Best car polish,or other handy cleaning tips

[Morgan84]

Its nice to keep our cars as fresh and nice looking as we can,but what are all of our secrets to cleaning perfection ? .Some of the supposedly more 'premium' brands I have found rather dissapointing.I have friends who use boot polish on tyres and black trim,and even linseed oil on black bumpers !!

[CreepingJesus]

Linseed oil's the stuff both for dried out and faded plastic and wood. And plastic wood. Best of all, it's cheap from B+Q, and if you leave it in sunlight for 6 months or so, it refined itself into the expensive light grade stuff, which is even better. I won't use anything else on me basses, have done for years.

Other than that, it's Mer shampoo, a clean sponge and a good clean leather. Tack rag and a paintbrush to help the vac out. Done regularly, it's half an hours' work.

At least that's my take as an ex-valeter. Why make it harder than it needs to be?

[mattblack]

 

LINSEED OIL R GR8.

 

Also, '151 Carpride' brand glass cleaner is good, usualy sold in pound/discount shops. Doesn't smear like some.

[Lankytim]

Smooth peanut butter is good on faded black bumpers and trim, the cheaper the better.

[Morgan84]

 

LINSEED OIL R GR8.

 

Also, '151 Carpride' brand glass cleaner is good, usualy sold in pound/discount shops. Doesn't smear like some.

The Linseed oil certainly gives a 'natural' finish,and not a tarted up look

[scooters]

WD40 seems to work quite well on plastic

[Morgan84]

WD40 is good for removing sticky lables residue

[cobblers]

Buy a big drum of TFR (Traffic film remover) from somewhere, and a hand pumpy sprayer. Absolutely invaluable.

 

I used it diluted 50/50 as a degreaser on filthy oily van engines. Filth just drops off, but I use a pressure washer as well.

Diluted about 10:1 on wheels to remove brake dust, and generally anywhere you want filth off that you can't really scrub.

 

 

Often, vans turn up with seats that look like cows have given birth on them. They get replaced with fancy retrimmed captains seats in the campers, but I generally flog the old seats on ebay or at shows, and they obviously sell a lot better when sanitary!

 

TO clean them I give them a good blast with TFR, let it soak ten minutes and then pressure wash their asses. They come up dead clean, like new in most cases. They take a few weeks to dry though, unless you wet vac them after.

This seat was out of the back of a van we broke, that had been used as a skip outside a workshop with no windows in for three years.

 

 

I use TFR on all the insides too. 50/50 on a rag to clean grime off switchgear and dashboards, It dries the plastic out a bit though

 

Also, Autoglym Vinyl and rubber care is PROPERLY THE BEST GEAR for any kind of plastic or rubber or anything. Not overly shiny, doesnt smear on paintwork, no awful silicone feel and it smells decent too. A little goes a long way!

[Timewaster]

Autoglym Vinyl and rubber care

MMMM Lemony

[Morgan84]

Buy a big drum of TFR (Traffic film remover) from somewhere, and a hand pumpy sprayer. Absolutely invaluable.

 

I used it diluted 50/50 as a degreaser on filthy oily van engines. Filth just drops off, but I use a pressure washer as well.

Diluted about 10:1 on wheels to remove brake dust, and generally anywhere you want filth off that you can't really scrub.

 

 

Often, vans turn up with seats that look like cows have given birth on them. They get replaced with fancy retrimmed captains seats in the campers, but I generally flog the old seats on ebay or at shows, and they obviously sell a lot better when sanitary!

 

TO clean them I give them a good blast with TFR, let it soak ten minutes and then pressure wash their asses. They come up dead clean, like new in most cases. They take a few weeks to dry though, unless you wet vac them after.

This seat was out of the back of a van we broke, that had been used as a skip outside a workshop with no windows in for three years.

 

What mixture of TFR do you use on the seats ?

 

I use TFR on all the insides too. 50/50 on a rag to clean grime off switchgear and dashboards, It dries the plastic out a bit though

 

Also, Autoglym Vinyl and rubber care is PROPERLY THE BEST GEAR for any kind of plastic or rubber or anything. Not overly shiny, doesnt smear on paintwork, no awful silicone feel and it smells decent too. A little goes a long way!

