[bumpkin]

So there I was getting rather fed up of the little spiderweb swirls and scratches that modern clearcoats are susceptible to, along with the few larger scratches which had appeared from you know, parking your car in the furthest recess of the supermarket car park, only to come back out and find some plonker who can't drive properly and who owns a tank that has never even seen a rudimentary bucket and sponge, parked close enough just to hold that Rizla paper from flying away in the breeze.

Solution - bought myself a DA polishing kit with a variety of grades of pad, three sizes of backing plates, couple of grades of cutting polish and found a nice day to have a play.

Greased Lightning Alloy Cleaner, left to soak for a few minutes per wheel
Pre-soak (pressure washer on fan)
Autofinesse Avalanche Snow Foam
Rinse - I have a wand for my pressure washer which has a rotating section in the head which swirls the water and reduces the pressure (preventing paint stripping Alan )
Two bucket wash with Meguiars Gold Class shampoo
Rinse - as above
Dry
Softest pad and Menzerna Finishing polish on DA polisher - applied on speed 2 then degraded at speed 5
Buffed off by hand
Autobrite Direct Cherry Glaze applied by hand, left to cure for 10 minutes
Buffed off
Poorboys Natty Blue paste wax applied by hand, left to cure for 15 minutes
Buffed off
Poorboys alloy wheel sealant
Greased Lightning tyre and trim dressing

Pics of results










Gratuitous bonnet reflection shot!


Verdict - superb job, I had not used a DA before so chose to go with the softest options, most of the light scratches and swirls have gone as have the couple of bird lime marks which had etched the rear spoiler, still a couple of deeper scratches present, but now I understand how it all works I can go for a higher pad/compound combo.  I honestly think that the car looks better now than when I bought it two years ago! 

Next day was wet, I love the beading that comes with a good quality wax!






 

[AlanHo]

That's the beauty of a black or dark coloured car - you can see the fruits of your labour. My car is silver and no matter how much I clean, polish and wax it - it will never look that good.

Great job Brian - but it will look even better when you get the roof re-sprayed to get rid of those terrible bubbles in the paint........

[eye30]

Looks as if just out of the showroom.

At your supermarket car parks do you have the chaps that will clean your car while you are shopping?

We have them here and the notice on the unit they push around say they only use less than 1 litre of water per car.  They all have spry bottle. No bucket of water.

Wonder if they just spray a solution on and then grind the muck into the paint work....

[bumpkin]

Yeah, we have them, I regard that as one step up from not washing it at all!

I guess the spray bottle is just water, if it was a waterless wax product it would be costing them rather than you at the prices they charge.

[eye30]

Yeah, we have them, I regard that as one step up from not washing it at all!

I guess the spray bottle is just water, if it was a waterless wax product it would be costing them rather than you at the prices they charge.

Here they charge £5 for a basic wash but they don't dry the car.

Then, I think, £10 for wash and dry down.

[asathorny]

You failed to advise us of the price and dealer from whom we might purchase this cleaning kit Brian ???   

[bumpkin]

I bought the soft paint kit from a local detailer here

PB Soft Paint Polishing Kit | Machine Polishing Kit For Cars With Soft Paint

[Dazzler]

Awesome job Brian.. 

Like Alan said, you certainly get the benefit of a good polish/wax when you have a black car! 

[Asterix]

Looking good, Brian.. 

Feel free to practice further on my car.... 

[Phil №❶]

Great work. 

[Alasama]

Great job. 
I love to see water beads on the polished surface. 

[Just Rick]

Friend at work has a 2008 Crdi, he maintains it well,bt a while ago he was complaining of many of the same issues,then one Monday he came in and said he had Clay-ed his car,I'm thinking what sort of idiot would rub clay all over their car,but the result wash incredible,but I still haven't had the balls to do Bruce or Cyril,Oh! and his car is white and I could visually see the difference.

