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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-786.html)

sir for interior Cleaning you can get Jopasu Mini Duster as using a brush will only displace the dust from one panel and some of it may again settle down on other panels. Moreover if you really want a brush for dry cleaning that is without using any chemical and just want to dust off, i would suggest buy this one from amazon
https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0C...?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
I have this brush and the usp of this brush is that it has non-scratch and long bristles which can easily clean vents, remove dry dust from interior door lock panel etc.

As with cloths, brushes may be non-scratch, but the dust that they pick up is not. It's the dust that does the damage, not the brush.

Hi guys, I have a 2012 Honda City, with a CNG installed, hence the engine bay is overlooked for months on end due to the fear of something conking off - but now it's looking extremely shabby

Plus the interiors have started to smell 'not nice'.

So, a good interior cleaner / APC, and an engine Degreaser are on my wishlist, plus the necessary brushes and dressings post the cleaning.

I don't want to spend a lot, nor do I want to get into extreme details, just basic cleaning and a little bit of polish and I'm happy.

I'd be mighty difficult to zero down on good products for the requirements above if I start reading up - so can anyone just suggest me products which would fit the bill?

I would prefer having concentrates so that they can go on for a long time, also I'd prefer an APC over a specific interior cleaner as I can use APC at home cleaning as well.

Currently, Detailmax Engine Degreaser and APC are on my list in their 1L bottles.

Anything else that's better and I'm missing out?

I'd be getting the car properly detailed after the rains anyway.

I have a wool cutting pad with me. Now, I am looking for a pad for removing swirl marks, oxidation and minor scratches. I will be using Meguiars Ultimate Polish and Meguiars Ultimate compound.
1. Which ones should I choose from the below?
2. Also, there are flat ones and diamond cut ones. Which one should I choose?

https://www.autofresh.in/shinemate-f...polishing-pad/
https://www.autofresh.in/shinemate-t...foam-pad-blue/
https://www.planetcarcare.com/collec...ond-yellow-5-6
https://www.autofresh.in/shinemate-t...diamond-green/

1) With a compound you’d want to go with a medium to heavy cut pad, the numbers are in increasing order of cutting ability. T10 is a plush finishing pad, T40 and 60 are medium polishing pads and T80 and 120 are heavy cut pads.

Personally I rarely use the 120 (green) as it’s too aggressive unless you’re dealing with sanding scratches or trying to remove orange peel.

T80 (yellow) is the ideal cutting pad and goes great with Menzerna 400 or 3D ACA compound.

After this or if defects are minor to start with, go with a fine cut pad like T10 (Red/Black) as most new cars have super soft paint (Volvo notwithstanding). Otherwise you can go with T40 (orange) as well, but T10 finishes much better. Pair these with something like Menzerna 3000/3500 or Capro Essence.

Meguiar’s I’d say use until you run out then move on to better polishes and compounds. Both Ultimate compound and polish are full of fillers to the point it feels like an oil spill on paint. Also it’s a pain trying to assess the actual correction as heavy fillers hide everything. Make sure you liberally wipe with 25% IPA solution to check the real condition before applying your protection.

2) Stick to diamond pattern pads as they dissipate heat much quicker vs flat pads. Heat is your main enemy when doing any kind of machine polishing and the hotter the paint surface, the lower your rate of cut.

1. Thanks for your detailed reply. Getting T10 and T80 for now. I wish I had reached out to you before getting Meguiars. Will definitely try Menzerna once this bottle gets over.

2. Will go for diamond pads. Is https://www.autofresh.in/ good? Any experience buying from them? Or do you have any other suggestions?

Any suggestions on DIY Graphene/ Ceramic Coating?
Anyone here tried doing it yourself? I would like to know the materials to procure and procedure to do. Do we need closed garage to apply it?

1) Yes, once you try products designed for pro use, you’ll never go back to the filler laden stuff sold in big box retail stores.

2) I use planetcarcare.com, have not tried auto fresh yet. You’ll get all of these on planet itself.

The pro kits from the major brands are difficult to source unless you’re a certified installer. You can use light ceramic coatings off the shelf for diy application. Carpro CQuartz UK 3.0 and Gyeon Cancoat are good examples.

It all depends on how much time and money you’re willing to invest in the entire process, if you’ve never polished paint before I’d suggest let pros handle it as buying the machines and teaching yourself takes some time.

If you’re happy with your paint condition in terms of visible defects, then it becomes much easier. Wash - 25% IPA (isopropyl alcohol) wipe - apply.

It’s not mandatory to have an enclosed space but it gets very challenging due to extreme levels of dust and the possibility of sudden rain when working outside.

Work out of direct sunlight and work in small sections if you must do it outside.

