Car cleaning on a budget

[beko1987]

Don't know if this would interest people, but there is a long running thread on Detailing World about car cleaning on a budget.

 

It's a humungous topic, so possibly best to start at the end and work back, but some good shite-esque money saving tips to be had!

 

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=125381

[plasticvandan]

ive got a plastic bucket with a broken handle and a sponge ive used for the last 10 years,does that count?

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Aldi currently have some car-carey type products on their seasonal 'special buys'. They're £1.99 a bottle and don't seem too dodgy.

[beko1987]

ive got a plastic bucket with a broken handle and a sponge ive used for the last 10 years,does that count?

 

Aaaaggghhh, the . May as well use fuggin sandpaper! Do you treat it to some fairy every now and then, or stick to bleach?

[plasticvandan]

most of the cars ive had have had fibreglass bodies with a piss poor paintjob done by some retard in tamworth,so fairy was fine

 

on a serious note,all i ever used was t cut,turtlewax (or if i could afford it,autoglym super resin) and autoglym vinyl cleaner for the tyres,rubber trim etc etc

[Albert Ross]

C-car c-c-c-c-clean-n-n-n-ning? What's that?

[Junkman]

C-car c-c-c-c-clean-n-n-n-ning? What's that?

 

It's what those blue rotating brushes do to your car if you put it in a car wash.

[forddeliveryboy]

For a proper wash, take car to be cleaned out at speed in heavy rain. For the best finish, return home before rain finishes and leave to sit for a rinse. If you live in an area with soot pollution which rain pulls from the atmosphere, take for a drive once dry. Whatever you do, tap water is not to be used - it is expensive, often leaves deposits and is contaminated with unpleasant chemicals including those from the contraceptive pill and pesticides.

 

For dirty interiors which are demanded to be cleaned, leave the vehicle unused with the windows closed for sufficient time for fungus and moulds to establish themselves. These help break down greases and proteins, a quick wipe with a cloth soaked in tap water (important for its agri-chemical residues which help prevent regrowth) will bring up upholstery, headlinings and plastics to a healthy glow.

[catsinthewelder]

I would pay money to be in the room when VA reads that ^ in the morning

[pandamonium]

I don't usually keep cars long enough for them to need cleaning!!!

 

If I do, I use the local Lithuanian wash down the road. 'U ok my friend, you want special wash today?'

[plasticvandan]

car cleaning or "detailing" is something that should only be done once every mechanical problem or fault has been fixed,which,with shite,is very,very rarely. otherwise it is literally turd polishing

[M'coli]

I vacuum out the passenger side once every wee while - it keeps the wife happy, y'know?

[Station]

Not too bothered about shiny cars, as most of mine are well past keeping shiny, but can't abide filthy interiors!

 

I found washing with Tescos £1 shampoo, then using cheapo polish, and then using your ma's Mr Sheen gets it better than any Meguiairs stuff. MR SHEEN FTW.

[John F]

My Calibra usually get a very thorough clean (wash, T-Cut or clay, wax) once per year, with maybe one or two other washes in between if it's lucky.

 

I think I've washed my Disco twice in the two years I've owned it.

 

I might have washed the Maserati a couple of times too.

 

Never washed the 109, but that's not on the road atm anyway.

[barefoot]

In vaguely related style...

 

The bloke across the road who rents from the most fastidious couple you could ever hope to meet appears to be leaving.

I can tell this because for the past two years he has allowed his Audi A3 to dribble a little oil each day onto the nice block paving. Now he has a sizeable patch and clearly no idea how to deal with it.

Step one, sprinkle a bit of fairy liquid on it

Step two, pour a kettle full of boiling water on it

Step three, appears to be to go back inside and wait for magic

 

Just out of curiosity, would gunk work on this or do you need a specialised solvent or detergent and a pressure washer?

[Micrashed]

Fairy liquid, sponge & bucket of hot water.

 

Yes I know what people say, but really? On a 15 year old Nissan am I really going to give a shit?

[beko1987]

In vaguely related style...

 

The bloke across the road who rents from the most fastidious couple you could ever hope to meet appears to be leaving.

I can tell this because for the past two years he has allowed his Audi A3 to dribble a little oil each day onto the nice block paving. Now he has a sizeable patch and clearly no idea how to deal with it.

Step one, sprinkle a bit of fairy liquid on it

Step two, pour a kettle full of boiling water on it

Step three, appears to be to go back inside and wait for magic

 

Just out of curiosity, would gunk work on this or do you need a specialised solvent or detergent and a pressure washer?

 

Apparently cat litter works well, although having a gravel drive I've never tried to get rid of oil. A quick kick around of the gravel ensures my mum never knows!

[M'coli]

Fairy liquid, sponge & bucket of hot water.

 

Yes I know what people say, but really? On a 15 year old Nissan am I really going to give a shit?

I always used to use Fairy for washing the winter salt off - it's not as if it's going to get any saltier, is it?

[Pillock]

The outside of my car got really dirty, then it rained, now it's no so dirty.

Sometimes I brush the toast crumbs off the passenger seat onto the floor, so Mrs_Pillock doesn't get a crumby backside when she sits there.

 

Car. Detailed.

