As a matter if interest, has anyone used a leaf blower to dry their car? Car washes use high speed blowers to dry as they just blow the water away.
Best cleaning/protecting products for the Leon?
- Thread starter jasonh
- Start date
As a matter if interest, has anyone used a leaf blower to dry their car? Car washes use high speed blowers to dry as they just blow the water away.
So do I. Not in the washing machine - dunking it in the pool a few times works well.
Halfords sell these and surprisingly they are cheaper than Amazon at £12.99.
http://www.halfords.com/motoring-tr...ling-products/farecla-g3-body-prep-clay-mitt#[object Object]
They sound good, let me know how you get on with it
Yes, will do. The mitt is double sided so you use one side for washing and the other for claying. It's like very sticky rubber. Will report back when I have tried it.
I bought from Amazon as they ship direct to Spain. Difficult to get things like that locally - the Spanish don't seem to look after their cars.
If it works, the benefit will be speed as it covers a much larger area than a lump of clay - the surface is about 5x5 inches and you can wash it clean and reuse it.
Some excellent advice in the thread already, here is my method....
Hand wash the car, utilising the 2 bucket method, with a microfiber wash mitt
2 bucket method is where you have 1 bucket of your soapy wash and 1 bucket of clean water, you dunk your wash mitt into the soap, wash one panel of the car and then rinse your wash mitt in the clean water to remove any grime, before dunking the wash mitt back into the soap to wash the next panel.
Dry the car off using a microfiber drying towel, do not use one of those blades
watch this vid:*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBo76v2je44
Polish or wax - use both.
polish 1st, then seal in the polish by applying a wax or sealant
Ideally, you should clay the car to prep the paintwork before applying the polish and wax/sealant
for claying - watch this:*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD9Qc84vSyY
So ideally:
Rinse car off with hose/jet wash
Snow foam (if really going to town)
wash (2 bucket method)
rinse car off
Clay the paintwork to prep (if necessary)
Polish
wax/Sealant
Also a huge Autoglym fan and have a lot of their gear including SRP, HD wax, Tar Remover, but I also use Poorboys black hole
I'd also recommend investing in a decent dual action machine polisher.
Get on detailingworld as well
Few pics of mine after a going over.....let the pics speak for themselves
Hand wash the car, utilising the 2 bucket method, with a microfiber wash mitt
2 bucket method is where you have 1 bucket of your soapy wash and 1 bucket of clean water, you dunk your wash mitt into the soap, wash one panel of the car and then rinse your wash mitt in the clean water to remove any grime, before dunking the wash mitt back into the soap to wash the next panel.
Dry the car off using a microfiber drying towel, do not use one of those blades
watch this vid:*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBo76v2je44
Polish or wax - use both.
polish 1st, then seal in the polish by applying a wax or sealant
Ideally, you should clay the car to prep the paintwork before applying the polish and wax/sealant
for claying - watch this:*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD9Qc84vSyY
So ideally:
Rinse car off with hose/jet wash
Snow foam (if really going to town)
wash (2 bucket method)
rinse car off
Clay the paintwork to prep (if necessary)
Polish
wax/Sealant
Also a huge Autoglym fan and have a lot of their gear including SRP, HD wax, Tar Remover, but I also use Poorboys black hole
I'd also recommend investing in a decent dual action machine polisher.
Get on detailingworld as well
Few pics of mine after a going over.....let the pics speak for themselves
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shinnnnyyyyy [b)]some excellent advice in the thread already, here is my method....
Hand wash the car, utilising the 2 bucket method, with a microfiber wash mitt
2 bucket method is where you have 1 bucket of your soapy wash and 1 bucket of clean water, you dunk your wash mitt into the soap, wash one panel of the car and then rinse your wash mitt in the clean water to remove any grime, before dunking the wash mitt back into the soap to wash the next panel.
Dry the car off using a microfiber drying towel, do not use one of those blades
watch this vid:*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbo76v2je44
polish or wax - use both.
Polish 1st, then seal in the polish by applying a wax or sealant
ideally, you should clay the car to prep the paintwork before applying the polish and wax/sealant
for claying - watch this:*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd9qc84vsyy
so ideally:
Rinse car off with hose/jet wash
snow foam (if really going to town)
wash (2 bucket method)
rinse car off
clay the paintwork to prep (if necessary)
polish
wax/sealant
also a huge autoglym fan and have a lot of their gear including srp, hd wax, tar remover, but i also use poorboys black hole
i'd also recommend investing in a decent dual action machine polisher.
