Cleaning Product Choices

[Smocky]

Hey all,

So my shiney white paint is getting pretty dirty, pretty quickly.

What cleaning products do you guys use for the paintwork, rims, glass and interior?

Preferably I want something that isn't going to oxidize the paint and a decent wax to coat it regularly. Chose not to spend $4,000 on paint protection so I if I spend good money on cleaning products I am way ahead.

Of course I could just go read the ads, but what do you guys swear buy to look after your pride and joy?

Smocky.

PS I did do some research first, but couldn't find a thread on this in the past year or two.

[RobA]

Seems to be a couple of choices in this forum; autoglym and megrims. Both are systems in that you have a good deal of choice of varying paint and trim treatments.

We have been using Meguirs for far longer than I care to mention and find it very good for cleaning paintwork, trim, glass and leather interior. Others will have different preferences to share

The key to maintenance is to start with clean undamaged paintwork and put a couple of coats of polish on it over a month or so to build up the protection. After that we do ours about every three months as it gets a lot of work and very dirty in the process. Salt spray and outback red dust are course hazards for us

One other issue is to not "cut" scratches rather fill them with polish as cutting back removes layers of paint. On big trips and places like Beachport where bush pinstripes are unavoidable we use a product called Road Warrior Plus pain protection. It's a roll-on rubber paint and two layers of it works a treat. A bit difficult to remove but a lot easier then having to put another 2-3 coats of polish back on

Rob

[letherm]

Hey all,

What cleaning products do you guys use for the paintwork, rims, glass and interior?

I use Bowdens Wheely Clean for the rims. It was recommended from this forum. Works well with the excessive brake dust.

Martin

[Smocky]

That's awesome info, thanks Rob. Looks like I have a buys weekend coming up !!

So clean it first, then use Meguirs or AutoGlym Polish on it. And I should look to do a coat maybe each weekend for the first month? After that it's maintenance.

We get a really nasty, sticky sap that falls from the Jacaranda tree, so I want to get it well coated before then. Crap gets everywhere

[jonesy63]

I use Bowdens Wheely Clean for the rims. It was recommended from this forum. Works well with the excessive brake dust.

Martin

+ agree with this.. the best wheel cleaning product I've ever used.

Of course, change to Akebono pads and you have to use the cleaner less often!

[Ghost-Who-Walks]

Hi

I'm a bit of a novice at "looking after" the paintwork.
When I got my original Disco 1, I polished it (probably Turtle Wax or something like that) after every offroad trip - there were lots of places to get scratches in Arnhem Land! That lasted for about 6mths, before I tired of that - my arms just about fell off!

When I got the Disco 4 (2nd hand), it was in pretty good nick, so I thought I'd better try again...

I use Meguirs Gold Class 'shampoo' (the suds in the bucket), with a microfibre mit. I do this as often as I can, which probably ends up every couple of months.

Then I use Meguirs Canuba Wax to 'protect' the paint. It does an awesome job of keeping stains/heavy marks off the paint. Any marks (from birds, trees, bugs etc) just wash off with the next wash, and don't leave any stains.
The wax smells great when you're applying it too!
I'd like to do this more often, but it's at least every 6mths between waxes (so probably gets a wax every 3 or 4 cleans)...

No science, but it works well for a 'small' amount of effort - car still looks ok (IMHO)!!

Rob

[eddomak]

I switched from the regular brands (Kitten, Shelleys, Turtle etc) to Meguiars many years ago, and haven't looked back. The suds are so much more slippery, and you need so much less of the product.

Each line of products seem progressively better than the next, from Soft Wash Gel (pink), to Gold Class (yellow), to the new NXT (purple) series, but the price in dollar value is only marginal, so go for the NXT. Usually the cheapest place to get this is Supercheap Auto when they go on 20% sale, or when they are on sale on SCA's eBay site and sometimes you can combine an extra 20% discount from an eBay promo code. (I have just bought 2.5L of AutoGlym premium that has RRP $31 for $12.50 on such a deal recently but haven't had a chance to try it).

There are lots of hints and tips on the Meguiars website as to how to wash a car "properly" to help avoid scratches & swirl marks (2 bucket method, lambswool/noodle mit, bucket grates, separate sponge/bucket for wheels/greasy areas, etc etc). Then, as others have said, there is the polish/protect phases.

[RobA]

That's awesome info, thanks Rob. Looks like I have a buys weekend coming up !!

So clean it first, then use Meguirs or AutoGlym Polish on it. And I should look to do a coat maybe each weekend for the first month? After that it's maintenance.

We get a really nasty, sticky sap that falls from the Jacaranda tree, so I want to get it well coated before then. Crap gets everywhere

Smocky check your auto stores for specials as you can really get some good discounts off retail at the moment. The list of meguirs stuff we have is based around their X20 car wash and cleaner and the wax. Latter is extremely easy to wipe on using a special applicator to ensure you only use a very small amount at a time. When applying to virgin paintwork you need to apply a couple of coats to fill the voids in the paintwork. But you don't need to spend a weekend doing it. To clean and wax our D4 takes me around 2 hours. You need to purchase with the wax a yellow and red set of special cloths which work really well to in the first instance remove the dry wax and secondly to then lightly polish the car. You know when you have got the paintwork right when you touch it and it feels very slippery. Also use their wheel cleaner, leather cleaner and restorer as well

I would not apply coats over four weekends life is too short. Do one each fortnight in the first month that should be all you need

Rob

[rar110]

I buy car wash gear from carcareproducts.com.au.

For a regular wash I use a pressure cleaner to clean the wheels then the body to remove dirk and grit. I then use Perls shampoo (microfibre mitt & 2 bucket method). If the paint feels reasonably grit free (use plastic bag as glove and wipe hand over the paint to see if feels gritty) I'll spray on wax Gyeon Wetcoat which protects the paint. I then dry the car with a microfibre towel.

If the paint feels gritty (looks clean but has contaminates) I also use Mint clay bar and lube juice. A new car should be clean but plastic bag method will tell you. Clay bar makes the paint feel so smooth and clean. Removing contaminants extends the paint life. I do this twice a year as our cars live outside.

[cafe latte]

What do you guys use to get splattered bugs off paint and glass? My Landy is a Defender so its brick shape pics up quite a few splattered bugs.
Cheers
Chris