Autoglym newbie advice

[s3quence]

Hi there,

The time has come to clean the car for the first time since I picked it up.
Embarassingly I have to admit that im not one for washing cars to the point I can probably say I only washed my last car once in 2 years, I have just purchased the Autoglym kit from halfords for £40 which seems to come with everything and not many people have a bad word to say about it....

I intend to do the following tommorrow (or next wether permitting moment)

1. Wheels
- Clean Wheels and Alloys (With sponge and AG car shampoo)
- Spray on AG Clean Wheels and clean alloys
- Clean arches with AG engine and machine cleaner
- Clean tyres with AG Tyre Dressing

2. Clean Engine Bay
- with AG engine and machine cleaner

3. Clean BodyWork
- Clean with AG Shampoo
- Dry with chamious leather

4. Polish BodyWork
- Use AG Intensive tar remover on the bottom if required.
- polish with AG Super resin Polish
- Clean and polish plastics like around the licence plate with AG Bumper Care

5. Clean Interior
- note sure about this one yet. Never felt too confident putting anything wet / damp on material like seats

6. Clean all glass
- you guessed it with AG Car Glass Polish


Finally I have ordered some collomite wax to use but if i do tommorrow I wont have by then so will prob repeat the same process the following weekend or two

The main aim for tommorrow is to get it as shiny as possible before I get the wax. then redo (hopefully quicker with less dirt) and then wax

for those who havent fell alseep or lost interest I have a few questions...


1. Is Autoglym any good? I cant find any bad reviews on here for them and cant really afford to spend hundreds on cleaning my car but £40 seems value for money assuming they are ok

2. I have seen posts on people having "swirls" on thier car. how do these appear? is this soley from jet washers (which I dont have) or is this due to the way that the polish is applied.

3. Is the process above ok? I want to wash prob on a monthly basis in the winter with a quick wipe of glass, alloys and quick hoover two weeks later and then weekly in the summer when weather is better. Will the car stay clean in this time?

Sorry to go on so much though I can see this starting to get addictive!! I have been looking online about cleaning my car for hours!! Its almost midnight and im half tempted to go do it now!!!!!

Thanks

 

[Willie]

Swirls are caused by the grit on your car being rubbed over the bodywork by you. This is commonly done by drive through car washes and sponge washing your car. In sponge washing your car the grit is on the sponge then you rub this sponge over the car and cause the swirls.
BEFORE you do any work to you car PLEASE take time to read this http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides.html
This will bring you right up to speed with the best you can do for your cars bodywork and general upkeep of the SHINE
Perhaps it would have been better to post this sort of question before buying the AG products. Have you opened these yet?
AG is okay but there are better products for not much more money. Also see www.polishedbliss.co.uk

 

[s3quence]

Swirls are caused by the grit on your car being rubbed over the bodywork by you. This is commonly done by drive through car washes and sponge washing your car. In sponge washing your car the grit is on the sponge then you rub this sponge over the car and cause the swirls.
BEFORE you do any work to you car PLEASE take time to read this http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides.html
This will bring you right up to speed with the best you can do for your cars bodywork and general upkeep of the SHINE
Perhaps it would have been better to post this sort of question before buying the AG products. Have you opened these yet?
AG is okay but there are better products for not much more money. Also see www.polishedbliss.co.uk

Thanks for the link i have spent last couple of hours reading through it shame its raining!!

I prob should have posted before buying the AG stuff but im relatively new to this and AG are the only main brand I recongnise and for £40 i coudktn argue.
My main goal is to have the car clean on a regular basis im not aiming for the show room finish just nice and tidy for a low cost. If i get into it then ill spend more time researching and spending more money on it. Esp in the winter months when i wont be able to get to it as much.

 

[s3quence]

Hi I have been reading about this all day!!

I am about to order the Collonite Wax though dont know which is better?

Collinite 476 or Collinite 915 - Marque D Elegance? I have a Inferi Black Cupra (or is Marque D Elegance the clue there?)

Also I just a quick question about the process of cleaning...I intend to do the following...

