[prithm]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I don't think that mine would fit in any domestic washing machine I have ever had.

That is to say, I could jam it in, but that would make for a very poor wash, and possibly overload the machine.

I am assuming that this is Tarpaulin material that was sold in Chennai few years back as Marine grade cover. If yes, I too have it and it is one hell of a cover.

It will break the washing machine spinner (semi-automatic) and would not even fit in front load automatic without causing serious damage to front transparent cover.

I have tried two options for cleaning :

1. As already suggested, spray clean the cover while its still on the car. Easy.
2. Hang it in clothes line (strong wire), put clips on, Pressure washer it. Easiest. It also provides a chance to clean the inner lining and drips dry in few hours if done under hot afternoon sun.

I shifted to cloth based after noticing scruff marks on edges of car. The tarpaulin was abrasive and unyielding. Cloth ones are easy to wash in machines and much malleable.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by prithm

I am assuming that this is Tarpaulin material that was sold in Chennai few years back as Marine grade cover. ... ...

That sounds heavy! No, it is not tarpaulin, it is multi-layer fabric. The inner layer is a soft fabric that would hold a lot of water. It was tph top-line model about four years ago.

[shivamk11]

As someone who has no experience in detailing, if I were to invest in a cheap rotary polisher. Which pads should I buy for all 3 major tasks namely rubbing, polishing and waxing. They should be cheap to buy and get the job done better than hand application. I have gone through several websites but it only gets more confusing and the pads keep getting more expensive.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by shivamk11

As someone who has no experience in detailing, if I were to invest in a cheap rotary polisher. Which pads should I buy for all 3 major tasks namely rubbing, polishing and waxing. They should be cheap to buy and get the job done better than hand application. I have gone through several websites but it only gets more confusing and the pads keep getting more expensive.

If you are new to detailing, I wouldn't recommend getting into rotary polishers and all. Get good wax which can be buffed by hand and use good micro fibre clothes to buff it out.

In my experience for an average man who like to keep his car clean and shiny, the bigger issue is to maintain a polished car. You can only polish so many times. I would rather spend effort/money in better parking, better everyday care so that the effect of polish lasts.

There was a time when I was either polishing or getting my car polished every other week, just because Gurgaon being so dusty the shine would go away in 2 weeks. Over the years I have been able to get to a decent routine where the car does not need to be polished as regularly as it was before.

Rachit

[Jeroen]

I thought I would share. I had my 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider professionally detailed. Two days and about 20 man hours later I am very pleased with the result:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...ml#post4757633

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by shivamk11

As someone who has no experience in detailing, if I were to invest in a cheap rotary polisher...

I don't have experience of detailing. I am fairly certain that if I went anywhere near a car with a cheap rotary polisher, I would do a lot of damage.

This is my First General Principal of Power tools: they make work faster, not easier.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by shivamk11

As someone who has no experience in detailing, if I were to invest in a cheap rotary polisher. Which pads should I buy for all 3 major tasks namely rubbing, polishing and waxing. They should be cheap to buy and get the job done better than hand application. I have gone through several websites but it only gets more confusing and the pads keep getting more expensive.

Rotary polishers are not for newbies. I would suggest you DA polisher.

[shivamk11]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Rotary polishers are not for newbies. I would suggest you DA polisher.

A DA polisher is way out of my budget sadly.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by shivamk11

A DA polisher is way out of my budget sadly.

Look for second hand ones.

Rotary polisher has a learning curve. Unless you are willing to take the risk in burning/damaging the paint, do not get one.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Rotary polishers are not for newbies. I would suggest you DA polisher.

A story about a professional worker in a well-known independent garage. There had already been a couple of slip ups, and the owner was really, really embarrassed to have to call me to tell me that I could not pick up my car as arranged.

Why? He himself had distracted the attention of the guy with the polishing machine, resulting in an arc being cut in the paint. They had to repaint the door. Again.

Forty years ago I was used to polishing jewellery on an electric polishing machine (just the same as a bench grinder, but with polishing wheel(s) instead of grinding). I'd learned to polish it the manual (slow, slow slow) way first. As per my principle mentioned above, the machine makes it much, much faster. And is both dangerous and needing of its own skillset over the manual work. Even then, I wouldn't have taken a rotary polisher to a car panel.

I would agree that the answer is either save up for that DA orbital thingy, or do it by hand, the slow, slow slow way.

[Stribog]

Clickbait? YES. Am trying to land a job in one of the online media houses as a clickbait writer and am practicing for it and you guys are my guinea pigs.

Getting back to the topic at hand though, I was also one of the "give the car to the 74 year old gent who can exert only enough pressure to squeeze a ripe 15 day old banana left under the sun" types.

