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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-737.html)

It's a pain maintaining the exterior plastic trims in Seltos. Attracts a lot of muck. I use 3M Dashboard Dresser. It works like magic and a small drop goes a long way!

try a diluted mixture of dettol and apc.

I have tried it and it was able to pickup the contaminants quite well and the paint surface was smooth. No scratches or residues left. I just cut less than half the size and was able to cover the entire car. This was the first time I did the claying, so cant compare with other reputed brands. But it is the cheapest and best way to get started and learn the claying process. Even if you drop it, it doesnt hurt much, since it is not expensive. Just use the other half of it !


Good suggestion! Actually, I was planning to buy Waxpol Protectol. It seems like poor man's version of CarPro PERL. CarPro PERL is out of stock almost everywhere. Let me see which one I can pickup and try it.

Hey guys,
I own a 15 year old Hyundai Santro and have been neglecting it for a quite a while as we don't use it very often. But now that I'm learning how to drive, I'm compelled to clean it. I'm attaching a few photos below of its current condition, want some tips on how I should start the cleaning process and areas I should focus on. Thank you!

Hi BlackAsta,

Thanks for your suggestion. Can you please advise what you mean by "apc"?

Thanks,
SS

All Purpose Cleaner - any brand like poorboys, verso, valetpro, gtechniq etc.

I reside in a high-rise apartment society in Gurgaon, and car cleaning using shampoo and buckets of water are not allowed here. In my previous society I could maintain the car exterior properly (though there was a car cleaner). In present society, the car cleaner dips his cloth in a bucket of water and use the same for more than 60 cars. Hence lots of swirl marks and lots of sticky things I could see. Even the windshield got many car cleaning induced scratches. Once in a month I get shampoo etc done somewhere nearby. But by the time I enter society after the shampoo, the car is entirely covered by a thin layer of fine dust. Mine is Swift Granite Grey colour.

1. Any suggestions of alternative surface cleaning (without much use of chemicals) which does not offend society RWA rules?
2. Shall I wipe off the dust layer after a shampoo session and apply wax (after returning to society)? There could be some dust despite of my efforts.

I think a lot of us who live in large cities have similar problem. I reside in Delhi and also face similar issues. I also do not have a covered parking and need to use a good car cover. Earlier I had a Tyvek cover which was torn by stray dogs. Now I am using one from TPH cover which is strong enough that dogs can not harm it. But I feel the cover is so heavy that while taking it out and putting it on also leads to swirls on my red Scorpio :Frustrati

Coming back to your original query, I do following things:

1. I have a good quality duster that I use myself when cover is taken out. I have Jopasu brand.
2. I use ONR wash and wax as water less wash or as quick detailer. It is an amazing product and brings back amazing shine on my car.
3. I also go for outside washing from a FNG when my car gets very dirty or post a long highway trip. But there as well, only washing by water by pressure jet and no touching of car :uncontrol

This is how I have saved my car so far. Though my car's color shines and it looks amazing but if looked closely, you will still see lots of micro swirls. I think possibly caused by that car cover. You can read one of my old reviews here

Hope this helps.

Thanks
Vikas

- First and foremost, basis the genuine reviews, visit a local detailing shop and get the swirl marks removed/reduced.

- Get an Opticoat (Ceramic coating). This will add a similar layer like the clear coat.

These are the corrective steps. Now your aim is prolonging the life of the upper most layer of your paint.

- Once/week, Use a mild waterless wash solution to clean the surface area (Proklear is good). Use chamois cloth to absorb water which will prevent swirl marks.

- 2/3 times a week, remove dust using Jopasu duster.

- Once a 45 days, depending on conditions, get your car washed at a local washing centre. And then apply a wax coat (Colinite 845/Meguire’s ultimate) as a sealant producing shine and preventing swirl marks.

This will help you to maintain the paint quality of your car.

Hi Guys,

Can anyone suggest a "detailing outlet" (NOT 3M!!) anywhere in the Western suburbs of Bombay from Bandra to Malad who will do a proper "polish" and "paint sealant" job on my car without charging a huge amount of moolah.
3M quoted Rs. 8.5K to do just the exterior of my Honda BR-V.

