What are you using...

[Legojon]

Your seats look a lot cooler than the ones in the mk3 I've been looking online for info but it's a very mixed bag of advice. Some people say the leather is coated in a clear plastic that helps it look new for longer. And that conditioner doesn't make it through the coating, like waxing the car after its been wrapped in plastic. My seats certainly feels like plastic so maybe this is the way they make leather seats cheaper nowadays??

https://www.best-auto-detailing-tips.com/car-leather-care.html

Hmmm, when I've give Revive a go, I'll post up the results. It's a cleaner and mild conditioner in one. So theoretically you would only need to take one bottle into the shower.

 

[Legojon]

I'm seriously eating nothing but chocolate tea cakes for breakfast for the rest of the month!!

Do I eat tomorrows breakfast today? Toast and teacakes is my staple diet now. car.

 

[Legojon]

https://www.best-auto-detailing-tips.com/car-leather-care.html

Just read his whole set of articles, it's an interesting read. I agree with most of what he's saying, however, my bolsters are getting quite worn and cracked. I can't believe that after nearly a decade of use that plastic coating he speaks of is 100% in tact. Regardless, the seats need to be cleaned, although sometimes I feel a damp cloth would have done as good a job as the AG, hence buying Revive. I have some stubborn water marks to try it on!

But also, as he pointed out, the conditioner is really just giving a nice finish to the Seats. So ok, it can do no harm (except throw my money away) is what I take from that. But I like the darker, shiny finish on my seats. Same as I apply vinyl n rubber to my dash. I don't believe for a second dust bounces off it. But I like the blacked out look vs the faded dark grey.

 

[Laurbach]

Just read his whole set of articles, it's an interesting read. I agree with most of what he's saying, however, my bolsters are getting quite worn and cracked. I can't believe that after nearly a decade of use that plastic coating he speaks of is 100% in tact. Regardless, the seats need to be cleaned, although sometimes I feel a damp cloth would have done as good a job as the AG, hence buying Revive. I have some stubborn water marks to try it on!

But also, as he pointed out, the conditioner is really just giving a nice finish to the Seats. So ok, it can do no harm (except throw my money away) is what I take from that. But I like the darker, shiny finish on my seats. Same as I apply vinyl n rubber to my dash. I don't believe for a second dust bounces off it. But I like the blacked out look vs the faded dark grey.

That's exactly how I understood it too, that older seats could benefit from it. I wouldn't be surprised if your seats are of a better and more natural material than mine. My seats are exactly the same as the ones we had in our FR, just covered in "leather".
I'll se if I can find a conditioner that keeps the matt finish

 

[Jimbobcook]

Anyone looking for 3 buckets and grit guards I've found this for £30 on ebay...

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/352635556214

 

[Oliver Pawley]

Not the best photo but it's the rubber around my windows seem to have this stuff on it. Normal restorer doesn't seem to do anything. Any ideas?

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[Jamie-g]

Not the best photo but it's the rubber around my windows seem to have this stuff on it. Normal restorer doesn't seem to do anything. Any ideas?

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

I done my rubbers with fireball ultimate nano coat and brought them up like new. Expensive stuff though

 

[vectra]

Not the best photo but it's the rubber around my windows seem to have this stuff on it. Normal restorer doesn't seem to do anything. Any ideas?

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

A cheap enough route would be to give them a good cleaning with APC and use some Solution finish
That would improve them,
more permanent solution would be to use something like Carpro Dlux.

 

[vectra]

Decided to give these a go on my Ateca when I collect it in 5 weeks time
Sonax SONAX PROFILINE Polymer Net Shield
Sonax BSD

Anyone on here try them?

 

[Legojon]

So... couldn't resist giving my new CC goodies a try today. No before pics cause she's shy. But... keeping in mind I did a 200 mile round trip to Wales yesterday so had a lot of mud and a badger to remove (don't ask). So...

Snowfoam - I've previously used Autobrite and Autofinesse. The CC foam annoyed me when I got it in that it smelled like @rse. No bubblegum or toffee flavouring. I know... anyways, I sprayed it on the car and it looked really weak compared to the Autobrite. However... it did seem to remove a lot more surface mud, dirt and debris. So overall, I'm really happy with it's performance.

Shampoo - again, no smell. Pfgh. It didn't seem to glide as well as the Megs nxt which disappointed me. However it did seem to cut through caked rear bumper dirt with ease. Again, I was impressed with the ease of use and result. I wonder if that little bit of extra friction the Megs is missing helps remove the dirt.

Sateen - Unfortunately I massively overly applied this. I prefer a gloss finish myself though. Will see how long it lasts. I can't really say how much I like this because I love the applicator!! At first I thought wtf is this... but I used so much less product and spent so much less time, it's brilliant. I didn't know I needed it till I had it.

Glisten - I know it's not new or CC. But I just had to say... trigger. I nearly launched it over next doors fence. The trigger is now completely broken, bits of it still on the driveway. Glisten running down the car and my arm. I won't be buying it again. And add to that the Gyeon window spray, which is actually pretty good. But the trigger broke after about 3 uses. These aren't cheap products FFS!