I never inspected for the dreaded swirls...swirls I now have learned are on par with global scourges like Ebola, Poverty, Hunger, Corona...and Swirls. As far as I was concerned, when I went to the car in the morning, the vital sign of it having been cleaned was...the 2 wipers should be kept up.

That is it.

Stepping into a car with those two wipers up and some dried water patches below it gave me the warmth a baby butterfly (caterpillar right?) felt in a cocoon. It didn't matter that the cloth this gent, god Bless his soul, used was so scratchy that it could be used as a substitute for steel wool (that even this won't still scratch the itch I get in that inaccessible part of my back at 3.30 AM is another matter...that itch is a curse from the gods and only rubbing myself on a door sill like I was a dog shaking fleas cures it), the 'water' lost any and all qualities that made it 'water' and at that point raw acid on the paint might have done a better job, none of this mattered.

2 wipers up, dry patches near the car = clean car.

Then around 2011 I got into Team BHP, casually got into the detailing threads and the bug bit me and bit me good. Every Sunday that am in town for the past 9 years has the same ritual, wake up, brush teeth and head out by the crack of dawn (in Chennai it is either crack of dawn, night or work directly under Satan's basketball that we call the sun in other parts - the heat makes it impossible to work at a civilised hour, outdoor on your cars that is). Line up my car, my dad and wife's cars, the 2 scooters and go to town.

My podcast, the literal lorry load of microfibre clothes and cleaning tools that would have set me back some 30% of my CTC. My wife still doesn't understand why I need "Megiuars water magnets" when before I used old banian clothes...but then I never ask her why she uses TS Asafoetida powder and not GN asafoetida powder now do I? To each according to his / her own talents woman , mind your business!!!(she doesn't know my ID here....that is why the bravery). In a way she is right though, the age old Indian clothing hierarchy has been upset. Hand me down from an elder brother or cousin, wear it 4 sizes big so you have 5 years to grow in > Car cleaning > Floor cleaning > finally when every shred of its soul has been sucked, toilet floor cleaning. The clothing overlords must be thanking me though as now clothes go from use > dumpster (or charity all kidding aside)

Where was I before meandering off? Yeah, my Sunday routine. I even Tom Sawyered my son into helping me, but that is when he was 5-6 and was excited to be doing adult things. He is now 10 and my requests aren't even honoured with a no, it is just silence and he carries on doing whatever he was doing, he has go find the autonut path himself it seems.

Now I am an compulsive bather, I bathe before my gym, after my gym and once when I reach home, I bathe before going to work, after coming back from work and singlehandedly cause water problems for my entire area according to the Home ministry (my wife and mom). Well, why is this important? It is because the one time I do not take a bath and dress up is before cleaning my car. It is 6 AM, and only a few walking uncles even show up in the designated car washing area (jokes aside, bless my flat association, they actually have this, has a nice high pressure tap, drainage, a pole for hanging wet MF towels etc), it does border a walking area but then Sunday morning! nuff said.

So my usual outfit was my boxers, a torn and old banian I have reserved ONLY for this purpose and a old cap, the sun starts peeping out by 0630 AM and like Dracula I have a severe allergy to the sun. The pharma industry thanks me though as instead of the simple expedient of you know, hanging out in the sun, I avoid the sun and then since my last medical tests showed a negative vitamin D level, I spend a fortune on Vitamin D tablets.

My wife calls this my "Ramu the helper boy" look, but again, haters will hate and detailers will detail I guess.

This Sunday though it all changed. I was about 45 min in, and the amazing Chennai winter is over (highs of 34*C and lows of 20*C, I had a friend visit from Norway and he said this would qualify as a heatwave there), so I was working out quite the sweat.

I had my old earphones on (I used to use true wireless buds, but one fell into a water bucket with armorall car shampoo and while it got clean, it clearly had given up its soul), listening to Henry Kissinger explain on the new world order (Audible, lovely audio book if you like geopolitics) and generally feeling good about myself when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and see a very pretty young thing, and then she was like "Anna neenga car cleaning ku yenna charge panura" translated it means "Bhaiya car cleaning keliye kitna charge karte ho"- this was said in broken Tamil as she and her husband moved in from Mumbai it appears (as I found out later).


Henry Kissinger stopped, the wind stopped, birds froze....my Wife's prophecy of me being seen as "Ramu" had finally come true.

I usually talk nine to the dozen but for one of the few times in my life, was left speechless (another time was when my college Father, Rev Dass asked me what exactly I was doing that I had 2.3% attendance in college...but that is another story, another time, it involves setting up an 'uncle' who doesn't know typhoid from malaria etc etc)...I stuttered like a dumb fool, and she repeated the question, in Hindi for some reason.

I then burst out laughing and told her I charge Rs 10000 / month, she got aghast and then I explained the misunderstanding and it was her turn to go crimson with embarassment.

