JayOne
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Hi everyone,
I get asked on a regular basis what sort of things you should all be doing to take care of your car. To help you get started, I have put together a step by step “wash guide” and will add to this other stages such as “claying, waxing”
If you’re just starting out with car care there are a couple of items that we would class as “must haves” and then of course your collection can be added to as and when necessary to build up a selection of products that will not only make maintenance of the car much easier but will also and more importantly, achieve excellent results. Not only is it important to make sure you have a selection of good quality products, but it’s essential to use them in the right way with the right techniques.
The first thing you need to make sure you have is a good “wash” regime with a good collection of “wash” products... this is because most of the damage such as swirl marks and random scratches can be inflicted during the wash stage if done incorrectly and using the incorrect products.
Part 1 -Cleaning wheels and washing car
Cleaning the Wheels...
To start off with, clean the wheels first – this ensures that you don’t waste time washing the car and then go and splash water and dirt all over it again when you wash the wheels off!
Begin by spraying the wheels liberally with a dedicated wheel cleaner – we recommend Bilberry Wheel Cleaner as it’s safe on both polished and lacquered wheels, it’s completely acid-free, it’s easy to use and most importantly, works amazingly! Be sure to spray the wheel cleaner inside the wheels as well as on the surface. For very heavily soiled wheels use the Bilberry neat or diluted 1:1. For lightly soiled wheels, dilute the Bilberry between 1:5 – 1:10. Leave the solution on the wheels for a few minutes to loosen off any dirt and brake dust.
Starting with the insides of the wheels, gently agitate the Bilberry – we find that the EZ Detail Brush is excellent for this, as it gets in behind the spokes to get the insides of the wheels nice and clean. Clean the surface/faces of the wheels by agitating the Bilberry using a soft bristled brush. Once you’ve cleaned the insides of the wheels as well as the surface, rinse the arches and the wheels thoroughly with fresh water... best results will be achieved using a pressure washer.
Bilberry wheel cleaner - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Bilbery_Safe_Wheel_Cleaner_2.html
EZ wheel brush - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/EZ_Detail_Brush_2.html
Soft bristled Wheel brush - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Soft_Round_Wheel_brush_2.html
Washing the Car...
The first thing to do when washing the car is to get as much loose dirt and grime off as possible before you make contact with it. The more you remove, the less chance you have of inflicting any damage when you do wash it. The best way to do this is with a pressure washer and a foam lance. This will give you a really thick coating of foam that helps to loosen and lift the dirt on the car. The benefit here is that the bulk of dirt removal is done before a wash mitt is placed on the car, which greatly reduces the risk of inflicting marring and fine scratches during the hand-washing process. Spray the foam all over the car and leave to dwell for around 5 minutes. Depending on how dirty the car is, you should be able to see the muck in the foam as it drips off the bottom of the car. Be sure to rinse all of the foam off the car before it dries.
Foam Lance - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/HD_Snow_Foam_Lance_1L.html
Snow Foam - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Meguiars_Hyper_Wash_2.html
Once you’ve done the pre-wash you should be ready to get going with the hand-wash. For this we recommend using a high quality lambswool wash mitt in place over traditional sponges, and the use of a PH neutral shampoo in conjunction with the Two Bucket Method. For this you need two buckets, two grit-guards (these are an absolute must). The way the two bucket method works is that you have one bucket of water with your shampoo and you have one bucket of fresh rinse water. Load the mitt with suds, wash one panel of the car and then rinse the mitt thoroughly in the second bucket to release any trapped particles of dirt, before reloading the mitt with suds and moving on to the next panel. Start by washing the roof first, then the windows and windscreens, then the door panels and bonnet, and finishing with the bumpers and sills, making sure that you wash in a back and forth straight line motion and not a circular motion. If your car is very dirty you will notice that the bucket containing fresh water will start to change colour with the dirt that you have removed from the car as the mitt is rinsed out after every panel. If the rinse water becomes very dirty replace it with clean fresh water not forgetting to rinse out the bucket before re-filling
wash mitt - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Sonus_Genuine_Wool_Car_Wash_Mitt_1.html
Buckets and grit guards - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Meguiars_Grit_Guard_Bucket_1.html
Shampoo - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Meguiars_Hyper_Wash_3.html or http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Duragloss_901_Car_Wash_Concentrate_1.html
It is better to wash your car in the shade if you can to prevent the suds from drying out and leaving water marks. If this is not possible, on really hot days you should begin rinsing off as soon as each panel is washed. When rinsing off we first recommend using the pressure washer followed by a hose with all of the end attachments removed, this encourages the rinse water to sheet off the panels making drying easier.
To dry the car off we recommend pat drying using a microfiber drying towel – we don’t really make any alternative recommendations when it comes to drying towels, as there’s nothing else out there that comes anywhere close to this (in our opinion!). If you’ve got any chamois leathers lurking in your existing car care collection, ditch it in the same bin as the sponge!
