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Valeting / Detailing / two bucket wronguns


Matt

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Let us know how you get on with the polar range. It sounds good

 

 

Several hours later...The Polar Blast pre wash and the Polar Wash main wash seem very similar; all foamy. A brush over the Blast before rinsing and a sponge over the Wash before rinsing that seems to be the trick. You go over the car from bottom to top which always feels wrong to me. Still bloody hard work - don't expect the dirt to fall off like some car wash miracle. 

 

Polar seal does sound good. Be interested to see how that works.

 

Now this is interesting. It sort of beads off as it goes on and left the cars feeling very nice to the touch. I didn't have time to chamois the cars properly so I used microfibre towels to dry them down and they both came up lovely. Not too cold today and a good breeze really helped to dry them off well too. I used a modest Karcher washer and the standard wash bottle nozzle and a full bottle of each detergent diluted accordingly did both cars. Expensive outlay but given that the cars don't get washed very often, it feels like decent value.    

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2 buckets of water is all i need to wash a car!...oh, an 2 synthetic chamois.

1st bucket will have Fairy Liquid (not much) in it.

2nd bucket will just be plain water (warm, not hot) if its in the middle of Winter!

Best condition chamois for most of the upper parts of car(including glass)

Shitty chamois for lower parts of car/bumpers/sills/wheels an tyres.

Job done.

 

I used to have a cheapo jet washer(£40 squids worth)...but i burnt that out within a months use!!!

 

I was one of these OCD idiots for bloody years on end, who would wash their car every Sunday(without fail) even in a foot of snow!

Then one day i thought, ive got better things to do in my life, so for about a decade, i would only wash my car for its MOT!

 

I like to think ive found a happy medium now...I wash my cars more regular these days...but i dont have a feckin meltdown, if i miss a few weeks(or even a month) without reaching for the chamois.

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^That does seem cheap but it has to be the worst advert ever! I'm trying to work out if it's used/refurbished unit, none of which seems clear. I'm also struggling to see what attachments (If any) it comes with?

 

I'd entertain the idea of buying a pressure washer as I'm lazy and hate washing the 'fleet' using buckets/sponges in winter, but at the same time my laziness would probably also mean I'd struggle to find the enthusiasm to unravel the extension and drag the machine out of the shed...

 

Also, I'd have doubts about how effective a pressure wash alone (Sans sponges etc) would be and would probably end up breaking out the buckets and sponges anyway thus defeating the object of the exercise. How much salt/grime do these things actually remove by themselves?

It has seen some abuse! The first one was bought when I was a proper 2 bucket wrongun, so the tools have seen some hammer. Living on mum's garage floor over 3 winters killed it in the end!

 

In terms of dirt removal, a pre rinse shifts a good half, I should have photographed a 50/50 of the 406 after a rinse. Under the arches, in all of the nooks and crannies, its ace!

 

To get to the stage where a rinse and foam are all you need though, you need to go to town claying, polishing and waxing. Then the dirt rinses off, just needing a quick wash every now and again with a wax safe shampoo to reset it all, then a good polish and wax a few times a year.

 

I've not done that for years though, sadly!

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Several hours later...The Polar Blast pre wash and the Polar Wash main wash seem very similar; all foamy. A brush over the Blast before rinsing and a sponge over the Wash before rinsing that seems to be the trick. You go over the car from bottom to top which always feels wrong to me. Still bloody hard work - don't expect the dirt to fall off like some car wash miracle. 

 

 

 

Now this is interesting. It sort of beads off as it goes on and left the cars feeling very nice to the touch. I didn't have time to chamois the cars properly so I used microfibre towels to dry them down and they both came up lovely. Not too cold today and a good breeze really helped to dry them off well too. I used a modest Karcher washer and the standard wash bottle nozzle and a full bottle of each detergent diluted accordingly did both cars. Expensive outlay but given that the cars don't get washed very often, it feels like decent value.

