finally getting ready!

[westoncraig]

hey, ive been reading the threads on de-swirling and decided that basically i really need to get my bum in gear and as ive only had the car 2 months now, to crack on and give it an absoloute going over in regard to the paint and swirling that im experiencing.
so heres the basics..

2004 blue leon cupra tdi.

paint work is fins in respect to scratches

so i have been washing and waxing it with autoglym products and achieving good results, although have not come around to actually de-swirling the car...

i want the car in top condition for the spring and summer months and have now got enough of a budget to purchase some products..

basically what i am asking for is advice for which to use..the swirling is only in the laquer from what i can tell, and the paint below it is in great condition.
so what products and pads will i need in order to achieve a swirl free car? i ask this because it seems that different people use different pads and different products!

so what would be best for this colour cupra?

any advice will be really really appreciated!

i have a nice big double garage to sit the car in and work on and im really looking forward to getting stuck in!

 

[jamiebennett81]

hi mate

same here, bought all the kit but its not been too nice on the weather front, so its more than frustrating lol....luckily you have a nice garage!

try www.cleanyourcar.co.uk and look under polishing - Meguiars have there new polisher out which has got good reviews and this comes with a selection of pads which will more than help sort out your paint

my preference is Meguiars, but others will recommend the Sonus or Menzerna kits

each to their own, but I hope this helps

oh and get some decent wax. I suggest Victoria concours wax, as this goes well with cars of a medium to dark colour, and I think it would really bring up the colour of that blue really well

 

[westoncraig]

hey thanks, just bought a load of lazyboy products for the actual cleaning of the car in prepration for deswirling and waxing.
spending £200 on a polisher is hard to get my head around, but i know it will be worth it when the car is looking beautiful and maybe i can then do other peoples cars for them as a bit of a hobby

but in the long run its totally worth spending that £200 when the car sets you back thousands and thousands..plus those kits will last forever (with top ups obviously)

 

[jonjay]

Good advise by Jamie...

Autoglym do "decent" products but I wouldnt say they were at the top of the game imo. They got Super Resin Polish which is pretty good and there glass cream cleaner aswell but all their other stuff i have tried has been a little disapointing.

Meguairs on the otherhand in general do really good products.

Depending how how far you want to go i would draw up a list of products.

Wax
---------
Chemical Guys XXX wax - is amazing stuff
p21s - amazing but be prepared to top it up every 2-4 weeks.
Megs Cleaner Wax - i love this stuff because its an all in one type product. Polishes, cleans and waxes so very good if you are short on time and want the car looking really good.

Quick Detailer
------
Megs Quick Detailer - Really good for keeping the car looking shiney without having to rewax. Also good at cleaning bird poop and dirty marks on the car in emergancy
Megs Ultimate Detailer - Similar to the above but gives it a real good shine.
Clearkote - well what can i say. Best quick detailer i ever used makes the car look really wet.

Polish
-------
Autoglym Super Resin - Good product for hiding those swirls and bringing paint back to life. Only thing i hate about it is the residue it leaves behind
Megs Crystal Polish - This is pure polish doesnt clean or anything like that just shines. I am unsure on it although i use it.
Klasse AIO - Best polish/sealant i ever used period.


I could go on and on but as Jamie said cleanyourcar.co.uk is a brilliant place to start.

Oh heres a picture of the Cleaner Wax on took last summer

Hope this helps mate!

 

[jamiebennett81]

its worth every penny

some will argue it can be done by hand, in which it can, just in terms of effort, results and ease, a machine type polisher brings endless benefits!

let me know what the lazyboy stuff is like...have head good things about it

roll on the good weather!

 

[westoncraig]

thanks guys..i think you have both put some valuable input in here. i think once its been de-swirlled i am going to go with the klasse AIO. then roll on the summer and a sweet looking paint job

 

[jamiebennett81]

Good advise by Jamie...

Autoglym do "decent" products but I wouldnt say they were at the top of the game imo. They got Super Resin Polish which is pretty good and there glass cream cleaner aswell but all their other stuff i have tried has been a little disapointing.

Meguairss on the otherhand in general do really good products.

Depending how how far you want to go i would draw up a list of products.