Wash
Polish
Extra Gloss Polish
Wax

Next time I come to wash my car say in 2 weeks, do I just repeat this? or will the wax mean it is pointless polishing again? Im confused

Also how much wax do you use? I have read that you lightly press the applicator in the wax then that should be enough for 1/3 of a bonnet or 1 door is this correct

finally, I have read about taking the wax off but when is this done? or does this occur naturally?

Sorry for all the questions, strangely enough I am actually really looking forward to washing my car!!!!!

 

[Rubbish Boy]

I believe 915 has more carnauba in it and is considered to be a bit more special than the 476. 915 does usually look very nice on black.

Once you have waxed the car, you won't need to polish and wax every couple of weeks. When the wax has lost it's bling then is the time to think about either topping it up or doing a polish and re wax.

With waxes like this you really do only need a very thin coat, but make sure you have even coverage. You then leave it to cure for however long it says on the tin. You can normally tell when it is ready to be removed by wiping a finger over the waxed surface. If the excess comes off cleanly and doesn't smear it's ready. Remove the excess and give it a buff with a nice plush microfibre and it should look marvelous.

Now this is a personal preference, but I wouldn't bother with the EGP, 1) the collinite will add just as much, if not more bling and protection and 2) it can be a real pita to apply and remove. Personally I would go with two coats of wax instead.

 

[Willie]

Also you might have a problem trying to wax ontop of the EGP
As said above stick to one or the other. I'd go for the Collinite over the EGP
Or perhaps the man above could advise you on a similar/better wax

 

[Jace]

Wax wise, you'll struggle to find anything which comes close to Collinite for winter protection & a long life span.





I used 476 on my missus Corsa & got from october to feb, between coats

915 on my old Golf

 

[s3quence]

Wax wise, you'll struggle to find anything which comes close to Collinite for winter protection & a long life span.





I used 476 on my missus Corsa & got from october to feb, between coats

915 on my old Golf

WOW!! those pics have me sold!! Ive just ordered a tin of the 915.

to make things worse its sunny today! I could have booked the day off work use some of the excess holidays. Forcast is rain all week

 

[Willie]

Whats going on the new car though Jace? Thats what we want to know

 

[Jace]

Whats going on the new car though Jace? Thats what we want to know

Victoria Concours

My missus works every other weekend, so I spend most of the day waxing away, well what else could I be doing with my spare time

Did it yesterday & its looked very nice until I rolled it outside & 2 minutes later it peed down, I should have guessed it would though.....

 

[Rubbish Boy]

Or perhaps the man above could advise you on a similar/better wax

Collinite is a good choice, good value for money and lasts well, but I can certainly recommend some other waxes.

I have to say though that in answer to any question along the lines of "which wax is best for my car?" there is no right or wrong answer. You wouldn't ask a pub full of blokes which is the best football team and expect a definitive answer.

I happen to think my own Original Edition looks really special on black cars, and lasts very well, but I wouldn't recommend it to a first time wax user as it is a little fussy to apply. Dodo blue velvet is also another one that looks excellent on black, is an absolute breeze to apply and also lasts really well.

Also the prep before the wax makes a huge difference to the final finish. I would hazard a guess that in Jace's pictures the cars have been very well prepped before the wax even touched the cars, with may be a bit of PC action?

Anyway heres a picture of a single coat of Original Edition on a black magic SEAT, surface prepped with Dodo Lime Prime and machine polished a few months earlier.

 

[Jace]

Also the prep before the wax makes a huge difference to the final finish. I would hazard a guess that in Jace's pictures the cars have been very well prepped before the wax even touched the cars, with may be a bit of PC action?

Possibly



110% correct though, poor prep = poor finish.

Regardless of what wax you use, even if you used say a top Z one, you'd struggle to see a massive difference, without the right prep.

Clay
Polish
seal
wax

= great results


Lime prime is a great very well priced polish/glaze & really, you should use it when applying any wax to get the most out of it........




Any samples of that original left

 

[Rubbish Boy]

Any samples of that original left

Not at the moment, but I am working on doing another small run of samples.