Hi folks! I have a 10Y old City that is obviously showing its age externally even though it runs like a charm & has brand new shoes that have given her a new lease of life! We usually wash the car every other day with just water and a rag (typical building watchman side hustle) but I have also taken it a couple times to a roadside car wash stop where they use a high pressure water spray with some unknown/unbranded soap to foam up the car with suds. I would like to take my own shampoo to this location to help clean better and try to remove the years of dust collected & bring the car some shine. Would the Koch Chemie GSF / Chemical Guys honeydew be the right product for this use case? Any other suggestions?

GSF and Honeydew are very mild pH-neutral shampoos not intended for heavy duty cleaning. By dust I assume you mean bonded contaminants as dust will be removed with a pressure washer alone.

You need something stronger like Carpro Reset/Descale to help start off the cleaning in the right direction. Afterwards you clay and polish the paintwork to restore gloss and deep clean the paint.

Tar/ferrous removers can be used as per requirement in between the clay and machine polishing steps. After polishing you apply a wax/paint sealant to protect.

Hi,
I have hard water spots on the sunroof of my Virtus, Can you suggest any effective product for getting these off.

Experts please advise.

Asking for a friend who has recently purchased a Maruti Brezza and got Ceramic Coating(Graphene 10H?? I think) done. The detailer has asked him to always go for touchless wash with least pressure and NO HAND WASH. Since this is not always practical or possible, any tips on how to clean the car? Maybe waterless wash using proklear or 2 bucket method

Puris D19 mineral deposit remover. Wear nitrile gloves and a respirator when using.

It’s impossible to fully clean a surface, coated or otherwise without some contact. Touchless/contactless washing is great for maintenance washes in between full contact washes.

But you will have to perform a contact wash with mitts and a foam cannon once in awhile to remove contamination buildup that touchless washing cannot remove. Also, you don’t need to lower pressure after a coating, upto 150 bar/2200 psi is perfectly safe on car paint provided it is done correctly.

Never do waterless washing, sure shot way to scratch and swirl up your coating and paintwork.

Even safer than the 2 bucket method is the multi mitt method, it’s what I’ve used for over a decade now with perfectly safe results. Also you don’t need the second bucket or any grit guards with this method.

Method: take a bucket with water, add your foam shampoo (1:20-1:40 dilution roughly), dip 7-8 wash mitts (I’d suggest noodle type microfibre mitts).

Rinse thoroughly with water, spray foam using your foam cannon, wipe small sections gently with a wash mitt, flip the mitt after every panel, you’ll go through about 7-8 mitts to cover the entire car, once a section is wiped do not reuse the mitt, take a fresh one. Other points on safety-

- Start with your wheels, then start the paint. Doing it the other way around ensures you get a lot of contaminated water being sprayed on clean paint when pressure washing the wheels.

- Work top to bottom, lower panels have heavier amounts of contamination and road film

- Inspect mitts/towels for any debris thoroughly (very important), do it before starting every single time.

- Take as long as you feel comfortable with the pre rinse step, use the pressure washer until you see nothing but perfectly clean paint, then begin the foam step. This eliminates 90-95% of the debris before even starting the contact step.

- Apply zero pressure when wiping, the weight of the wash mitt is more than enough.

- Do not use the paint wash mitts on wheels or other surfaces, use separate mitts/towels for wheels, etc. this prevents cross contamination.

- For larger panels, use both sides of the wash mitt if you feel the need.

- Use a high quality pH-nuetral foam shampoo with high lubricity, Koch Chemie GSF is an excellent example of one. Use soft water in the foam cannon (thicker foam).

- Do not work in direct sunlight or high dust environments.

- Do not wash a car that’s just been driven or one that’s been in sunlight too long as panels will be extremely hot and you’ll get hard water spots.

- Do not let the foam dwell for too long (over 2-3 mins) before you start wiping as it will break down and you’ll loose lubrication. (If this happens just spray more foam before wiping.)

- Use soft water in your pressure washer, hard water contains minerals that can lead to haze on paintwork over time, can also cause pitting at very high levels of TDS with a pressure washer as you’re effectively sandblasting paint.

To conclude, it sounds more complicated than it is when written down. Once you do it you’ll see how simple it is, mostly common sense and a few small points to keep in mind. Safe washing!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry for such a naive question.

Wanted to know, Is APC (diluted) like KC Greenstar good for removing bugs or a dedicated bug remover is required to address them?

Thanks in advance!

Start with APC, varying the strength and if it takes too long only then switch to a dedicated tar and bug remover. The latter is a much stronger solvent that should only be used when APC fails to clean. Assuming bugs are relatively fresh (under 24 hrs) they should come off with Greenstar without issue.