Get on detailingworld as well
few pics of mine after a going over.....let the pics speak for themselves
Open your eyes, empty your wallet and swallow your weekends!Think it would be a very good idea to join detailing world, open your eyes fella....
I use Optimum no rinse wash & shine (two bucket method) + Optimum spray on wax.
I was sceptic in the beginning about not having to hose the car - but that doubt has now vanished, along with any dirt on the car since I have started using this combo, it is the most shiny car in the parking lot here at work.
Procedure:
1. Clean any rough dirt the normal way with normal water - I don't want sand grains and a'like on it for next steps - though some say it is not necessary.
2. Fill two buckets with hot water, add rinse and shine to each of them. (bucket 1 = clean, bucket 2 = dirty)
3. Cleaning only one part of the car at time - soak sponge in bucket 1, then gently wash with a light pressure as you normally do with a sponge.
4. put sponge in bucket 2 (this is where the dirt goes off.).
5. Dry the wet area with a dry microfiber cloth, still with a light touch.
6. Squeeze sponge in bucket 2 - then back to step 3.
7. repeat 3-4-5-6 until you are done.
8. Use spray on wax on one part at a time - polish it with a dry micro fibre cloth - note, this wax is incredible easy to work with.
9. Enjoy a car that is clean and looks like a shiny diamond
As a bonus, the ease of using these products makes it incredible fast to use - which was the main reason for trying them out. Also the Tesla community here in Denmark was speaking highly of Optimum products. I spend ~1 hour washing + wax and the car looks great afterwards. It is not a long lasting effect, waxing will need to be re-applied every 1-2 months, but with a 10 minutes extra effort to do so, it is a no-brainer.
I was sceptic in the beginning about not having to hose the car - but that doubt has now vanished, along with any dirt on the car since I have started using this combo, it is the most shiny car in the parking lot here at work.
Procedure:
1. Clean any rough dirt the normal way with normal water - I don't want sand grains and a'like on it for next steps - though some say it is not necessary.
2. Fill two buckets with hot water, add rinse and shine to each of them. (bucket 1 = clean, bucket 2 = dirty)
3. Cleaning only one part of the car at time - soak sponge in bucket 1, then gently wash with a light pressure as you normally do with a sponge.
4. put sponge in bucket 2 (this is where the dirt goes off.).
5. Dry the wet area with a dry microfiber cloth, still with a light touch.
6. Squeeze sponge in bucket 2 - then back to step 3.
7. repeat 3-4-5-6 until you are done.
8. Use spray on wax on one part at a time - polish it with a dry micro fibre cloth - note, this wax is incredible easy to work with.
9. Enjoy a car that is clean and looks like a shiny diamond
As a bonus, the ease of using these products makes it incredible fast to use - which was the main reason for trying them out. Also the Tesla community here in Denmark was speaking highly of Optimum products. I spend ~1 hour washing + wax and the car looks great afterwards. It is not a long lasting effect, waxing will need to be re-applied every 1-2 months, but with a 10 minutes extra effort to do so, it is a no-brainer.
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^^^ this I prefer this and used both the valet pro and auto finesse pre-wash better than snow foam I think.
I also don't use a specific wheel cleaner, just a fallout remover and same stuff I wash the car with, I also clay and protect them with wax too after all they are just a painted surface same as the car!
Clay the glass too!
Never used a clay 'mitt' however if you buy bilt and hambers clay bar it's 200g for like 10.95 So you should be able to do your car a few times with it.....and no detailer required.....designed for water as lube.....
I've heard all good things about the mitts but I've still got stock of bilt hamber clay bar and quite like it but might try one out next time round.
I use most of the methods above, I use Anachem NI products including their mitts etc which are fantastic. I coat the car with Gtechniq C2v3 as a sealant after I wax it. The pics on my Instagram will show the shine etc. The Anachem stuff is fantastic and a lot cheaper than the bigger brands as the guy who does it is a proper car enthusiast.
After reading this thread I'm surprised no-one has mentioned using fall out remover and clay bar too. I used both in my brand new leon on delivery day (9hrs I spent on car lol) they're a must buy and use before polishing and waxing!
I have the bilt hammer clay bar for soft paint. Fall out remover is good but in N Ireland we don't really have that much contamination from iron deposits etc. I used it on my wheels a couple of weeks ago and they hardly bled at all.
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