Drying towels - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/I4D_Uber_Premium_Drying_Towel_1.html
I get asked on a regular basis what sort of things you should all be doing to take care of your car. To help you get started, I have put together a step by step “wash guide” and will add to this other stages such as “claying, waxing”
If you’re just starting out with car care there are a couple of items that we would class as “must haves” and then of course your collection can be added to as and when necessary to build up a selection of products that will not only make maintenance of the car much easier but will also and more importantly, achieve excellent results. Not only is it important to make sure you have a selection of good quality products, but it’s essential to use them in the right way with the right techniques.
The first thing you need to make sure you have is a good “wash” regime with a good collection of “wash” products... this is because most of the damage such as swirl marks and random scratches can be inflicted during the wash stage if done incorrectly and using the incorrect products.
Part 1 -Cleaning wheels and washing car
Cleaning the Wheels...
To start off with, clean the wheels first – this ensures that you don’t waste time washing the car and then go and splash water and dirt all over it again when you wash the wheels off!
Begin by spraying the wheels liberally with a dedicated wheel cleaner – we recommend Bilberry Wheel Cleaner as it’s safe on both polished and lacquered wheels, it’s completely acid-free, it’s easy to use and most importantly, works amazingly! Be sure to spray the wheel cleaner inside the wheels as well as on the surface. For very heavily soiled wheels use the Bilberry neat or diluted 1:1. For lightly soiled wheels, dilute the Bilberry between 1:5 – 1:10. Leave the solution on the wheels for a few minutes to loosen off any dirt and brake dust.
Starting with the insides of the wheels, gently agitate the Bilberry – we find that the EZ Detail Brush is excellent for this, as it gets in behind the spokes to get the insides of the wheels nice and clean. Clean the surface/faces of the wheels by agitating the Bilberry using a soft bristled brush. Once you’ve cleaned the insides of the wheels as well as the surface, rinse the arches and the wheels thoroughly with fresh water... best results will be achieved using a pressure washer.
Bilberry wheel cleaner - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Bilbery_Safe_Wheel_Cleaner_2.html
EZ wheel brush - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/EZ_Detail_Brush_2.html
Soft bristled Wheel brush - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Soft_Round_Wheel_brush_2.html
Washing the Car...
The first thing to do when washing the car is to get as much loose dirt and grime off as possible before you make contact with it. The more you remove, the less chance you have of inflicting any damage when you do wash it. The best way to do this is with a pressure washer and a foam lance. This will give you a really thick coating of foam that helps to loosen and lift the dirt on the car. The benefit here is that the bulk of dirt removal is done before a wash mitt is placed on the car, which greatly reduces the risk of inflicting marring and fine scratches during the hand-washing process. Spray the foam all over the car and leave to dwell for around 5 minutes. Depending on how dirty the car is, you should be able to see the muck in the foam as it drips off the bottom of the car. Be sure to rinse all of the foam off the car before it dries.
Foam Lance - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/HD_Snow_Foam_Lance_1L.html
Snow Foam - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Meguiars_Hyper_Wash_2.html
Once you’ve done the pre-wash you should be ready to get going with the hand-wash. For this we recommend using a high quality lambswool wash mitt in place over traditional sponges, and the use of a PH neutral shampoo in conjunction with the Two Bucket Method. For this you need two buckets, two grit-guards (these are an absolute must). The way the two bucket method works is that you have one bucket of water with your shampoo and you have one bucket of fresh rinse water. Load the mitt with suds, wash one panel of the car and then rinse the mitt thoroughly in the second bucket to release any trapped particles of dirt, before reloading the mitt with suds and moving on to the next panel. Start by washing the roof first, then the windows and windscreens, then the door panels and bonnet, and finishing with the bumpers and sills, making sure that you wash in a back and forth straight line motion and not a circular motion. If your car is very dirty you will notice that the bucket containing fresh water will start to change colour with the dirt that you have removed from the car as the mitt is rinsed out after every panel. If the rinse water becomes very dirty replace it with clean fresh water not forgetting to rinse out the bucket before re-filling
wash mitt - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Sonus_Genuine_Wool_Car_Wash_Mitt_1.html
Buckets and grit guards - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Meguiars_Grit_Guard_Bucket_1.html
Shampoo - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Meguiars_Hyper_Wash_3.html or http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Duragloss_901_Car_Wash_Concentrate_1.html
It is better to wash your car in the shade if you can to prevent the suds from drying out and leaving water marks. If this is not possible, on really hot days you should begin rinsing off as soon as each panel is washed. When rinsing off we first recommend using the pressure washer followed by a hose with all of the end attachments removed, this encourages the rinse water to sheet off the panels making drying easier.
To dry the car off we recommend pat drying using a microfiber drying towel – we don’t really make any alternative recommendations when it comes to drying towels, as there’s nothing else out there that comes anywhere close to this (in our opinion!). If you’ve got any chamois leathers lurking in your existing car care collection, ditch it in the same bin as the sponge!
Drying towels - http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/I4D_Uber_Premium_Drying_Towel_1.html
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