[cobblers]

On those filthy old beasts I sprayed plenty of it on neat and left it about ten minutes to soak in before going at it with the pressure washer. I'm sure it would work equally well 50/50, or even weaker. I didn't have a lot to lose so just went in all guns blazing. Usually I'll dilute it 5:1 or thereabouts. It's far from an exact science.

[pompei]

Where can you get TFR?

[cobblers]

Probably a motor factors, we get it from a company called TPS (trade parts specialists) who are a subsidiary of VW. It's branded up as quantum (VW's oil/fluids brand, I think?)

 

a 25 litre drum was something like £20, if I remember right.

[25v6turbo]

TFR is fantastic stuff,but can be lethal!

It strips any polish etc on the car and also the oils out of your skin,so wear gloves,but its great on engine bays/door shuts,wheel arches etc,get a pump up spray gun and use that,but be very careful,it strips paintwork and often turns red cars white if it gets on the paint,and don,t use it in direct sun on a hot day...!

Get a few paintbrushes aswell to help more the crap once you have sprayed them with TFR.

Other than that i usedry paintbrushes for detailing,a lot of Autoglym products,the odd supernatual polish and some Autosmart stuff,used to be a valeter and still do the odd bit as i really enjoy it,but when you start polishing the engine bay/door shuts,spare wheel well,toolkit etc etc,you know its going a bit to far,i even polish the spare wheel on the Safrane,that includes the tyre and tread,which i use boot polish,gives a good shine without being to shiney.

My polishing box has dry paintbrushes(hard and soft)for engine bay nocks and crannys,door shuts etc

Boot polish with on/off brushes for tyres

Autoglym plastic/rubber dressing as previously said,great stuff if used correctly,very thin but goes a long way and looks good,does seem to dry out/sink into the plastic,rubbers.

Renault glass cleaner

A few polishes,Autoglym Resin polish and extra gloss protection,also i do have some supernatrual somewhere which i was told was £100!!!

Plus various other bits and bobs,i use an aplicator pad for polish on,and a towlen cloth for removing the polish,any dust gets the dry paint brush treatment or a slightly damp chamois,this is all stuff i use on a car that does 10 miles a year,is garaged with a de-humidifier and sits under a dust sheet,so i guess a car kept outside would need a bit more work,but the detailing helps,its always nice to see the before and after but it can take ages to get a car properly clean,Detailing world has some interesting ideas..

[25v6turbo]

Forgot i don,t use silicone spray or back to black,it looks good,but settles on the windows,paintwork and is a nightmare to get of,a friend recently sprayed silicone on the top of his dash,it left a horrible line on the inside of this windscreen at the bottom,and he just couldn,t get rid of the stain.

[CreepingJesus]

I've always taken a pride in leaving the trucks I'm given in better condition than when I pick them up. Usually, it's not difficult - Tesco's own brand glass wipes clean glass, lights and mirrors, and take grease off stuff - but lately, I've been experimenting with strawberry scented matt dashboard wipes I got from Asda for a quid or two.

It's hard to be sure who they're made by (it might be Holts), but they're pretty good for a quick wipe down. Most importantly, they don't seem to leave that silicon nastiness, and they pick up dust rather well. Not quite enough solvent to remove those coffee drips which seem to hover around cup holders easily, but they'll do it with a bit of a banjoing.

Also TFR is the biz.

[warren t claim]

I've always taken a pride in leaving the trucks I'm given in better condition than when I pick them up. Usually, it's not difficult - Tesco's own brand glass wipes clean glass, lights and mirrors, and take grease off stuff - but lately, I've been experimenting with strawberry scented matt dashboard wipes I got from Asda for a quid or two.

It's hard to be sure who they're made by (it might be Holts), but they're pretty good for a quick wipe down. Most importantly, they don't seem to leave that silicon nastiness, and they pick up dust rather well. Not quite enough solvent to remove those coffee drips which seem to hover around cup holders easily, but they'll do it with a bit of a banjoing.

Also TFR is the biz.

I usually use Tesco own brand polish and a few cheap baby wipes to clean HGV interiors although if I'm driving an 8 legged tipper or delivering to building sites I usually squeeze into a Morrisons jetwash and hose it out, speaking of which I pressure washed the inside of the 306 out yesterday and it seems to of brought the worst of the grime off. The door cards were particularly minging but came up lovely (no e/w or c/l).