My Cleaning Plan

[PaulD]

I posted this at the end of another thread but thought I'd start a thread of its own in case people wanted to critique my plan. I'd be grateful for any thoughts/advice and thought it more appropriate to seek that on a separate thread.

Anyway, having just bought a new Leon FR+, complete with shiney black paintwork that's looking very nice indeed I am motivated to keep it that way!

Having spent quite a while reading up on things I now have a fairly detailed list of products, a weekly wash plan, a monthly wash plan, and a quarterly wash plan! Oh and I think I have OCD too!

Basically, to summarise, my plans are as follows:

Weekly Summary

• Hoover interior. Apply product to interior plastics and trim. Clean interior glass.
• Wash and dry inside of doors, sills, boot and wheel arches. Apply quik wax.
• Clean and rinse wheels.
• Wash car from top down. Dry car and apply quik wax to car and wheels.
• Apply tyre gel.
• Apply metal polish to exhaust.

Monthly Summary
Wash as per "Weekly Summary" (minus the application of any quik wax), plus:

• Check for contaminants on paintwork. If ok, proceed to apply non-abrasive 'pure' polish. Finally, apply chosen wax to body and wheels.
• If paintwork not ok, consider claying, using a paint cleaner, before applying a non-abrasive 'pure' polish and, finally, applying a new coat (at least one coat) of chosen wax.

Quarterly Summary
Wash as per "Weekly Summary" (minus the application of any quik wax), plus:

• Clean paintwork from contaminants, remove existing wax, reapply polish and reapply wax.

 

[jonjay]

Here are my thoughts

Weekly
- Always wash wheels and arches first. Clean buckets afterwards.
- Wash car from top down is good. Always rinse mitt after two passes on each panel.
- Quik wax on wheels is a waste of product as it will die quite quickly. You need a strong synthetic sealant
- Weekly application of metal polish is overkill. You should seal the metal with a sealant and just wash to keep clean.

Monthly
- Polishing the car monthly is again a waste of product if you are applying quik wax on a weekly basis. The idea of applying a maintenance wax like quik wax is to keep containments off the car to begin with. If this is not working we need to review what products you are using and their application.
- Over polishing can cause swirls and rds. The less you touch the paint the better.

Quarterly
- Spot on. With a good sealant or wax and good application technique you might be able to get with 6 monthly process.

 

[PaulD]

Thanks jonjay - that's exactly the sort of feedback I was looking for..

Thanks for the point you make about over polishing.. in your opinion, would a monthly check for contaminants (and, if necessary, clean and repolish/wax) suffice? As you say, if the car is waxed and washed/quik waxed weekly then any contamination should be kept to a minimum..

Do you have any suggestions for a sealant for the wheels and metal?

I was thinking about NXT wax. Would you recommend anything else instead (that's not ridiculously expensive!)?

 

[butler2.8i]

I like chemical guys jetseal 109 on the wheels as you can also use it on your bodywork as part of a winter protection package.
Loads of decent waxs out there for various prices, your not far from me if you fancy trying some different waxs out to see what you like the look of before committing to buy a full pot.

 

[PaulD]

I'll check out the CG stuff you mention - thanks for that... thanks for the offer of trying out some waxes too.. I might just bite the bullet and buy a tub a month or something

 

[n_d_fox]

Cant fault any of the advice above, these guys know their beans so your in good hands. Bite Shauns arm off at the offer of trying stuff out... thats something you cant pass up ! - he'll no doubt be able to give you some pointers on application and use too if you need them

In essence the process you follow with the added comments from Maz are spot on. i'd maybe (as Maz suggested) look at pulling your quarterly process out to 6 monthly, using good quality products with decent durability will meet this easily.

I use Chemical Guys Wheel Guard on my wheels which is good for 3-4 months but there are products that give 6-12 months protection which are synthetic nano or crystal based products - they cost more and need more attention when applying but its an option.

HTH, Nige

 

[PaulD]

Cant fault any of the advice above, these guys know their beans so your in good hands. Bite Shauns arm off at the offer of trying stuff out... thats something you cant pass up ! - he'll no doubt be able to give you some pointers on application and use too if you need them

In essence the process you follow with the added comments from Maz are spot on. i'd maybe (as Maz suggested) look at pulling your quarterly process out to 6 monthly, using good quality products with decent durability will meet this easily.

I use Chemical Guys Wheel Guard on my wheels which is good for 3-4 months but there are products that give 6-12 months protection which are synthetic nano or crystal based products - they cost more and need more attention when applying but its an option.

HTH, Nige

Thanks for your comments Nige.. it's always good to have people offer advice and even better for others to back up that advice.. I'm currently 'refining' my plan and product list so will definitely check out the CG Wheel Guard you mention..

 

[killieboy123]

Here are my thoughts

- Always wash wheels and arches first. Clean buckets afterwards.

What's the benefit in this. I've always done mine last. Keen to pick up more tips though.

 

[Deleted member 77040]

what's the benefit in this. I've always done mine last. Keen to pick up more tips though.

+1

 

[wade.k10]

+1

I think it may be so that the dirt from the arches and wheels don't get blasted on to the clean body. may be wrong

 

[lawrieIbizaMk4]

I always do wheels and arches first, any dirt or brake dust that lands on the car from doing so will be washed away when you prewash/pre rinse.

It's common practise to do wheels while snow foam or degreaser is dwelling as well

 

[lawrieIbizaMk4]

Oh and as for wheel sealant, gtechniq c5 or swissvax autobahn are the dogs danglies

 

[TatoTDI]

My schedule

This is what i do...

Weekly

Clean arches and wheels with plain shampoo and a mf mitt
Tyres with a sponge and water
Wash the car with shampoo, incluiding grills and exhaust (this will keep your tailpipe clean after you polish it)
Tyre shine
Glass cleaning (if they need it)

For the interior couse its keeped extremely clean, dont fold down my windoes i just wiped all the plastics with a dry mf towel to remove dust, hoover the seats, floor and carpets

Every month

my weekly rutine plus

Aplly NXT 2.0 wax
Meguiars quick interior detailer wipe down
dress all plastics
polish headlights, metals or glass if necesary

Extreme cleaning for interior or polish for exterior can be perjudicial for you car