ilogikal1

Always... right up until I spot an Astra VXR then I just slink off in a huff knowing that I've lost at life yet again.

I'm sorry but it can. The more aggressive the clay the more likely it is to cause marring, similarly if the clay is too cold as it's less pliable. It is, after all, an abrasive substance by design.

Japan has 100ron, I believe.

I highly recommend the Microfiber Madness IncrediSponge. Great bit of kit. The point would be this Regardless of if you're doing a full detail or a maintenance wash, ideally you want a shampoo that cleans and lubricates well. Some do both a lot better than others do either. Have a read through this and take your pick.

I've used a number of them - some are better than others. The good; Mr Pink Maxi Suds II Bare Bones Speed Wipe Microfibre Wash Stripper Scent The bad; Sticky Wheel Cleaner (was a bit 'meh' rather than outright terrible) Diablo Wheel Cleaner Fabric Guard Orange Degreaser Clay Block & Luber New Car Smell air freshener

I was just about to say the VP snow foam is awful. Personally, I'd swap that with the Bilt Hamber Autofoam. I'd also swap out the NXT shampoo for... well, just about anything else frankly, Dodo Juice BoB is a good shout. I'd swap the clay kit for Bilt Hamber clay too - no need for a separate lube as it works with water, it's a bigger bar and it's it's cheaper. And a little tip for you, the drying towel will dry better when it's slightly damp than it will when it's dry.

That's pretty cool. Entirely pointless, but pretty cool.

So, after a trip up to Atkin followed by a not-so-short jaunt yesterday (well, I had to make sure the new brakes were bedded in properly ), I've covered just over 200 miles since applying WetCoat & HydrO2, the return leg yesterday was done in mostly heavy rain and the car was still remarkably clean - most of the visible dirt was left from rain during the week which had dried off before the car moved at all so left those sandy sort of water spots. Car was cleaned today, and apart from the lower areas and behind the wheels it took no more than a snow foam to completely clean the WetCoat & HydrO2 protected areas and even then the foam was beading higher up the panels within and on the glass - the self cleaning abilities of this stuff is simply astonishing considering the completely effortless application. BSD, Reload and C2 had been reapplied to the bonnet now, so that test is back on (again). A couple of new observations on that one; Reload makes a terrible QD, it didn't touch the fresh water marks from washing in the sun today. Surprisingly BSD, the quick detailer of the group, is surprisingly poor in this respect too although it did remove some of the water marks. C2 removed more than BSD but didn't remove them all. So now there are water marks sealed on the bonnet. That's not going to bother me much... BSD is still the grabbiest to buff and takes the most effort to apply. Reload is still the easiest to apply and buff. I was more thorough in buffing C2 this time, there's no visible streaks when dry but I thought that last time too. Today's rain is imminent, so expect beading pictures shortly.

Nice results, it looks great.

I only bought mine because I just wanted to be cool.

I got that the from someone the first time I parked my 10 year old, classic shape Impreza in the works car park. It was worth about £4.60 then! You should have seen his expression the day I pulled up in the Z. This, incidentally, was a guy who's never owned a car more than 3 years old, and at the time was driving a brand new Audi A8.

That's bound to be the result of a conversation that started with the words, "I've got this cunning idea to get around paying for image rights...".

Of course. It's spelt "apprentice". Oh and try Alex or Clark Motorsport for the cup holder.

That was done by some scum just walking past with something sharp in his hand.. Dont think anybody fell on it with a zip or button.... :scare: You seem to know an awful lot about how this occurred, Will.... just where were you at the time of the incident? Just playing devil's advocate a bit (more) here, that appears to be roughly at handbag-on-elbow height...

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/pb-soft-paint-polishing-kit-cat1.html Can't go wrong with that, any of the machines listed are fairly foolproof - got the DAS-6 myself.

Heat (not too much otherwise you'll burn the paint), Tardis and a lot of patience!

They appear to bare a remarkable resemblance to my nuts. They look like 350Z wheel nuts too...

http://www.paints4u.com/ if you give them the paint code, you can have it in just about form that paint comes in.

Yeah, I spotted that one back when he started it... I've been resisting the urge to try Bouncer's for a while now, at least until I've used some of the other waxes I've got first. It's interesting that he's been using Car-Chem Luxury shampoo to wash, I'll be moving over to Car-Chem Bespoke to see if that any similar effects on either BSD or Reload as G-Wash did with a view to using that for the duration of the test when I restart it. Although as I type that I'm now thinking of a new test - shampoos that claim to add protection....

I see so many on the roads! Must not be forum members Or just too embarrassed to admit it.

Kind of defeated by having the High Court Seal on both front doors though.

It rained. So that must mean it's time for some beading pics; WetCoat; HyrdO2 And Bathe+ on the roof The pictures of the doors didn't come out very well - one door has got WetCoat on, the other has HydrO2 on - so here's the best I can do for a side-by-side comparison between the two (WetCoat at the top, HydrO2 at the bottom); And this is just Bathe+ on the roof. The glass has Bathe+ topped with WetCoat on the right and Bathe+ topped with HydrO2 on the left; And just some general shots. A bit of flake pop anyone? Now you might notice the lack of C2/Reload/BSD shots... that'll be because I'm not happy that they are behaving normally after the last (first!) wash, so when I get chance I'm going to re-apply them and start again from scratch, so that one's on hold for the time being.

The secret wax is... ... not so secret. The manufacturer posted a picture on Instagram of them pouring out the wax. Waxybox then posted the very same picture themselves. It is

Reload lives! No idea what did it, nor what caused it in the first place yet (and I don't have any more G-Wash to find out) but all I've done to it since the G-Wash was pat dry with a microfibre waffle weave towel, left it untouched over night and just flood rinsed it today and both Reload and BSD are now behaving normally (C2 and FK already were) so the test continues. I'll see what happens next time I wash the car with a different shampoo. In the mean time, is it wrong that I want it to rain during the week so that I can get a HydrO2, WetCoat, Bathe+, BSD, Reload, C2v3 and FK2685 beading picture (or two)?