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Here is my guide i wrote for a ctr forum. It is based on the knowledge i have picked up after spending so long detailing my car and getting to know honda paint:
There are many different products and methods that people use to clean their car so it can become confusing coming from only knowing the bucket and sponge method. The best piece of advise i can give is to get rid of the sponge as it is the cause of 99% of the swirls on your paint. I can higly recommend the meguairs lamswool wash mitt (halfords) This fits over your hand and is much easier to use and safer on your paint. There are sponges you can use but they are expensive as they have been treated (usually sea sponges but dont worry about these and get a mitt)
Wash Method
The best used, safest method is The two bucket method This is where you fill one bucket with a wash solution and one with plain water. You use the wash solution to clean the car and then rinse your mitt into the plain water bucket to remove the dirt and gritt so it doesnt get into the wash bucket meaning when you get to the bottom you dont pick it all back up and scratch the paint. (i would advise purchasing a gritt guard which sits at the bottom of the rinse bucket preventing you from putting more gritt/dirt on than you rinse off. This is not essential though and not needed if you are carefull) Always make sure you do the wheels first as you may find you have sprayed dirt ovr your clean car if you do them last. I would say you dont need the 2 bucket method but it keeps the wash bucket clean. I use a wash mitt for the wheels and saves alot of time using your fingers in the mitt rather than trying to manage a brush in the spokes! To dry i would say ditch the chammy as it too can cause swirls, a drying towel with waffle pattern is much safer, something like a meguairs drying towel for example.
Clay Bar
A clay bar is what it sounds like, a bar of clay. It is used to remove contaminents in the paint that washing alone cannot. It works by applying a lubricant (detailer spray) and then rubbing the clay softly over the paint. When using it you can feel that there is slight resistance and you can hear that it is rough on the paint, you continue to rub with slight pressure untill there is no resistance and no sound (will make sense when being used) This makes the paint feel as smooth as glass but will not remove defects such as scratches. This leaves the paint perfect to have polish applied and will give it the best base for brilliant reflections. (there are different types of clay bars but for a beginner i cannot recommend the meguairs kit highly enough) You only need to clay bar twice a year at the most!
Polish
There are many different types of polish, some with wax contents and some without (basically; there are also polishes with different cutting abilities but this isnt important unless you machine polish) Many people get confused between the difference of polish and wax, the easiest way to explain is polish will shine up the paint and wax will protect it keeping the shine locked in and enhance the gloss. The best product for someone with little time would be a product like autoglym super resin polish as it is a polish/wax in one. When using a polish you are best going for something with a good reflective shine to it as most cutting polishes (a polish that removes defects such as swirls and minor scratches) are best left to be used with a pc (porter cable random orbital polisher) I highly recommend autoglym super resin polish as its easy to use and leaves a lovely shine. Also megs step 2 (step one is a cutting polish) and i like megs number 7 but this isnt available in halfords like the previous two mentioned. Polishing only needs to be done every so often. I tend to polish every 6 weeks (give or take a few)
I wont go into the different types of cutting polishes and pc's as if you are serious about buying one you will already know enough. Feel free to pm me if you are interested in knowing though.
Sealant
A sealant is a product used to literally seal in the polish to keep the shine lasting as long as it can while protecting the paint. Most sealant have very little to no gloss enhancing properties, however, a product that has recently come out has very good sealant properties and also very good gloss enhancing properties which is called jetseal109 by chemical guys. Because it is so good at sealing the polish in and enhancing gloss it is very hard to currently get hold of but can be found at http://www.cleanandshiney.co.uk I can highly recommend this product for use on both the car and preventing the build up of brake dust on alloys. There are other sealents as mentioned that can be bought cheaper and easier from halfords, autoglym extra gloss protection gives good reults and has some gloss enhancing properties to it. There is another kind of sealent which is wheel sealent which is the same as i have described only just for use on wheels, poorboys wheel sealent and jetseal109 are my favourites. I advise two coats of whatever sealant you use, 1st coat leave for 15 mins then buff off and apply second coat after half an hour to an hour and leave as long as possible (over night would be best but not everyone can tuck their car safely in a garage i know!)