Wax
---------
Chemical Guys XXX wax is amazing stuff
p21s - amazing but be prepared to top it up every 2-4 weeks.
Megs Cleaner Wax - i love this stuff because its an all in one type product. Polishes, cleans and waxes so very good if you are short on time and want the car looking really good.

Quick Detailer
------
Megs Quick Detailer - Really good for keeping the car looking shiney without having to rewax. Also good at cleaning bird poop and dirty marks on the car in emergancy
Megs Ultimate Detailer - Similar to the above but gives it a real good shine.
Clearkote - well what can i say. Best quick detailer i ever used makes the car look really wet.

Polish
-------
Autoglym Super Resin - Good product for hiding those swirls and bringing paint back to life. Only thing i hate about it is the residue it leaves behind
Megs Crystal Polish - This is pure polish doesnt clean or anything like that just shines. I am unsure on it although i use it.
Klasse AIO - Best polish/sealant i ever used period.


I could go on and on but as Jamie said cleanyourcar.co.uk is a brilliant place to start.

Oh heres a picture of the Cleaner Wax on took last summer

[img/http://mariossergides.co.uk/www/LeonFR/LeonCleanerWax1.jpg[/img]

you being sarky?

I used autoglym products to start with, but then moved onto Meguiars, and just found in terms of achieving great results, I found Meguiars a little easier to use and less effort required, which overall achieved better results than the autoglym stuff....not sure why, just may be my personal preference

best thing I have found is spending the money on a decent wax, as its the finishing touch and can yield fantastic results

I am guessing of course you use the two bucket method, and a lambs wool wash mitt? silly question if you take pride and joy in your ride

I bought some snow foam recently and a product I highly recommend. Literally used it and washed off, and it reduced massively the amount of touch used from my wash mitt....which in essence will massively cut down on future swirl marks re-appearing (once properly polished)

its about £15 for 5 litres.

another thing on my essential list is some good clay. Meguiars is very good. I bought the sonus one to try out, but this is more fine...but seeing as my paint is in pretty good condition I went for a less abrasive clay this time and will see what results it will yield

there are some really knowledgable guys on here...far more well versed in detailing as I am relatively new to the scene...takes a while to learn, but I hope this has been of some help

 

[westoncraig]

defo been helpful...im going to keep this thread alive and keep you guys updated!

its all so new, actually taking care of the paint, i used to wax my cars but never to this extent!

well... better start looking for a machine polisher

and a massive thanks to ben at rubbishboys for his help thisafternoon with my order...a great personal touch which is very much appreciated

 

[jonjay]

you being sarky?

I used autoglym products to start with, but then moved onto Meguiars, and just found in terms of achieving great results, I found Meguiars a little easier to use and less effort required, which overall achieved better results than the autoglym stuff....not sure why, just may be my personal preference

best thing I have found is spending the money on a decent wax, as its the finishing touch and can yield fantastic results

I am guessing of course you use the two bucket method, and a lambs wool wash mitt? silly question if you take pride and joy in your ride

I bought some snow foam recently and a product I highly recommend. Literally used it and washed off, and it reduced massively the amount of touch used from my wash mitt....which in essence will massively cut down on future swirl marks re-appearing (once properly polished)

its about £15 for 5 litres.

another thing on my essential list is some good clay. Meguiars is very good. I bought the sonus one to try out, but this is more fine...but seeing as my paint is in pretty good condition I went for a less abrasive clay this time and will see what results it will yield

there are some really knowledgable guys on here...far more well versed in detailing as I am relatively new to the scene...takes a while to learn, but I hope this has been of some help

NO not being sarky i meant it!

Yea got lams wool mitt, two buckets with gritt gaurds, loads of different microfibre cloths....list goes on...

It does take a while to learn but once you do its good fun!

 

[jamiebennett81]

NO not being sarky i meant it!

Yea got lams wool mitt, two buckets with gritt gaurds, loads of different microfibre cloths....list goes on...

