Just spent £271

[jamiebennett81]

I must be mad, but I am determined to get the car in an almost show like condition this year

most expensive buy was the new Meguiars polisher with set of pads and Meguiars polish and glaze...time to get rid of the swirls, although a bit nervous as its the first time I have done anything like this...but I am sure I will soon learn how to do it

just bought from cleanyourcar.co.uk:

Product: Miracle Dryer - Ultra Plush 25" x 36"Quantity: 1Product Code: MIC_721Price: £10.17

Product: Sonus Ultra Fine Detailing Clay pkg/2Quantity 1

Product Code: SON-3200-2Price: £11.87

Product: Victoria Wax - 3oz Concours WaxQuantity: 1

Product Code: VICR4Price: £15.31

Product: Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel CleanerQuantity: 1

Product Code: G9524Price: £5.95

Product: Meguiars Foam Applicators Pkg/2Quantity: 1

Product Code: MEG16Price: £2.51

Product: Meguiars G220 - Complete Meguiars KitQuantity: 1

Product Code: G220-meguiarsPrice: £170.17

Product: 3M 3434 Masking TapeQuantity: 1

Product Code: 3M3434Price: £2.38

Product: Sonus Der Wunder Polishing Towel, Pkg/2Quantity: 1

Product Code: SON-DWPT-2Price: £7.62

So am I mad?

I think a better word would be "Enthusiast"

 

[Forbez]

Err nope, spent £450 last year, and have cleaned 2 cars since, total number of washes done =3.
Most of the stuff is still in its wrappers. May order some stuff this week, and then get back into it.

I'm mad!

Hope you shopped around for the prices, or at least got discount. I normally add the same stuff into the basket at each site, and then add discounts, and see which gets you the best deal.

 

[jamiebennett81]

erm no i didnt.....opps, oh well

I was a fanatic last summer, and will be even more so

my mate was excited as he wants me to polish his...once i have learnt how to do mine...reckon some money could be made here he he!

 

[Jace]

Thats nothing

Wait til you find yourself buying stuff for no reason


Anyway, at least you should have some free £££ from your points earnt at CYC.

Did you mean to buy 2 lots of Clay ? Saying that, the sonus green is quite mild & the meguirs slightly more agressive, so you should be ok for all areas.

 

[Willie]

Aye it gets a hold of you, my bill 2 years ago was about £900. This included a Porter cable. But as said about you do tend to buy alot of stuff you don't need or wont use. I was mega finatical about it as in washing car every day and polishing/buffing/waxing whenever possible. Roll on the summer.
As said above with the two clays, it does seem alot. Were you advised to buy two?
Im now using clay so much now, just using tar and glue remover and making sure to re wax after

 

[jamiebennett81]

Aye it gets a hold of you, my bill 2 years ago was about £900. This included a Porter cable. But as said about you do tend to buy alot of stuff you don't need or wont use. I was mega finatical about it as in washing car every day and polishing/buffing/waxing whenever possible. Roll on the summer.
As said above with the two clays, it does seem alot. Were you advised to buy two?
Im now using clay so much now, just using tar and glue remover and making sure to re wax after

you can never have too much clay

Don't think I have ever bought anything I don't need yet, so it keeps the bill down a bit

been reading up on polishing guides, but its still nervous about doing it for the first time...reading guides can only help so much, but its actually doing it and doing it well...but I am sure it will be fine

you guys got any tips for using a polisher?

 

[Willie]

www.polishedbliss.co.uk is all you'll ever need
As for the polisher
Mist the pad with a couple of sprays of your detailing/clay lubricant.
A good swirl of the polishing product and start off at a medium speed with medium pressure. Pick an easy patch for a start ie 1/4 of the bonnet. Use your lightest abbrasive, concentrate on this small area and do 2 passes. With a damp mirco fibre cloth clean off the polish and with a plush MF throughly clean the area, inspect to check the results. This process will be stepped up by increasing the pressure, speed and number of passes (watching out of the polish drying, powdering or braking down fully. Then check results. If its still well swirled step back down on speed and pressure but step up on the abbrasiveness (is that a word) of the polish. Them same as the first time(with a new pad) mist etc.
Basically you carry on like this until you find a pressure, speed and polish that works for the job your doing. It's not a quick process but hang in there and you will get amazing results.
Obviously it goes without saying that you have to prep the car to a very high standard before using the polisher. Wash, dry and remove all the surface bonded contaminants.