Wax
Wax is the final stage in your cleaning process and only needs one coat put on the paint. The wax is what gives you that lovely deep wet look shine you want. Wax comes in different colours, smells, packages and prices. You can get good wax for £8 and very good wax for £6500. The price tends to give an idea of its carnuba content i.e. the more the better. Carnuba is what gives the paint the deep wet shine that you want. You dont have to spend a fortune to get good wax though but you need to think if you are after a very good finish that will not last that long or an ok/good finish that will last ages. My top recomendationd would be p21s wax for very good finish but short lasting and collonite for good finish and very long lasting (p21s will give about 2-3 weeks and collonite about 6 months depending) These are just my recomendations as you will find some waxes are easy to put on and buff off which is what you are after where as some will be a nightmare to buff off but was a dodle to put on so its a trial and error system really. You can apply wax every week if you like but most waxes will stop having an affect after about the 3rd coat as it no longer is possible to get anymore out of it so would be wasting to be honest. The best way to determine if new wax needs putting on is if when you put water on you get very few random beads (beads of water sat on the paint) This is because the water is no longer sitting on the wax as there is very little of it (basicaly, is more technical but thats generally it) So apply another layer. If the paint seems blurred then i would adivse washing the car with fairy liquid (removes all wax, polish and sealant) and then build the layers back up but i would imagine this only needs doing every few months (about 3 but depends on products used)
Interior
This is straight forward really. I use a trim restorer to make the plastic look new and regularly hoover
Glass
I use megs next generation glass cleaner as i have had the same bottle for a year and find it brilliant over everything i have ever tried (even smells amazing!) I use this with a meguairs fast glass towel. My friends comment on how clear the glass is quite often!
Tailpipe
These can be nasty if left for a while but meguairs metal cleaner or autosol will bring them up brilliant with a cloth and alot of elbow grease. Dont leave this bit out though as it can ruin a long clean having dirty tailpipes, you will be amazed at how many people notice!
Wheels/Tyres
Wheels should be cleaned as often as you can purely to stop you having to take them off every month to get a decent clean done. I have jetseal on mine and find i can spen 2 mins every night on each wheel and they are spotless! There are many wheel cleaners but alot are acidic and can ruin the alloy over time so try and stick to a wash solution regularly for awsome wheels! Tyres i use autoglym tyre dressing and love it, gives a great matt look if you spray it on the tyre then rub it in; they look brand new! Many available though!
Porta Cable polishing
Right this is going to be a basic description of the porta cable (pc) as there is many many products available and different methods for use. Basically the pc is a random orbit polisher, this means that instead of spinning and heating up it rotates back and forth which makes it safe as it is hard to do damage with it. The pc is used mainly for paint correction but can also be used to apply polishes, sealants and waxes and also buff them off. The pc is only usefull if the correct pads and polishes are used with the car you are using it on. To make this more straight forward i will show a few examples after going over the pads that are available.
Cutting/Restore Pad - The cutting pad is a rough pad and is used with high to medium cutting polishes. It has a very strong cut meaning that it will remove deeper defects such as scratches and severe swirling. It will generaly marr the paintwork meaning that it will looked blurred so it is advised a lighter polish with a lighter pad is used to restore shine after.
Light cutting/Enhancing Pad - This is used for light paintwork defects such as minimal swirls and light scratches. It can be used with a high to medium cutting polish for defect removal on soft paint (this is what i recommend for the civic as it has soft paint so you will have very good results with this pad and medium to high cutting polish)
Buffing/Final fiishing pad - This is what you use with a low to a non cutting polish to restore the shine back to the paint as the higher cutting polishes may have marred the paint. You can also apply a 'buffiing bonnet' over this to buff polish off.