It does take a while to learn but once you do its good fun!

lol just checking

no worries with the help mate, look fwd to seeing the pics of progress

 

[westoncraig]

theres a meet on saturday so il get some of the cobwebbing then and post up how it looks now

 

[westoncraig]

ok so quick update, boust some rubbishboys detailer and cleaning products, then waxed with autoglym deep gloss polish..the finish is nice but i dont like the residue that comes from the autoglym stuff!
the woolen mitt was great and so were the microfibre cloths!
ben at rubbishboys was great to deal with, prompt, friendly and good products...a great service all round!

i have decided that maybe i need to have the car machine polished to remove the conwebbing by a professional first, watch him and learn, then purchase my own machine polisher...
once i am good enough i would like to offer my services to other members, giving them the benefits that machine work can provide.... but this will come in time..im in no rush... but seeming as the weather is slot nicer recently id like to get moving on deswirling!

 

[jamiebennett81]

ok so quick update, boust some rubbishboys detailer and cleaning products, then waxed with autoglym deep gloss polish..the finish is nice but i dont like the residue that comes from the autoglym stuff!
the woolen mitt was great and so were the microfibre cloths!
ben at rubbishboys was great to deal with, prompt, friendly and good products...a great service all round!

i have decided that maybe i need to have the car machine polished to remove the conwebbing by a professional first, watch him and learn, then purchase my own machine polisher...
once i am good enough i would like to offer my services to other members, giving them the benefits that machine work can provide.... but this will come in time..im in no rush... but seeming as the weather is slot nicer recently id like to get moving on deswirling!

ditto mate

I bought the Meguiars polisher with all the polishes, but not had a chance to try it out yet, although the weather has been nice though

will prob rain when I do finally want to do it!

was thinking the same about polishing mates cars when I am up to speed with the whole detailing thing

have a read at www.polishedbliss.co.uk if you have not already or if I have not mentioned it already

everything you need to know about polishing....its quite a big read, but worth every second of reading it if you want to do the job properly!

hope this helps

 

[westoncraig]

ok so i have stuart from autotec coming over tonight to have a look and give a price for him to detail the car!

il update later tonight!

 

[jamiebennett81]

ok so i have stuart from autotec coming over tonight to have a look and give a price for him to detail the car!

il update later tonight!

whats the detail include Craig?

 

[westoncraig]

well i say detail...more of a machine polish in order to eliminate the swirling! and then obviously give it a healthy new coat of wax etc

i have a feeling its gunna be expensive! but worth it.... but might be worth waiting for a few weeks untill closer to the end of spring when i wont be having to wash it every weekend!

its all the motorway crap that it gets coverd in..the frost melts then crud just gets flung onto my car lol

 

[jamiebennett81]

well i say detail...more of a machine polish in order to eliminate the swirling! and then obviously give it a healthy new coat of wax etc

i have a feeling its gunna be expensive! but worth it.... but might be worth waiting for a few weeks untill closer to the end of spring when i wont be having to wash it every weekend!

its all the motorway crap that it gets coverd in..the frost melts then crud just gets flung onto my car lol

was just about to say

they are still gritting at this time of the year, and its that dirt/speccly mud that gets flipped up from the motorway

it can be very clean come sunday, then after monday, its black again!

as for the detailing....well that is polishing isn't it? lol

 

[westoncraig]

yeah i guess so!

well, just getting a price tonight..wont book anything in yet..will wait till about april

 

[westoncraig]

ok so update:

my car is in need of claying, cobwebbing is slight so not a problem to fix. but apparently these leons have very soft paint and it can be easy to make mistakes unless your very careful! so doubt il go down the diy route!!
need to invest in good sealant, polish and wax!
then have it machine fixed when the weather picks up ~

 

[jamiebennett81]

ok so update:

my car is in need of claying, cobwebbing is slight so not a problem to fix. but apparently these leons have very soft paint and it can be easy to make mistakes unless your very careful! so doubt il go down the diy route!!
need to invest in good sealant, polish and wax!
then have it machine fixed when the weather picks up ~

unfortunately claying won't remove cobwebbing, it only cleans the surface contaminants, ready for polishing, as its only polishing that will remove or reduce the cobwebbing

as for the soft paint, who told you that? speaking with other detailing guys on here (and surprised they have not seen this thread yet) the paint on VAG cars is notoriously hard

prep the paint as best you can, as you have said ready for polishing