Recent content by MattB

I don't like bird crap on my car. It looks terrible and it's bad for the paint. Is there any good way to spot clean bird crap off a car without washing the entire exterior? Sometimes I don't have time for a full ONR wash but don't want to leave the waste on my vehicle which could potentially...

I noticed that a couple of tiny rock chips (maybe the size of the point of a toothpick) on the roof of my car were down to bare metal and were showing signs of oxidation (barely noticable, but observable upon a very close look). What is the best way to deal with this kind of thing and prevent it...

I was cleaning my car yesterday and had applied some tire shine foam to my tires when a gust of wind blew up and deposited some of the tire foam onto one of the car's brake calipers. I haven't been able to get it off...the caliper looks wet and shiny, not noticeable but I don't really like it...

I was cleaning and conditioning the leather seats in my car today and noticed thin lines in some spots that were seemingly random and appeared slightly raised though not enough to noticably feel running my hand across them. Is this just naturally part of the leather or an indication of wear or...

My car has the usual assorted rock chips on it, and I'm planning on hitting them all with a touchup paint pen. Before I do, I want to make sure that none of them have gone down to bare metal. They all look kind of white as opposed to the grey paint that's on the car. Am I looking at primer or...

As I mentioned in another thread, I accidentally put a nasty scratch on the lip of my car's hood this morning. Because of that and because there are other rock chips on the car, I've ordered a bottle of touchup paint. Is there anything in particular that I need to do to prep the spots that I'm...

This morning I was washing my car and had the wipers flipped up to wash the windshield. I then decided to wipe down the engine bay. Not thinking, I opened the hood with the wipers still flipped up. The result was two scratches (thankfully not large ones, but ones that will need to be touched up...

I was giving my car a quick interior/exterior cleaning today and noticed that there was some kind of dirt or something coating my turn signal stalk. I rubbed at it with my finger and it came off but left an ugly residue that makes the thing look really bad. Is there a good way to clean these things?

The microfiber cloth I used to wash my car with ONR is unsurprisingly dirty. What's the best way to clean it?

I like keeping my car clean. Unfortunately when I'm at college down in Virginia I have no access to a hose. So based on recommendations from members here I bought a bottle of ONR. I washed my car with it this morning and I'm really impressed with how well it worked. Easy to use, easy to dry, and...

My car is COVERED in salt and road grime. Unfortunately down here at school I have no water source, so I'm limited to machine washes. Which method is the lesser of the evils? (soft cloth, touchfree, etc.)

There's some ice in the area between the trunk lid and rear windshield on my car. If I try to remove it, am I in danger of scratching the paint on the inside of the trunk lid? The ice isn't really stuck or anything, but I'm concerned about it scraping against the paint on the inside of the trunk...

My driver's side seat has a couple of weird spots on it. They're small and completely unnoticable unless you're really looking closely at the seat, but they're small circular areas that are slightly lighter than the rest of the seat. I tried 3M leather cleaner and conditioner on it but it...

I just had my car protected for the winter/detailed by an Autopian down here in the Williamsburg area (got_leather). The car looks great, and I want to keep it looking as good as possible through the winter. Problem is that I go home to the Boston area during December (I go to school down here...

I called a local detailing shop to see about having the exterior of my car washed/clayed/polished/waxed to get it ready for winter. This place has been in business since 1990 so I figure they know what they're doing. They told me it would be $120, or $170 if I opted for a Teflon sealant that was...