You can mix and match pads untill you get your perfect match with the way you use the pc.
General mixtures of pads and polish i use for the civic paint is
Light cutting pad with megs #80 to restore the paint and remove swirling (i had fairly light swirls so no need for the restore pad and this polish although some may find the need to step up to this combo) I then used the final finish pad with megs #83 to restore the paint then applied other polishes by hand as i prefer this.
Now there are many different polishes available with varying cutting abilities and i have not tried too many yet so cannot comment. I have the sonus range but have not used it and also the menzerna but again not used it. This is because i found the megs perfect for a paint although i have heard very good things about botht the products i have (Why i bought them)
How to use the PC - This is hard to describe, a simple search on youtube will find you good videos which will show you more than i can say but ill have a go. When using the pc on the car you need to make sure the car is prepped, this means that it has been washed and clayed and that there is no dirt on or in the paint. The plastic and vinyl needs to be taped up so it isnt marked, you can apply a strip of tape to the paint you are going to use the pc on to check the difference. (i would highly advise you get a scrap piece of metal to practice with first if you are at all nervous so you can perfect your technique but i will briefly decribe what to do)
Apply a small cross of the polish in the centre of the pad and rub on the car (a small square area about 1x1 foot. You can do a bigger area once you are confident) Once you applied this start the pc on speed 1 (make sure it is contacted to the paint, dont ever put on take off while it is on!!) after it is on the paint up the speed to 3 for about 5-6 passes with minimal pressure then up the speed to 5 for 1-2 passes with no pressure just the weight of the machine (increase the passes on both speeds if neccesary, you are aiming to break the polish down meaning it goes clear and blurry on the paint. It is crucial you break the polish down) Then buff off, see if the pad and polish combo was effective in removing the defects. If not either do another few new passes (if it was 90% effective) or up the polish and/or pad (if only 60% effective) You will find the perfect technique with polish and pad after a while, as with all things practise makes perfect and it wll take a very long time to get perfect!
This is a very basic desciption of how to use a pc and as i said video tutorials and practice will be the best thing to get you good with the pc. The best thng i can say is its very hard to do damage with a pc so dont worry too much, the worse you can do is not get rid of enough defects and have to go over again (unless you drop the pad and pick up stones but just be careful lol)
These are just basics and there are many more products available to use including tools such as pressure washers, foam guns etc etc but i dont want to add to the confusion as these products are best left untill you understand the basics first.
My recomended start up kit for someone who wants to take some care in their car would be: (not all at once by the way lol)
2 buckets
Meguairs wash mitt
Soft wheel brush (or another mitt just for wheels)
Meguairs gold class shampoo
Meguairs clay kit
Meguairs drying towel
Autoglym super resin polish
Meguairs step 1, 2 and 3
(step one has minimal cutting like t-cut but safer. Step 2 is a polish and step 3 is a wax but short lasting)
Autoglym extra gloss protection (jetseal is alot better though)
Meguairs scratch-x (again like t-cut but not as harsh but more cutting properties than meguairs step 1)
P21S wax or collonite (many many available)
Microfibre cloths are essential as these are what you use to apply and buff off the polish, i recomend having one or two for each part you do in your cleaning steps
I use meguairs application pads to apply polish just because i like to use them but microfibres are fine
Meguairs next generation glass cleaner
Meguairs fast glass towel
Autoglym tyre dressing
Little hoover
Trim dressing (try products like autoglym/megs there are loads, get a cheaper option if you like!)
Here is a link to my favourite site which i use all the time. Great prices and fast delivery too!
www.cleanyourcar.co.uk
These are all suggestions and you do not have to do or buy anything but if you follow what i have written you will have exceptional paint for a very long time!
Hope this helps some people out, feel free to ask anything i may not have covered as there are many people on here with as much knowledge as me and can help.
Hope the grammer isnt to bad and that there are not too many spelling mistakes
Thanks and enjoy cleaning your car, otherwise whats the point?