 

Sounds quick and easy. It’s probably quite good if you have a decent coat of polish on it. I did the Honda Accord with Collinite. It appears to be a quite durable polish so would work quite well with it. I think for winter washes just getting the salt off is the big thing

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Posted in my normal thread but I actually cleaned the Galaxy today.

 

I say ‘I’ what I actually did - as I do when polishing / waxing all my cars is get the hand car wash to clean it and then drive the eighth of a mile round the corner to home and polish/wax it on the drive.

 

No clay bar malarkey for this thing as too big, paints too knackered (Pink roof and mucho lacquer peel) and it’s too big to be that arsed.

 

Anyway...this lot (ex birthday stuff and bits) was applied to the Galaxy

 

30d184f0c14a8ee49130b4c428bcfd94.jpg

 

Will see how black the Simoniz stuff really keeps my faded plastics

 

f5ede9f307c8d5ddafaf04be968092f9.jpg

 

a522e610a14700f8c00ef6603c011c82.jpg

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That's a proper wonky number plate!!!

Norwich plate too. Busseys?

 

Screws rusted through, keep meaning to fix it but will do it properly when I replace the cracked rear trim.

 

Godfrey Davis, Welwyn was the supplying dealer (original plates and window sticker back this up).

 

Although, the reg number is a bit wacky - Whenever its searched, sometimes it brings up a Ford Granada/Scorpio and insurance searches tell me the Galaxy was Cat something or other but I've no idea about that. Mismatched bonnet may be a clue to the Cat bit there you go...Mystery history, a shiter's delight. Ken may know more!

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Anyone want these?

IMG_20190217_172817.jpg

3/4 full Poor Boys compound testers.

I've tried them numerous times but can't make them work for me, guess I'm a Farecla G3 kind of guy!!!

FOC if you want them. I keep picking them up to use, then get frustrated when I don't get the desired results, they do smell amazing though.

Yes please! I do use poorboys stuff
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Anyone want these?

attachicon.gifIMG_20190217_172817.jpg

3/4 full Poor Boys compound testers.

I've tried them numerous times but can't make them work for me, guess I'm a Farecla G3 kind of guy!!!

FOC if you want them. I keep picking them up to use, then get frustrated when I don't get the desired results, they do smell amazing though.

I haven't used those, but have used Poorboys black hole glaze which is really good

 

Even did a before/after on Daughter No 2's Clio!

post-19512-0-08401500-1550530246_thumb.jpg

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If you'll excuse a casual rather than keen car polisher I'd like a little advice. I recently bought a an 80's red Merc and while it's good condition as whole the paint isn't great, particularly on the horizontal surfaces. I hand cut the bonnet which improved it but is still patchy, what is the best way to do the rest and above all else stop it getting worse? Which polish/wax? It's 34 years old and I neither want or expect it to look new but less matt would be nice.

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Gave the daily a wash.

 

47218550361_b3a16f548f.jpgreceived_1108552152656381 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

46304070375_e7b48ea5fd.jpgIMG_20190223_150328522_HDR by davedorson, on Flickr

 

Also gave DrewD's Peugeot (formerly mine, formerly AMC Rebels sisters) a spruce as I felt mega guilty giving him a car that was so hanging.

 

32276299397_e3d5b07909.jpgreceived_381826655971780 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

33342959918_a585d0cb1e.jpgreceived_563463770795087 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

47218549981_30bd1b6dd2.jpgreceived_2265620303675474 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

47218549971_24bdbf577c.jpgreceived_305667573454097 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

Ended up picking up a cheapy Ryobi pressure washer nice and cheap and going over with a pre-wash, then shampoo, then contact wash with a bucket or two, then went over with a spray on wax/rinse aid, then buffed it a bit with a dry micro fibre.

 

To be honest both cars need some claying or something, but they'll do, and it keeps the road crud from attacking the paint for another couple of weeks.

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