Valeting / Detailing / two bucket wronguns

[DVee8]

Lets talk about snowfoam..

What is the snowfoam etiquette?

A couple of sundays ago 3 blokes were washing their cars.

 

Bloke no1 lets call him Steve cos that's his name.Dry car,snowfoams the car,then jet wash the foam off,then dry the car.

 

Bloke No2 lets call him Mark cos that's my name Dry car,jet washes then snow foam,then rinse with jet wash then 2 bucket hand wash,rinse then dry..

 

Bloke No3 lets call him Mark as well cos that's his name. Dry car,jet wash car,snowfoam then hand wash car using the snowfoam,then rinse with jet wash and leave to dry.

 

Is there a right or wrong.

 

Or is it far to anal..

[paulscavalier]

Bloke 2 is how I would

[LessThanEqual]

Lets talk about snowfoam..

What is the snowfoam etiquette?

A couple of sundays ago 3 blokes were washing their cars.

 

Bloke no1 lets call him Steve cos that's his name.Dry car,snowfoams the car,then jet wash the foam off,then dry the car.

 

Bloke No2 lets call him Mark cos that's my name Dry car,jet washes then snow foam,then rinse with jet wash then 2 bucket hand wash,rinse then dry..

 

Bloke No3 lets call him Mark as well cos that's his name. Dry car,jet wash car,snowfoam then hand wash car with snowfoam,then rinse with jet wash and leave to dry.

 

Is there a right or wrong.

 

Or is it far to anal..

I don't bother with snowfoam at all, makes no difference to just attacking it with a pressure washer. If it's really filthy I use diluted stardrops to help loosen the road slime. Works out cheaper than snowfoam too.

[DaveDorson]

Pre wash degreaser type stuff them snow foam and clean your wheels while the foam lifts the shit off the car.

 

Then low pressure rinse off (not jetwash) then contact wash (bucket and wash MIT) and dry.

 

Then if you want to wax it, polish it or whatever.

[DaveDorson]

Pre wash degreaser type stuff them snow foam and clean your wheels while the foam lifts the shit off the car.

 

Then low pressure rinse off (not jetwash) then contact wash (bucket and wash MIT) and dry.

 

Then if you want to wax it, polish it or whatever.

[face]

I use one of these https://www.homebase.co.uk/ozito-1300w-1450psi-pressure-washer_p415209 on my Golf GTi. I always leave the washer 'dry' after use, by blasting it out with the water hosepipe disconnected.

 

Usual procedure is to foam the car when it is dry. Leave for five minutes and rinse. Foam again and use those suds to wash, rinsing micro cloth in a bucket of clean warm water as I go. Rinse again. Dry with old bath towels. I don't bother hardly ever with car shampoo now, just the foam. Sometimes I use a wheel pre-clean product, but in all honesty I don't see a benefit that makes me find them value for money.

 

If you are planning to wax, then stick some washing up liquid in the foamer bottle for the first pass as it gets shot of the old wax coating nicely. Cheap Halfords wax is pretty good, as is the polish - which I might use once a year.

[Aston Martin]

I'm no meteorologist, but why has every car been covered in like a fine dust for the past week?

[paulplom]

I've noticed that here in the North East. Had my van washed today because of it. That and seagull shite.

[Split_Pin]

Mine too, it's just the dry weather, well in Scotland at least.

[Aston Martin]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6951617/Saharan-sand-coats-cars-dirt-sparks-health-fears-UK.html

[Aston Martin]

The Alessi hasn't been touched in around two years, not even a Polski hand job.

 

I was thinking about that Iron-X stuff.

 

Rinse

Iron-X 

Clay

Wash

Polish

Wax

?

 

 

I already have the other stuff, but the paint is a bit dull.

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

I have just cleaned Ebay out of car cleaning products to see how sparkly I can get the Jaag. I have no idea what works best so got loads of different stuff that  had the most reviews. I'll let you know the outcome in 2023 when I finally get around to doing it.

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

I didn't get clay bars as I don't know what that is. The last time I took a bar to a motah, it wasn't pretty.

[Kiltox]

7 minutes ago, Aston Martin said:

The Alessi hasn't been touched in around two years, not even a Polski hand job.

 

I was thinking about that Iron-X stuff.

 

Rinse

Iron-X 

Clay

Wash

Polish

Wax

?

 

 

I already have the other stuff, but the paint is a bit dull.

Clay after a wash not before 

[face]

Iron-X after the wash too.

Then probably wash it again.

I was thinking of giving ceramic sealant a go - will see.

 

I also learnt a lesson last week - don't put a micro fibre cloth laden with neat snow foam in the washing machine.

[Aston Martin]

Rinse

Wash

Iron-X 

Clay

Wash

Polish

Wax

 

Better?

[Aston Martin]

Ordered 1 litre of iron x for £20 ish delivered.