Heres some results i get on mine
There are many different products and methods that people use to clean their car so it can become confusing coming from only knowing the bucket and sponge method. The best piece of advise i can give is to get rid of the sponge as it is the cause of 99% of the swirls on your paint. I can higly recommend the meguairs lamswool wash mitt (halfords) This fits over your hand and is much easier to use and safer on your paint. There are sponges you can use but they are expensive as they have been treated (usually sea sponges but dont worry about these and get a mitt)
Wash Method
The best used, safest method is The two bucket method This is where you fill one bucket with a wash solution and one with plain water. You use the wash solution to clean the car and then rinse your mitt into the plain water bucket to remove the dirt and gritt so it doesnt get into the wash bucket meaning when you get to the bottom you dont pick it all back up and scratch the paint. (i would advise purchasing a gritt guard which sits at the bottom of the rinse bucket preventing you from putting more gritt/dirt on than you rinse off. This is not essential though and not needed if you are carefull) Always make sure you do the wheels first as you may find you have sprayed dirt ovr your clean car if you do them last. I would say you dont need the 2 bucket method but it keeps the wash bucket clean. I use a wash mitt for the wheels and saves alot of time using your fingers in the mitt rather than trying to manage a brush in the spokes! To dry i would say ditch the chammy as it too can cause swirls, a drying towel with waffle pattern is much safer, something like a meguairs drying towel for example.
Clay Bar
A clay bar is what it sounds like, a bar of clay. It is used to remove contaminents in the paint that washing alone cannot. It works by applying a lubricant (detailer spray) and then rubbing the clay softly over the paint. When using it you can feel that there is slight resistance and you can hear that it is rough on the paint, you continue to rub with slight pressure untill there is no resistance and no sound (will make sense when being used) This makes the paint feel as smooth as glass but will not remove defects such as scratches. This leaves the paint perfect to have polish applied and will give it the best base for brilliant reflections. (there are different types of clay bars but for a beginner i cannot recommend the meguairs kit highly enough) You only need to clay bar twice a year at the most!
Polish
There are many different types of polish, some with wax contents and some without (basically; there are also polishes with different cutting abilities but this isnt important unless you machine polish) Many people get confused between the difference of polish and wax, the easiest way to explain is polish will shine up the paint and wax will protect it keeping the shine locked in and enhance the gloss. The best product for someone with little time would be a product like autoglym super resin polish as it is a polish/wax in one. When using a polish you are best going for something with a good reflective shine to it as most cutting polishes (a polish that removes defects such as swirls and minor scratches) are best left to be used with a pc (porter cable random orbital polisher) I highly recommend autoglym super resin polish as its easy to use and leaves a lovely shine. Also megs step 2 (step one is a cutting polish) and i like megs number 7 but this isnt available in halfords like the previous two mentioned. Polishing only needs to be done every so often. I tend to polish every 6 weeks (give or take a few)
I wont go into the different types of cutting polishes and pc's as if you are serious about buying one you will already know enough. Feel free to pm me if you are interested in knowing though.
Sealant
A sealant is a product used to literally seal in the polish to keep the shine lasting as long as it can while protecting the paint. Most sealant have very little to no gloss enhancing properties, however, a product that has recently come out has very good sealant properties and also very good gloss enhancing properties which is called jetseal109 by chemical guys. Because it is so good at sealing the polish in and enhancing gloss it is very hard to currently get hold of but can be found at http://www.cleanandshiney.co.uk I can highly recommend this product for use on both the car and preventing the build up of brake dust on alloys. There are other sealents as mentioned that can be bought cheaper and easier from halfords, autoglym extra gloss protection gives good reults and has some gloss enhancing properties to it. There is another kind of sealent which is wheel sealent which is the same as i have described only just for use on wheels, poorboys wheel sealent and jetseal109 are my favourites. I advise two coats of whatever sealant you use, 1st coat leave for 15 mins then buff off and apply second coat after half an hour to an hour and leave as long as possible (over night would be best but not everyone can tuck their car safely in a garage i know!)