Let use know how you get on but the web site above is a very very good starting place

 

[jamiebennett81]

thanks fella

that site is a very good guide and certianly makes things a lot more clearer

 

[Forbez]

my mate was excited as he wants me to polish his...once i have learnt how to do mine...reckon some money could be made here he he!

Polish his first, its more practice for when you do yours!

 

[Willie]

Yup I second that as he'll expect it for free so good time to learn

 

[Jace]

You should have bought some MENZERNA, the Megs stuff will be hard work to cut through the defects, the menz seems to work a lot better on vag paints

 

[Willie]

I'll second that.
Thats what I spent most of my money on, the full menzerna range, not had any gripes about it. Its managed everything I've thrown at it

 

[Adam R]

what would you lads reccomend for some one on a budget ? im looking for a machine polisher and some cutting compounds to get my paint looking good again, i have never used a machine polisher, only done stuff by hand before.

my budget is around the £200 ish mark and i have no equipment as of yet.

 

[jamiebennett81]

what would you lads reccomend for some one on a budget ? im looking for a machine polisher and some cutting compounds to get my paint looking good again, i have never used a machine polisher, only done stuff by hand before.

my budget is around the £200 ish mark and i have no equipment as of yet.

this is what I bought - £199.99

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polis...iars-g220-complete-meguiars-kit/prod_416.html

 

[Jace]

my budget is around the £200 ish mark and i have no equipment as of yet.

This is the Kit I'd suggest

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polis...iars-g220-complete-menzerna-kit/prod_414.html

& this to top it off with

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wax/victoria-wax/victoria-wax-3oz-concours-wax/prod_312.html

you'll need some of these too

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/micro...plush-detailing-towels-27-x-17-/prod_317.html

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/accessories/foam-wax-applicator/prod_89.html

 

[Adam R]

This is the Kit I'd suggest

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polis...iars-g220-complete-menzerna-kit/prod_414.html

& this to top it off with

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/wax/victoria-wax/victoria-wax-3oz-concours-wax/prod_312.html

you'll need some of these too

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/micro...plush-detailing-towels-27-x-17-/prod_317.html

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/accessories/foam-wax-applicator/prod_89.html

i have more decent microfibre towels than you can shake a stick at.

how do you rate the victoria concours wax ?

 

[Willie]

If your managing to polish your car by hand then removing the swirls should be possible for you too. The only benifits of the polisher is speed (rotations and pressure) both of these are possible with your hand, the correct polishs (abbrasive ones) and a lot of elbow grease. A tighter budget doesn't mean you have to settle for a swirled car if you've got the time to do it.
There is a post on the MK1 leon section of a few guys with T cut getting rid of the swirls on their cars by hand. I wouldn't suggest you used T cut but it is very possible.
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=147596&highlight=cut

 

[Adam R]

If your managing to polish your car by hand then removing the swirls should be possible for you too. The only benifits of the polisher is speed (rotations and pressure) both of these are possible with your hand, the correct polishs (abbrasive ones) and a lot of elbow grease. A tighter budget doesn't mean you have to settle for a swirled car if you've got the time to do it.
There is a post on the MK1 leon section of a few guys with T cut getting rid of the swirls on their cars by hand. I wouldn't suggest you used T cut but it is very possible.
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=147596&highlight=cut

i can polish my car by hand but its not getting it swirl free, and my arm aches like a bugger afterwards.

was looking to get my car in showroom condition/.

 

[jamiebennett81]

i can polish my car by hand but its not getting it swirl free, and my arm aches like a bugger afterwards.

was looking to get my car in showroom condition/.

you will never get rid of swirl marks by hand...you need a proper polisher for it...hence all the pro's use a polisher

all the different grade polishes recommend you use a machine. I read the article on polishedbliss about polishing. A polisher can orbit something like 6000 times minute (or was it 5 mins)

you think you can wax on, wax off 6000 times a minute? good luck my friend.....which just gives a good example of why a polisher is needed!

I have just ordered the victoria concours wax....as it comes highly recommended. I am sure you cannot go much wrong with it!

 

[Adam R]

yup, polishers can do the work so much faster than i could by hand. and use less abrasive polish compounds to do so.