 

However, I need to look at a car for my step-dad in Nottingham on Saturday. I need to collect the Alessi from Bradford and I don't know if I can be arsed to do both this weekend.

[Andyrew]

20 hours ago, BoggyMires said:

I didn't get clay bars as I don't know what that is. The last time I took a bar to a motah, it wasn't pretty.

Clay bars just pull any surface contaminants off and leave the paint "bare" in preparation for paint correction (polish) or protection (wax/sealant /ceramic)

It makes a big difference in my eyes to the way the paint looks and feels but it's not for everyone as it's fairly time consuming. Clay mits and cloths can speed the process up hugely. 

It's surprising how much grime can be removed from a just washed car. 

Overspray from previous paint jobs or repair aswell can be removed using clay used on a mates Mondeo  And it works great 

 

 

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

43 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

Clay bars just pull any surface contaminants off and leave the paint "bare" in preparation for paint correction (polish) or protection (wax/sealant /ceramic)

It makes a big difference in my eyes to the way the paint looks and feels but it's not for everyone as it's fairly time consuming. Clay mits and cloths can speed the process up hugely. 

It's surprising how much grime can be removed from a just washed car. 

Overspray from previous paint jobs or repair aswell can be removed using clay used on a mates Mondeo  And it works great 

 

 

Thanks for that info. Of course, I could have Goggled it but I have 99 million other things I need to know! Learn something every day...

[Aston Martin]

Iron X arrived.

 

I appreciate this customer service.

[Aston Martin]

On 7/30/2019 at 5:05 PM, Aston Martin said:

Rinse

Wash

Iron-X 

Clay

Wash

Polish

Wax

 

Better?

I went into Halfords and bought a Meguiars bucket, grit guard and lambswool mitt. Probably shouldn't have spent £25 on a plastic bucket and sponge.

I didn't clay the entire car as it's the most tedious job in the world, I just did the really bad parts.

 

The Iron X did a great job. The warnings about the toxic smell are true.

[Cavcraft]

Argos' buffing machines were back in stock a couple of weeks ago, so bought one then hit MachineMart for the pads and varying stages of polish. The Galaxy came up a treat with all three stages, but being white it's sort of hard to photograph or notice that well. Did a bit on the Kia as well, but again being a light-ish colour it's hard to see the difference. Then after having sussed out I probably wasn't going to burn the paintwork, I started my daughter's Fiat 500. It was quite clean anyhow, but it's better than when she picked it up second hand from the dealers a few months ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Didn't use the high cut for fear of doing any damage, plus the car wasn't too bad to start with. The compounds took out some reasonable scuff marks and the odd scratch, probably could have done better but would rather practise on something older first. Washed the car, clay bar applied, washed again. Used the polishes, then washed the car a third time before using conventional polish followed by conventional wax, both done by hand. Quite impressed with it anyhow, tempted to next get some sanding pads and try and do the roof of the Saxo, just to practise getting it ready to paint.

 

[Andyrew]

Going to give espumas equivalent of autosmarts g101 a go as I get it cheap at work. 

1/10 for effort on the name 

 

[Kiltox]

Fuck sake that’s as bad as the kind of off brand shite Aldi (used to?) sell like Norpak butter 

[Andyrew]

3 hours ago, Kiltox said:

Fuck sake that’s as bad as the kind of off brand shite Aldi (used to?) sell like Norpak butter 

Yea it's a bit cheeky. A quick Google seems to suggest it's a bit stronger than g101. 

Some of the product  range they do seem to get good reviews for the costs coming in a couple of quid less than autosmarts equivalent. 

They do a TFR with shampoo and wax in it.  Not quite sure how that works in all honesty. 

[Aston Martin]

Never tried this stuff, but it's on offer it someone wants to give it a go.

 

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/meguiars-hybrid-ceramic-wax-1399-3308633

[Aston Martin]

Just now, Andyrew said:

Any one want to give ceramic coating a go?

Out of curiosty I bought 5 of these as a lot on eBay ages ago for about £15. I tried it on the disco bonnet 50/50 as a test against wax and it lasted very well a year maybe (think I put a post up about it earlier in this thread)

I found it good on sealing headlights after polishing aswell. 

Strangely there is counterfeit versions of this stuff but this seems to be genuine (doesn't ignite)  plenty of videos about this stuff on youtube.

I've got one open and two spares and this should last me ages, I Really don't need 5 bottles. So i have two kits up for grabs for the cost of postage if any other shitters are curious. 

 

 

I'll give one a go please.

 

Thanks

[Andyrew]

1 minute ago, Aston Martin said:

I'll give one a go please.

 

Thanks

Sure thing, drop me a pm with your address.

[paulscavalier]

Me too I was thinking about this a while back.

[Andyrew]

4 hours ago, paulscavalier said:

Me too I was thinking about this a while back.

Sure thing. Drop me a pm with your address and I'll send them out.