Wax
Wax is the final stage in your cleaning process and only needs one coat put on the paint. The wax is what gives you that lovely deep wet look shine you want. Wax comes in different colours, smells, packages and prices. You can get good wax for £8 and very good wax for £6500. The price tends to give an idea of its carnuba content i.e. the more the better. Carnuba is what gives the paint the deep wet shine that you want. You dont have to spend a fortune to get good wax though but you need to think if you are after a very good finish that will not last that long or an ok/good finish that will last ages. My top recomendationd would be p21s wax for very good finish but short lasting and collonite for good finish and very long lasting (p21s will give about 2-3 weeks and collonite about 6 months depending) These are just my recomendations as you will find some waxes are easy to put on and buff off which is what you are after where as some will be a nightmare to buff off but was a dodle to put on so its a trial and error system really. You can apply wax every week if you like but most waxes will stop having an affect after about the 3rd coat as it no longer is possible to get anymore out of it so would be wasting to be honest. The best way to determine if new wax needs putting on is if when you put water on you get very few random beads (beads of water sat on the paint) This is because the water is no longer sitting on the wax as there is very little of it (basicaly, is more technical but thats generally it) So apply another layer. If the paint seems blurred then i would adivse washing the car with fairy liquid (removes all wax, polish and sealant) and then build the layers back up but i would imagine this only needs doing every few months (about 3 but depends on products used)
Interior
This is straight forward really. I use a trim restorer to make the plastic look new and regularly hoover
Glass
I use megs next generation glass cleaner as i have had the same bottle for a year and find it brilliant over everything i have ever tried (even smells amazing!) I use this with a meguairs fast glass towel. My friends comment on how clear the glass is quite often!
Tailpipe
These can be nasty if left for a while but meguairs metal cleaner or autosol will bring them up brilliant with a cloth and alot of elbow grease. Dont leave this bit out though as it can ruin a long clean having dirty tailpipes, you will be amazed at how many people notice!
Wheels/Tyres
Wheels should be cleaned as often as you can purely to stop you having to take them off every month to get a decent clean done. I have jetseal on mine and find i can spen 2 mins every night on each wheel and they are spotless! There are many wheel cleaners but alot are acidic and can ruin the alloy over time so try and stick to a wash solution regularly for awsome wheels! Tyres i use autoglym tyre dressing and love it, gives a great matt look if you spray it on the tyre then rub it in; they look brand new! Many available though!
Porta Cable polishing
Right this is going to be a basic description of the porta cable (pc) as there is many many products available and different methods for use. Basically the pc is a random orbit polisher, this means that instead of spinning and heating up it rotates back and forth which makes it safe as it is hard to do damage with it. The pc is used mainly for paint correction but can also be used to apply polishes, sealants and waxes and also buff them off. The pc is only usefull if the correct pads and polishes are used with the car you are using it on. To make this more straight forward i will show a few examples after going over the pads that are available.
Cutting/Restore Pad - The cutting pad is a rough pad and is used with high to medium cutting polishes. It has a very strong cut meaning that it will remove deeper defects such as scratches and severe swirling. It will generaly marr the paintwork meaning that it will looked blurred so it is advised a lighter polish with a lighter pad is used to restore shine after.
Light cutting/Enhancing Pad - This is used for light paintwork defects such as minimal swirls and light scratches. It can be used with a high to medium cutting polish for defect removal on soft paint (this is what i recommend for the civic as it has soft paint so you will have very good results with this pad and medium to high cutting polish)
Buffing/Final fiishing pad - This is what you use with a low to a non cutting polish to restore the shine back to the paint as the higher cutting polishes may have marred the paint. You can also apply a 'buffiing bonnet' over this to buff polish off.
You can mix and match pads untill you get your perfect match with the way you use the pc.