My wife and mom both laughed for like 2 hours solid when they heard about it.

Much much later, when I was more....non Ramu like attired, I did run into the lady and we had a good chat about it.

So gents, ladies and fellow autoheads, you might be the best detailer on earth, you might have spent a fortune and have a warehouse full of Meguiars products but remember to dress up before you go detailing.

Edit - now that I have your attention and we are all here, DIY claying and compounding, is it a good idea or no? I have a nice manual buffing machine so do all waxing and polishing, but every 6 months get claying work done. The detailer near me charges some 3k for this, and was thinking I can cut the middle man and do it myself. Only thing am worried about is marring the surface by not using the right amount of lubricant. Folks who have done claying here, please guide me on the pros and cons of DIY claying. And here is a life pro trick - Amazon basics has water magnets, I tested one and they work just as well. It costs 1/3rd the cost of Meguiars as well.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Stribog

, DIY claying and compounding, is it a good idea or no? I have a nice manual buffing machine so do all waxing and polishing, but every 6 months get claying work done. The detailer near me charges some 3k for this, and was thinking I can cut the middle man and do it myself. Only thing am worried about is marring the surface by not using the right amount of lubricant. Folks who have done claying here, please guide me on the pros and cons of DIY claying. And here is a life pro trick - Amazon basics has water magnets, I tested one and they work just as well. It costs 1/3rd the cost of Meguiars as well.

it all depends on what your requirements are. I have been claying and waxing myself for years and I am quite happy with the results. I know quite a few guys who are running one man detailing outfits.

I recently I commissioned a full detailing of my Classic Alfa Romeo Spider with a real pro. Who doesn’t even make a quotation without seeing your car first. And then he will quote you how many days it will take. Days, not some hours!

After this experience I am beginning to understand and get appreciation of the differences between my amateurish approach, the run of the mill “One Man Detailling Outfit” and what it takes to do a proper proper professional job.

Have a look:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...ml#post4757633

On a relatively small car, and no metal roof, it took two full two days, and that was actually about 20 hours of hard work. Matthieu started every day at 07.30am and did not finish before 18.00 both days.

As with so much in life, it is all about the initial preparation. As you will see here the actual waxing is almost a non event. Most of the time is spend on polishing. It not only takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of equipment, three different kind of machines, a whole stack of different pads, endless different polishing pastes. Some parts of my car, received three-four different kind of polishing.

Once your paint is properly polished, putting on the wax is almost a no brainer. No machines, no heavy machine buffeting was required. Just a gentle application of the wax (Matthieu sometime does it with his hands, not even an applicator) and then just a light buff with an appropriate microfibre.

Or as Matthieu puts it: if you need spend time and energy on your waxing, you have not done enough preparation, did not wash properly, did not clay properly or not polish correctly. Waxing is the easy part. I could have done the waxing, but certainly not the other bits

Live and learn as they say. Mind you the Swissvax product are typically a factor 5-10 more expensive as your typical Megiuar products.

Jeroen

[johannskaria]

Originally Posted by shivamk11

As someone who has no experience in detailing, if I were to invest in a cheap rotary polisher. Which pads should I buy for all 3 major tasks namely rubbing, polishing and waxing. They should be cheap to buy and get the job done better than hand application. I have gone through several websites but it only gets more confusing and the pads keep getting more expensive.

IMHO it would be safer to begin with a Dual Action polisher as they are much easy to use and much conservative on the painted surface.
On the higher end you've got the Rupes machines which are like the Ferrari of Dual action polishers and Shine mate, a chinese company is the Kia of dual action machines. Both these companies also have Rotary machines in their line up.

A wool pad / hard foam pad for compounding and a softer foam pad for machine application of wax. Rupes, Lake country, Scholl, Shine mate are some of the quality pads available in the Indian market.
To understand the cutting and finishing properties of the pads each companies have graphical representation and are usually color coded accordingly.

some examples are given below

[harsh79]

Thoughts on CarPro's ECH2O? My Ultima WW is about to run out.

https://www.amazon.in/CarPro-Waterle.../dp/B01NC3K150

[k2max6]

Hi! I got my Seltos Intense Red Last month and super confused to get Ceramic Coating or not. Maintaining it seems like a task.

Can anyone guide if its worth i.e satisfactory getting ceramic coating in a dusty city like Gurgaon. Someone who got it over an year ago, how is it now and what all maintenance was done?
My Car is parked mostly in basements so exposure to sunlight only while driving.

If I don’t get ceramic how often should I get the car wash and waxed? Is there a waiting period for a new car to get it waxed. Also how about Ceramic Coating vs monthly wash & wax? ( I won’t be doing it myself)

Now to Waterless wash. I live in an apartment. Can someone post a beginners guide to waterless wash? Youtube is also quite confusing. Thanks in advance.