[rml2345]

I go to the local jetwash and usually manage to get more water on my trousers than on the car, then cover everything in foam so that it doubles as a bath.

Job jobbed!

[Stanky]

barefoot wrote:In vaguely related style...

 

The bloke across the road who rents from the most fastidious couple you could ever hope to meet appears to be leaving.

I can tell this because for the past two years he has allowed his Audi A3 to dribble a little oil each day onto the nice block paving. Now he has a sizeable patch and clearly no idea how to deal with it.

Step one, sprinkle a bit of fairy liquid on it

Step two, pour a kettle full of boiling water on it

Step three, appears to be to go back inside and wait for magic

 

Just out of curiosity, would gunk work on this or do you need a specialised solvent or detergent and a pressure washer?

 

 

 

Apparently cat litter works well, although having a gravel drive I've never tried to get rid of oil. A quick kick around of the gravel ensures my mum never knows!

 

I have the same issue, my plan when I leave my rented house is to gently lever out the affected blocks, flip them over so the oily side is 'down' and then pretend it never happened.

 

I imagine this will go horribly wrong and I wont be able to get the last block to go back in (or even get the first one out) and it will end up looking worse than if I'd just left the oil slick alone.

 

on a side note, Practical Classics did run a group test some time last year of products designed to remove Exxon Valdez style slicks from workshop floors/drives. I cant remember what won, but i do recall that repeated applications of fairly liquid and removal with a pressure washer wasn't the worst one.

[Spiny Norman]

While we're on the subject, has anyone tried their two quid from Ebay Chinese clay bars yet? It hasn't stopped raining/blowing a gale up here long enough for me even to wash the car never mind anything else, so mine's still sitting under the sink.

[MrDuke]

Poundland were doing white Blu-tack last time I went in, and I can verify that it performs almost as well as the Bilt Hamber claybar I used before. Near enough to not really matter, anyway.

[John F]

While we're on the subject, has anyone tried their two quid from Ebay Chinese clay bars yet? It hasn't stopped raining/blowing a gale up here long enough for me even to wash the car never mind anything else, so mine's still sitting under the sink.

 

Yep, I tried mine - it works just as well as my mate Sarah's £30 Zymöl stuff

[Cavcraft]

The outside of my car got really dirty, then it rained, now it's no so dirty.

Sometimes I brush the toast crumbs off the passenger seat onto the floor, so Mrs_Pillock doesn't get a crumby backside when she sits there.

 

Car. Detailed.

 

 

To be fair to my missus she's given up being too bothered about what I take her to work/pick her up in, but dirty or wet seats are a massive no.

[Lord Sterling]

When I wash my cars, I go out with good intentions looking to get my cars as clean and shiny as I can get them, suddenly though, the task becomes rather daunting. I usually start by visiting my mates at the ARC/IMO carwash and chuck it through there, for somthing like £7, I get a proper top wash, wax 'n' dry and some tyre shine slapped on, then, cheekily, I'll ask if I can use there hoover to avoid spending a quid on the crappy 5mins hoover that doesnt really hoover very much.

 

If the gaffer isn't there and I'm on good terms with whoever is working there at the time, I'll get a pick of some of the most wierd and wonderful products I can dig out if the cupboard, things like window polish which is sort of like a T-Cut like liquid you slap on the windows to make shiny. The dash board shine stuff they have too does exactly what it says.

 

When I get home, thats usually it for me, but if I can be arsed and it needs it, I'll bust out my really shitty car cleaning kit that contains, T-Cut, something called 'Mer' car polish, my little half-arsed car polishing machine that runs off the cars cigar lighter and half a dozen extremely used rags that quite frankly should be chucked in the bin.

 

The interiors get a heavy hoovering out once I take possession of them, then usually after that I'll hoover them once in a blue moon as I'll often source proper OEM or at least tailored mats for the floor. Seats, fuxake. Often my cars have leather, you'd think they'd be easy to look after, not a chance, cloth is simpler to look after, with a bit of determination with W5 gel cleaner, any stain seems to disappear, leatger though? Bloody hell, I do a real half-arsed job and quickly give up.

 

So there you have, it looks clean, but aint.

[FredTransit]

pound shop all the way for me, with Wilkinsons a close second. Pull up, give the tyres a blast with wilco tyre foam. Poundshop metal polish on the hubcaps and/or any other chrome. Spray poundshop polish and wipe off (panel by panel). Spray again and buff. 30 mins later have brekkers and hang around for an hour or two.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I like the idea that a car detailing procedure can have a ‘hang around for a couple of hours’ stage (right at the end as well!!!), sounds like my kinda detail

[Bobthebeard]

pound shop all the way for me, with Wilkinsons a close second. Pull up, give the tyres a blast with wilco tyre foam. Poundshop metal polish on the hubcaps and/or any other chrome. Spray poundshop polish and wipe off (panel by panel). Spray again and buff. 30 mins later have brekkers and hang around for an hour or two.

 

Impressed that you can do all this* before breakfast Fred! Most I can do before brekkers is scratch and yawn! Lol

[FredTransit]

I dont make breakfast I get it from catering the hanging about for a couple of hours is till the art dept/director get round to looking....... Job before last I turned up with an unwashed van and was told it wasnt dirty enough. So got the cosmetic dirt out. Its make up innit?