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"Short term" car cleaning question


ByteJuggler

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OK, I've had the car paintshielded last Saturday, and was told to not wash the car with car shampoo for at least a week to allow the paintshield to cure. Which is fine, but it's been a mucky week and the car is now relatively dirty, so I want to give her a good clean the weekend. I've got a Supaguard aftercare kit, including the shampoo (which should be fine I suppose), a sponge ( :scare::surrender: don't like the idea of sponges and carwash myself, I'll probably steer clear of that), a chamois, some type of supaguard after-care polish and a few other cans of varying kinds (wheel stuff etc.)

 

As I say, I want to wash her as she's rather mucky after the last week of iffy weather, but haven't had time to order/get hold of really good stuff, so I'm wondering if anyone has any reccomendations on reasonable stuff that I can use in the interim, that I can e.g. pick up from Halfords. (Bearing in mind the car is black so I especially want to avoid creating scratches/swirl marks etc.) Or should I just use the Supaguard shampoo etc and be done with it? (I almost certainly want to get something else to wash with, microfibre washmitt or summit maybe.)

 

Advice gratefully received. :please:

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Kit list is something along the lines of:-

2 buckets

Wash mitt

Sponge (not for paint work, wheels etc)

Shampoo (not with any wax / shine promises!)

Water magnet / drying towel

Clay bar (and water sprayer / lubricant)

Polish (very mild cut)

Wax / Protector

As many lint free clothes you can afford

Microfibre cloth for proper shine

 

As for the wheels, personally I wouldn't use any cleaner, they're all acidic and all ruin wheels IMO. Use water.

 

As Sarnie said Halfords do Meguiars, I mainly use Auto Glym stuff at the mo, both have offers at the moment too with gift packs for half decent money. :)

 

EDIT: Jusr re-reading your post, you can drop the clay bar if you're waiting to get other stuff, but with the black it might be worth it.

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Whats a clay bar?

 

Its clay :)

 

Its used to remove microparticles of dirt of the paintwork, but you have to be careful with it as it is fairly aggressive on the protective coating on your paint, so better only use it before applying a new layer of wax to the car, and not after every wash ;)

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Kit list is something along the lines of:-

 

Much appreciated, the list is great thanks! (I just want something to tide me over in the meantime, until I can research things properly and decide what to do going forward... maybe get some Zaino or something else that's regarded highly. Anyway...)

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DON'T USE A SPONGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Use something like a mitt or one of those covered sponges that halfords sell with twisted dreads. It is the smoothness and roughness of modern artificial sponges that causes the damage in my opinion.

Swirl marks are caused by sponges and agressive polishing and can be easily and successfully avoided.

My car has only seen polish once since I bought it and that was after the initial clay barring. Since then it only gets WAX

The surface of the paint is still 'baby's bottom' smooth and dirt drops off with a hose and a mitt.

Also.

Don't use washing up liquid. It it is too strong and can take off all the wax and/or polish that you so lovingly put on the week before.

Ming the Careful

PS Carnuba WAX when used properly ROCKS in my humble opinion

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Whats a clay bar?

 

Its clay :)

 

Its used to remove microparticles of dirt of the paintwork, but you have to be careful with it as it is fairly aggressive on the protective coating on your paint, so better only use it before applying a new layer of wax to the car, and not after every wash ;)

 

twice a year it's plenty for claybarring.

 

It's not "aggressive" as you put it, but there's no point in using it after waxing, as it'll strip the wax as well as the dirts :)

 

It's one of the most effective things I've ever used. It's amazing how much crap it takes away from the paintwork, which you can't even see!

 

The proofs are 2:

 

1- after finishing washing the car, pass a hand onto a panel. You'll feel lots of invisible crap stuck to it. Do it again after claybarring....

 

2- look at the claybar surface after an application before kneading it, and see how much crap it has taken off your paint

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Personally i only claybar twice a year too, once in March just after all the Winter rubbish has cleared from the roads and then once in August/September, i only polish on those times too and the rest i just wax the car.

This was for the MG and the paintwork was immaculate, i will be doing the same to the zed too :teeth:

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Personally i only claybar twice a year too, once in March just after all the Winter rubbish has cleared from the roads and then once in August/September, i only polish on those times too and the rest i just wax the car.

This was for the MG and the paintwork was immaculate, i will be doing the same to the zed too :teeth:

 

As with all the comments above, don't use a sponge on the paintowrk, wash mitt only. Sponge is on the list for wheels and arches to get the worst off.

Clay bar is a very occasional thing agreed, and it's not overly harsh. If used properly with a decent lubrication then it does exactly as intended and pulls the contaminants out of the paint. I then add polish after that and only then, and then add Extra Deep Shine and then a clear coat. Then I top it up through the year with a wash and show shine, with an occasional coat of Extra Deep when the glass feeling is lost. :)

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