General mixtures of pads and polish i use for the civic paint is
Light cutting pad with megs #80 to restore the paint and remove swirling (i had fairly light swirls so no need for the restore pad and this polish although some may find the need to step up to this combo) I then used the final finish pad with megs #83 to restore the paint then applied other polishes by hand as i prefer this.
Now there are many different polishes available with varying cutting abilities and i have not tried too many yet so cannot comment. I have the sonus range but have not used it and also the menzerna but again not used it. This is because i found the megs perfect for a paint although i have heard very good things about botht the products i have (Why i bought them)
How to use the PC - This is hard to describe, a simple search on youtube will find you good videos which will show you more than i can say but ill have a go. When using the pc on the car you need to make sure the car is prepped, this means that it has been washed and clayed and that there is no dirt on or in the paint. The plastic and vinyl needs to be taped up so it isnt marked, you can apply a strip of tape to the paint you are going to use the pc on to check the difference. (i would highly advise you get a scrap piece of metal to practice with first if you are at all nervous so you can perfect your technique but i will briefly decribe what to do)
Apply a small cross of the polish in the centre of the pad and rub on the car (a small square area about 1x1 foot. You can do a bigger area once you are confident) Once you applied this start the pc on speed 1 (make sure it is contacted to the paint, dont ever put on take off while it is on!!) after it is on the paint up the speed to 3 for about 5-6 passes with minimal pressure then up the speed to 5 for 1-2 passes with no pressure just the weight of the machine (increase the passes on both speeds if neccesary, you are aiming to break the polish down meaning it goes clear and blurry on the paint. It is crucial you break the polish down) Then buff off, see if the pad and polish combo was effective in removing the defects. If not either do another few new passes (if it was 90% effective) or up the polish and/or pad (if only 60% effective) You will find the perfect technique with polish and pad after a while, as with all things practise makes perfect and it wll take a very long time to get perfect!
This is a very basic desciption of how to use a pc and as i said video tutorials and practice will be the best thing to get you good with the pc. The best thng i can say is its very hard to do damage with a pc so dont worry too much, the worse you can do is not get rid of enough defects and have to go over again (unless you drop the pad and pick up stones but just be careful lol)
These are just basics and there are many more products available to use including tools such as pressure washers, foam guns etc etc but i dont want to add to the confusion as these products are best left untill you understand the basics first.
My recomended start up kit for someone who wants to take some care in their car would be: (not all at once by the way lol)
2 buckets
Meguairs wash mitt
Soft wheel brush (or another mitt just for wheels)
Meguairs gold class shampoo
Meguairs clay kit
Meguairs drying towel
Autoglym super resin polish
Meguairs step 1, 2 and 3
(step one has minimal cutting like t-cut but safer. Step 2 is a polish and step 3 is a wax but short lasting)
Autoglym extra gloss protection (jetseal is alot better though)
Meguairs scratch-x (again like t-cut but not as harsh but more cutting properties than meguairs step 1)
P21S wax or collonite (many many available)
Microfibre cloths are essential as these are what you use to apply and buff off the polish, i recomend having one or two for each part you do in your cleaning steps
I use meguairs application pads to apply polish just because i like to use them but microfibres are fine
Meguairs next generation glass cleaner
Meguairs fast glass towel
Autoglym tyre dressing
Little hoover
Trim dressing (try products like autoglym/megs there are loads, get a cheaper option if you like!)
Here is a link to my favourite site which i use all the time. Great prices and fast delivery too!
www.cleanyourcar.co.uk
These are all suggestions and you do not have to do or buy anything but if you follow what i have written you will have exceptional paint for a very long time!
Hope this helps some people out, feel free to ask anything i may not have covered as there are many people on here with as much knowledge as me and can help.
Hope the grammer isnt to bad and that there are not too many spelling mistakes
Thanks and enjoy cleaning your car, otherwise whats the point?
Heres some results i get on mine
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