Before

After

 

[Legojon]

You know when you feel that inner turmoil inside... on the one hand it's an Audi... but on the other...

 

[Dolphinsfan1313]

Use a lot of autosmart products on my car, very good stuff and doesn’t cost the earth too

 

[bgb]

For price, ease and results I can highly recommend Poorboys Black Hole Glaze and Black Hole Wax.

Also in my opinion, Auto Finesse Tripple All In One Polish was a dream to work with and better then AG SRP. Did the whole car and then went round with a decent fluffy microfiber with no issues removing the haze where as SRP sometimes stuck or created more cleaning issues with chalking.

I also found the AF Tripple polish a decent swirl/blemish remover for new car paint where you don't feel a harder cut is needed.

 

[Dolphinsfan1313]

There’s a lot of good stuff out there right now for cars, really like the bilt hamber clay bars, sensible price and can use water great product

 

[Legojon]

This is what happens when @Jimbobcook doesn't stop me buying stuff! I'm seriously eating nothing but chocolate tea cakes for breakfast for the rest of the month!!

So... just to remind everyone of the 100 sovs I spent. I've now had a few weeks to evaluate each product.

CC Snow foam - After being spoilt by AF toffee flavour SF, I was disappointed this has no scent. It didn't seem to go on any thicker or thinner than Autobrite or AF. But with a month of dirt and a trip to Wales stuck on the car, I was really impressed with it's cleaning power. I'm diluting a 100ml to 1 litre and use about 1/3 of a litre each wash. So 30 washes from one bottle seems good(ish) value. When removed with the pressure washer, it seemed to take pretty much all the visible mud with it.

CC Shampoo - Again, no smell. But to be fair, Megs NXT (my reigning champ) doesn't smell of anything fruity or sweety. It didn't seem to glide as well as the Megs but tackled a lot of the tougher tar marks easier and overall seemed to clean better. I wondered if this is because megs glides, it reduces friction and doesn't pick up the dirt as well. So again another winner.

CC Sateen / applicator - This is my new favourite product. Sateen lasts a lot longer on the wheels than Megs / AG tyre gels. It's survived road trips, rain. It's not the glossy, shiny coat I like, but it's a long lasting black matt coating. The applicator is brilliant. The bottle is tiny, but with the applicator I can see it lasting me probably through the year. Previously it was a nightmare applying gel. But with the applicator it takes about 2 minutes to do all 4 wheels. Love it!!

CC Revive / brush - First off, don't even get my started on the brush. Maybe it's good for something, but on bucket seats with loads of stitching, I had to stop about an inch round the edge of the seat because I couldn't get the brush in. It burnt through the foam (I've used about 1/4 of a bottle!!). I ended up switching to a MF applicator which worked much better. I don't know if it's because leather is so easy to clean, or my seats just weren't that dirty (you saw them at Trax eek). I saw no visible before / after. In fact, I protest that leather seats just need wiping down with a wet cloth generally. So my fav is still a wet Autoglym high tec drying chammy!! Won't be buying again.

LRC Protection cream - Everyone raves about this, I had to admit I had a tingle when I was shaking the bottle. Soon to be replaced by disappointment. Is it a bad product? I'm not sure, it didn't really do anything. I noticed no difference whatsoever in my seats. So much so that I actually applied the AG leather balm over the top of it!!! It's not cheap for a tiny bottle. And ok, maybe it's the chav in me. And maybe AG just add some vinyl and rubber silicone stuff to the leather balm. But I love how AG leaves the seats with a darker finish. So £5 for AG VS £13 for LRC. I think I'll save my arm and go back to AG!

 

[ChrisM75]

Most 'leather' products are a total waste of time on modern coated leather. It may as well be PVC for all the difference it makes because its coated so heavily.

 

[Legojon]

Most 'leather' products are a total waste of time on modern coated leather. It may as well be PVC for all the difference it makes because its coated so heavily.

Yeah, it's bad when I've spent £35 on leather cleaning products and none of them matches up to "a damp cloth". Which is going to be my go to from now on.

 

[ChrisM75]

Just a normal dashboard product is good enough really. I use Carpro PERL because it does the lot, inside and out and is very economical.

My Cupra completely lacks that 'Leather' smell, which is the only reason I'd use a leather cream.

 

[Legojon]

Just a normal dashboard product is good enough really. I use Carpro PERL because it does the lot, inside and out and is very economical.

Ah, yes, it's on my list to try. Do you dilute it down or use it neat? I was going to get it for my tyres... but ended up with Sateen instead.

 

[ChrisM75]

Ah, yes, it's on my list to try. Do you dilute it down or use it neat? I was going to get it for my tyres... but ended up with Sateen instead.

I dilute it down between 3 and 5 to 1. There is a guide on the bottle to tell you how much for each application. Neat is too strong for most things, it would be overly glossy and sticky for a while, although it could be used neat on the tyres.