Bubble Bath

As soon as the sun is out, the car is out and I drive her whenever I can. As the weather is nice the car is not getting dirty as such, but I noticed a layer of dust on the car after the last rip. So I put the car away uncovered as it was about to rain. Sunday was a glorious day until the evening at least, so made the most of the sunshine and decided to put water on my car for the first time. Usually every birthday, Christmas, Easter or just about any excuse really, people ask me what I want, normally I reply “Snap On”. Over the years I now have a nice collection of tools which have all been invaluable while I was restoring my car. They will always be used for services and any jobs that need doing of course. Surprising a few people last Christmas and my Birthday, I have now started to ask for something different. Now I say “Car cleaning stuff please.” This is just the start of it and I have almost double this little lot now!

The trouble is that there is so much on the market now when do you begin with it all? On my other cars I used Autoglym and that was always good enough and not to expensive as I didn’t know any better. Since then I have been looking for some real performance products to use on my car. A good friend of mine Craig has been recommending a few products to me and his car is always spotless, another petrol head and a real car cleaning nut. Meguiar’s always seems to be at the top of people’s lists. Since then I have been pretty sad (so I have been told), about this and read hundreds of reviews, watched hours and hours of videos and decided Meguiar’s is what I will go for and the look I am after. Meguiar’s has over two hundred products to choose from, with all this information my head went into melt down to start with. There are cleaners, waxes, polishes, swirl removers, sealers, detailer, quick detailer, restorers, liquid versions, wax versions, spray versions, wash & wax, applicators, mits, cloths, water magnets, premium, ultimate, professional, gold etc. You get the idea. Apparently when you step up from the bucket and sponge scenario and spend real time washing and waxing your car, you are now know as a car detailer. As a result I have bought different makes of products for very specific jobs now. I now have a special bucket that has a grit filter at the bottom, and sponges are a definite no go now. Wash mits are the norm and water magnets instead of old school chamois leathers. The shampoo I used is by “Chemical Guys” called “Glossworkz”. I have even bought a snow foam device for my jet washer.

A while ago now I purchased a cowl cover from Mustang Maniac which is a magnetic idea that stops rain getting into the cowl section. That is the big white thing you see below the windscreen. For some reason I was nervous to put water on the car, I have washed more makes of car than I care to mention, but this was different somehow. A low setting on the jet wash to rinse the car off was where I was going to start.

The previous wax from Meguiar’s made the water immediately bead away, which made me smile. Next was to foam some “Glossworkz” onto the car, again this ran straight off when it was supposed to foam all over and sTay there. Now I am sure I done it wrong, by the time I found the camera again the foam was disappearing.

Now came the fully washed and super soft lambs wool wash mit, I pulled it on like a boxing glove and took a deep breath. I dipped it all into my new grit protected bucket with a little more shampoo and started on the roof, hood, trunk and then the sides. Frequently dipping into the bucket and washing out the mit. The car was silky smooth under the mit and glided across the paint.

Rinse it all down again with the low power jet washer then it time to dry with the “Wooly Mammoth”.

This drying towel is huge, super thick and fluffy, you just lay it on the panel and move it slightly and the water is gone. Amazing, none of the old wipe it, spread it about, wring it out and repeat again like with a chamois leather. This helps to reduce the chances of scratching that precious paint job. Within a minute or two the car was dry, the best part of this bit was that the towel was only damp after all that. Wash & Wax then dry was technically done now, but I wanted to try out a new wax. Meguiar’s Ultimate Wax.

I intend to review these purchased products properly going forward under their own section on my blog for car detailing products. So, I won’t go into all the boring details just now, but I spent hours applying the wax and buffing it all off, polishing the chrome, cleaning the windows inside and out. Here are a couple of pics of the half and half as I was going along. It’s difficult to show in the pics, but the first is the hood with the wax applied, the second is the half the hood buffed off.

Full hood wax applied

Half off

On this pic I dangled the pro series micro fibre cloth to show the depth of shine. But then you can see the top of the house too in the reflection. There are even different quality of microfiber cloths, but is there a difference? Yes, there is when you compare them next to each other.

A perfect day for waxing the car, overcast, warm with a slight breeze. A great day, and a car washed, waxed and buffed to a mirror finish. I started the car up and covered her up in the garage. I was happy if not aching a bit.

As I mentioned earlier, I want to review these products as the choice out there is just min boggling, Meguiar’s, Chemical Guys,  DoDo Juice, Autoglym etc. I will let you know when the first review is posted. If you have any recommendations, tips or secrets you don’t mind sharing please let me know.