Great Job Brain,sadly sounds like to much work for me,I use my pressure washer,with the spinning sprayer to get the bug's off,then simply use a Truck wash and wax,once rinsed off,then use a deer skin Chamois

[FatBoy]

Nice work, Brian.  The car has come up very nicely, it's a pity about that reflection though.... 

When I had a Commondoor, I used to clay-bar it once every six months or so, it turned out fantastic.  It's amazing how much "gunk" comes off the car with the clay-bar, after you have washed it.  It removes all types of "stuff" from the paint (bird poo, exhaust stains, etc).

[bumpkin]

Thanks guys

Mine wasn't due the clay bar this time, as Jamie says that is really effective at getting gunk off, particularly around the lower regions of the car where tar etc gets stuck.  I also find that clay is really good on the alloy wheels.

[Lester]

The days of waxing (cars) are gone in my mind, I use the Turtle wash and wax, lubbly jubbly, even shines up the white i30.

Does anyone buy tins of car polish/wax any more?  Perhaps some of the Dinos? 

Holy moly, I just realised I am a Dino, clickety click the other week.

[CraigB]

The days of waxing (cars) are gone in my mind, I use the Turtle wash and wax, lubbly jubbly, even shines up the white i30.

Washing cars now days has gotten a lot more professional imo, combined wash an wax should be done on a weekly to fortnightly basis for the purpose not only to clean the car but the added wax component which boosts the long life wax coating that should be applied every 3 to 6 months depending on quality and weather, and of course all this is applied on top of a good polish which waxing will protect

[Phil №❶]

Nice work, Brian.  The car has come up very nicely, it's a pity about that reflection though.... 

When I had a Commondoor, I used to clay-bar it once every six months or so, it turned out fantastic.  It's amazing how much "gunk" comes off the car with the clay-bar, after you have washed it.  It removes all types of "stuff" from the paint (bird poo, exhaust stains, paint, etc).

 

[bumpkin]

The days of waxing (cars) are gone in my mind, I use the Turtle wash and wax, lubbly jubbly, even shines up the white i30.

Does anyone buy tins of car polish/wax any more?  Perhaps some of the Dinos? 

Holy moly, I just realised I am a Dino, clickety click the other week.

Interesting take, vehicle detailing is a huge industry now, despite advances in technology I am of the opinion we have gone backwards with vehicle paints, water based paints opposed to solvent based whilst easier to work with don't give the same quality of finish (even a brand new car can have an orange peel appearance) and the paint is very soft, the clearcoat is also quite soft and the swirl marks / light scratches are really easy to see, particularly on a dark car.  Properly protecting the vehicle by applying glaze and wax every few months I think is worthwhile (I will give you that on white or silver the visual effect may be less).

BTW Products don't come in Dino Tins anymore, my car box is more like a womans vanity cabinet, there are pots and tubes and pumps and sprays and dispensers and not a metal tin in sight

[Dazzler]

The days of waxing (cars) are gone in my mind, I use the Turtle wash and wax, lubbly jubbly, even shines up the white i30.

Does anyone buy tins of car polish/wax any more?  Perhaps some of the Dinos? 

Holy moly, I just realised I am a Dino, clickety click the other week.

Aussie Lester is back... Yippee!  (so the fires and earthquakes in Chile didn't get you then)

[Lester]

The days of waxing (cars) are gone in my mind, I use the Turtle wash and wax, lubbly jubbly, even shines up the white i30.

Does anyone buy tins of car polish/wax any more?  Perhaps some of the Dinos? 

Holy moly, I just realised I am a Dino, clickety click the other week.

Aussie Lester is back... Yippee!  (so the fires and earthquakes in Chile didn't get you then)

Almost mate, big quake in Chile a couple of days after we sailed from Valparaiso and a big fire there a week or so later.   I have been in a couple of quakes, no more thanks mate.

[Dazzler]

 

How does your Son cope with that stuff?