Newbie: What products should I add to my inventory?

S

Sicarius123

New member
Hey guys,



We have been plagued by water restrictions here, leaving us to use public car washes or face harsh fines, meaning the only way you could have a legally perfect looking car was to pay huge prices for a proffessional detailer, but these are soon to be lifted.



Okay, right here I have myself:



Cleaners



A) Meguiars Gold Class car wash shampoo and conditioner

B) Mothers Plastic Polish



Cloths



A) Meguiars microfibre Microwipe Polishing cloth

B) 2x Meguiars 100% cotton Polishing towels

c) 2x Meguiars hand applicator pads

d) a soft sponge

e) a good chamois, best I've ever owned.



What else do you guys recomend I go out and buy for cleaning my car? Going to need to do a very thorough wash with a good buff and scratch removers, too long of public washes.



Dan.
 
Clay, some good APC, Wheel and tire brushes, 2 good buckets, more MF towels for interior and exterior cleaning, Plush MF's for LSP removal, 2 large WW MF towels for drying (ditch the chamois), 2 or more Lambs wool mitts. Thats all I can think of right now. Megs make great brushes that you can buy most anywhere. For the MF's I recommend Pakshak or Exceldetail.
 
APC = All Purpose Cleaner

WW = Waffle Weave microfiber drying towel

MF = Microfiber



If you washed your car in the garage with a couple buckets and no hose, would that be OK? You could use Quick and Easy Wash (QEW) in the garage. I live in an apartment building so I have to wash my car in the garage every time. I do it every few days, with no problems.
 
Yea I think I'm going to park behind my gate and clean it with buckets and a trigger hose before the restrictions go out of place, we only recently had the area surfaces, was uneven dirt and grass before so cleaning there wasnt possible.



Two other questions;



What is the best method of cleaning inside of windows, glass for the front and tint for the sides/rear? My car was in a workshop for a ground up rebuild for a while, and the front window was removed/targa off for a few months leaving some kind of grime/residue on the windows.



What is the best method and materials needed to buff out light scratches in the paint?



Thanks a lot,



Dan.
 
I clean glass with a microfiber applicator and water most of the time. Then I dry them with a MF towel. If the water doesn't cut it, I use a tint-safe glass cleaner.



To buff out light scratches, your best bet is to get a Porter Cable 7424/7336 orbital polisher, but it is also possible to do it by hand. I wouldn't waste your time doing a whole car by hand though. If you've just got a few isolated scratches, that's one thing.
 
Well just went out and spent AU$200 on stuff, so will give it a shot this weekend. More stuff I would of liked to buy, but ran out of cash.



Now I've got myself:

soft sea sponge

chamois (couldn't find a microfibre drying cloth, so will stick with this for now)

Meguiars lambswool wash mitt

Meguiars microwipe polishing cloth

Kenco microfibre glass cloth

Kenco alloy wheel brush

Performance Plus 10" orbital polisher



Meguiars high tech yellow wax

meguiars quick clay detailing system

meguiars gold class car wash shampoo

meguiars show car glaze

mothers plastic polish

303 vinyl protectant

meguiars glass cleaner

meguiars hot rims alloy wheel cleaner

powerplus tyre shine



As long as the weather holds, will clean her up tomorrow and post pics of the results :)



Dan.
 
Detailing product shopping can be addictive, eh? ;)



Sounds likeyou got some pretty good stuff. Not a big fan of using a chamois to dry, but eh... Just be careful. Eventually I'd buy a big waffle-weave drying towel (the ones from PoorboysWorld.com are fantastic - just like pretty much all Poorboys World products are).



If you'll be under water restrictions for much longer, definitely take a look at QEW (Quick & Easy Wash). I don't have water restrictions, but I use it anyway. Works just as good as bucket & hose, much quicker, and I can wash my car in the garage any time I want - best of all, it takes only about 1/2 gallon of water in a single bucket for my 5 door focus - no rinsing required!



Sounds like you've got good stuff though, and a nice car! So get some pics up for us to drool over! ;)

(Plus maybe some details on any mods you might have done to it? :) )
 
Almost as addictive as vehicle modifications, once you start, you can't stop, always something next on the list :D



Will post up pics with details after a good clean (pending good weather of course).



Dan.
 
Sicarius123 said:
What exactly is that used for?



Dan.
Click to expand...



If you're referring to the Spray and Wipe, it is used as a waterless wash type of product. Comes in a spray bottle, much like a QD, but has greater cleaning ability and less gloss enchancing properties than a QD. You spray it on a panel, and gently wipe it dry with a plush MF towel. Of course, you only want to use it when the car is moderately dusty... as in too dusty to QD, but not dirty enough to wash or even use QEW on. It can really prolong the time between conventional washes.
 
Well since it stopped raining for a bit, I thought I'd take some "before" pics before washing tomorrow of the car wet and dirty. Looking at the pics is another reason I love the Toyota Anthracite, it's a lovely dark near black colour, but hides most of the dirty, car looks mostly clean in pictures, nowhere near as dirty as it really is :p Still will be a big improvement when cleaned, especially when I get the bits of dried fibreglass off the front bumper.



So here we have, BEFORE pics.



Dan.
 

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