Thanks in advance.
Regards,
SS

If you don't mind travelling to Thane then there is Maxshine. Their charges are not as exorbitant as that of 3M. Last week I went for the weekday wash at 3M Chembur. Earlier the charges were 536/- (inclusive of taxes) on weekdays and some 850/- odd for weekends. Now they have nearly doubled the rates with weekday charges for the same washing service at 1000/- (plus taxes). The addition being sanitization of the car. In my opinion, the rates are overtly optimistic.

Another option other than Maxshine, is to buy your products on Amazon and take it to a local washing guy. Ask them to wash the car thoroughly, wipe it dry with your MF cloth and then polish, apply sealant and wax. This should not cost you more than 500/- plus the cost of the products, which you can use it multiple times.

Was seeing AutoBrix guys come to my apartment and found out they charge Rs 350 for external wash and Rs 450 for the full car. But what a bunch of unprofessional guys, they turned out to be! For a 8AM appointment, they call at 8.30AM and check if they can proceed from their workplace. They'd have reached by 10AM. Gave them a piece of my mind. Over the phone, they ask that they be provided a bucket of water and a power source for the vacuum cleaner. Glad I didn't go through this. Anybody has any experience like this?

Disastrous detailing

Hi All -

I'm a newbie to car detailing.

We have a 10 year old black Honda Civic which has lot of swirl marks. Last weekend I decided to detail it.

After washing and claying, I used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and Lake Country CCS light cutting disc (orange), followed by Meguiar's Ultimate Polish https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 using Lake Country CCS white polishing disc and finally applied Collinite 845 using Chemical Guy's microfiber applicator pads.

Everything looked good and that's when I wanted to try out water beading. I live in the US and we have very hard water. I used a garden hose to test water beading and everything looked good. Since it was a sunny day, I did not wipe off water and let it dry. After few hours, to my utter shock the water dried up and the car was full of hard water spots :deadhorse.

To get rid of water spots, I used a water spot remover using microfiber applicator and started to rub on the paint. To my horror, wherever I applied higher pressure, there are swirl marks. I did not expect this to happen because of the Collinite 845. Is my understanding correct? I'm worried if I damaged the clear coat. The Meguiar's compound I used says it's clear coat safe and the orange pad mentions it is light cutting disc.

Do I need to apply a layer of sealant on top of wax to prevent swirl marks and protect the paint?

I'm okay to polish the car once again but if I need to do the above steps once again, what's my best option to remove the polish and wax?

One more thing, I have some very stubborn dried up tree sap spots on the car. I was not able to get rid of it while applying the compound. I have also tried other options like Goo Gone, Schaeffer Citrol, hand sanitizer, but the tree sap is several years old and has dried up really hard. Any recommendation on how to get rid of this as well?

Thank you.

My 2 cents:-

1.Looks like collinite did not cure completely.When i say cure i mean it had not completely bonded with paint yet and before that you tried to test water beading.

2.The moment you touch your paint with any media it will bring swirls .Thats part of the game so you can delay that but you cant avoid it.

3. Waxes or sealents or ceramic coats can only do much.They will get swirled sooner or later.

4.Dont worry your base coat is safe.These paints can withstand some abuse.

5.Did you follow the instructions on water spot remover to the point? Or did you try to use it while the panel was hot?

6.Applying a sealent top of wax is a good idea as it tops up the protection and gloss.

7.Polishing every now and then is not a good idea rather do it only when the swirls start giving you sleepless nights which can happen too often I agree but try to resist that urge.Rather wax and top it with a sealent and maintain the paint for as long as possible and once it starts bothering you then polish it.

Thank you for your assuring words. I admit that I did not allow Collinite to cure/become dry/hazy and wiped it before that.

Water spot remover was applied when surface was cool. I believe the swirl marks/scratches showed up because Collinite did not bond well with the surface.

I will try to apply compound/polish once again and see if it removes water spots. I'm also going to top it with a sealant.

Thanks once again and I appreciate your feedback!