any horizontal surface. Some particles are sticky and can stick to vertical surfaces too.

And then there's the phenomenon of dust accretion which creates dust bunnies. And when it happens on a giant scale in Space even planetary systems

Frankly @prithm, don't fret about this. It's a natural phenomenon and if I were you I'd use a good quality car cover and a Jopasu duster

[prithm]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Frankly @prithm, don't fret about this. It's a natural phenomenon and if I were you I'd use a good quality car cover and a Jopasu duster

R2D2, today I officially take you as my Yoda Grand Master.

Taking your advice and getting the Jopasu today. Will keep posted.

On the side note, is there a way to check battery leak other than checking voltage regularly ?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by prithm

R2D2, today I officially take you as my Yoda Grand Master.

LOL! May the Force be with you.

On the side note, is there a way to check battery leak other than checking voltage regularly ?

Can be done. You put an ammeter in series with your battery's -ve or +ve terminal and the rest of the circuit. Then check the reading. Using a Clamp meter is easier.

The reading should be less than 0.3-0.7A when the car is at "rest". This depends from car to car and also on the # and type of accessories installed.

The small parasitic load is generally your security system, ECU or audio/seating/heating system memory. Switch off and lock the car, wait for a minute or two before checking the reading. Need to give the security system time to arm itself and other systems to go into standby.

A drain of over 1 A merits investigation by a competent technician. It'll drain your battery if the car is left idle for a couple of days or longer.

[vikasshu]

Sharing a post after a long time.

Between my comprehensive detailing sessions, I use waterless washes like ONR Wash and Wax to maintain the outer shine/paint of the car. I am very happy with this product. But there was a lingering desire to use the other competitive product namely Ultima Waterless wash+ concentrate. Procured it locally in India through one of the popular online vendors.

Usage is pretty easy and you need the diluted solution of Ultima and some good microfibre towels. For my Scorpio, I require minimum 2 and maximum 3 towels.

For background purposes, my last comprehensive detailing happened around August last year with Zinio Z7 shampoo + Claying + Wolfgang paintwork polish enhancer + Wolfgang deep gloss paint sealant. By mid November of last year, I observed that hood of Scorp was showing signs that sealant is no more effective. Therefore I used Ultima Paint Guard Plus around November 2017. Other areas were still going strong with Wolfgang.

Before current trial, car was in open without any cover from February 28 evening till March 4 (almost 4 days). Initially it was lightly rinsed with plain water and then new Ultima waterless solution was used. Sharing some pictures with all of you.

Conclusions:

• Ultima solution looks darker in colour and more concentrated in comparison to ONR. Both concentrates were measured using a medicine cap and exactly same amount were mixed in exactly same type of bottles. Water source was also same in both cases. A picture is shared at the end of the post.

• I feel Ultima has better smell in comparison to ONR.
• I also feel that post Ultima intervention, car surface was more smoother.
• I did not find any difference in the shine/final results.
• I did not check the durability of the products.
• Felt that I required less solution in case of Ultima.

Pre-intervention






Post rinsing with plain water








Post Ultima wash plus






Comparison between two solutions (primarily color)



Thanks & Regards... Vikas

[Disclaimer: No commercial interests involved in promoting any product]

[prithm]

Originally Posted by vikasshu

Initially it was lightly rinsed with plain water and then new Ultima waterless solution was used.

That color is so eye catchy.

How did you apply the sealant ? Just spray and wipe or any steps to be followed.

[vikasshu]

Originally Posted by prithm

That color is so eye catchy.

How did you apply the sealant ? Just spray and wipe or any steps to be followed.

Thanks Prithm. I use Meguiars Foam applicator for applying Ultima Paint Guard Plus (UPGP) sealant. The one came with Ultima sealant leads to some wastage of the product. Bought these foam pads (set of 4) for INR 450 something. I pre-soak the pad with water from a filter and then squeeze it out. Post that I spray UPGP on it and apply.

[nidhinsarath]

Any suggestions for a good leaf blower for drying up? Does it serves the purpose?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by nidhinsarath

Any suggestions for a good leaf blower for drying up? Does it serves the purpose?

I just purchased a Bosch multi-speed 800W air blower. It seems to do the job well but is extremely noisy. I now need to purchase ear drum protection before using this extensively.

[nidhinsarath]

Originally Posted by diyguy

I just purchased a Bosch multi-speed 800W air blower. It seems to do the job well but is extremely noisy. I now need to purchase ear drum protection before using this extensively.

How about the 600W Bosch blower?